‘Hooded crows’? A Reflection on Scottish Ecclesiastical Dress and Ministerial Practice from the Reformation to the Present Day

T hooded crow was a species of birds originally described by Carl Linnaeus (1707–78) in his Systema Naturae (1758),1 where he named it corvus cornix.2 The image of the hooded crow has traditionally been regarded as an unflattering caricature of clergymen in black, while the grey plumage on the bird’s back symbolizes the academic hood. The hooded cleric is thought to be something of a rara avis, which perches in a crow’s nest pulpit, from which it emits its distinctive squawking noises, six feet above contradiction! This association has, however, not been confined to Scotland, which is part of the natural habitat of corvus cornix. According to the well known eighteenth-century nursery rhyme ‘Who Killed Cock Robin?’,3 which reflects on what is to be done in the aftermath of the murder of the eponymous hero of the avian community, the rook (presumably because of its distinctive black appearance; see Fig. 1) was held to bear the closest resemblance to the parson who ought to be entrusted with the conduct of the victim’s funeral.