The background
In April 2017 Heritage & Culture Warwickshire worked with The Play House and pupils from Westgate Primary to create tales inspired by objects on display at the Market Hall Museum. Four classes from Westgate Primary came to the museum to work with Julie and Juliet. They used their imagination and created eight new fairy tales and legends, inspired by different objects in the museum.
The Kenilworth Cob by Year 1
The children were inspired by the stuffed swan in the Market Hall museum. They created a story about protecting his cygnets from a fox and how came to be in the museum, via a trip to Stratford-upon-Avon.
A local swan
The Kenilworth Cob is a stuffed swan in the Warwickshire Museum collections. The cob was known locally for living in Abbey Fields, Kenilworth. He was a dominant and territorial character and would chase people who got too close to his nest.
Heritage & Culture Warwickshire would like to thank children from Westgate Primary who created these stories
The ‘We’re all Stories in the End’ project was made possible by funding from Arts Council England and with the support of the West Midlands Museum Development team.
The Kenilworth Cob by Year 1
[Birdsong, water]
I was born on the lake in the town of Kenilworth. The lake was very beautiful. There was a white fence, two big trees and lots of bushes around the edge. In the centre was a fountain that sprinkled water onto the lake’s surface. One day my mother and father swam off the nest to fish. They left behind one smooth white egg: me. Soon cracks began to appear on the egg as I pecked with my beak. My mother and father returned and I was sitting on the nest tweeting. They were so happy to see me. I snuggled up in my mother’s plumage for a long sleep.
MOTHER SWAN: We have a son.
FATHER SWAN: Shhh, he’s sleeping.
I soon began to grow bigger and I learned how to swim on the lake all by myself. One day I was swimming alone when an orange-coloured fox came to the lake. He prowled around the edge, then he saw me.
FOX: Whoa, a juicy cygnet for my tea.
The fox growled, and tried to grab me with its paw.
FOX: Come here, you!
I squawked and tried to swim away, but the fox slipped through the fence and began to paddle closer to me.
FOX: If I can just get a little bit closer….
Suddenly, I hear the flapping of wings and watched as my mother and father attacked the fox.
FOX: Oo, er, eh, Gerrorf.
They chased him away. I was safe!
All the other cygnets nearby were growing up like me into swans with long graceful necks and large powerful wings. Soon, it was time for us all to fly off and find new places to live and make new families of our own. I gathered on the lake with my friends from Kenilworth and we talked excitedly about where should we go.
KENILWORTH COB: I wonder where we should fly to?
CYGNETS: Stratford. Stratford? Is it nice? I’ve heard it has a great river, lots of ponds and a canal. Well, I’m going to fly to Paris because it’s really nice.
So, we all set off for our new lives. I soon found the river in Stratford and settled on the water. I spied another swan. She saw me. I swam closer. So did she. We swam together all that day. She became my mate. We stayed together for a very long time. We had 28 cygnets. Not all at the same time – imagine that many eggs in the nest! These cygnets have all grown up into swans and have had many cygnets of their own. I wonder how many grandchildren I have? I returned to Kenilworth, back to the lake where I was hatched all those years ago. I had such a happy, long life but my life was over. A beautiful lady found me.
WOMAN: Oh look! Oh, it’s the Kenilworth Cob. How sad. I know, I’m going to take him to the Market Hall Museum.
She recognised me as the famous Kenilworth Cob and brought me here, where I have stood ever since looking at you, now. And if you are ever in Kenilworth, look out for the swans on the lake. One of them might be my grandchild!
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