(Alison) This morning I’m going to talk about birds and me and our life together.
I’ve been amused that various people come to visit our house and they say, ‘Well Alison, any more birds?’ and they give me birthday cards featuring birds, and it seems that birds do feature in my life. I will say that from a very long time ago I loved listening to birdsong, and that takes me to my very dear brother Anthony who was an absolute expert on bird sounds, and he taught me rigorously to listen in the woodlands of Surrey when I was about 12 – 14, and he put me through my paces on British Birds, and I’ve never forgotten that – even now, I’m pretty good on every kind of bird noise you can think of. I’m fascinated by birds and I love them with all my heart because I think they obey the laws of nature very nicely.
I’ve also drawn them from a very early age. One of the first things I did was to make a tray from when I was ten years old out of boring wood, and the tray was covered with jigsaw patterns of birds which I then covered with oil paint and varnished. That was my very first bird exercise.
I loved the challenge of fitting a bird shape into the wings and beaks and tails.
The Goshawk by TH White which was given to me by my dear brother a long time ago when I was, I think, 16, and I don’t remember many gifts that he has given me by dedication so I’m pleased about that, as he was the one responsible for my love of birdsong.
It was quite soon after that period, he would have been about twenty – he’s four years older than me – just before he had his very serious nervous breakdown, and never really recovered, so its a nice record of a healthy brother.
The Royal Collection 