SWALLOW

27th March 2024

Photo Credit: Andy_Howe (Getty Images Signature), CANVA

QUOTATION

All for our vantage. Then, in God’s name march.

True hope is swift and flies with swallow’s wings;

Kings it makes gods, and meaner creatures kings.

RICHMOND: Richard III, Act 5, Scene 2

SWALLOW (Hirundo rustica)

The Swallow is a metaphor for speed and agility, and the herald of better weather in Shakespeare’s works. In the quotation above, Richmond, the future Henry VII, Henry Tudor, is gathering his army for the last battle of Richard III and is daring to hope that he will conquer Richard and be crowned King of England.

Swallows appear in the heritage and culture of many societies. Ovid described how Procne was changed into a Swallow after feeding her son to her treacherous husband ‘the other flew up to the roof as a swallow but badges of murder remained on their breasts in the blood-tinged plumage’. In the Geneva Bible ‘even the stork in the air knoweth her appointed time, and the turtle (dove), and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming, but my people knoweth not the judgement of the Lord.’ (Jeremiah, 8:7)

Swallows are migratory birds who return to the UK from March onwards after spending the winter in southern Africa. They fly at speed to catch insects and nest in specially constructed nests of mud pellets built against man-made structures and buildings. Swallows have suffered a 23% decline since 1995.

More Information

British Trust for Ornithology: Swallow

Folger Shakespeare: Search Shakespeare’s Works

Geneva Bible 1599 edition: accessed via Bible Gateway

Ovid, Metamorphoses, Book 6, Line 670.

RSPB: Swallow