A Single Swallow

The swallows should be arriving soon.  I hope the weather improves for them!  When we lived in Cambridge one of my favourite things to do would be to lie on the grass in our back garden and watch the swallows swoop and arc overhead.  Will bought me a book called A Single Swallow by Horatio Clare.  It's a travel journal where the writer follows the migration route of swallows from South Africa to South Wales.  I enjoyed the book, and the opening paragraphs grabbed me instantly, describing various names from folklore that people all over the world have attributed to these hardy little travellers. 

I was thinking about this picture yesterday afternoon, and retrieved the book from the bookshelf and re-read the first few pages.  The radio was on the background;  it was an interview and I wasn't really paying any attention, but as I put the book down I heard the interviewer thank her guest Horatio Clare!  He had been talking about a new book he has written.  I thought it was such a strange coincedence that I knew I had to draw this picture today.