Tower fights curse with extra ravens
Bosses at the Tower of London are buying four extra Ravens in a bid to prevent a 350-year old curse from coming true.
Ravens have been kept at the Tower of London since the 1800s when King Charles II was told if there were less than six ravens a disaster would strike the nation and the Royal Family.
Since then the birds - along with a spare - have been kept in residence at the London attraction.
But now, possibly because of the economic crisis, four extra young birds are being acquired.
It is thought the two six-month-old birds Gundolf and Hugine, along with the two more will be added next week, have a better chance of staving off the credit crisis than Alistair Darling.
The ravens' wings will be clipped to prevent them from flying away, and they will be cared for by the Ravenmaster, a Yeomen Warder (Beefeater).
It was said that Charles II had ordered the removal of the ravensfollowing complaints from John Flamsteed, the Royal Astronomer.
However, he changed his mind after being told of the legend that if the ravens ever leave the Tower of London, the monarchy, and the entire kingdom would fall.
Charles was not prepared to take the chance, and instead had the observatory moved to Greenwich.
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