The Ravenmaster. Christopher Skaife

Чтение книги онлайн.

      2

       Ravenmaster

      I have what is often described as the oddest job in Britain.

      Odd? Maybe.

      The best? Definitely.

      My name is Chris Skaife and I am the Ravenmaster at the Tower of London.

      My official title is Yeoman Warder Christopher Skaife, of Her Majesty’s Royal Palace and Fortress the Tower of London, and member of the Sovereign’s Body Guard of the Yeoman Guard Extraordinary, which is generally believed to be the oldest formed ‘Body of Men’ in the world still in existence, dating back to the reign of King Henry VII sometime after the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485. All of us Yeoman Warders are former soldiers, male and female, with at least twenty-two years of unblemished service. We are the ceremonial guardians of the Tower of London. In principle we’re responsible for looking after any prisoners at the Tower and safeguarding the Crown Jewels. In practice, we act as tour guides and as custodians of the rituals of the Tower. We live right here, in the Tower. They say that every man’s home is his castle: for us, it’s literally the case.

      How can I begin to explain the Tower to you? It was built as a fortress and a Royal Palace, but it’s also been a prison, an arsenal, and the site of the Royal Mint and the Royal Armoury. One of the great early English historians, John Stow – who grew up about half a mile from the Tower – summed it up best in his Survey of London, published in 1598: ‘This Tower is a citadel to defend or command the city; a royal palace for assemblies or treaties; a prison of state for the most dangerous offenders; the only place of coinage for all England at this time; the armoury for warlike provision; the treasury of the ornaments and jewels of the crown; and general conserver of the most records of the king’s courts of justice at Westminster.’ That just about covers it. These days we welcome around three million visitors every year.

      There are plenty of famous places for tourists and locals to visit in London. There’s Westminster Abbey, there are the Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace, Kensington Palace, Kew Gardens, Hampton Court Palace, the British Museum, the Imperial War Museums, the V & A, the Science Museum, the Natural History Museum. The list goes on and on. If you’re the sort of person who wants to see a nice Baroque interior then off you can go to a Hawksmoor church, or if you fancy a nice bit of post-war Brutalism there’s the Royal Festival Hall. If you’re looking for a good view you can go to Hampstead Heath or Primrose Hill, or up to the top of the Shard. You’ve got your theatres and your concert halls and your restaurants and cafés. But in my opinion – my humble opinion – the Tower remains without a doubt one of London’s great attractions.

      Why? Well, there’s the obvious fact that we’re one of the first attractions. When William the Conqueror defeated King Harold at the Battle of Hastings back in 1066 he decided he needed a sign of his triumph, a monument to his great power and strength, and so sometime around the late 1070s work began on the White Tower, the biggest and boldest building ever undertaken in England. The Tower was intended as a symbol of power and remains so today: in my opinion the finest example of statement architecture in the country. London may be forever reinventing itself, but the Tower remains. Much of the old City was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666. Since then, Newgate Prison has gone. Old London Bridge has gone. The great warehouses around St Katharine Docks have gone. Even during my time at the Tower, London has been transformed: the Shard, the Gherkin, the Walkie-Talkie; Crossrail; the Docklands Light Railway; the gentrification of the East End. Yet right in the middle of it all we still have the Tower. It has seen it all, done it all, been part of it all. It has incredible architecture. Pageantry. A bloody history of murder and torture. And – of course – it has the ravens.

      We currently have seven ravens at the Tower. As the Ravenmaster I’m the person responsible for their safety, security and welfare. I look after the ravens – and the ravens look after us. Without the ravens, so the legend goes, the Tower itself will crumble into dust and great harm will befall the kingdom.

      This book will attempt to answer some of the most common questions I get asked about the Tower ravens. Why are there ravens at the Tower in the first place? Where do our myths and superstitions about the birds come from? How do I care for them? СКАЧАТЬ