THE CUCKOO'S CALL. The liquid notes that close the eyes of day, 55 Chaucer's reference to the cuckoo as a "leud bird," and Milton's condemnation of it as a rude bird of hate" arise, no doubt, from its association with unfaithfulness in marriage. Probably its own singular habit of leaving its eggs to be hatched by other birds. has been the origin of this association. Chaucer represents the bird as cynical in the extreme in its view of love and matrimony. When the nightingale has so beautifully been singing of the virtues which love engenders, the cuckoo sarcastically observes: "Nightingale, thou speakest wonder faire, And in old folke a great dotage, Who most it useth, most shall enpaire." The cry of the cuckoo is supposed to denote mockery, and one of our old English words having this significance is derived from the Latin word cuculus-a cuckoo. Shakespeare, in the song which closes Love's Labour's Lost, uses the note of the cuckoo to convey this meaning: "When daisies pied, and violets blue, And lady-smocks all silver white, And cuckoo-buds of yellow hue, Do paint the meadows with delight, Mocks married men; for thus sings he, Cuckoo, cuckoo: O word of fear, Poor cuckoo! What senseless havoc does man's imagination make of Natural History! Through the construction of a stupid fable the cuckoo's "jolly voice" becomes "leud," "hated," and " a word of fear." Still, not so, I hope, to most of us. We listen with a rejoicing sense of approaching summer, with all its full verdure and warmth, as once again the curious voice of the hidden bird rings out. And among the poets, too, the bird is not wanting for friendship. Spenser called it "The merry Cuckow, messenger of spring." John Lyly describes it as "jolly"; Wordsworth "delights" in the voice of the "blithe new-comer"; and John Logan, the Scotch poet, in a gem of poetry devoted to a eulogy of the bird, hails it as "beauteous stranger of the grove." The poem is so delicate and true to nature that I would like to reprint it here in its entirety; three verses, however, must suffice: "Hail, beauteous stranger of the grove! Thou messenger of spring! Now Heaven repairs thy rural seat, And woods thy welcome sing. A BLACK CAT FOR LUCK. What time the daisy decks the green, Thy certain voice we hear; Hast thou a star to guide thy path, Delightful visitant! with thee And hear the sound of music sweet 57 Similar to the expression of a wish on hearing the cuckoo call is the belief that "any wish will come true" if made on seeing the first lamb of the season, and there is no reservation in this case about seeing or hearing any other animal first. This wholesale kind of wishing, however, is hardly to be commended, for though it may be lucky for the person expressing the wish, it may be very unlucky for other people. Then it is also said that a piebald or white horse is an animal which brings good luck; but some people add that you must express your wish before you think of its tail, a reservation which makes the act of wishing an impossibility. I can well remember how, when I was a schoolboy, it was our invariable custom to expectorate over our little fingers on seeing a white or piebald horse in order to secure good luck. From the results up to date I must admit I have not very abundant faith in this particular form of superstition. Perhaps, however, I thought of their tails! A black Cat without a single white hair in its fur is almost universally regarded as a "lucky animal," and quite a large number of people keep a black cat for no other reason than to ensure prosperity. Woe be to the foolish person who turns one of these sable augurs from his door; and woe, some people say, to those from whose door the animal turns of its own accord. Quite recently a lady told me with great distress she had lost her cat. "I should not have minded," she said, "but it was perfectly black." The following instance of superstitious belief in black cats appeared in the March (1903) issue of the "Badminton Magazine," the subject of the remarks being Prince Ranjitsinhji: "The Prince has a great superstition in black cats, and the appearance of one at a shooting gathering serves to convince him in advance of a fine morning plus a fine bag, and singularly enough, it always turns out so. Twice in succession, he claims, has the timely appearance of a black cat been instrumental in winning a county match for Sussex in addition to other occasions." A superstitious belief in cats, black or otherwise, is of very great antiquity. Among the Egyptians the animals were regarded with the utmost reverence, and their mummified remains, a cargo of which was imported to England not many years ago, are frequently found in the same tombs as their worshippers. In witchcraft and soothsaying cats have always played no unimportant part, and wherever we see a picture or description of a witch's hovel, there too we shall certainly find portrayed her companion in darkness, a black cat. DISTORTED NATURAL HISTORY. “O Lord, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches. So is this great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts. The glory of the Lord shall endure for ever: the Lord shall rejoice in his works." -Psalm civ. APART from signs and omens, there is a form of superstition which owes its origin largely to ignorance in respect of the animal kingdom. This is a surprising and pathetic fact, for it obviously shows that few people are really interested in the marvellous and beautiful creatures with which God has blessed the earth. To me every creature He has made is an object for wonder and admiration. Like Cowper, "Cawing rooks, and kites that swim sublime In still-repeated circles, screaming loud, The jay, the pie, and even the boding owl That hails the rising moon, have charms for me.” And I may also add snakes, and toads, and slugs, and blackbeetles. In each there is much that is marvellous, that is beyond our limited comprehension, and not one atom of which can we design much |
