Presentiment? The Tower of London crow is missing and fears its death | London

One of the crows in the tower London It is feared that he is dead, in a potentially grim omen for Britain. This means that the tower is about to contain fewer than six crows, a level that, according to legend, would lead to the destruction of the kingdom.

Ravenmaster Christopher Skaife confirmed that one of the birds, Merlina, known as the queen of crows cruelty in the tower, is presumed to have died after being lost for weeks.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today program, Skeeffe said, “Merlina is a free crow and has been known to leave the tower areas on many occasions. I am her friend and she usually comes back to us, but she didn’t this time. Anymore. ” “Just before Christmas, before we went into lockdown, we’d put crows in bed, and they didn’t come back,” he added.

If Merlena’s death was confirmed, it would bring the number of crows in the tower to only seven. According to legend, if two more die, the kingdom will fall.

But Skeeff said if she didn’t return Merlin, the tower had a spare crow to ensure at least six remained.

He said: We have seven crows here in the Tower of London, six by royal order. Of course I still have an extra piece, so we’re fine for the time being. “

In a statement on Twitter, the Tower of London said it hoped Merlena would be replaced by a chick from the crow breeding program.

Several legends link the keeping of crows in the sign Charles II and the royal astronomer John Flamsteed. According to one of them, Charles refused to remove the crows from the sign after Flamsteed complained that they were blocking his view of the stars.

According to another, Flamsteed was concerned that the crows would be persecuted in the tower after their association with the Great Fire of London. After he was advised that killing all crows would be a bad omen, Charles II ordered that six birds be kept in the tower.

• This article was modified on January 14, 2021. In some places, the original piece incorrectly spelled the name of the missing Corvid as “Molina”, instead of Merlena.