The King of Rome

The King of Rome was a successful racing pigeon that won a 1001- mile ( 1611 km ) race from Rome to England in 1913. This pigeon was the subject of a song and a book, both written by Dave Sudbury. The English folk singer June Tabor took up its own version of the song that appeared on their album Aqaba in 1988.

The dove

The King of Rome was a racing pigeon that won a 1001- mile ( 1611 km ) race from Rome to England in 1913. Der Tauber with blue plumage and the ring number NU1907DY168 was (demolished now ) in his home reflected in the Brook Street 56, Derby reared. The King of Rome has been used since 1904 as a racing pigeon. In 1913, at the time of the race, was Hudson President and Treasurer of the Derby Town Flying Club and also wrote about pigeons race in the Derby Evening Telegraph. After the death of the pigeon he handed over the body to the Derby Museum and Art Gallery, where the exhibit prepared with the access number DBYMU.1946/48 is kept. The owner of the Dove, Charles Hudson died on 13 March 1958 at the age of 84 years. Since 2011, the pigeons preparation is part of the exhibition and was awarded previously on loan to other institutions, including the Walsall Museum and Wollaton Hall in Nottingham.

The song

The King of Rome and its owners are theme of the song and the book by Dave Sudbury. It tells of how on the day of a big race pigeons, a storm blew thousands of pigeons that have never been seen again:

"On the day of the big race a storm blew in A thousand birds were swept away and never seen again "

This is a reference to one of the problems of pigeon racing.

The song was known primarily for June Tabor's recording. After she heard in the late 1980s to play the song on a competition Sudbury, where Tabor was a jury member ( he finished fourth ), she took on their own version for their album Aqaba. Brian McNeill, another finalist of the competition said:

"The King of Rome which head and shoulders above every other song sung on the night, and shouldhave won"

McNeill came later on along with Iain MacKintosh and played this song, which was a live recording of his album Live and Kicking.

American folk singer Vance Gilbert recorded it for his 1994 album Edgewise and Canadian folk musician Garnet Rogers recorded it for his album Summer Lightning ( 2004). The band Half Man Half Biscuit also recorded a version of the song, which is, however, unpublished.

The book

Sudbury's lyrics was printed as a 32 -page book with illustrations by Hans Saefkow.