Ravens and Monkeys

Several months ago, I posted about the legend of the ravens living at the Tower of London (see "The Day the Ravens Left the Tower").  There are currently nine ravens that live at the Tower of London.  They are cared for by members of the Yeoman Warders (the legendary Beefeaters).  Legend has it that "if the Tower of London ravens are lost or fly away, the Crown will fall and Britain with it" (the legend is the subject of an awesome song from the 1980's "The Day The Ravens Left The Tower" by The Alarm).  As you can imagine, the ravens are very well-cared for!  Apparently they've been around since at least the late 1800's, as the earliest known reference to the Tower ravens is an illustration from 1883.

I learned of a similar legend involving a species of monkey called the Barbary macaques of Gibraltar.  The island of Gibraltar is a British territory that sits near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula (which includes Spain and Portugal).  The local population of Barbary macaques is apparently the only wild monkey population in all of Europe.  As of 2020, there were approximately 300 macaques living in five different troops.  These monkeys were under the care of the British military until 1991, and the "Keeper of the Apes" was even a royal appointment!  Since 1991, the monkeys have been under the protection of the local government.  There is a local legend that as long as there are monkeys on the island of Gibraltar, it will remain under British rule.  In 1942, the population dwindled to seven, and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill ordered that several wild macaques be brought in from Morocco and Algeria.  

Both of these legends are interesting, if not a little peculiar.  I am reminded a little of the idiom "when hell freezes over" to mean that something will likely never happen (see also, "snowball's chance in hell" or "one chance in a million" or "ghost of a chance").  However, the British legends seem more tangible, as I suppose there is at least some chance of the ravens leaving the Tower of London or the Barbary macaques population dying out on the island of Gibraltar.  But I suppose there is a small chance that either of these events would be associated with the collapse of the British monarchy.  They are interesting legends nonetheless.