THAMES SWANS. 87 



of the Tower in 1381, we read, "All manner of Swannes 

 that come through the bridge or beneath the bridge, be 

 clearlie the Constables, and also there shall be noe Swanne 

 eyre beneath the bridge, but the owners of the said 

 Swannes shall make a fyne for them to the said Con- 

 stable, and over that the Constable shall have of every 

 nest a Signet." 



Times have changed considerably since the days 

 when Paulus Jovius wrote, in 1 543, that he never saw 

 a river so thickly covered with Swans as the Thames. 

 Swans are not so carefully preserved now as they were 

 in olden days when they were served up as a savory 

 dish at every great feast. These Thames Swans form 

 a very interesting link with ancient days and quaint 

 customs. The Swan is a bird royal in which no subject 

 can have property when at large in a public river except 

 by grant from the Crown. When conferring this privi- 

 lege, the Crown also grants a Swan-mark. This mark 

 is cut upon the skin of the beak with a sharp knife or 

 other instrument. In 1483 Edward the Fourth decreed 

 that no person, other than the king's sons, should have 

 a Swan-mark who did not possess a freehold of the clear 

 yearly value of five marks. No person could appoint 

 a Swan-herd without royal licence. A silver Swan was 

 the principal device on the badge of Henry the Fourth. 

 The laws in those days were exceptionally severe for the 

 protection of these handsome birds. In 1496, during 



