SC - OT - A question of Peers

[RichSCA@aol.com]

Marcus Loidolt here:
 Many of you know that I've been researching REALLY OLD breeds (known 
before 1600)  In doing so I have relied on proven means of researching 
both written word and painted page (esp. vital in medieval research)
In this vein I have been studiously collecting illuminated manu. that 
show domesticate poultry esp. those of chickens. I have found some, not 
as many as I need(is there ever?) but enough to compile some pictures as 
to what I need to look for. 
  Some of you have heard this before, but those on the polutry lists 
have not and I need to hear their ideas and pick their brains too!!
 
  I have always heard and understood that Dominiques/Domikers/Barred 
Rocks, were a uniquely AMERICAN breed, developed here and not seen 
elsewhere. 
 Problem, I see in Christane de Pisan's 15th cen. book of hours a winter 
scene of a farmyard (Nat.Trust Waddesdon Manor MS6 Cat. 8f26.) that 
shows a flock of birds with a VERY distinct pattern!! There are a flock 
of hens and a cock barred black and white looking for all the world like 
a flock o 'Doms'!
  Problem#2 I have also read in Platina's 'Honest Indulgence'( a 14th 
cen. book on food and health) a citation for a B&W barred bird called a 
'Albegensian', "though now called a Dominican due to the fact that this 
Order keeps these birds in all their communities due to their hardiness 
and steady laying"
  I DON'T want to upset peoples ideas and conceptions, but somethings 
amiss here, yes? 
 Are there other B&W barred breeds this could be? Would these not be 
possible ancestors of our 'Doms'?
 Just asking for ideas, NOT FLAMES!!!

Marcus, ever in search of medieval chickens!!