![]() Subsequently, a group of foxes is known as a ‘skulk’. In William Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Experience, and also in The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, the proud lion is represented as the direct contrast of the cunning, lowly fox (an issue I cover in some depth in my eBook, First Class English Literature Essays – click here for more information). Throughout our history, the fox has been used as a symbol of cunning, deception and treacherousness. However, one of the animals most commonly seen in our woodland (and, more frequently in recent years, being driven into urban areas in the search for food) is villainised by this personification. Because of this, the lion has long been a symbol of the British empire – despite the fact that the closest England’s green and pleasant lands have ever come to the great beast is the domesticated house-cat. Three lions emblazon the chests of our national footballers, cricketers, rugby players, and so on, marking them as the ‘pride’ of England. Lions, for instance, are known as a ‘pride’ – indicative of their perceived courage, valour, strength and dominance within the animal kingdom. Sometimes, the associations we have made are very strong, even when these are quite far-fetched. How different to the majesty and sophistication of a ‘parliament’ they are! ![]() For me, the term ‘gaggle’ instantly conjures the image of a drunken hen-party, out on the town, making a racket. That, combined with their incessant honking, has led to them being collectively referred to as a ‘gaggle’ (though I should point out that this term exclusively refers to their group when they are on the ground – in the air, they are known as a ‘wedge’ instead). Though majestic in the air, geese lose their glamour once they’re waddling on the ground. ![]() However, if we consider another bird of the animal kingdom – the goose – we see an entirely different story. Now, given the way we personify the owl, it is not actually that difficult to imagine a line of bespectacled owls sat on the back benches of the House of Lords, occasionally tapping their talons or nodding their heads to demonstrate agreement. As a result, a collection of owls is known as a ‘parliament’. The owl, long considered to be an intelligent bird, is personified in the attributes of studiousness, intellect and a ‘sharp’ mind. Let me highlight a few examples to better explain what I mean. These tend to reflect the personified traits we superimpose onto the different species, which not only offers the English speaker a rich and evocative range of collective nouns to keep in their literary arsenal, but is also indicative of the collective consciousness of the English people as a whole. ![]() Instead, most of the species in the animal kingdom also possess their own collective noun. Most languages have two or three terms at best to describe these gatherings, but in English, there are hundreds! Although we have terms which can be applied fairly universally, such as “group”, “pack” or “herd”, the English language does not stop there. Take, for instance, the terms we assign as collective nouns to groups of animals. Sometimes, I can’t help but marvel at how creative the English language can be.
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