Rook in the Red Coat

There is a simple yet sad tale of how The Beaney came to acquire a rook dressed quite curiously in a red coat.

  • Rook in the Red Coat

The intriguing story is from the early 1900s when a group of boys, looking for a bit of fun, captured a rook and dressed it quite playfully in a red coat. Unfortunately, when the rook eventually returned to its flock, still clad in its fetching red coat, it was rejected by its flock. The birds made such an almighty fuss that the keeper shot the poor rook.

Now immortalised forever in the coat which became his demise, the Rook in the Red Coat is now on display with a dozen other taxidermy friends including, quite fittingly, a red squirrel and red fox.

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The Garden Room

Information

PeriodEarly 20th Century MaterialRook

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Artefacts in exhibition case The Beaney Museum

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