Comments on: I've got it -- it was Sir Peter Maxwell Davies in Orkney with a power line!

I've got it -- it was Sir Peter Maxwell Davies in Orkney with a power line!

maudlin — Fri, 18 Mar 2005 18:43:06 -0800

"I had to give a statement. I offered them coffee and asked them if they would like to try some swan terrine but I think they were rather horrified. That was a mistake, wasn't it?" The Queen's composer wonders whether he should rethink his thrifty attitude towards accidentally acquired food.

By: yodelingisfun

yodelingisfun — Fri, 18 Mar 2005 18:53:01 -0800

Mmmmm swan

By: dash_slot-

dash_slot- — Fri, 18 Mar 2005 18:56:56 -0800

"I might yet be in Inverness Prison but I suspect, being Master of the Queen's Music, I might have to do porridge* with a ball and chain in the Tower of London." Heheh. He's just gone up in my book. *british slang for doing time in prison - that other genius Ronnie Barker had a classic sitcom titled Porridge in the 70's, though I doubt most Mefites heard of it.

By: deafmute

deafmute — Fri, 18 Mar 2005 20:01:34 -0800

Wow. Not living in the UK, I forget about the vestiges of monarchy still present there and throughout much of Europe. While it may seem self-evident, can someone explain what exactly the queen's composer does? And that Udal law thing? Jesus. How interesting.

By: putzface_dickman

putzface_dickman — Fri, 18 Mar 2005 20:09:31 -0800

This is good. There was an excellent, little noticed post on his birthday last September. It's here.

By: Vulpyne

Vulpyne — Fri, 18 Mar 2005 20:11:07 -0800

He composes music for the queen.

By: orthogonality

orthogonality — Fri, 18 Mar 2005 20:14:59 -0800

I thought all swans in the realm were property of the crown.

By: dhartung

dhartung — Fri, 18 Mar 2005 20:29:38 -0800

There does seem to be a technicality with this Udal Law, though it's generally considered defunct.

By: mischief

mischief — Fri, 18 Mar 2005 20:41:44 -0800

deafmute: probably the same thing a state poet does.

By: Flitcraft

Flitcraft — Fri, 18 Mar 2005 21:12:32 -0800

At least he wasn't swan upping however Udal Law has been used in the past to justify swan offing One interesting anomaly is the Mute Swan. About 1910 a Kirkwall lawyer was determined to prove that Udal Law still had force, and accompanied by his friend, the Procurator Fiscal, went out to Harray Loch and shot a swan. The case went to the High Court and the Crown lost. Everywhere else in UK the Crown owned the Swans - in Orkney they were, and still are, the property of the people as the Norwegian Crown never claimed such ownership. Nowadays we do not shoot swans, but the principles of the old Norse Udal Law still stand. I'm sure the Queen would be delighted to sample his swan terrine though.

By: blacklite

blacklite — Fri, 18 Mar 2005 22:04:38 -0800

How... odd.

By: Deepspace

Deepspace — Fri, 18 Mar 2005 22:39:51 -0800

"you take out the breast meat and the good leg meat, you give the rest to the cat" Priceless. So British...

By: dabitch

dabitch — Fri, 18 Mar 2005 22:42:04 -0800

Hehehe. Love that he's so generous with his terrine. ;) Oh and thanks for the legal blurb Flitcraft.

By: soyjoy

soyjoy — Fri, 18 Mar 2005 22:50:03 -0800

There may be some scientific reason to require people to preserve a portion of a dead "endangered" animal, I guess, but otherwise this fetishism about how outrageous it is to eat a certain kind of animal versus the one the next species over seems like classic guilt displacement. What the hell, after all, does the swan care? I sure wouldn't eat it, of course, but if PMD is eating birds anyway (and didn't set up his own powerlines as a trap - hey, he's eccentric, who knows), what's the big deal with making a terrine out of one?

By: Onanist

Onanist — Fri, 18 Mar 2005 23:13:30 -0800

Great link, thanks. Gave me a good laugh. The Queen's composer sounds like a cool d00d, against expectation. (dash_slot-: I know Porridge, even though I wasn't born until 1977.)

By: orange swan

orange swan — Sat, 19 Mar 2005 00:12:31 -0800

By: paddbear

paddbear — Sat, 19 Mar 2005 01:12:59 -0800

Sounds like one of The New Yorker's "There'll Always Be an England..." bits.

By: chrispy

chrispy — Sat, 19 Mar 2005 02:34:18 -0800

They interviewed him on the today programme yesterday - made me proud to be British. This seems an appropriate if anachronistic place to link to mamagotchi (bless her soul) - keep her alive by feeding her swans and gin.

By: winston

winston — Sat, 19 Mar 2005 03:46:08 -0800

He'll probably be on the yesterday program today

By: chrispy

chrispy — Sat, 19 Mar 2005 04:43:54 -0800

I did search in the archive, but they only had the day before the day before yesterday's today programme ;-) I'm sure it'll be there soon.

By: raygirvan

raygirvan — Sat, 19 Mar 2005 05:10:44 -0800

The idea of eating Royal swans has an added frisson here as one of the tabloid urban myths cooked up against asylum seekers.

By: mrplab

mrplab — Sat, 19 Mar 2005 05:49:05 -0800

*laughing at orange swan*

By: Duck_Lips

Duck_Lips — Sat, 19 Mar 2005 06:23:17 -0800

I wonder if his music is influenced by Carl Orf. In particular the Roast Swan section of Carmina Burana. O Fortuna, indeed.

By: kcds

kcds — Sat, 19 Mar 2005 07:45:01 -0800

soyjoy his fetishism about how outrageous it is to eat a certain kind of animal versus the one the next species over seems like classic guilt displacement. Not so much with the "classic guilt displacement". Not even so much with ol' faithful "projection" nor even that hoary old standby, "closure". Sorry, I got a bunch of old psychobabble keywords in a close-out sale and wanted to use some of them up. The "outrage", such as it is here, is, as others have pointed out, is only because all swans in the realm (ie the United Kingdom of England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and Outlying Islands) are the property of the crown (ie Liz Windsor aka Liz Saxe-Coburg-Gotha). And now, I'm afraid, our hour is up ...

By: 40 Watt

40 Watt — Sat, 19 Mar 2005 09:13:57 -0800

orange swan wins.

By: First Post

First Post — Sat, 19 Mar 2005 10:32:54 -0800

that other genius Ronnie Barker had a classic sitcom titled Porridge in the 70's, though I doubt most Mefites heard of it. I love that show! They play it now on the Dallas area PBS station. This is an interesting article.

By: Baby_Balrog

Baby_Balrog — Sat, 19 Mar 2005 14:15:37 -0800

What the hell? Is it bad to eat swans? I live in Michigan (not Ohio) and have eaten swan. The damn thing tried to kill my uncle once when he was canoeing. It was pretty good, like a big mallard. So, there you go. Same for giant snapper turtle, canadian geese, whatever. I suppose I wouldn't go out and "hunt" for swan. Ducks are much tastier and plentiful. Besides, a swan can kill you. Is this a british thing that I'm missing here? Or are the rest of you of the general consensus that we're only supposed to eat certain types of waterfowl?

By: raygirvan

raygirvan — Sat, 19 Mar 2005 14:57:19 -0800

Is this a british thing that I'm missing here? Yes! As has already been said several times, this is all about the status of British swans: in long-standing law (confirmed in the Wild Creatures and Forest Laws Act 1971) "all wild and unmarked swans on open water" belong to the Crown. This isn't just about fetishisation of their Royal status; because they count as property, hunting and killing them comes under theft and criminal damage as well as general wildlife protection laws.

By: soyjoy

soyjoy — Sat, 19 Mar 2005 22:20:05 -0800

And now, I'm afraid, our hour is up ... Yes, unfortunately, it is. Maybe you'll make more progress next time.