Poisoning Pigeons in the Park... Strychnine and Cyanide

Irish Baritone, Ben Russell, was our guest artist for this year's Phyllis Dence Performing Arts Day. Amongst other things Ben gave us a wonderful version of the old Tom Lehrer classic "Poisoning Pigeons in the Park"

Ben sang of using strychnine and cyanide to poison his pigeons, and this got us thinking about how such poisons work...


Strychnine is a naturally occurring, colourless, bitter, crystalline alkaloid compound of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen C₂₁H₂₂N₂O₂. When inhaled, swallowed or absorbed through eyes or mouth, it interferes with the action of motor neurone inhibitors, resulting in 'over stimulation' of motor neurones - causing muscular convulsions and eventually death through asphyxia. As it produces some of the most dramatic and painful symptoms of any known toxic reaction strychnine poisoning is often used in literature and film.


Strychnine is produced by plants of the genus Strychnos which are trees and climbing shrubs found in warm regions of Asia, Africa and America. The seeds and bark of many species are highly toxic, and seeds of Strychnos nux-vomica, from Indonesia, have long been used as a source of rat poison.




Cyanide is any compound containing a carbon atom triple-bonded to a nitrogen atom (a 'cyano group'). Hydrogen cyanide, in the form of Zyklon B, was used by the Nazis in World War II gas chambers and cyanide crystals (potassium cyanide or sodium cyanide) occur frequently in the world of 'whodunnits' such as in Agatha Christie's Sparkling Cyanide.


Cyanide inhibits the action of an enzyme (cytochrome c oxidase) which is needed for cellular respiration. When active in a cell's mitochondria the supply of energy (in the form of ATP) is interrupted and the cell stops working and ultimately 'dies'. Tissues that depend highly on aerobic respiration, such as the central nervous system and the heart, are particularly affected.


Cyanides are produced by certain bacteria, fungi, and algae and are found in a number of plants e.g. the 'stones' of apricots and pips of apples. The cyanide helps to protect plants against herbivores, although the golden bamboo lemur of Madagascar is immune to the high levels of cyanide in the Madagascar bamboo.


Oh by the way, It's 'Science Week ' this week and all of Stover is involved in uncovering who poisoned our science technician - based on various experiments and analyses being carried out in this week's Science lessons!

Annual Concert for St. Cecilia's Day

Teigngrace Church

Last week saw twenty pupils from Stover giving a very polished performance at Teigngrace Church in a concert to celebrate the feast of St. Cecilia (the patron saint of musicians). Teigngrace is our local church, and we are linked to it historically through the Templer family, as it was rebuilt by the children of James Templer - who built our school.

The concert was a mixture of solo items by singers and instrumentalists, with some vocal and piano duets. The programme concluded with all the singers who had taken part singing ‘The Rose’ and ‘A Clare Benediction’ as an encore.

Further Music Success at Plymouth

Helen, Harvey and Mrs Farleigh - amongst others

The week at the Plymouth Music Festival ended on a real high. The choirs all won their respective classes on Friday (including the Prep School Choir winning their first cup) and adjudicator, Bryan Husband, was highly impressed - ending his comment sheet with the phrase ‘Wonderful singing and fabulous music making!’

The senior vocal classes followed with Helen Te and Harvey Seale both collecting trophies in the adult singers classes. They gained enough marks to be entered for the Championship class on Saturday afternoon, and Harvey went on to win this, becoming the most successful adult vocal soloist in the festival.

Thanks must go to Mrs Farleigh, our singing teacher at Stover for all the hard work she has put in to prepare pupils not only for this competition but also the many other concerts and events that our singers take part in.

Plymouth Competitive Music Competition

Junior Vocal Category Prizewinners

Thanks to Mr Lea, our Director of Music, for passing on this penultimate instalment on the Plymouth Competitive music festival. It was the turn of the singing pupils on Thursday, and there was success for: Georgina Allen, Clara Finnigan, Annabel Kennedy, Venetia Blelloch, Amy Bellamy, Abigail Joint and Tim Lee, who all scored highly and received very favourable comments from the Adjudicator in the Junior Vocal classes. Our pupils were competing against a large number of other 11-16 year olds from local schools, and certainly did their bit to maintain and promote the strong reputation for singing at Stover.

Concert for Arthritis Care

Ten pupils from Stover School gave a very enjoyable concert for the Newton Abbot branch of Arthritis Care at St Paul’s church yesterday. The programme was a mixture of piano, instrumental and vocal solos which was well received by the audience. This is the fourth year the Music Department has been able to support the charity and the pupils welcomed the valuable experience of being able to perform to such an appreciative audience.

Many of the pupils have also been taking part in the Plymouth Competitive Music festival this week and so the concert gave them an opportunity to give their pieces a second performance.

Extra Curricular Activities

Prize winning pianists

As we know well, all work and no play makes Jack (or Jill) a dull boy (or girl). Stover pupils daily continue to be engaged in a wide range of extra-curricular activity. I write this piece to the background of ethereal piano music wafting down the stairs from the entrance hall as one of the music pupils works through their repertoire during prep. This is one of the great perks of my office being where it is!

Pianists Coco Lee, Alvin Lo, Velika Lee, Charlotte Lai and Venus Chim all gained success in their classes last Monday at the Plymouth Competitive Music festival. The vocal classes will be held on Thursday and Friday this week, when Stover will again be well represented.

SPS v Kelly College

As ever, last week saw a range of sports fixtures being played-out on the pitches by the front drive. These included the Under 9 Stover rugby festival, Under 13 rugby against St. John’s and the girls from the Prep School taking on Kelly College.