Welsh Folk-Lore Part 41

_Eagle_.

Persons who had eaten eagle's flesh had power to cure erysipelas, and this virtue was said by some to be transmitted to their descendants for ever, whilst others affirmed it only lasted for nine generations. See page 263, where this subject is fully treated.

_The Goat Sucker_.

A curious notion prevailed respecting this bird, arrived at, presumably, in consequence of its peculiar name--the _goat sucker_--viz., that it lives on the milk of the goat, which it obtains by sucking the teats of that animal.

_Putting Hens to Sit_.

Placing the eggs in the nest for hens, geese, and ducks to sit on was considered an important undertaking. This was always done by the lucky member of the family. It was usual to put fowl to sit so as to get the chick out of the egg at the waxing, and not at the waning, of the moon.

It was thought that the young birds were strong or weak according to the age of the moon when they were hatched.

March chickens were always considered the best. A game bird hatched in March was thought to be stronger and more plucky than those that broke their sh.e.l.ls in any other month, and, further, to obtain all extraneous advantages, that bird which was hatched at full moon began life with very good prospects.

A singular custom prevailed at Llansantffraid, Montgomerys.h.i.+re, when putting hens, and other fowl, to sit. I obtained the information from the late Vicar, the Rev. R. H. M. Hughes, M.A., an observant gentleman, who took a lively interest in all matters connected with his parish. I was staying with him, and he made the remark that in his parish it was considered lucky to place the hen, when she first began to sit, with her head towards the church. This the cottagers in the village could easily do, for the parish church was in their midst. I do not know whether this kind of proceeding prevailed in other places.

The number of eggs placed under a hen varied with her size, but one general rule was followed, viz., an odd number of eggs was always placed under her; eleven or thirteen was the usual number, but never ten or twelve.

_The Heron_.

The heron as it flies slowly towards the source of a river is said to be going up the river to bring the water down, in other words, this flight is a sign of coming rain. The same thing is said of the crane.

_Fable of why the Heron frequents the banks of rivers and lakes_.

It is from thirty to forty years ago that I heard the fable I am about to relate, and the circ.u.mstances under which I heard it are briefly as follows. I was walking towards Bangor from Llanllechid, when I saw a farmer at work hedging. I stopped to chat with him, and a bramble which had fastened itself on his trousers gave him a little trouble to get it away, and the man in a pet said, "Have I not paid thee thy t.i.the?" "Why do you say those words, Enoch?" said I, and he said, "Have you not heard the story?" I confessed my ignorance, and after many preliminary remarks, the farmer related the following fable:--

The heron, the cat, and the bramble bought the t.i.the of a certain parish.

The heron bought the hay, mowed it, harvested it, and c.o.c.ked it, and intended carrying it the following day, but in the night a storm came on, and carried the hay away, and ever since then the heron frequents the banks of the rivers and lakes, looking for her hay that was carried away, and saying "Pay me my t.i.the."

The cat bought the oats, cut them, and even threshed them, and left them in the barn, intending the following day to take them to the market for sale. But when she went into the barn, early the next morning, she found the floor covered with rats and mice, which had devoured the oats, and the cat flew at them and fought with them, and drove them from the barn, and this is why she is at enmity with rats and mice even to our day.

The bramble bought the wheat, and was more fortunate than the heron and cat, for the wheat was bagged, and taken to the market and sold, but sold on trust, and the bramble never got the money, and this is why it takes hold of everyone and says "Pay me my t.i.the," for it forgot to whom the wheat had been sold.

_The Jackdaw_.

This bird is considered sacred, because it frequents church steeples and builds its nest there, and it is said to be an innocent bird, though given to carrying off things and hiding them in out-of-the-way places.

When ignorance of a fault is pleaded, it is a common saying--"I have no more knowledge of the fact than the Devil has of the jackdaw" (see _Bye-Gones_, Vol. I., 86). The Devil evidently will have nothing to do with this bird, because it makes its home in the church steeple, and he hates the church and everything belonging to it.

_The Magpie_.

The magpie was considered a bird of ill-omen. No one liked to see a magpie when starting on a journey, but in certain parts of Montgomerys.h.i.+re, such as the parish of Llanwnog, _if the magpie flew from left to right it foretold good luck_; in other parts, such as Llansantffraid, if seen at all, it was considered a sign of bad luck.

However, fortunately, a person could make void this bad luck, for he had only to spit on the ground, and make a cross with his finger, or stick, through the spittle, and boldly say--

"Satan, I defy thee,"

and the curse, or bad luck, indicated by the appearance of the magpie, could not then come.

The number of magpies seen implied different events. It was a common saying:--

One's grief, two's mirth, Three's a marriage, four's a birth;

and another rendering of the above heard in Montgomerys.h.i.+re was:--

One for bad luck, Two for good luck, Three for a wedding, Four for a burying.

Another ditty is as follows:--

One's joy, two's greet (crying), Three's a wedding, four's a sheet (death).

As stated above, one is grief, or bad luck, if it flies from right to left, but if from left to right it implied success or joy. So these various readings can only be reconciled by a little verbal explanation, but "four's a birth" cannot be made to be an equivalent to "four's a sheet," a winding sheet, or a burying, by any amount of ingenuity.

Should a magpie be seen stationary on a tree, it was believed that the direction in which it took its flight foretold either success or disaster to the person who observed it. If it flew to the left, bad luck was to follow; if to the right, good luck; if straight, the journey could be undertaken, provided the bird did not turn to the left whilst in sight, but disappeared in that direction.

I heard the following tale in Denbighs.h.i.+re:--In days of old, a company of men were stealthily making their way across the country to come upon the enemy unawares. All at once they espied a magpie on a tree, and by common consent they halted to see which way it would take its flight, and thus foretell the fortune which would attend their journey. One of the party, evidently an unbeliever in his comrades' superst.i.tion, noiselessly approached the bird, and shot it dead, to the great horror of his companions. The leader of the party, in great anger, addressed the luckless archer--"You have shot the bird of fate, and you shall be shot."

The dauntless man said, "I shot the magpie, it is true, but if it could foretell our fate, why could it not foresee its own?" The archer's reasoning was good, but I do not know whether people were convinced by logic in those distant times, any more than they are in ours.

I will relate one other tale of the magpie, which I heard upwards of twenty years ago in the parish of Llanwnog, Montgomerys.h.i.+re.

I was speaking to a farmer's wife--whose name it is not necessary to give, as it has nothing to do with the tale--when a magpie flew across our view. "Ah!" she e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed, "you naughty old thing, what do you want here?" "I see," said I, "you think she brings bad luck with her." "Oh, yes," was the response, "I know she does." "What makes you so positive,"

said I, "that she brings bad luck with her?" My question elicited the following story. My friend commenced:--"You know the brook at the bottom of the hill. Well, my mother met with very bad luck there, a good many years ago, and it was in this way--she was going to Newtown fair, on our old horse, and she had a basket of eggs with her. But, just as she was going to leave the 'fould,' a magpie flew before her. We begged of her not to go that day--that bad luck would attend her. She would not listen to us, but started off. However, she never got further than the brook, at the bottom of the hill, for, when she got there, the old mare made straight for the brook, and jerked the bridle out of mother's hand, and down went the mare's head to drink, and off went the basket, and poor mother too. All the eggs were broken, but I'm glad to say mother was not much the worse for her fall. But ever since then I know it is unlucky to see a magpie. But sir," she added, "there is no bad luck for us to-day, for _the magpie flew from left to right_."

The magpie was thought to be a great thief, and it was popularly supposed that if its tongue were split into two with silver it could talk like a man.

The cry of the magpie is a sign of rain. To man its dreaded notes indicated disaster, thus:--

Clyw grechwen nerth pen, iaith pi--yn addaw Newyddion drwg i mi.