Richard Gray's Paintings: Rook

I looked at a rook,

He looked at me,

I in my nook,

He in his tree.

He gave such a look

Of scorn and pride,

I shut my book

And crept inside;

I took from a hook

My gun to kill

That haughty rook,

Who meant me ill;

But just as I took

Most careful aim

He gave me a look

That said 'For shame!

Before ye came, long, long ago,

These woods were haunt of rook and crow,

Of badger and fox and doe in fl ight —

A squirrel could swing from Dale to Bight —

Ye think me rude to thus intrude

Upon thy paltry solitude?

And yet thy gun much ruder is,

For which of us intruder is?’

I looked at the rook,

He looked at me,

I in my nook,

He in his tree;

Back to its hook

Went gun — and, aye,

Back to my nook

Went book and I.

I Looked At A Rook - Felix Dennis

Corvus Frugilegus

There is something fascinating about the crow family, and I haven’t finished with them yet, having recently started a painting of a magpie.

Rooks are arguably the uglier branch of the crow family, with the bald, scabby looking area on their beaks. However, they are possibly the most sociable of the crows. You don’t often see them on their own – they live, nest and roost together. They are much maligned, certainly in our local cricket club, especially by Fred before he sadly passed away. He disliked them for digging up the chafer grubs, and thereby damaging the turf. He didn't care much for chafer grubs either, given that they do as much damage as the rooks!

Rooks have numerous collective nouns, depending on where you live, including building, parliament, clamour and storytelling. I particularly like the last one, and I painted this one because I like them ( I like all birds – especially the crow family), and because I recently finished reading ‘Bellman and Black’, by Diane Setterfield, where the rook was a recurring presence. I really enjoyed the first half of the book, but I felt it fell away a little in the second half. If you’re reading this Diane, which I very much doubt, I much preferred The Thirteenth Tale, which was great. Still, I like that books sometimes influence what I paint.

This has been sat in my studio, and latterly on my wall, for a few weeks now.