The Tradition of Royal Swans
Swans are reputed to be quite tasty, although relatively few today have ever tasted them. As the once famous and now infamous chef Mario Batali described his experience with a Christmas swan hunted in Michigan: “It was delicious – deep red, lean, lightly gamey, moist, and succulent“. In England, even fewer people nowadays have tasted swan, since killing them has been illegal since the 1980s. In a twist, all swans in England are the property of the monarch. For centuries, eating swan was a mark of high status. However, by default, all swans belonged to the king or queen, and to legally consume the majestic birds, one had to pay.
Swans in England have long been “royal fowl”, but for centuries, the upper classes purchased from the monarch the right to own, sell, and eat them. Those who paid for the privilege were granted special “swan marks” to carve on the beaks of their birds. All swans not so marked remained the property of the monarch. Over time, elaborate rules and entire books were written to keep track of the markings. Swan’s popularity as a status meat began to wane in the eighteenth century. By the late nineteenth century, marking swan beaks came to be seen as animal cruelty, and the practice fell out of favor.
