100 Pigeon Years - In The Beginning.

Long before the sport was organised in this country and as far back as the 12th century Persian Rock Doves were taken into dovecots in the Cairo area and along the River Nile. As time progressed these birds were used in a number of ways by the Arabs and quickly spread across the Mediterranean Sea and into Europe where Lords and noblemen set up dovecots in their castle grounds. At first their main purpose was to provide fresh meat for the dinner table in winter, then their homing ability while very limited was used as message carriers between castles and also in the field of battle. Often brief messages were sent from the battle fields to the home castle with the progress or otherwise of the conflict.


Sultans in the Baghdad area set up a "Pigeon Post" system by the year 1150 and Genghis Khan used carrier-homers to return messages as his army made their way across Europe.


By 1840-50 first in Belgium then the French fanciers had taken more than a passing interest in the powers of these Homers and set about trying to improve the species. Julius Reuter who founded the now famous News Agency was reputed to have used Homing Pigeons in the area of Brussels and the German border. However the modern day racers are far removed from their early ancestors.


The following is an extract from an article written by that eminent writer and co-editor of the "Homing Pigeon Annual" a 200 page hard batter which cost the princely sum of one shilling and sixpence in 1900. I refer of course to Mr Edgar Chamberlain and his works of 1912 annual headed "Divergence of Type in Homing Pigeons". Viewing the family of Homing Pigeons for the purpose of discovering what varieties were used in it's production. We shall then appreciate why individuals of the homer are so highly variable. Here is the sketch from Mr Chamberlains article, (bear in mind several breeding permutations had been experimented with for the previous 30 years or more).

It was really in Belgium that the "Homer" was developed although there was some evidence that a few individuals in the U.K. were in possession of the Belgian Voyagers some forty years before World War 1 (1914-18).


In a book called "Pigeon Keeping for Amateurs" by James C. Lyell printed at the early part of the century he illustrates how the Homers of that era came about and added pictures to simplify the situation. The Cumulet or as some called it the Volant was a bird of extraordinary power of flight, it was of French or Flemish origin. It is similar in size to the Tumbler, many were white with red ticked necks and were Fish-Eyed in the main. The Dragoon was derived from the Eastern Carrier and Horseman crosses, they came in a variety of colours, Blue, Silver-Blue, Chequers, Blue Grizzles and Red Chequers plus a washed out red described in the fancy as Yellows. Their eye colour was a deep blood red and when crossed with the Belgian Homer they produced birds with Bull or Hazel Eyes. Mr Lyell said, "The pigeons formally used in this country for homing purposes and message carriers were chiefly Dragoons or something bred from them such as Skinnums which were a cross breed. The Antwerp Carrier or Belgian Voyageur as a breed composed Dragoons, Blue Rock Doves and Owl bloodlines. It is from the Owl element that frills or crested breast appeared in pigeons.


After the Siege of Paris when the Antwerp breed did such good service as Pigeon Posts they became firm favourites on the continent for flying the longer distances. It was not long before these early breeds could home in a regular basis from 100 miles and with careful selection when breeding and regular testing they were homing from 400 miles distance within two decades. Small clubs began to form but were pretty scarce until around 1880-1890. Racing was limited to a few miles at first, possibly due to the lack of good transport.


This is borne out in the weekly (one penny) Poultry, Pigeon and Cage Bird book of March 13th 1891 under clubs and societies. To illustrate the fancy was wide spread I will name a cross section from this old journal, i.e., Nuneaton & District, Stafford and East London, York Columbarian Society, City of Liverpool Society, City of Birmingham, Manchester. There is also mention of the Scottish Long-Faced Tumbler & Pigeon Club where a meeting was held in the Brandon Hotel, Motherwell Cross where the secretary was a Mr James Wood.


There is not much doubt that Ayr Burns H.S. is possibly the oldest club in Scotland, it can certainly claim to be the oldest still in existence. It was formed when nine fanciers got together in 1886 and had the club up and running the following year. Their first race program was Sat 14th July Old Cumnock, Sat 21st July Thornhill and Sat 25th August they had their last race from Dumfries (50 miles) where 14 pigeons were liberated by the Station Master. Friends of the society put up a Silver Challenge Cup and a Gold Badge which was won by John Robertson flying time 1 Hour 42 Mins 59 Secs, 2nd was Charles McCrorie and 3rd David Paterson, signed W.G.Walker secretary. A further nine members joined the club by 1888, the entry fee was Two Shillings plus Four Pennies per month.


There were certainly other groups of fanciers in the area around the same time however it is not specifically known if they had actually formed into a club unit. Catrine fanciers I traced its origin to 5th May 1887, they raced on a Wednesday and was nicknamed the "Shopkeepers Club" since Wednesday just happened to be the villager's traditional shopping half day.


In the Poultry and Pigeon paper of 1891 there is an advert for an Open Show to be held in Irvine with entries to Mr James Blane secretary Segganbank, Irvine. However the first mention in print of a club in Irvine appeared in 1893.


It is my wish that the readers of these early passages take some pride and interest in the work which went into producing the Homing Pigeon as we know it today. Who knows the next generation of fanciers may well improve on our racers still further, the Sprint Specialists certainly have