Stone the crows

Posted by Victoria S Dennis on June 16, 2008 at 09:40

In Reply to: Stone the crows posted by Markku on June 13, 2008 at 08:10:

: I was searching info on the Scottish band Stone the Crows and bumped on the explanation that meaning "To hell with it". Now since the crows -to my knowledge- have special meaning in British mythology including the crows in Tower, King Arthur, could it be possible that the Scottish would have been more than delighted to stone them down? Hence Stone the Crows!

: I understood that the phrase is typically Scottish.

It doesn't mean "To hell with it" at all; it is an expression of surprise. ("He actually married her??? Stone the crows!") It is utterly *not* Scottish. It originated in Australia in the 1930s and is still strongly associated with Australia in the British mind, so much so when British people use it they will quite often put on an Australian accent. And crows have no special meaning in British mythology - the birds at the Tower of London are ravens, a different species of corvid, and King Arthur is most associated with the Cornish chough, a different species again. And even if it were true that crows were associated with King Arthur, why would that make the Scots want to stone them? (VSD)