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FUCK THE NAZIS, SAYS CHURCHILL'S PARROT

By circletimessquare in circletimessquare's Diary
Mon Jan 19, 2004 at 02:57:16 PM EST
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uk's mirror

this brought tears to my eyes

a parrot remembers what people have forgotten

FUCK THE NAZIS, SAYS CHURCHILL'S PARROT
Jan 19 2004
EXCLUSIVE
By Bill Borrows
SHE WAS at Winston Churchill's side during Britain's darkest hour. And now Charlie the parrot is 104 years old...and still cursing the Nazis.
Her favourite sayings were "Fuck Hitler" and "Fuck the Nazis". And even today, 39 years after the great man's death, she can still be coaxed into repeating them with that unmistakable Churchillian inflection.
Many an admiral or peer of the realm was shocked by the tirade from the bird's cage during crisis meetings with the PM.
But it always brought a smile to the war leader's face.
Churchill bought Charlie - giving him a boy's name despite the fact she was female - in 1937.
She took pride of place in a bizarre menagerie of pets including lambs, pigs, cattle, swans and, at one point, a leopard.
He immediately began to teach her to swear - particularly in company - and she is keeping up the tradition today.
The blue and gold macaw is believed to be Britain's oldest bird.
The title was previously thought to belong to 80-year-old Cokky the cockatoo.
But it can be proved Charlie is at least 104 and was born in the 19th century.
Peter Oram bought her for his pet shop after Churchill died in 1965. But he was forced to move her into his home after she kept swearing at children.
For the last 12 years, she has lived at Mr Oram's garden centre in Reigate, Surrey.
Centre worker Sylvia Martin said: "If truth be told, Charlie is looking a little scruffy but she is very popular with the public. We are all very attached to her."
James Humes, an expert on the late PM, said: "Churchill may no longer be with us but that spirit and those words of defiance and resolve continue."
Charlie's story is in this month's Jack Magazine, on sale Thursday

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FUCK THE NAZIS, SAYS CHURCHILL'S PARROT | 2 comments (2 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)

Thank you for sharing. (none / 3) (#1)
by skyknight on Mon Jan 19, 2004 at 04:44:04 PM EST

That's hilarious.

I had an African Grey about ten years ago, while still living at home with my parents, that was quite adept at talking. My father particularly enjoyed teaching him complicated phrases, a couple of his favorites being "I say, Bill old chap, that's not cricket!" and "Ho-Ho-Ho! Merrrrrry Christmas!"

Of course, not only was the bird talented at mimicry, but also at improvisation, occasionally resulting in things like "Ho-Ho-Ho! Merrrrrry Cricket!" He also thought he was particularly clever for imitating the telephone with incredible fidelity. My grandmother, when visiting us once, complained bitterly that the bird was really jerking her around with that trick.

Of course, whatever people may say, it's not just mindless mimicry. While they obviously don't have the level of sophistication anywhere near that of an adult human, they can attain the ability to that of a young child. The bird would always perk up whenever my mother would yell my name, or were he lonely, he would call my name until I came and took him out of his cage. There was a definite connection between cause and effect going on in his head.

It's not much fun at the top. I envy the common people, their hearty meals and Bruce Springsteen and voting. --SIGNOR SPAGHETTI

oops (none / 0) (#2)
by circletimessquare on Wed Jan 21, 2004 at 05:19:36 PM EST

http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/topstories/story/0,4386,231230,00.html

The tigers of wrath are wiser than the horses of instruction.

FUCK THE NAZIS, SAYS CHURCHILL'S PARROT | 2 comments (2 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

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