ロンドン塔と6羽のカラス──“is the kingdom in danger?”

Chris Skaife @ravenmaster1

Sitting in silence pic.twitter.com/yRp16FlLr2

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The Tower of London @TowerOfLondon

We have some really unhappy news to share. Our much-loved raven Merlina has not been seen at the Tower for several weeks, and her continued absence indicates to us that she may have sadly passed away. (1/4) pic.twitter.com/ccwCIBfdlT

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The Tower of London @TowerOfLondon

Though it isn’t unusual for our ravens to roam outside the walls, free-spirited Merlina has previously always returned to the Tower and to the Ravenmaster and his team, with whom she shared a wonderfully close bond. (2/4)

The Tower of London @TowerOfLondon

We now have 7 ravens here at the Tower — one more than the required 6, so we don’t have any immediate plans to fill Merlina’s vacancy. However in time we hope that a new chick from our breeding programme will be up to the formidable challenge of continuing her legacy. (3/4)

The Tower of London @TowerOfLondon

Since joining us in 2007, Merlina was our undisputed ruler of the roost, Queen of the Tower Ravens. She will be greatly missed by her fellow ravens, the Ravenmaster, and all of us in the Tower community 🖤 (4/4)

AFPBB News @afpbbcom

英ロンドン塔は14日、飼育しているカラス1羽が行方不明になり、死んだ恐れがあると発表した。英国には、ロンドン塔にカラスが6羽そろっていないと国が崩壊するという伝承がある。 afpbb.com/articles/-/332…

The Tower of London @TowerOfLondon

Thanks to everyone who’s been sharing their well-wishes and memories of Merlina 🖤 We’ve also been receiving a lot of questions (“why do you keep ravens at the Tower?”, “is the kingdom in danger?”) so we thought: time for a raven refresher! 👇 (1/10) pic.twitter.com/onrG3HWG1Q

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The Tower of London @TowerOfLondon

Although it’s believed that wild ravens have been flapping around the Tower for many centuries, the story behind why we actually keep ravens here today goes like this… (2/10) pic.twitter.com/77BfqbuERK

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The Tower of London @TowerOfLondon

Back in the 1670s Charles II appointed a young astronomer named John Flamsteed as his Royal Observator, and granted him use of a turret of the White Tower as an observatory 🔭 (This one, which to this day is known as the Flamsteed Turret) (3/10) pic.twitter.com/vwPhpWm75d

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The Tower of London @TowerOfLondon

According to the legend, Flamsteed soon found that the nesting ravens he had to share his turret with were obstructing the views through his telescopes and interfering with his work, so he asked the king to evict them. (4/10)

The Tower of London @TowerOfLondon

At first Charles was happy to do so, until someone pointed out that getting rid of the ravens would surely be a bad omen: these birds had always been at the Tower, and were an important symbol of national stability 💪 (5/10) pic.twitter.com/P7sXRtiWE2

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The Tower of London @TowerOfLondon

Given the run of bad luck the country had experienced in recent decades (civil war, plague and The Great Fire of London for a start), Charles apparently wasn’t willing to take any chances. (6/10) pic.twitter.com/QhNNX5Y77s

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The Tower of London @TowerOfLondon

So instead of banishing the birds, Charles had the smart idea of instigating the original 'Rule of Six'. He issued a royal decree, stating that: 1️⃣ Six ravens should be kept at the Tower forevermore! (7/10)

The Tower of London @TowerOfLondon

And the really juicy bit: 2️⃣ If the ravens do ever leave, the Tower will crumble into dust and a great harm will befall the kingdom… 😰 (8/10)

The Tower of London @TowerOfLondon

John Flamsteed flounced off to his new purpose-built Royal Observatory at Greenwich, and the ravens have been the symbolic guardians of the Tower of London ever since! (9/10) pic.twitter.com/OevjuW3glo

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The Tower of London @TowerOfLondon

Today, our current Ravenmaster Chris Skaife (@ravenmaster1) ensures that we always have the required six ravens in residence, plus one or two spares. We now have seven ravens, so you can rest assured that the Tower and the kingdom is still safe 🏰 (10/10) pic.twitter.com/OnlUxEyQEN

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