Wednesday, March 28, 2012

RICHARD MUIRHEAD: Possible identity of Pennlyne flying snakes

This is not really a blog , more like a request for opinions really – A couple of months ago I thought of a possible identity for the flying snakes said to haunt the Pennlyn Castle area of S.Wales – peacocks. This is because these flying snakes were said to be bejewelled rather like the brilliance of the peacocks feathers and also because of the snake-like appearance of the peacocks neck. I know it’s a long shot, but...

What do you thinks? Also, in Britain at least, the peacock has been kept as a pet, perhaps at one point they were kept as pets at the Castle? The peacock was definitely known about in the West long before the 19th century.

Rich

2 comments:

  1. Anonymous3:03 PM

    Well, I think we are close in our opinons on this: I think it is a peacock-LIKE bird but not a peacock. The reason why would probably be mostly semantic: people would not be saying the feathers were "like a peacock" if it WAS a peacock. so I think they were implying there was a discernable difference in there

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  2. A snake is not a bird. Don't know how ppl could confuse the two together. (Though these were said to have cockerel-like combs, I think?) I know this story &they *were* known in the early 19th c, not the middle ages. But why would they only be known in this one place in Wales? & why would they be known as predators "as bad as foxes"?

    If they were peacocks?

    You must be thinking rainbow hawks or summat?! :)

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