Tucking into sparrow pie
QUESTION How popular was sparrow pie during World War II?
The common sparrow Passer domesticus is our most familiar garden bird. For centuries it was eaten in great quantities, often with more than 100 to a pie.
Take this recipe from Charles Carter’s 1736 The Compleat City And Country Cook for lark or sparrow pye: ‘You must have five dozen at least; lay betwixt every one a bit of bacon as you do when you roast them, and a leaf of sage and a little forcemeat at the bottom of your crust; put on some butter a top and lid it; when bak’d for one hour, which will be sufficient, make a little thicken ’d gravy, put in the juice of a lemon; season with pepper and salt, so serve it hot and quick.’
In 1769, elizabeth Raffald’s The experienced english housekeeper had a recipe for sparrow dumplings: ‘Mix half a pint of good milk with three eggs, a little salt, and as much flour as will make a thick batter. Put a lump of butter rolled in pepper and salt in every sparrow, mix them in the batter and tie them in a cloth, boil them one hour and a half. Pour melted butter over them and serve it up.’
Sparrow was a common dish during the privations of World War I, less so in World War II, though it was not unknown. The Rose Inn at Peldon, near Colchester, essex, was famous for its 100-sparrow pie until the late Sixties.
A 1917 report by the Department of Agriculture suggested that sparrows were damaging the corn harvest and encouraged children to kill as many as they could.
In a house of Commons debate, Chancellor of the exchequer Andrew Bonar Law challenged Sir Robert Winfrey, Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Agriculture, on this practice: ‘Whether they consider that the difference between the destruction of crops by sparrows and by the insects on which they feed is commensurate with the demoralisation which the habit and practice of cruelty which the killing of birds will develop and strengthen; and whether this recommendation will be withdrawn?’
Sir Robert replied: ‘The loss of food owing to the depredations of sparrows is so serious that the board have urged the formation of Sparrow Clubs throughout the country; but they have advised that school children should not be employed on the destruction of sparrows, except under the supervision of their teachers.’
Sparrow Clubs saw the destruction of millions of birds, resulting in a new threat from caterpillars. According to one report from hampshire: ‘They were so dense crossing the roads that horses and carts were slipping and skidding on their bodies, and day and night one could stand and listen to the ominous rustling and crawling of caterpillars.’
In an about-turn, the 1954 Protection of Birds Act safeguarded sparrows against persecution by farmers.
Katherine Nelson, Thetford, Suffolk.
QUESTION What pun ends ‘Where the sons raise meat’?
SCI-FI author Isaac Asimov was a great punster. Fans of his novels will recall some pretty dreadful puns, such as: ‘There’s going to be trouble with that robot, he’s pure nuts!’
In 1971, Asimov published Treasury Of humour: A Lifetime Collection Of Favourite Jokes, Anecdotes And Limericks With Copious Notes On how To Tell Them And Why in which he described the perfect triple pun: ‘Three brothers went out West to establish a cattle ranch, but couldn’t think of an appropriate name for it. So they wrote to their father. he replied that they should name the ranch “Focus” because that’s where the sons raise meat’ (or Sun’s rays meet).
Bill llewellyn, Monmouth.
QUESTION Why do blood tests have to be taken from a vein in the arm and not the back of the hand?
WheN I was a junior doctor, I took thousands of blood samples, and when I had a heart attack in 2015, I had hundreds of blood tests taken from various parts of my body. Blood samples are usually taken from the front of the elbow where the veins are large and easily accessible. Another advantage is it’s not too painful. The veins on the back of the hand can be used if there has been damage to the elbow veins or bruising caused by previous venipunctures. This can be more difficult as the veins are smaller and the pain can be greater due to the number of nerve endings. It is also possible to take blood from the large veins on the front of the foot, but this causes great pain. I had to have this done in 2015 because all my other veins were unusable due to previous venipuncture. My screams could be heard at the other end of the ward! Dr Colin M. Barron, Dunblane, Perthshire.
QUESTION Which monarch was lowest down the royal line of succession?
FuRTheR to an earlier answer, alongside William of Normandy and henry VII, George I has to be considered.
When the future Queen Anne’s only surviving child out of 17, the Duke of Gloucester, died at the age of 11, there was a crisis about the heir. The Act of Settlement 1701 was passed to ensure future sovereigns were Protestant.
After 56 claimants were bypassed because they were Catholics, electress Sophia of hanover was nominated heir presumptive. She died on May 28, 1714, with succession passing to her son, George, who could barely speak english.
Queen Anne died a few weeks later, on August 1, and George arrived in england on September 18.
In Scotland, he is referred to as the Wee German Laird. The rebellions of 1715 and 1745 were attempts to put a Stuart on the throne, with the Old Pretender and the Young Pretender being first in line of succession, but for their Catholic faith.
Ron J. Scrimgeour, Forfar, Angus. IS THERE a question to which you want to know the answer? Or do you know the answer to a question here? Write to: Charles Legge, Answers To Correspondents, Scottish Daily Mail, 20 Waterloo Street, Glasgow G2 6DB; or email charles.legge@dailymail.co.uk. A selection is published, but we’re unable to enter into individual correspondence.
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