WHEN he discovered a dead swan outside his remote home in Orkney, the composer Sir Peter Maxwell Davies decided it would make a tasty terrine.

Sir Peter’s gourmet tastes landed him in trouble, however, when police with a search warrant raided his home and seized the swan carcass as evidence.

Sir Peter, who was appointed Master of the Queen’s Music last year, was told that taking the bird home to eat was illegal and that he could face charges. “They told me they are taking this very seriously,” he said yesterday.

“I was cautioned and told that anything I said could be given in evidence. Naturally I’ve informed Buckingham Palace. Now I’m just hoping I’ll not be locked up in the Tower of London.”

Sir Peter, 70, found the whooper swan near his home on the tiny island of Sanday in Orkney. It had died when it became entangled in power lines.

He reported the find to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and was advised to dispose of it. “I was under the illusion that it would be all right to eat the best parts, rather than feed them to the cat,” he said.

Sir Peter, who admitted that this was not his first taste of swan, decided to use the breast and leg to make a terrine. “I’ve done it before and it really is delicious,” he said. Police called to Sanday to look at a vandalised gate spotted the plucked carcass hanging in the composer’s garden, then returned with the warrant.

“They were very polite but quite firm that I might have committed a felony by being in possession of a protected bird,” Sir Peter said. The police took the carcass from his freezer as well as the wings, which he had kept for Sanday primary school to use as angel wings in its next nativity play.

Sir Peter, who moved to Orkney in 1970, offered the officers a taste of his terrine, which he described as being a bit like pheasant with a hint of venison, but they declined.

A spokesman for Northern Constabulary confirmed that police searched Sir Peter’s house to investigate a possible breach of the Wildlife and Countryside Act. “Our inquiries are continuing,” he said.

Whooper swans, one of three swan species found in Britain, are migratory birds which return to Iceland each spring. All swans are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act of 1981 although the mute swan has had special protection since 1482 because the species is owned by the Crown.

In medieval times, roasted swan was considered a delicacy and served at ceremonial banquets. The birds, which can live more than 20 years and weigh up to 10kg, mate for life.

A small number of shooting licences are granted each year to farmers if they can prove swans have damaged their crops. In all other cases it is an offence to be in possession of a swan carcass, even if the bird died of natural causes.

Sir Peter, whose first important work as Master of the Queen’s Music, commemorating the 60th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, is due to be performed at Westminster Central Hall in June, said: “I just hope I’m not under lock and key and that I’m there to conduct it. Now I’m working so closely with Buckingham Palace I really can’t afford to step outside the law — not that I’ve ever wanted to, of course.

“In some ways I would welcome going to prison because I think the whole experience would inspire some very interesting music.”

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