FEATHERS

Birds frequently recur as a motif in Ian Fleming’s life. We start in February 1952 when Ian sits down at his desk at GoldenEye to write his first novel, Casino Royale. He looks around for the name of his new protagonist, settling on a book in his library he calls his ‘Jamaican bible’, A Field Guide to the Birds of the West Indies, by American ornithologist and Caribbean bird expert James Bond. ‘I wanted a really flat, quiet name… I thought that ‘James Bond,’ now that’s a pretty quiet name.’

Years later, on 5th February 1964, the real James Bond and his wife Mary make a surprise visit to GoldenEye, a moment caught on camera by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation who happen to be at the house filming. Mary Bond reports that Fleming quips ‘I can only offer your James Bond unlimited use of the name Ian Fleming. Perhaps one day he will discover some particularly horrible species of bird which he would like to christen in an insulting fashion.’

A keen bird watcher, Ian surrounds GoldenEye with hibiscus and bougainvillea to attract hummingbirds, especially Jamaica’s national bird, the red-billed streamertail. Known locally as the doctor bird, these dynamic little birds grace the property to this day. Fleming writes about them in 1960’s For Your Eyes Only, ‘The most beautiful bird in Jamaica, and some say the most beautiful bird in the world. The body is emerald green, so dazzling that when the sun is on the breast you see the brightest green thing in nature.’ The doctor bird is now the Ian Fleming emblem and takes centre stage on the front cover of the current paperback edition of For Your Eyes Only.