CHICKEN

27th December 2023

Tis York that hath more reason for his death.

But my Lord Cardinal, and you, my lord of Suffolk,

Say as you think, and speak it from your souls:

Were ‘t not all one an empty eagle were set

To guard the chicken from a hungry kite

As place Duke Humphrey for the King’s Protector?

WARWICK: Henry VI, Part 2, Act 3, Scene 1

CHICKEN (Gallus gallus ssp domesticus)

Chickens were important for both meat and eggs and they appear in Shakespeare’s works in different forms: Chickens, Hens, Cock or Cockerel and Capon (a castrated cockerel). They also have symbolic identities. The Cock in Hamlet signals the dawn and the disappearance of Old Hamlet’s ghost. The Cock in the Bible is the signal that Peter will deny Christ and books such as Hugh de Fouilly’s “Aviarium”, a medieval book of bird symbolism, associate the Cockerel with communication from heaven.

Chickens have been domesticated for thousands of years and their wild relative is the Red Junglefowl (Gallus gallus). There is debate around the timing of the introduction of the chicken to Europe and Britain. Julius Caesar, in the first century BCE, claims that the Britons held the Hare, Cockerel and Goose sacred and did not eat them. Chickens are kept for meat and eggs in many parts of the world and there is a rich diversity of varieties, colours and shapes.

More Information

Caesar, J, Gallic Wars Book 5, Chapter 12: accessed via Perseus Tufts

Foods of England: A Good Huswifes Handmaide in the Kitchin (1594)

Geneva Bible 1599: Bible Gateway

Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF): Domesticated Chicken

Hugh de Fouilly, 1172, Aviarium (English Translation: Clark, W.B. 1992 available online via Archive.org)

IUCN Global Red List: Gallus gallus (Red Junglefowl)

Natural History Museum: Where Do Chickens Come From (Youtube Film)