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Publication Account
Date 1987
Event ID 1016819
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Publication Account
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1016819
As a class, dovecotes tend to be the oldest surviving agricultural buildings in this region. Pigeon farming was an important agricultural pursuit from the medieval period onwards, only declining after the introduction of fresh meat markets at the end of the 18th century. Dovecotes had a similar status to rabbit warrens and deer forests but, being buildings, they are easier to identify. In addition to providing fresh meat and eggs over the winter months, the dovecote also provided large quantities of valuable manure. The pigeon farmed in these structures was a type of rockdove which gave a white meat similar to rabbit rather than the dark meat of the wood pigeon. The pigeons were eaten as fully grown birds, as squabs or young birds and as eggs.
The dovecote provided a habitat similar to the caves inhabited by rock-doves. The birds bred naturally, the strongest birds occupying the top nests, the weakest birds in the nests at ground level. Birds were collected in the dark as they would not fly when they could not see. The collector would work by touch, wringing the necks of suitable birds.
The Tealing dovecote is unusual in that it is not of the beehive or lectern type but takes the form of a single cell building with a conventional pitched roof. As with most dovecotes in this region, the nesting boxes are constructed from flagstone ledges and haffIts. The chamfered doorway is surmounted by an inscribed lintel. The skewput carries the initials DM and the date 1595.
Information from ‘Exploring Scotland’s Heritage: Fife and Tayside’, (1987).
