Swan Upping

Third week in July

The tradition of marking newborn swans goes back six centuries, to a time when most of the swans on England's public waters were owned by the queen. Later the members of two livery companies (trade guilds), the Company of Dyers and the Company of Vintners, were given the right to keep swans on the Thames River between London and Henley.
Every year since 1363, the Queen's swan master and the swan wardens of the two livery companies row up the Thames, starting at Blackfriars in the center of London and continuing upstream to Abingdon, and "up" all the swan families into the boats, where they are marked with identification numbers. There are very specific rules governing how ownership is decided, and the six boats, each flying a large silk flag as they row up the river, form a procession that has changed little over the centuries.

CONTACTS:
The British Monarchy Official Web Site
Buckingham Palace
London, SW1A 1AA United Kingdom
44-20-7930-4832
www.royal.gov.uk

SOURCES:
BkHolWrld-1986, Jul 21
GdWrldFest-1985, p. 95

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References in periodicals archive

David Barber said the number of cygnets on the river were down on last year as he and his team began the annual week-long survey of their numbers, an ancient ceremony known as Swan Upping.

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