Nidhish Waghmare
King Charles has many titles and he may hold the title of the United kingdom’s monarch but how about “Seigneur of the Swans,” representing him as the owner of every wild and unmarked swan in England that roams the country’s river.
Named after the ancient tradition
The King claimed this title on July 19, after the King participated in a royal tradition called the “Swan Upping,” assisted by David Barber, the Royal Swan Maker as they sat out on a journey of the famous river’s 79-mile reach, a tradition to count the number of birds swimming. It is a custom which dates back to the 12th century, King takes every year of the swan population on the River Thames.
King’s team shared a glimpse of the event showing the Swan Upping crew hitting the water in traditional skiffs featuring flags, oars and more, that were branded with Charles’s royal emblem.
“The annual Swan Upping on the River Thames concluded today.The week-long flotilla of traditional Thames rowing boats (called ‘skiffs’) record the census and health of the swan population over a 130-km route.” the post with captioned
Swan Upping tradition in detail
Barber explained the whole process of the Swan Upping event and said that it hardly takes 30 minutes to complete
He said “All the young cygnets [an adolescent swan] and adult birds have to be released together as the cygnets will get lost otherwise. So you have to be very, very careful. You face the cygnet to the parent bird, and then they will go off in the water together,”
He went on saying,“Swans are large birds that weigh up to 15 kilograms [33 pounds]. They have a wingspan of approximately 2.5 meters [8.2 feet], so they are a very large bird to deal with. They are heavy to get out of the water and, of course, they flap around quite a bit too.”
“It’s worth doing because if we didn’t, the population of swans would just gradually disappear.” he concluded
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