Wednesday, April 17, 2019

The Ravenmaster: My Life with the Ravens at the Tower of London

This is the book to read if you like ravens, birds in general, English history, memoirs by people who live interesting lives, London or the Tower of London. Skaife makes the ravens sound fascinating, they have strong personalities, each one different, and his job as official Ravenmaster is rather all consuming.
Skaife and his wife and daughter live on the Tower grounds. His title is Yeoman Warder of Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress the Tower of London. The hardcover edition has lots of color photographs.
Legend has it that if all the ravens leave the Tower of London, England will fall. Seven ravens live in the Tower today, and they could fly away so Skaife designs their lives so that they want to stay.
He weaves in a few ghost stories and history. Quite a few famous people were executed there including King Henry VIII's wife, Queen Anne Boleyn.
I enjoyed reading this book, and then found a TV documentary series called The Tower, and Christopher Skaife is in the series, which I also recommend.

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19 comments:

  1. SandiApril 17, 2019 at 6:12 AM

    They sound terrifying!

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  2. JenniferApril 17, 2019 at 10:42 AM

    I love ravens and crows and this sounds like a book that would be right up my alley! Thanks for the recommendation!

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  3. BetsyApril 17, 2019 at 10:44 AM

    This sounds like a great book! I've been to the Tower of London two times now and learned so much history both times. It's fascinating to me. Thanks for the recommendation.
    Blessings,
    Betsy

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  4. OlgaApril 17, 2019 at 11:19 AM

    I think ravens are fascinating. Thanks for the recommendations.

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  5. Arkansas PattiApril 17, 2019 at 12:03 PM

    Goodness, let's hope he is successful and the Ravens never leave.

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  6. JunkchiccottageApril 17, 2019 at 12:37 PM

    Oh this sounds so interesting. I will have to look for the documentary.
    Happy Easter.
    Kris

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  7. Susan KaneApril 17, 2019 at 12:59 PM

    That is one heck of a job.

    Crows are intelligent, can communicate with each other.

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  8. Granny MarigoldApril 17, 2019 at 7:06 PM

    Sounds like an interesting book and I'm going to be looking for that documentary.
    Personally I'm not to fond of crows and/or ravens. We rarely see any ravens around here but crows are everywhere and are quite pesky.

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  9. Blondie's JournalApril 17, 2019 at 7:51 PM

    This sounds fascinating!! Not sure if I'd like the job but it sure takes a lot of creativity!

    Jane

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  10. Liz HindsApril 18, 2019 at 9:16 AM

    I never knew there was a raven master!

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  11. JeanieApril 19, 2019 at 8:57 AM

    I've heard about this and thought it must be very interesting. Thanks for the recommendation -- and also thanks for your recent visit to my place! So nice to see you!

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  12. Iris FlaviaApril 20, 2019 at 12:35 AM

    Oh, I love ravens, especially the Australian ones as they really chat all day!

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  13. stardustApril 20, 2019 at 4:02 AM

    I know austringer who deals with falcons but Raven master is new to me. It’d be one of the most unusual jobs. The legend ofthe Tower of London regarding its ravens is so interesting. Thanks for sharing.

    Yoko

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  14. JoaredApril 21, 2019 at 2:39 AM

    Sounds interesting. I didn't know the Raven lore about the Tower of London. Ravens are intelligent.

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  15. Lark April 23, 2019 at 1:24 PM

    I do love ravens! And I didn't know there was so much lore about them and the Tower of London. This book sounds so interesting!! :)

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  16. Kay G.April 25, 2019 at 6:02 AM

    Oh my, I would love love love this book!! Thanks for telling me about it!

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  17. Kay G.April 25, 2019 at 12:46 PM

    I would love this book! Thanks for telling us about it here!

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  18. Carola BartzApril 26, 2019 at 6:55 PM

    This sounds like a very interesting read! I do like ravens and was always fascinated by the ones in the Tower.

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  19. KarenMay 22, 2019 at 4:25 PM

    What a wonderful book! One I must look out for. You may be interested to know, that I believe they have just had baby raven chicks hatch at the tower a couple of weeks ago. So the Tower hopefully will be safe for a while longer :)

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