King of Rome (dove)

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The pigeon's preparation exhibited in the Derby Museum .

The King of Rome was a successful racing pigeon who won a 1001 mile ( 1,611 km) race from Rome to England in 1913 . This dove has been the subject of a song and a book, both written by Dave Sudbury . English folk singer June Tabor recorded her own version of the song, which appeared on her album Aquaba in 1988.

The Dove

The deaf with blue plumage and ring number NU1907DY168 was raised in his home loft at 56 Brook Street (now demolished), Derby . The King of Rome was used as a racing pigeon since 1904. In 1913, at the time of the race, Hudson was President and Treasurer of the Derby Town Flying Club and wrote about pigeon races in the Derby Evening Telegraph . After the death of the pigeon he gave the body to the Derby Museum and Art Gallery , where the prepared exhibit with the accession number DBYMU.1946/48 is kept. The owner of the pigeon, Charles Hudson, died on March 13, 1958 at the age of 84. The pigeon preparation has been part of the exhibition since 2011 and was previously on loan to other institutions, including the Walsall Museum and Wollaton Hall in Nottingham.

The song

Dave Sudbury & King of Rome (2012)

The King of Rome and his owner are the subject of the song and book by Dave Sudbury. It tells how on the day of a great pigeon race a storm blew away a thousand pigeons that were never seen again:

"On the day of the big race a storm blew in
A thousand birds were swept away and never seen again"

This is a reference to one of the problems with pigeon racing.

The song was best known through June Tabor's recording. After hearing Sudbury play the song in the late 1980s at a competition in which Tabor was a jury member (he finished fourth), she recorded a version of her own for her album Aqaba . Brian McNeill , another finalist in the competition said:

" The King of Rome was head and shoulders above every other song sung on the night, and should have won"

McNeill later appeared with Iain MacKintosh and played this song, which became part of his album Live and Kicking as a live recording .

The American folk singer Vance Gilbert recorded it in 1994 for his album Edgewise , as did the Canadian folk musician Garnet Rogers for his album Summer Lightning (2004). The band Half Man Half Biscuit also recorded a version of the song, which is, however, unreleased.

The book

Sudbury's lyrics were printed as a 32-page book with illustrations by Hans Saefkow.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Museum plea on pigeon . In: Derby Evening Telegraph . September 25, 2001.
  2. ↑ a b The Racing Pigeon . In: The Racing Pigeon . August 2, 1913, p. 139.
  3. ^ A b Andy Savage: The King of Rome - Charles Hudson's famous Pigeon from the West end of Derby. . In: Derby Photos . Retrieved July 8, 2011.
  4. ↑ a b Legend of the stuffed superstar . In: Derby Evening Telegraph , December 9, 1996. Retrieved April 11, 2011. 
  5. ↑ a b Natural History Treasure - The King of Rome . Derby City Council. Archived from the original on July 10, 2011. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved July 8, 2011. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.derby.gov.uk
  6. ↑ a b Sleeve notes, Iain MacKintosh & Brian McNeill , Live and Kicking , 2000
  7. ↑ HMHB: Unreleased Tracks from Radio Sessions . Retrieved July 8, 2011.
  8. ^ Dave Sudbury, Hans Saefkow: The King of Rome . Simply Read Books, 2010, ISBN 978-1894965941 .

Coordinates: 52 ° 55 ′ 20.1 "  N , 1 ° 28 ′ 46.2"  W.