Guest post by Katy Barnett, 18 May 2020.
This blog has recently featured a fascinating post on whether it is possible to steal a peacock. In this post, I’m going to look at the laws surrounding a different kind of bird: the strange historical English laws regarding the monarch and ownership of swans. It is sometimes said that only the Queen may eat swan, and that she owns all the swans in England. This is not strictly correct. The truth, however, is far more interesting.[1]
The Case of Swans
My journey into the law of swan ownership started when I looked at a 1592 case reported by Edward Coke, The Case of Swans, in which he represented Elizabeth I. This case famously confirms the general principles regarding ownership of wild animals, and confirms the rights of the monarch with regard to unmarked swans.[2] It arose when…
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Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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