The Queer, the Quaint and the Quizzical Part 40

Southey alludes to this in "Thalaba"-

With such a look as fables say The mother ostrich fixes on her eggs, Till that intense affection Kindle its light of life.

_Honoring the Lark._

In Russia, on the 9th of March, the day on which the larks are supposed to arrive, the rustics make clay images of those birds, smear them with honey, tip their heads with tinsel, and then carry them about, singing songs to spring, or to Lada, their vernal G.o.ddess.

_The Nightingale._

Milton's exquisite sonnet to the nightingale makes pointed reference to the fancy that her song portended success in love. Faber, in the "Cherwell Water Lily," gives an angelic character to the strains of the nightingale. The cla.s.sical fable of the unhappy Philomela may have given origin to the conception that the nightingale sings with its breast impaled upon a thorn. The earliest notice of this myth by an English poet is, probably, that in the "Pa.s.sionate Pilgrim" of Shakespeare-

"Everything doth banish moan, Save the nightingale alone.

She, poor bird, as all forlorn, _Lean'd her breast up till a thorn_, And there sung the dolefull'st ditty, That to hear it was great pity."

_The Blackbird originally White._

There is a curious story of the blackbird that its original color was white, but it became black because one year three of the days were so cold that it had to take refuge in a chimney. Mr. Swainson says that "these three days (January 30th, 31st and February 1st) are called in the neighborhood of Brescia, 'I giorni della merla,' the blackbird's days."

_The Dove._

The dove amongst birds, from its gentle and loving nature in the first place, and in the second from the purity of its plumage, has been preferably selected as the image of the Holy Ghost.

According to an apocryphal gospel, the Holy Ghost, under the form of a dove, designated Joseph as the spouse of the Virgin Mary by alighting on his head; and in the same manner, says Eusebius, was Fabian indicated as the divinely-appointed Bishop of Rome. According to a singular legend, the Holy Spirit, in the form of a dove, was present at the Council of Nice, and _signed the creed_ that was there framed! There are many legends of a similar character.

At the consecration of Clovis the divine dove is said actually to have presided over the Christian destinies of France. Clovis and the Bishop of Rheims, St. Remi, proceeded in procession to the baptistry, where the chief of the Franks was to be consecrated king and made a Christian.

When they arrived there, the priest, bearing the holy chrism, was stopped by the crowd, and could not reach the font. But a dove, whiter than snow, brought thither in her beak the "ampoule" (a phial of white gla.s.s) filled with chrism sent from heaven. St. Remi took the vessel and perfumed with chrism the baptismal water.

In a painted window at Lincoln College, Oxford, Elisha the prophet is represented with a double-headed dove seated on his shoulder. This becomes intelligent on referring to his pet.i.tion to Elijah, when he entreated that "a double portion" of his spirit might rest upon him.

The dove, as a harbinger of good news, is alluded to in one of Martial's epigrams-

"A dove soft glided through the air On Aretulla's bosom bare.

This might seem chance, did she not stay, Nor would, permissive, wing her way.

But, if a pious sister's vows The Master of mankind allows, This envoy of Sardoan skies From the returning exile flies."

_Killing a Robin._

In old times ill-luck attended the killing of a robin. If one died in the hand, it was believed that the hand would always tremble. In "Six Pastorals," by George Smith, 1770, the following occurs:-

"I found a robin's nest within our shed And in the barn a wren has young one's bred; I never take away their nest, nor try To catch the old ones, lest a friend should die.

d.i.c.k took a robin's nest from the cottage side, And ere a twelvemonth pa.s.s'd his mother died."

In Derbys.h.i.+re, among many other places, it is believed that the catching and killing of a robin, or taking the eggs from the nest, is sure to be followed by misfortune, such as the death of cattle, blight of corn, etc. The folks say-

"Robins and wrens Are G.o.d's best c.o.c.ks and hens.

Martins and swallows Are G.o.d's best scholars."

In Yorks.h.i.+re, if a robin is killed, it is believed that the family cow will give b.l.o.o.d.y milk.

_The Cuckoo._

A superst.i.tion prevails in Ireland, and in some parts of England, that any young person, on first hearing the cuckoo, will find a hair of the color of their sweetheart's adhering to their stocking, if they will at once take off their left shoe and examine it carefully. Gay, in his "Shepherd's Week," says-

"Upon a rising bank I sat adown, Then doff'd my shoe, and, by my troth, I swear Therein I spied this yellow frizzled hair, As like to Lubberkin's in curl and hue As if upon his comely pate it grew."

In Norfolk there is a belief that an unmarried person will remain single as many years as the cuckoo utters its call, when first heard in the spring. Subjoined is an old English invocation-

"Cuckoo, cherry-tree, Good bird, tell me, How many years I have to live?"

At the first call of the cuckoo the German peasant does the same thing as when he hears thunder for the first time in the year. He rolls himself two or three times on the gra.s.s, thinking himself thereby insured against pains in the back throughout the rest of the year, and all the more so if the bird continues its cry whilst he is on the ground.

If the first note of the cuckoo comes upon you when you have no money in your pocket, it is held, both in Germany and England, to portend want of money throughout the year.

A valuable virtue is attributed to cuckoos in keeping off fleas. In Hill's "Naturall and Artificiall Conclusions," (1650), we find: "A very easie and merry conceit to keep off fleas from your beds or chambers.

Pliny reporteth that if, when you first hear the cuckow, you mark well where your first foot standeth, and take up that earth, the fleas will by no means breed where any of the same earth is thrown or scattered."

This belief still exists in some parts of France.

_Why the Cuckoo Builds no Nest._

"If you wish to know," says Horace Marryat, in his "Jutland and the Danish Isles," "why the cuckoo builds no nest of its own, I can easily explain it, according to the belief in Denmark. When in early spring-time the voice of the cuckoo is first heard in the woods, every village girl kisses her hand, and asks the question: 'Cuckoo! cuckoo!

when shall I be married?' And the old folks, borne down with age and rheumatism, inquire: 'Cuckoo! when shall I be relieved from this world's cares?' The bird, in answer, continues singing 'Cuckoo!' as many times as years will elapse before the object of their desires will come to pa.s.s. But as many old people live to an advanced age, and many girls die old maids, the poor bird has so much to do in answering the questions put to her, that the building season goes by; she has no time to make her nest, but lays her eggs in the nest of the hedge-sparrow."

_The Magpie._

The magpie has always had many superst.i.tions connected with it. _One_ magpie foretells misfortune, which can be obviated, however, by pulling off the hat and making a polite bow to the bird. In Lancas.h.i.+re the saying is-

"One for anger, two for mirth, Three for a wedding, four for a birth, Five for rich, six for poor, Seven for a witch, I can tell you no more."

To meet a magpie portends misfortune in a journey, and it is thought best to return. It is the usual habit of the peasants to cross themselves when they meet a single chattering magpie. In the north of England the bird is thus addressed-

"Magpie, magpie, chatter and flee, Turn up thy tail, and good luck fall me."

Of all living creatures in Russia, magpies are those whose shapes witches like best to take. The wife of the false Demetrius, according to popular poetry, escaped from Moscow in the guise of a magpie.

_Why the Magpie Builds but Half a Nest._

The half-nest of the magpie is accounted for by a rural ornithological legend. Once on a time, when the world was very young, the magpie, by some accident or other, although she was quite as cunning as she is at present, was the only bird that was unable to build a nest. In this perplexity she applied to the other members of the feathered race, who kindly undertook to instruct her. So, on a day appointed, they a.s.sembled for the purpose, and, the materials having been collected, the blackbird said, "Place that stick there," suiting the action to the word, as she commenced the work. "Ah!" said the magpie, "I knew that before." The other birds followed with their suggestions, but to every piece of advice the magpie kept saying, "Ah! I knew that before." At length, when the nest was half finished, the patience of the company was fairly exhausted by the pertinacious conceit of the magpie; so all left her, with the united exclamation, "Well, Mistress Mag, as you seem to know all about it, you may finish the nest yourself." Their resolution was obdurate and final, and to this day the magpie exhibits the effects of partial instruction by her incomplete abode.

_A Swallow Drinks the King's Health._