Liver bird

The Liver bird (pronEng|ˈlaɪvəbɜːd) is the symbol of the city of Liverpool, England.

The word "liver" in the name of the bird rhymes with "diver", rather than with "river".

What species?

The bird's species has long been the subject of confusion and controversy.

The earliest known use of a bird to represent the then town of Liverpool is on its corporate seal, dating from the 1350s, which is now in the British Museum. The bird shown is generic, but the wording of the seal contains references to King John, who granted the town’s charter in 1207. John, in honour of his patron saint, frequently used the device of an eagle - long associated with St. John. Further indication that the seal was an homage to King John is found in the sprig of broom initially shown in the bird’s beak, broom being a symbol of the royal family of Plantagenet.

By the 17th century, the origins of the bird had begun to be forgotten, with references to the bird as a cormorant, still a common bird in the coastal waters near Liverpool. The Earl of Derby in 1668 gifted the town council a mace "engraved with ...a leaver" - the first known reference to a liver bird by this name. A manual on heraldry from later in the century confuses matters further by assuming this term is related to the Dutch word "lefler", meaning spoonbill - a bird rarely found in northern England.

When the College of Arms granted official arms to Liverpool in 1797, they refer to the bird as a cormorant, adding that the sprig in the mouth is of "laver", a type of seaweed, thus implying that the bird's appellation comes from the sprig.

The bird thus appears to have originally been intended to be an eagle, but is now officially a cormorant. Many modern interpretations of the symbol are of a cormorant, although several - notably that on the emblem of Liverpool Football Club - distinctly show the short head and curved beak more readily associated with a bird of prey.

Modern myths and popular culture

The modern popularity of the symbol largely dates to 1911, when the Royal Liver Friendly Society built a new headquarters in the heart of Liverpool at the Pier Head, overlooking the River Mersey.

The building - the Liver Building - is probably the best-known building in the city. It is crowned with twin clock towers, each topped with a cormorant-like liver bird designed by Carl Bernard Bartels and constructed by the Bromsgrove Guild. This prominent display of two liver birds rekindled the idea that the liver was a mythical bird that once haunted the local shoreline. According to popular legend, they are a male and female pair, the female looking out to sea, (watching for the seamen to return safely home) whilst the male looks towards the city (making sure the pubs are open). Local legend also holds that the birds face away from each other as, if were they to mate and fly away, the city would cease to exist. In fact, they were indeed designed to watch the City (Our People) and the Sea (Our Prosperity).

There is another local saying that, whenever a genuine female virgin or honest man passes by the Liver Buildings, the Liver Birds will flap their great wings. [ [http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/gerry.jones/lyver3hist.html LIVERPOOL : the THIRD LIVER BIRD / Lyver Bird project ] ]

As well as the two birds on the Liver Building, there are a further two less well-known liver birds. A third bird is on the nearby Mersey Chambers office building adjacent to the Church of Our Lady and St Nicholas, the parish church of the city of Liverpool. The fourth bird, a little-known stone version, used to sit atop the original St John's Market building until its demolition in 1964, and can now be seen on display in the Merseyside Maritime Museum.

During the 1970s, "The Liver Birds" was the name of a popular British sitcom dealing with two young women in Liverpool, a play on the slang term "bird" meaning young woman.

Notes

References

* [http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/maritime/archive/displayGuide.aspx?sid=27&mode=html&sorStr=s_no%20ASC%200&serStr=&pgeInt=2&catStr= Mersey Maritime Museum]
* [http://www.birminghamuk.com/liver.htm The Liver Building]
* [http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/gerry.jones/lyver1.html History and pictures, plus a campaign to add a third bird to the Liver Building]