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The "blackbirds" were pirates who work for Blackbeard and their being "Baked in a pie" is the pirates setting up a ruse to raid a nearby ship and capture it. [9] The pie opening and the birds singing refers to the end of the ruse and the start of the raid on the nearby ship. [9]
Four-and-Twenty Blackbirds (retitled The Secret of Galleybird Pit), a novel by Malcolm Saville (1959) "Four and Twenty Blackbirds", a short story by Agatha Christie from the anthology The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding (1960) "Four and Twenty Blackbirds", a book by Australian poet Francis Brabazon (1975)
Four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie! When the pie was opened the birds began to sing, Oh, wasn't that a dainty dish to set before the king? [62] The common blackbird's melodious, distinctive song is mentioned in the poem Adlestrop by Edward Thomas; And for that minute a blackbird sang. Close by, and round him, mistier,
The "four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie", in the nursery rhyme "Sing a Song of Sixpence", has its genesis in an entremet presented to amuse banquet guests in the 14th century. This extravaganza of hospitality was related by an Italian cook of the era. [14] “Live birds were slipped into a baked pie shell through a hole cut in its bottom.”
That old English Christmas carol about 12 days of gifting holds certain intrigue for birders. After all, seven of the 12 gifts were birds.
Pies were important both as food and for show; the nursery rhyme "Sing a Song of Sixpence", with its lines "Four and Twenty blackbirds / Baked in a pie. // When the pie was opened, The birds began to sing" refers to the conceit of placing live birds under a pie crust just before serving at a banquet. [10] [11]
Pies became an important staple as both food and for court theatrics; the nursery rhyme "Sing a Song of Sixpence", with its lyrics "Four and Twenty blackbirds / Baked in a pie. // When the pie is opened, the birds began to sing", refers to the conceit of placing live birds under a pie crust just before serving at a banquet.
The bird shape was likely inspired by the "four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie" from the nursery rhyme "Sing a Song of Sixpence"; that "the birds began to sing" suggests a means for a vent. [2] Pie funnels were used to prevent pie filling from boiling up and leaking through the crust by allowing steam to escape from inside the pie. [3]