Stone the Crows
Posted by ESC on March 04, 2003
In Reply to: Stone the Crows posted by James Briggs on March 04, 2003
: We had a discussion back in 1999 about the origin of the, apparently, very British saying 'Stone the Crows'. No real answer was forthcoming - link below. In today's Q&A in the Times, the following was offered.
: For many centuries, young children (and others) were employed
as bird scarers, especially of crows. They used whatever means were available
to frighten away the birds, hence the expression "stone the crows".
: The Norfolk
Labour MP, Sir George Edwards, who founded the National Union of Land Workers,
even called his autobiography, written in 1922, "From Crow Scaring to Westminster",
and there are many references in old country accounts to "crow scaring", "crow
keeping", "crow stoning" and "rook starving". The rewards were modest - at the
age of six, Edwards was paid a shilling for a seven-day week in Norfolk. In Gloucestershire,
things were more varied - the going rate was from 6d a day, although if you were
unfortunate enough to live in Winchcombe, all you received was 1d or 2d plus a
swede.
: Professor Stefan Buczacki, author, Fauna Britannica, Stratford-upon-Avon
Great! It may take a while, but we come up with an answer sooner or later.