She’s one of the Tower’s friendliest birds, but lets few people get as close to her as Skaife does. So that’s brilliant.”Īs he speaks, he’s joined by his sidekick, the raven Merlina, who sits on a hedge at his elbow and croaks in approval. “They have a general interest in birds and corvids. “I have the deepest, darkest Goth followers, scientists, bird lovers, historians, artists-you name it,” Skaife says. On his various accounts, countless clips of these jet-black birds croak and caw away much to the delight of his followers. With more than 20,000 followers on Twitter and Facebook, and almost 50 million loops on Vine, Skaife seems to have cornered the market on raven-related media. As modern Ravenmaster, he’s added a new task to the job description: Social Media Master. But that hasn’t stopped him from broadcasting it to the world. It's not a job for everyone, given the species's reputation. “In most cultures they are seen as harbingers of doom,” Skaife says.Īccording to legend, ravens used to swoop onto Britain’s medieval battlefields to feast on the carnage, announcing their arrival with a malevolent shriek that “sounds like it’s from hell,” Skaife says. “That’s a lot of pressure.”Īs part of a long line of Ravenmasters that stretches back to the 1700s, for the past 11 years he’s risen from his apartment on the tower's grounds at five o’clock each morning to nudge the ravens awake, set them loose, and observe their activities. “Should the ravens leave the Tower of London, it will crumble into dust and great harm befall the kingdom,” Skaife says solemnly, citing popular legend. But their presence is driven by a superstition powerful enough to have survived the ages. Among the guardians of the thousand-year-old fortress of the murderous King Henry the Eighth, Skaife has a unique position: He’s the official Ravenmaster, in charge of a six-bird flock kept there to fulfil their mythic role as guardians of the tower.Įxactly how Common Ravens came to occupy the fortress centuries ago isn’t known for sure.
One sunny afternoon in the ancient courtyard at the Tower of London, Christopher Skaife stands in full ceremonial regalia: a towering top hat and thick navy tunic, his chest emblazoned with a crown in scarlet fabric.
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