The Folk-Lore and Provincial Names of British Birds. By the
Rev. C. Swainson. (Elliot Stook.)—This is, as may readily be supposed, a book fall of =km, information. Such articles as " The Raven," "The Swallow," "The Robin Redbreast," may be mentioned as good examples of the whole; "The Nightingale" and "The Cuckoo " are perhaps even more interesting. It is about the cuckoo, indeed, that the greatest mass of superstitious belief has collected. Cuckoos are still often, if not commonly, believed to tarn into hawks ; they are looked upon as prognosticators of the weather, and of dearth or plenty. Here is a sample :—
" When the cuckoo comes to the bare thorn,
Bell your cow and buy you sore ; But when she comes to the full sit, Sell your corn and bay you sheep..
But he is prophetic also, it is thought, of the duration of human life. In almost every European country the children have a rhyme corre- sponding to what they Bing in Yorkshire :—
" Cuckoo, cherry-tree. Come down and tell me
How many years afore I dee."
The cherries that the cuckoo has half-eaten are supposed to fall down in a prophetic number.
Previous page
