Six Ravens Roving: The Tower of London, 2012 Hi Folks! Here is Number 6: Oliver Cromwell’s death ended Britain’s brief infatuation with the concept of a Lord Protector to lead the nation. In 1660 the monarchy was restored, and Charles II became king over England, Scotland, and Ireland. Charles appreciated how tenuously kings held the reigns (pun intended) of power in Britain. Perhaps one of the best examples of that is The Legend of The Tower Ravens. Spiritual advisors suggested to him that if all the ravens that wandered the building’s grounds were ever to leave, then the Tower would fall-- and along with it, the monarchy and the empire. And so, to this very day, one of the businesses of Buckingham Palace is raising ravens. And the Brits take the job very seriously. A yeoman warder called the Ravenmaster has the job of keeping the resident birds happy and well fed enough that they would never want to leave. But just in case, their wings are clipped to prevent escape by air. And several understudies are tended at another location, ready to replace any of the core group that die, become ill, or still find a way to disappear. Such a fanciful story is the perfect inspiration for End of The World conspiracy theorists, who note that the expiration of the Mayan Calendar and the Summer Olympic Games in London will both occur in 2012. BTW: When Charles II died he had no prince, so his brother came to the throne as James II. But plenty of illegitimate children survived. The most famous descendant from one of those unions was Lady Spencer (Princess Diana), whose eldest son Prince William is, after his father Charles, in line to become the next King of England. Coincidence? Go figure. Thanx to the digital artists at Renderosity.com, 3Dcommune, Daz 3D, or Archive3D.net, whose props were used in the composition of this image. (Portions of the background image were acquired via Creative Commons: thanx, revstan) Dr Zik