Notes and Queries, Number 41, August 10, 1850 | Page 5

from the same

reason. When a baby is first taken out to see its friends, it is customary
for them to give it an egg: this, if preserved, is held to be a source of
good fortune to the future man. (Vide _Brand_, ii. p. 48.) The first egg
laid by a pullet is usually secured by the shepherd, in order to present to
his sweetheart,--the luckiest gift, it is believed, he can give her.
_Crows._--To see a crow flying alone is a token of bad luck. An odd
one, perched in the path of the observer, is a sign of wrath.
_Owls._--The ominous screech of this, the most ominous of all birds, is
still heard with alarm; and he remains with us, as in Chaucer's days,
"The oule eke that of deth the bode bringeth."
When, as sometimes happens, he exchanges the darkness of his ivy
bush for the rays of the sun at noon-day, his presence is looked upon as
indicative of bad luck to the beholder. Hence it not infrequently
happens that a mortal is as much scared by one of these occasional
flights as the small bird denizens of the tree on which he may happen to
alight.
_Cuckoos._--When the cry of the cuckoo is heard for the first time in
the season, it is customary to turn the money in the pocket, and wish. If
within the bounds of reason, it is sure to be fulfilled. In reference to the
pecuniary idea respecting the cuckoo, the children sing,
"Cuckoo, cuckoo, cherry tree Catch a penny and give it to me."
_Robins and Wrens._--The robin is considered a sacred bird: to kill one
is little less than sacrilege, and its eggs are free from the destroying
hand of the bird-nester. It is asserted that the respect shown to it by
man is joined in by the animals of the wood. The weasel and wild cat, it
is said, will neither molest it, nor eat it when killed. The high favour in
which this bird is held is usually attributed to the ballad of The Babes in
the Wood. Few, however, among the peasantry of this district have
even heard of it; and, however much that beautiful tale may have
tended to popularise the belief, it is evident that we must trace the
origin to a more remote source. One cause for the veneration in which
it is held may be the superstition which represents him as the medium
through which mankind are warned of approaching death. {165}
Before the death of a person, a robin is believed, in many instances, to
tap thrice at the window of the room in which he or she may be. The
wren is also a bird which superstition protects from injury; but it is by
no means treated with such reverence as the robin. The praises of both

are sung in the old couplet:--
"The robin and the wren, Be God A'mighty's cock and hen."
_Pigeons._--No one, it is believed, can die on pigeons' feathers. In the
northern parts of the county, the same thing is said of game feathers,--a
superstition also current in Kent.--_Ingolsby Legends_, Third Series, p.
133.
_Wasps._--The first wasp seen in the season should always be killed.
By so doing you secure to yourself good luck and freedom from
enemies throughout the year.
_Bees._--The superstitious ceremonies and observances attached to
these animals appear to be current throughout the kingdom, and by no
means suffer any diminution in this county. Among others of less
common occurrence, we have the belief that they will not thrive in a
quarrelsome fammily.
The wild, or, as we term him, the _humble bee_, is not without a share
of the superstitions which pertain to his more civilised brethren. The
entrance of one into a cottage is deemed a certain sign of death.
_Spiders._--The small spiders called "money spinners" prognosticate
good luck; in order to propitiate which, they must be thrown over the
left shoulder.
T.Y.
* * * * *
Minor Notes
_The Hon. A. Erskine._--In J. Reed's Copy of _Boswell's and Hon. A.
Erskine's Correspondence_, 12mo. 1763, was the following note in
Reed's autograph:--
"The Hon. A. Erskine was fourth son of the fifth Earl of Kelley. Mr.
Boswell told me the 30th of May, 1794, that A.E., having spent all his
property, in a fit of despair threw himself from a rock into the sea last
winter, and was drowned. His body was found five days after, when it
appeared it was a deliberate act, as he had filled his pockets with
stones."
_Gloves._--The question of F.E. (Vol. i., p. 366.), "Why are gloves not
worn before royalty?" having hitherto received no answer, may
probably be as difficult of solution as another custom in which a glove
figures as a token