ABSTRACT
Doves were popular birds with Fenland people, perhaps on account of the Biblical narrative of the Flood and the incident of the dove returning with an olive branch, thus announcing the abating of the waters. This would naturally appeal to inhabitants of such a flood-ridden region as were the undrained Fens. A Cambridge woman said in 1956 that in 1900, when she was 10 years old, an uncle brought round to her a tame jackdaw for her to have as a pet. He himself had had the bird for some time after he had found it in his garden with a damaged wing which by then had mended. Owls are in Cambridgeshire regarded as birds of ill omen. In the Fens they were thought to be witches in disguise and were, if possible shot on sight. The mixing of red and white gladioli in one vase is still thought to be unlucky by some of the staffs of Cambridgeshire hospitals.
