four and twenty blackbirds

Recently, I was lucky enough to win a fabulous giveaway, over at Scented Sweetpeas. I was really excited because I never win anything, let alone such lovely, sweet little goodies. 

In amongst my many prizes was this fabulous ceramic blackbird pie funnel, which not only is a handy kitchen item, but coincidentally, also has some significance to our new street.

It is said that the nursery rhyme Sing a Song of Sixpence is a reference to the poet Henry James Pye, Poet Laureate and one-time local resident. Apparently, he wrote an awful lot of dreary poems about birds and was a bit of a laughing stock. 

It is dubious as to whether the poem was actually written about him, as its origins appear to be disputed, but it was certainly recited frequently by his contemporaries in order to mock him... "four and twenty blackbirds baked in a Pye".

image credit

Now, how is all this random, not particularly interesting trivia related to my new home?

Well, when I was small (about 6 or 7), I had a friend who lived in a house on the same street as the house we will be moving to next week. Her mother was a potter / general artisan- she had an  enormous, beautiful studio in the attic of their rambling, frightfully bohemian house. 

The family have long since moved away, but a little part of them remains. At the time they were living there, they named the property 'Rye House' and her mother crafted a ceramic pie to put over the door, as well as making exactly 24 blackbirds to roost on the many windowsills. I remember seeing some of these very birds sitting on the bench my friend's mother's studio, awaiting their finishing touches.

When we moved back to the area last year, I was surprised and delighted to see the pie and blackbirds still adorning the house. I had such great times playing here and have all sorts of happy memories, including us haring round the house in bizarre fancy dress and running down to be fed when her mother banged the gigantic golden dinner gong. 

It's so strange to think we are now going to be living opposite this place!

Thank you again to Scented Sweetpeas for my lovely prizes and for prompting me to post about my new street.