2 Turtle Doves

In honor of the holiday season, we are re-releasing our 12 Days of Christmas special! For the next 12 days, we will re-release one episode a day, each one with our own spin on the classic holiday theme, "The 12 Days of Christmas."

Cindy explains what the $&*+ a turtle dove is. 

Transcript

The Symbolism of Turtle Doves

Speaker 1 0:12

on the second day of christmas , my true love gave to me two turtle doves .

Speaker 2 0:18

And can I tell you , kitty , I was so honored that I got the chance to research this lyric of the song to turtle doves . What a more beautiful vision of Christmas . And well , here's the deal , katie , what the is a turtle dove .

Speaker 1 0:40

It's Cindy when a dove and a turtle love each other very much .

Speaker 2 0:46

La , la , la , la , la , la la cover your kids' ears . So for this , I want to say , I relied heavily on operationturtledoveorg for my information . So did you know , Katie , that turtle doves are a delicate , dainty species of dove that weigh only about 140 grams , or like a third of a pound ? It is their charismatic turturing sound . I wish it gets its name .

Speaker 1 1:22

Do that with me , so it has nothing to do with reptiles .

Speaker 2 1:27

No , no , no , it's just , they're purring . That's why they're called purring dogs .

Speaker 1 1:35

Let me just say I feel like ornithologists are the laziest sons of guns you ever met . What's this bird ? It says whippoorwill , whippoorwill . Let this bird . It says whippoorwill , whippoorwill , let's call it a whippoorwill . This one says what are ?

Speaker 2 1:51

we going to name it . It's telling us what it wants to be called . It's supposed to be called a turtle dove . Turtle doves are the only long distance migratory dove species in europe . They depart their breeding grounds in Western Europe in mid to late summer and they choose to winter in West Africa because Palm Beach City is just too busy .

Speaker 1 2:14

It's too far . It's too far and with the COVID restrictions now it's really hard to get the little tiny bird masks on .

Speaker 2 2:22

So now that we know what the turtle dove is , why would someone give somebody else not one , but two of them as a present ?

Speaker 1 2:34

Well , how are you going to get any more baby turtle doves ?

Speaker 2 2:38

How else can I start a turtle dove breeding farm Exactly ? Well , here's a fun fact , katie , speaking of making babies turtle doves have historically had romantic associations specifically with fidelity and trust . The roman deity fetus fight us . What is it ? How do you spell it ? F-i-d-e-s . Fidus , but it's an E-S .

Speaker 1 3:10

F-I-D-E-S Fides .

Speaker 2 3:13

Oh , fides , okay , the Roman deity Fides , the goddess of good faith , was often pictured holding a turtle dove . For those of you Greek mythology fans not Katie . For those of you Greek mythology fans not Katie you may have noticed that Aphrodite , the goddess of love , had a chariot that was pulled by turtle doves . Shakespeare himself wrote often of turtle doves , as did Anne Bronte and even Edgar Allan Poe , but some might say that turtle doves had their real moment in the sun on May 19th 2018 , katie , what day was that ?

Speaker 1 3:51

Oh , is that ? No ? No , that's not . Oh , that's when they got the new Pope right . Nope , I know it's not Catherine and William's wedding , because that was 2019 .

Speaker 2 4:04

No , no it wasn't 2019 .

Speaker 1 4:06

But but but but , the other one , harry .

Speaker 2 4:14

Meghan and Harry's wedding which , may I remind you , that wedding was watched by millions of people and during the ceremony , one of the readings actually described turtle doves as heralds of spring heralds of spring ?

Speaker 1 4:35

it's not . I go back to my victors of history .

Speaker 2 4:39

They're not the stevens of spring , they're not the janets of spring , they're the heralds picturing all these men in like hawaiian shirts , like coming out like I'm , a herald of spring flip-flop season . Yet so not only are turtle doves associated with love , but they also symbolize deepest devotion . It is said that if one turtle dove of a turtle dove pair dies , the other one will mourn . When co-ruler of Florence Giuliano de' Medici was murdered in 1478 , his partner commissioned a portrait of Medici which included a turtle dove which was supposed to represent his mourning partner . And it also , of course , doesn't help that the sound they make sounds a lot like really awful mourning , and also the fact that they drink a lot too . No , I'm just kidding , they don't do that .

Speaker 1 5:43

I was going to say . I have been in mourning and I've never once uttered the phrase , no matter how depressed I was Not once .

Speaker 2 5:58

I did drink a lot , though . Exactly there , though exactly here you go . Just like a turtle , just like

The Significance of Turtle Doves

Speaker 2 6:01

a turtle . Turtle doves are still a symbol of affection today . I'd like to take a moment to reference one of the most stirring films of our time home alone too , as you might recall , katie . In this film , kevin presents one of his turtle dove ornaments to the bird lady . He says , quote turtle doves are a symbol of friendship and love . Keep one and give the other to a very special person . As long as each of you has a turtle dove , you will be friends forever . End quote .

Speaker 1 6:37

We're really running out of historical sources , that we have to use Macaulay Culkin as a primary source .

Speaker 2 6:44

But here's the big question you've all been waiting for Should you , this holiday season , give your lover a turtle dove or two for Christmas ? Well , in addition to being a symbol of love , affection and devotion , doves are also delicious and have been hunted for thousands of years . Turtle doves are hunted legally in some countries , but they are being harvested in excess and the number of turtle doves is declining rapidly . In fact , turtle doves are the UK's fastest declining bird species , and they are threatened with global extinction , oh wow . Therefore , when looking for a special gift for that special someone , probably best to stick to the Ferrero Rocher .

Speaker 1 7:28

Agreed , agreed . I do have to say I'm a little disappointed . When you were building it up and saying , should you get someone some turtle doves , I was really hoping you were going to say I'm a little disappointed . When you were building it up and saying , should you get someone some turtle doves , I was really hoping you're gonna say no , because they're extremely aggressive no , they're just extremely almost extinct .

Speaker 1 7:43

That's why , oh because they're so adorable and delicious my thesis stands the more there is a relationship , the more adorable a creature gets , the more delicious and that , dear katie , is what the f*** a turtle dove is .

Speaker 2 8:05

Thank , you .