Editing Swan (section)

===As food===
Swan meat was regarded as a luxury food in England during the reign of [[Elizabeth I]]. A recipe for baked swan survives from that time: "To bake a Swan Scald it and take out the bones, and parboil it, then season it very well with Pepper, Salt and Ginger, then lard it, and put it in a deep Coffin of Rye Paste with store of Butter, close it and bake it very well, and when it is baked, fill up the Vent-hole with melted Butter, and so keep it; serve it in as you do the Beef-Pie."<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/bake-swan-old-recipe.htm |title=Baked Swan. Old Elizabethan Recipe |publisher=elizabethan-era.org.uk |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101027032709/http://elizabethan-era.org.uk/bake-swan-old-recipe.htm |archive-date=27 October 2010 }}</ref> Swans being raised for food were sometimes kept in [[swan pit]]s.

The ''[[Illustrious Brotherhood of Our Blessed Lady]]'', a religious [[confraternity]] which existed in [['s-Hertogenbosch]] in the late Middle Ages, had "sworn members", also called "swan-brethren" because they used to donate a swan for the yearly banquet.

Based on a mistaken belief that the British monarch owns all the swans in Britain, it is popularly believed the British monarch is the only person allowed to eat swans in the United Kingdom.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Cleaver |first=Emily |date=July 31, 2017 |title=The Fascinating, Regal History Behind Britain's Swans |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/fascinating-history-british-thrones-swans-180964249/ |access-date=June 24, 2024 |work=[[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=September 2, 2017 |title=Little girl asks to borrow swan, Queen responds |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/little-girl-asks-to-borrow-swan-queen-responds/QRQ5RVSL6ZMWS2VGYMSTXVRWNQ/ |access-date=June 24, 2024 |work=[[The New Zealand Herald]]}}</ref>