Droit de Colombier - the privilege of possessing a dovecote - at one time was a symbol of status and power regulated by law. (Colombier is the French word for pigeonnier or dovecote.) I never wanted it as a status symbol, I just wanted a dovecote and its attendant residents for the pleasure of watching and hearing the doves. This picture of a circular stone dovecote is at Bemerton Farm near Quidhampton, Wiltshire, Great Britain.
While in Ireland in 1994, I stopped to visit Aillwee Cave in The Burren in County Clare. This dovecote was located near the car park. When I came out of the cave late in the afternoon, these doves were perched atop their abode. I love the stacked stone colombier. Doves and pigeons were kept as a food source. Squab can still be found in haute cuisine restaurants.
Having a fancy stone dovecote would be nice, but I would even settle for one built in part of a barn like this one east of Decorah, Iowa. If I ever had raised doves, I know I wouldn't have eaten them - though I did eat pigeon one time at my Aunt Leona's when I was young. And Mom wrote in her diary on Christmas Eve, 1936, "Caught pigeons this evening. Got 20." She doesn't tell how they were prepared (Pigeon Pot Pie?) or whether they were for Christmas dinner.
As I said, I would just enjoy watching them; perhaps playing with them as this girl is doing in the painting Teasing the Doves by Emile Munier (1840-1895). This picture was painted in 1895 - one of the last produced by the French artist.
I certainly wouldn't race them, either. I might band them just in case they didn't find their way home from a flight. I've always wondered if this pigeon found its way back to its home dovecote after it rested for awhile on my deck three years ago.
White doves are the symbols of peace, love and as messengers. Even if my middle name, Irene, didn't mean peace, I would still love doves, still listen for their message and still wish I'd had a dovecote.
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