The Queen has become the first monarch for centuries to watch one of Britain's many ancient ceremonies - Swan Upping.
Swan Upping is an annual ceremony in which mute swans on the River Thames are rounded up, caught, marked, and then released.
Traditionally, the Monarch of the United Kingdom owns all unmarked mute swans on the River Thames. This dates from the 12th century, during which swans were a common food source for royalty. Swan upping is a means of establishing a swan census, and today also serves to check the health of swans. Under a Royal Charter of the 15th century, the Vintners' Company and the Dyers' Company, two Livery Companies of the City of London, are entitled to share in the Sovereign's ownership. They conduct the census through a process of ringing the swan's feet, but the swans are no longer eaten.
Swan upping occurs annually during the third week of July. During the ceremony, the Queen's, the Vintners', and the Dyers' Swan Uppers row up the river in skiffs. Swans caught by the Queen's Swan Uppers under the direction of the Swan Marker remain unmarked, those caught by the Dyers' are ringed on one leg, and those caught by the Vintners are ringed on both legs. Originally, rather than being ringed, the swans would be marked on the bill — a practice commemorated in the pub name The Swan with Two Necks, a corruption of the term "The Swan with Two Nicks".
The popular Head of State travelled in style along the Thames to Bray, near her Windsor Castle home, in a 50ft steam launch called Alaska, to watch the ceremony.
Royal welcome for cygnets as Queen watches ancient Swan Upping ceremony
A brood of cygnets were given a royal welcome by the Queen at the first Swan Upping ceremony witnessed by a monarch in centuries.
20 Jul 2009
The Telegraph
A brood of cygnets were given a royal welcome today at the first Swan Upping ceremony witnessed by a monarch in centuries. The ceremony dates back to the 12th century when the ownership of all unmarked mute swans in open water in Britain was claimed by the Crown in order to ensure a ready supply for feasts. Now it's for conservation purposes.
The Queen travelled up the River Thames to see the ancient ritual of counting the birds along the waterway.
The ceremony used to be a means to provide food for the royal dinner table with some cygnets taken away to be fattened, but nowadays the event is about conservation rather than consumption.
A team of boatmen called Swan Uppers have the job of corralling, catching and marking the swans on the water between Eton in Berkshire and Abingdon in Oxfordshire every July.
The Queen travelled in style along the Thames to Bray, near her Windsor Castle home, where a family of swans had already been caught by some of her Swan Uppers dressed in their scarlet coats.
The Queen looked at the various pictures, reports and drawings that the children had created before presenting certificates to prize winners. Before she left she posed for an official photograph with her Swan Uppers dressed in their bright scarlet jackets
Joining the Queen's boatmen were Swan Uppers from the Vintners and Dyers - two City of London livery companies which, over the centuries, have also maintained their rights to own swans.
From a 50ft steam launch called Alaska, the Queen watched as the cygnets caught with their parents were weighed on a manicured grassy bank at Bray.
The swan family were then released back on to the Thames as the Queen watched.
The Queen ended her river journey by travelling to a nearby hotel where a group of schoolchildren were waiting to meet her.
The youngsters had been involved in a Swan Upping project investigating the work of the boatmen and also about swan conservation.
Christopher Perrins, the Queen's Swan Warden and former professor of ornithology at Oxford University, said that, in an average year, about 1,000 birds were counted by the Swan Uppers.
But higher river levels in recent years had washed away nests or forced birds into waterways away from the Thames so numbers had dropped a little.
The boatmen take around five days to cover 79 miles of riverbank as they search for swans to count.
When a brood of cygnets is sighted, a cry of "All up" is given to signal that the boats should get into position.
When the waterfowl are caught, the livery companies use their own rings to mark the birds while the ones belonging to the Crown are not ringed.
The swans - usually two parent birds and three cygnets - are then weighed, ringed and checked for signs of disease or injury.
The ceremony dates back to the 12th century when the ownership of all unmarked mute swans in open water in Britain was claimed by the Crown in order to ensure a ready supply for feasts.
David Barber, the Queen's Swan Marker, who is in charge of the annual swan census, said: "The Queen just seemed generally interested in everything we were doing and asking questions about our work.
"Two-hundred years ago there would have been a lot more swans than there are today and conservation is much more important now. Pollution and loss of habitats have affected the birds so the job we do is vital to check on how they are doing."
The Queen travelled up the River Thames to see the ancient ritual of counting the birds along Britain's most famous waterway. She travelled in style along the Thames to Bray, near her Windsor Castle home, in a 50ft steam launch called Alaska
The Seigneur of The Swans, as she is known, observed as the swan uppers plucked hissing birds from the waters to weigh and measure them
The swan uppers have the job of corralling, catching and marking the swans on the water between Eton in Berkshire and Abingdon in Oxfordshire every July
When the waterfowl are caught, the livery companies use their own rings to mark the birds while the ones belonging to the Crown are not ringed
From the Alaska, the Queen watched as the cygnets caught with their parents were weighed on a manicured grassy bank at Bray
The birds, about six weeks old, were still covered in grey down and will not take on the brilliant white plumage of their parents until November when they are fully matured
The swan family were then released back on to the Thames as the Queen watched, and they flapped their wings as they landed on the water and soon glided away
The boatmen take around five days to cover 79 miles of riverbank as they search for swans to count
Picture: GEOFF PUGH
The Queen ended her river journey by travelling to the nearby hotel Oakley Court where a group of schoolchildren were waiting to meet her
The youngsters had been involved in a Swan Upping project investigating the work of the boatmen and also about swan conservation
The Queen looked at the various pictures, reports and drawings that the children had created before presenting certificates to prize winners. Before she left she posed for an official photograph with her Swan Uppers dressed in their bright scarlet jackets
David Barber, the Queen's Swan Marker, who is in charge of the annual swan census, said: "The Queen just seemed generally interested in everything we were doing and asking questions about our work"
The Crown retains ownership rights to all unmarked swans in open water, which it has shared with two livery companies, Vintners Livery Company and Dyers Livery Company of the City of London, since the 15th century
"Two-hundred years ago there would have been a lot more swans than there are today and conservation is much more important now. Pollution and loss of habitats have affected the birds so the job we do is vital to check on how they are doing."
telegraph.co.uk
Swan Upping is an annual ceremony in which mute swans on the River Thames are rounded up, caught, marked, and then released.
Traditionally, the Monarch of the United Kingdom owns all unmarked mute swans on the River Thames. This dates from the 12th century, during which swans were a common food source for royalty. Swan upping is a means of establishing a swan census, and today also serves to check the health of swans. Under a Royal Charter of the 15th century, the Vintners' Company and the Dyers' Company, two Livery Companies of the City of London, are entitled to share in the Sovereign's ownership. They conduct the census through a process of ringing the swan's feet, but the swans are no longer eaten.
Swan upping occurs annually during the third week of July. During the ceremony, the Queen's, the Vintners', and the Dyers' Swan Uppers row up the river in skiffs. Swans caught by the Queen's Swan Uppers under the direction of the Swan Marker remain unmarked, those caught by the Dyers' are ringed on one leg, and those caught by the Vintners are ringed on both legs. Originally, rather than being ringed, the swans would be marked on the bill — a practice commemorated in the pub name The Swan with Two Necks, a corruption of the term "The Swan with Two Nicks".
The popular Head of State travelled in style along the Thames to Bray, near her Windsor Castle home, in a 50ft steam launch called Alaska, to watch the ceremony.
Royal welcome for cygnets as Queen watches ancient Swan Upping ceremony
A brood of cygnets were given a royal welcome by the Queen at the first Swan Upping ceremony witnessed by a monarch in centuries.
20 Jul 2009
The Telegraph
A brood of cygnets were given a royal welcome today at the first Swan Upping ceremony witnessed by a monarch in centuries. The ceremony dates back to the 12th century when the ownership of all unmarked mute swans in open water in Britain was claimed by the Crown in order to ensure a ready supply for feasts. Now it's for conservation purposes.
The Queen travelled up the River Thames to see the ancient ritual of counting the birds along the waterway.
The ceremony used to be a means to provide food for the royal dinner table with some cygnets taken away to be fattened, but nowadays the event is about conservation rather than consumption.
A team of boatmen called Swan Uppers have the job of corralling, catching and marking the swans on the water between Eton in Berkshire and Abingdon in Oxfordshire every July.
The Queen travelled in style along the Thames to Bray, near her Windsor Castle home, where a family of swans had already been caught by some of her Swan Uppers dressed in their scarlet coats.
The Queen looked at the various pictures, reports and drawings that the children had created before presenting certificates to prize winners. Before she left she posed for an official photograph with her Swan Uppers dressed in their bright scarlet jackets
Joining the Queen's boatmen were Swan Uppers from the Vintners and Dyers - two City of London livery companies which, over the centuries, have also maintained their rights to own swans.
From a 50ft steam launch called Alaska, the Queen watched as the cygnets caught with their parents were weighed on a manicured grassy bank at Bray.
The swan family were then released back on to the Thames as the Queen watched.
The Queen ended her river journey by travelling to a nearby hotel where a group of schoolchildren were waiting to meet her.
The youngsters had been involved in a Swan Upping project investigating the work of the boatmen and also about swan conservation.
Christopher Perrins, the Queen's Swan Warden and former professor of ornithology at Oxford University, said that, in an average year, about 1,000 birds were counted by the Swan Uppers.
But higher river levels in recent years had washed away nests or forced birds into waterways away from the Thames so numbers had dropped a little.
The boatmen take around five days to cover 79 miles of riverbank as they search for swans to count.
When a brood of cygnets is sighted, a cry of "All up" is given to signal that the boats should get into position.
When the waterfowl are caught, the livery companies use their own rings to mark the birds while the ones belonging to the Crown are not ringed.
The swans - usually two parent birds and three cygnets - are then weighed, ringed and checked for signs of disease or injury.
The ceremony dates back to the 12th century when the ownership of all unmarked mute swans in open water in Britain was claimed by the Crown in order to ensure a ready supply for feasts.
David Barber, the Queen's Swan Marker, who is in charge of the annual swan census, said: "The Queen just seemed generally interested in everything we were doing and asking questions about our work.
"Two-hundred years ago there would have been a lot more swans than there are today and conservation is much more important now. Pollution and loss of habitats have affected the birds so the job we do is vital to check on how they are doing."
The Queen travelled up the River Thames to see the ancient ritual of counting the birds along Britain's most famous waterway. She travelled in style along the Thames to Bray, near her Windsor Castle home, in a 50ft steam launch called Alaska
The Seigneur of The Swans, as she is known, observed as the swan uppers plucked hissing birds from the waters to weigh and measure them
The swan uppers have the job of corralling, catching and marking the swans on the water between Eton in Berkshire and Abingdon in Oxfordshire every July
When the waterfowl are caught, the livery companies use their own rings to mark the birds while the ones belonging to the Crown are not ringed
From the Alaska, the Queen watched as the cygnets caught with their parents were weighed on a manicured grassy bank at Bray
The birds, about six weeks old, were still covered in grey down and will not take on the brilliant white plumage of their parents until November when they are fully matured
The swan family were then released back on to the Thames as the Queen watched, and they flapped their wings as they landed on the water and soon glided away
The boatmen take around five days to cover 79 miles of riverbank as they search for swans to count
Picture: GEOFF PUGH
The youngsters had been involved in a Swan Upping project investigating the work of the boatmen and also about swan conservation
The Queen looked at the various pictures, reports and drawings that the children had created before presenting certificates to prize winners. Before she left she posed for an official photograph with her Swan Uppers dressed in their bright scarlet jackets
David Barber, the Queen's Swan Marker, who is in charge of the annual swan census, said: "The Queen just seemed generally interested in everything we were doing and asking questions about our work"
The Crown retains ownership rights to all unmarked swans in open water, which it has shared with two livery companies, Vintners Livery Company and Dyers Livery Company of the City of London, since the 15th century
"Two-hundred years ago there would have been a lot more swans than there are today and conservation is much more important now. Pollution and loss of habitats have affected the birds so the job we do is vital to check on how they are doing."
telegraph.co.uk
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