There can be no doubt about it, Boris is a bird with presence; he lives at Blaze farm, Wildboarclough, Cheshire, where they have lots of other birds and animals but none can match Boris’ coat of many colours, he’s made a brief appearance here before, last year, when he took his own reflection in a cars paint work to be a love rival, he nor the cars owner were impressed.
The colour way, shouldn’t really work, if you asked an interior designer to show a collection of swatches you’d think you been sold a pup, or got Laurence Llewelyn Bowen, nature, even the male of the species is supposed to be a little bit more Laura Ashley than this.
and this
There are many old superstitions about having peacock feathers in the home as decoration
1866: I can vouch for a superstitious feeling regarding peacocks’ feathers being general in Derbyshire and the surrounding counties. It is considered extremely unlucky to have them in the house, and they are believed to bring losses and various misfortunues, including illness and death. I have seen people perfectly horrified when a child unwittingly brought peacock feathers into the house.
As far as I can see it might be unlucky for the peacock to lose them in the first place, or to have a live peacock in the front room might be akin to a bull in a china shop, but I just think they are rather beautiful
Which has led me away from Boris, to Derbyshire and Kedelston Hall, (National Trust) where the stunning peacock dress that belonged to Lady Curzon resides.
This famous peacock dress was worn by Lady Curzon at the evening ball which followed the Delhi Durbar in 1903, the glittering highlight of her husband’s term as Viceroy of India. One guest wrote, ‘You cannot conceive what a dream she looked’
I’ve saw the dress a few years ago, the photos do not do it justice, certainly I remember it as being more colourful, it is heavily embroidered with silver and gold thread and semi precious stones, it was made to capture the new fangled electric light, bling of its day. Lady Curzon also had an incredibly small waist or a very tight corset, but I digress, back to Boris.
Boris has to work at his beauty, it’s high maintenance
And most of the show is up front.
I love the many views of Boris. I actually like him strutting away from the camera too–rather like saying enough, I’m taking a break from being the celebrity.
Awesome name for a peacock.
An excellent series, thanks for sharing.
Oh funny – Boris going away looks like a stout matron in a party dress whose skirt has blown over her head in a high wind!
Boris is beautiful
Great photos, and an informative blog full of information, but one question – is Boris named after the Mayor of London?
Awesome photos – I love the variations of the feathers. We have a peacock feather in our house – maybe it is going outside today. I’d never heard the superstition before.
Beautiful photographs as always UHDD. I love the sound of peacocks, although I do think such an elegant bird should manage something more tuneful than a decent scream!
The male peacock (yes, I realize the redundancy of that) is such a gorgeous bird. My great uncle always had peacocks on his farm and it was fun to go visit and search for dropped tail feathers. Thanks for the memories!