After being with us for upwards of six years, to our great distress,
on coming down to breakfast one morning, we discovered poor Dan
standing upon the steps of the front door, with his head and neck
covered with blood, the skin under his lower mandible being torn
from the bone and hanging down, as was his tongue from having
nothing to support it. The first thing we thought of was to sew the
skin on again, in the hope of its adhering to the bone; but neither
this nor other endeavours to effect a cure succeeded, and the poor
bird was in danger of being starved to death, as he had not the
power of swallowing, even if he got the food into his mouth, having
no use of his tongue. We were very loth to sign his death-warrant,
and yet could think of no means of saving him; when one of the
servants proposed (he carpenter's making a wooden bill for him; we
acted on the suggestion, and had one made with holes drilled in if,
and corresponding ones through the horny substance of his mandible,
and fastened it on with wire. This, contrivance answered admirablv;
he was able to eat as usual, and began to recover his good looks;
but nothing would induce him from the time of his accident to remain
on the water at night; he always came up to the house towards
evening to rest, and was most persevering in his endeavours to obtain
an entrance into his bed-place, and if he failed one way he would
try another. Occasionally he w-ould call under our sitting-room
windows to be let in. In the morning he quietly marched down to
the water, qiute contentedly. What caused the accident we could
never discover, and can only suppose it to have been done by a
stoat or polecat, as he had been seen more than once attacking the
former, which were very numerous.
The wooden bill answered admirably well for two or three months,
when the wire by which it was fastened became corroded, and it
dropped off; it had unfortunately been secured with brass or steel
wire, instead of gold or silver; had it been done with cither of the
latter, in all probability poor Dan might yet have been alive, if not to
tell his tale, to have shewn his wonderful cure; hut as it was, we did
not like putting him again to the pain of drilling fresh holes in his
mandible, as the old ones were worn through; and though we kept
him many days, in hopes that he might get accustomed to the loss of
his false bill, and be able to feed himself, we found him totally unable
to do so. As he was getting weaker and weaker, from want of
sustenance, we were most reluctantly obliged to destroy this attached
and sagacious creature, having had him nearly seven years.'
The Swan was, I believe, formerly considered as a royal dish, but
it is not now much esteemed for the table.
the poultry, came when called, would follow us about, and knew bis
way about the premises as well as the dogs. After a while he returned
to his old quarters, and from that time until his death never but once
attempted to escape, though he would occasionally take a flight round
the water, and alight again; at the time alluded to, he would doubtless
have returned, but in his flight he alighted at a farm not far
from Noyadd, when he was immediately caught and shut up, and notice
sent to us of his capture. I went to fetch him, knowing he would
follow me, and on my way saw him being driven home by a boy;
but no sooner did he catch sight of me, than he commenced halfrunning
half-flying towards me, and making that remarkable trumpet
sound be was in the habit of doing when pleased; and walked the
remainder of the distance by my side.
He knew all the servants and labourers, never molesting them,
whilst every stranger, whether gentle or simple, equestrian or pedestrian,
he invariably attacked if he could, especially any ragged person;
he was rather the terror of our visitors, as he would frequently, like
a watch-dog, dispute the entrance with them. He knew every member
of the family at a considerable distance, whether on foot or on horseback,
and would frequently leave the water and meet us, or walk by
our side, talking all the time. He was lord of his own domain, and
esjK'ciallv jealous of any animal approaching its banks, generally taking
the trouble to swim from the farthest end to drive them away. He
was so well known by cows and horses, that they generally decamped
on his approach.
In the spring of the year he required little or no feeding, finding
sufficient sustenance on the tadpoles and other water animals abundant
at that season; he would eat any kind of grain, and was particularly
fond of bread, which he would take out of our hands: he was as
sociable as a dog, and nearly as attached. Whenever the entrance
gate was left open, lie would make his way up to the house; he always
found out which room we were sitting in, and would call under the
windows and peep in, and would not be satisfied without having
something given him; he would then lie down under them, seeming
satisfied if he could be near us. In the summer time, when the doors
were open, he would frequently walk into the house, and even round
the breakfast table. Often when my mother was amusing herself at
her flower-beds, he would see her, come up from the water, wait at
the gate to be let in, and then come up and lie down close to her.
Never so happy as when near us, he would sit under the windows or
on the steps for hours, if allowed, and each year increased his attachment
and sagacity.