Tuesday, September 05, 2006

A Murder of Crows in Canada's Murder Capital


One crow for sorrow,
Two crows for joy,
Three crows for a girl,
Four for a boy,
Five crows for silver,
Six crows for gold,
Seven crows for a secret never to be told.
When you have more than one crow, as in a flock of crows they it is called a " murder of crows."

Crows and ravens have often been popular symbols of evil and death. They play the part nicely and are quite appropriatly dressed. They are of course scavengers and so tend to hang around dead creatures (a gathering of crows, by the way, is called a murder). Their racous caws are considered omens of death in folklore. If crows gather or caw in the vicinity of a house it is expected someone will die there soon
This summer has been a real crow one. Crows everywhere. Can't remember the last time we had this many crows around. Now crows of course are carrion birds who hang around the dead.

Crows, and especially ravens, often feature in legends or mythology as portents or harbingers of doom or death, because of their dark plumage, unnerving calls, and tendency to eat carrion. They are commonly thought to circle above scenes of death such as battles.

So perhaps it is appropriate that this summer was one that had a murder of crows abounding in Murder City.

Edmonton leads nation in homicides

Coincidence? I think not.

Edmonton had 44 homicides, 10 more than in 2004. This resulted in Edmonton having the highest homicide rate among all CMAs, at 4.3 per 100,000 population. Edmonton's rate was its highest since 1981, when CMA statistics were first collected.

The crows hang around where the dead are. And this years homicide rate in Edmonton remains high.

By this time last year, there were 22 homicide cases in the city of Edmonton, including the slayings of pregnant mother Liana White, 29; convenience store clerk Dilbag Singh Sandhu, 29; infant Alexis Grant; and cab driver Hassan Mohammed Yussuf, 41. This year, there have been only 14 cases, five of which have been solved. Eight homicide victims were shot to death, four stabbed, one beaten and the cause of one victim's death has not yet been released. Edmonton area homicide capital

And we are experiencing a serial murderer killing the cities inner city prostitutes Along with vehicular homicide that makes Edmonton sound just like LA.
Teen charged with second-degree murder after road-rage incident


Of course Crows and Ravens are the colour of death and Anarchy.
And they are anarchistic in their practices of mutual aid.


The Corvids - crows, ravens, jays, magpies and jackdaws, are the Einsteins of the bird family; no other birds even come close to matching their intelligence. Crows live in close knit family groups. They communicate -- some 23 distinct patterns of caws have been interpreted -- and they cooperate with each other.

Not only amongst themselves but in relation to carnivores. It has been reported that ravens will circle prey for wolves in the North. Working as air reconnisance, and eating the left overs of the wolves kill.

Ravens should not be confused with Crows. They are smarter, larger and have apparently told one journalist; 'Nevermore'





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1 comment:

  1. Hi I looked up your crow poem thinking that is the magpie not crow poem from old sources...it was...
    the crow verse is different...
    (This particular version is used in the Counting Crows song "A Murder of One."

    One for sorrow
    Two for mirth
    Three for a funeral
    Four for a birth
    Five for heaven
    Six for hell
    Seven's the Devil his own sel'
    Sometimes (but rarely), three extra lines are added:

    Eight for a wish
    Nine for a kiss
    Ten for a bird that you won't want to miss.
    or

    Eight for a wish
    Nine for a kiss
    Ten for a time of Joyous Bliss

    ReplyDelete