‘The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner’ – Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Banned because it suggests that the killing and slaughter of seabirds may cause a curse to fall on people’s heads. Heresy.
‘The Raven’ – Edgar Allan Poe
The bird in this book talks. Very disturbing.
‘To A Skylark’ – Percy Bysshe Shelley
The man in this poem talks to birds. Equally disturbing.
‘To A Nightingale’ – John Keats
Might affect the minds of impressionable young readers and put them off a diet of birds.
‘Sing a Song Of Sixpence’ – Nursery Rhyme.
Might be overheard by puffins, fulmars etc and encourage them to attack people by gripping their nostrils.
‘The Death and Burial Of Cock Robin’ – Nursery Rhyme.
Suggests that birds are capable of carrying bows and arrows. Might cause nightmares in young people.
‘Moby Dick’ – Herman Melville
Suggests an alternative and unacceptable diet.
‘There Was an Old Man With a Beard’ – Edward Lear
Strange nesting practices.
‘Robin Hood’ – various writers.
Might make the children long for greenwoods.
‘Treasure Island’ – Robert Louis Stevenson
Over-familiarity with a potential – though exotic – meal.
‘Tweet Off – A Sensible Person’s Guide to Twitter’ – Donald Donald…