"This reasoning will, in general, be found correct, and may be applied
to solve many of the superstitions in the country; but the case of the
magpie is entitled to a little more consideration. The piannet, as we
call her in the North of England, is the most unlucky of all birds, to
see singly at any time; this, however, does not often happen, except a
short time during incubation; they either appear in pairs or in
families; but even this last appearance is as alarming to our
grandmothers. The following distich shows what each forbodes:--'One
sorrow, two mirth, three a wedding, four death.' This bird, indeed,
appears to have taken the same place with us, as an omen of evil, that
the owl had amongst the ancients. The nurse is often heard to declare
that she has lost all hopes of her charge when she has observed a
piannet on the house-top.
"Another prejudice, indulged even by our good wives, is that of
destroying the feathers of the pigeon instead of saving them to stuff
beds, etc. They say, that if they were to do so, it would only prolong
the sufferings of the death-bed; and when these are more than usually
severe, it is attributed to this cause, and the reason given 'because
the bird has no gall' is to them quite conclusive, but to me, perfectly
irrelevant and unsatisfactory.
Pages:
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404