Following the reported death of five swans in Glasgow, there was some uncertainty over the ownership of Scotland's swans.

In popular culture, is it widely believed the birds are the property of the Queen - but that is not entirely the case.

With other strange royal rules still enforced in Scotland, do you know which are myth and which are based on fact?

Possibly one of the biggest misconceptions regarding the royals - the Queen does not sit down to dine on swans.

Instead, the crown has the right to claim ownership over mute swans so named for being less vocal than other species and only those living on the Thames in London.

Each July, a swan upping ceremony is performed where birds are caught by those representing the Queen to conduct a census and perform health checks.

The Queen herself has only watched the ceremony once, in 2009, during her 65-year reign.

These powers do not stretch to Scotland so our white-feathered friends are perfectly safe.

There is some truth in the old myth of royalty eating swan.

During Elizabeth I's reign, swan meat was considered a luxury and it was often basted in lots of lard and butter and covered in rye paste before cooking.

Essentially a large swan pie, the rye pastry was often seen as a way to store a cooked meat and was not eaten in the way it would be today.

Elizabethan recipes did however encourage cooks to serve swan 'like a beef pie'.

Usually, a whale that washed up on British shorelines would cause more immediate concerns for animal welfare charities or the local public attempting to refloat them.

The Queen is well within her rights to lay claim to its tail, however, and have it turned into a corset.

The bizarre rule dates back to the reign of Edward II during the early 14th century, when it was decided any royal fish, including dolphins, porpoises and sturgeons, belonged to the monarchy when brought ashore.

The head would belong to the king and the queen would receive the tail for corsets.

Baleen, taken from the mouth of a whale, was more commonly used for whalebone corsets at the time.

In Scotland, the rules were a little different and were restricted to whales too big to be pulled ashore, often considered to be mammals more than 25ft long and too large to be drawn to land by a "wain pulled by six oxen".

While there are many strange royal rules that have been ordered and revoked throughout the centuries, including jail time for anyone who cracks a boiled egg on the pointed end, a ruling allowing rent payments via flowers is still in existence.

In Wales, the new owner of a quarry that lies on the Prince of Wales' Duchy of Cornwall estate will be subjected to sweet-smelling agreement.

He must pay the prince one daffodil a year in rent, although Charles is not expected to hot on the heels of his tenant for his annual floral arrangement.

In Scotland, the Dukes of Atholl were allowed to hold their estate at Blair Atholl on the basis that if the sovereign visits, they must be presented with a white rose.

Yet the most unusual rental agreement must belong to Foulis Castle, which lies north of Inverness.

Fiercely loyal to the crown, they held their land as long as they would present a snowball to the sovereign during the height of summer.

It was reasoned the castle's proximity to Wyvis Forest meant that snow would always be in abundance should the royals presumably want a summer snowball fight.