I guess blackbirds must be good for something. I wonder why the ‘true love’ wanted to give the singer four of them though?
(I should probably state upfront that whenever I think of blackbirds, I think of crows. And I don’t like crows. I mean – who does? When I lived in Brisbane and studied for my B.Ed. at Griffith, there were simply hundreds of the creatures at the MtGravatt campus. They were more obvious in the late afternoons, when the student population had decreased for the day, picking scraps out of the rubbish bins and making a horrible mess. Large creatures they were, too. But apparently I’m wrong. Crows aren’t blackbirds.)
Instead, blackbirds are, again, birds used for food – just as the partridges and hens were. The ‘Sing a Song of Sixpence’ nursery rhyme confirmed this. They’re quite a bit smaller than the crows I mistook them for though – which I guess is why you’d need 24 of them in a pie! They also form strong pairing relationships, so they fit in with the ‘devoted love’ theme of the song. Aww.
So back to my original question. Why four? Because you’d need that many for a reliable meal? Maybe so. Food is something at the forefront of my mind at the moment. Not just because it’s Christmas, but because I find myself for the first time, flooded in, and in a situation where we have a limited food supply for the foreseeable future. So for those of you believe in it, I’d love a few prayers sent heavenwards, to stop this rain so we can get some more food!!!
Anyway, best go. Nappies need changing and breakfast needs giving. Have a lovely day, everyone! Til tomorrow and its five gold “rings”!