A TALKING RAVEN [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Snr,—It
may be questioned whether Edgar Allen Poe's Raven ever flew into his study, and taking up its position on the top of a picture frame, pronounced the difficult word, " Never- more " at appropriate intervals, but there is no doubt what- ever about this story. A few years ago a gentleman in Stirlingshire took a young raven out of a nest in the hills, before it could fly, and brought it home as a pet. He fed it on a quarter of a pound of steak every day, chopped small.
After a time it used to come in at the open window every morning and hopped-about quite tame. He used to scratch its head and say, " How are you to-day, Jockey Boy? Good morning ! " In course of time he was the only one Jockey would allow to touch him, and he became a terror to the children with his long dangerous beak. *hickey used to sit on his shoulder and rub. his head against his in token of affection. When he went out walking, Jockey would suddenly appear from. nowhere, and alight upon his head, and then sit OR his shoulder. This was all -right till Jackey took to alighting on the heads of passers-by, to their great consterna- tion. And now comes the strangest thing of all.
One morning, when the gentleman was out on the hills, his wife heard her- husband's voice outside, saying, " How are you today, 'Jackey Boy ? Good morning ! " She thought it strange that her husband should have _returned so soon, and went out to speak to him, but he was nowhere to be seen. The raven was sitting on his perch preening his lovely blue- black feathers, as, usual.. She had hardly gone indoors, when she heard her, husband's deep, strong voice again. It seemed incredible, but she went to the window, and watched Jackey, and was astonished to see and hear him repeat the speech in the .same deep voice of her husband, followed by a series of chuckles and chortlings. She told her husband when he came home, and he could hardly believe it, as he had never tried to teach Jackey to speak, but soon he heard and saw it for himself, although Jackey was very shy, and would not speak
if any person was within -sight. .
It was in the early morning when he was alone and waiting for his master to appear, that Jackey loved to go over his-greet- ing again and again, with chuckles of evident pleasure. He had picked it up for himself and had never learned anything else, and would not try. He flew to the top of the church spire one day, and repeated' his speech, accompanied by so many strange sounds, that some superstitious people declared they had both seen and heard the devil. The end came when Jackey was only about six months old. He descended upon a shepherd of the hills, who was attending a disabled lamb in a field. In a passion, the shepherd threw his heavy crooked stick at him, and whether he hit him or not his master could never find out, but Jackey disappeared from that day, and was never seen again.—I am, Sir, &c.,
R. B:
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