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Ned Potter is the science correspondent for ABC's "World News with Charles Gibson." He has reported on such topics as space exploration, the human genome and climate change.
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Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here
February 20, 2006 10:30 PM
A quick bird-flu update: The Tower of London is bringing its famed ravens indoors.
This quote from Derrick Coyle, the Tower's raven master: "Although we don't like having to bring the Tower ravens inside, we believe it is the safest thing to do for their own protection, given the speed that the virus is moving across Europe."
Legend has it that if the ravens leave the grounds of the White Tower, it will crumble and the Kingdom of England will fall. King Charles II decreed in the Seventeenth Century that there must always be six ravens at the Tower. There are six birds today, and they will be kept, for now, in custom-built aviaries. Extra credit if you can name the ravens.
Note added late Tuesday morning: Chuck wins the extra credit for naming the birds: Gwylum, Thor, Hugine, Munin, Branwen, Bran, Gundulf, and Baldrick. I'm afraid, though, that I'd given absolutely no thought to just what you win for getting the answer.
February 20, 2006 | Permalink | User Comments (2)
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Ned, I'll be glad to have anything as a prize except Brussels sprouts, which I still classify as a venomous plant!
Posted by: chuck | Feb 21, 2006 1:42:59 PM
A bit late for the "Kingdom of England" to fall. The last *English* monarch (not king) was Elizabeth the First. Every monarch since 1603 has been the *British* monarch. The Kingdom of England ceased to exist in 1707, when the English and Scottich parliaments merged.
Posted by: George Brims | Feb 24, 2006 2:18:40 PM
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