Duck Quacking Festival in Cirencester

When hunting a duck it’s a real advantage to be able to sound like a duck rather than a human being carrying a gun. This advantage will allow you to get closer to the bird  before giving it both barrels with your shotgun.

This was the rationale behind the duck imitators of Cirencester, who held contests in the 14^th and 15^th centuries to select who the best duck impersonator. As time progressed the impersonations became more important than the shooting as personal pride became involved at the expense of blood lust.

Eventually, interest in imitating other animals began to grow; not only ducks could be heard in the pub but also cows, horses, cats, and badgers. This was disconcerting to the other customers and also convinced the local squire Rupert de Courtney the people of Cirencester had an unparalleled gift for duck imitation that wasn’t being channelled in the right direction. In 1726 he decided to hold a contest, open to all, to decide who could best imitate a duck.

De Courtney decided to hold the contest on October 4^th, the feast day of St Francis of Assisi who is the patron saint of animals. The contest attracted people from across the Cotswolds. There were 132 entrants and lots were drawn to decide the order of the participants. De Courtney had decided that the best judge of whether the duck impersonations were accurate would be a real duck.

It just so happened that a local family had adopted a duck called Jessica. She was placed on a table in her own nest and her reactions to each impersonator were watched closely – the more interested in the impersonator Jessica became the more marks were awarded by the human observers.