Aug. 1, 1S67.] 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



177 



RURAL "FOLK-LORE." 



THERE is scattered amongst the rural population 

 a large amount of that sort of knowledge 

 graphically called " Eolk-Lore," from one branch of 

 which, namely, that which your correspondents, B. 

 and R. Holland, call "Rural Natural History," I 

 propose to offer a few examples, taken almost at 

 random from the "Eolk-Lore" of the North and 

 East Ridings of Yorkshire. 



It is generally believed that the cuckoo sucks the 

 eggs of birds, and that when that kind of food fails, 

 the cuckoo loses his voice, — 



The cuckoo, he sings in the spring of the year, 

 And he sucks little birds' eggs to make his voice clear ! 



Old Rhyme. 



It is also believed in some parts that the cuckoo, 

 having no further occasion for the services of his 

 foster-parents, repays them for their kindness by 

 swallowing them. This -was an article of "Eolk- 

 Lore " with the ancient Greeks and Romans. Aris- 

 totle believed it, and Shakespeare — the universal 

 Shakespeare — alludes to this article of "Eolk-Lore" 

 twice : once in the tragedy of " King Lear." The 

 old, doating king had stripped himself of his crown 

 and kingdom, and given them to his two daughters. 

 Goneril had begun to look coldly on the father, and 

 to seek a cause of quarrel with him ; and during a 

 pause in her inditement, the fool says : 



For you know, nuncle, the hedge sparrow fed the cuckoo 

 so long that it had its head bit off by its young ; so out went 

 the candle, and we were left darkling. 



And again, in the first part of "King Henry IV.," 

 Worcester, reminding the king of his broken pro- 

 mises, says : 



And being fed by us, you used us so, 



As that ungentle gull the cuckow's bird 



Useth the sparrow ; did oppress our nest, 



Grew by our feeding to so great a bulk, 



That even our love durst not come near your sight 



For fear of swallowing. — Act 5, sc. 1. 



In the same play the king, speaking of Richard II., 

 says: 



He was but as a cuckoo is in June. — Act 3, sc. 2. 



That is, he was common, and he had lost the power 

 to attract ; his voice was like the voice of the 

 stuttering cuckoo, no longer commanding attention, 

 except to be unfavourably contrasted with its 

 former perfection. Richard, when he began his 

 reign, was the nation's idol : Pomfret tells the 

 rest. 



The old fallacy of the cuckoo wintering here is 

 not yet exploded. It is also believed that if you 

 have any money in your pocket, when you first hear 

 the cuckoo, and turn it over, you will have good 

 luck for the next twelve months. May not the 

 expression "turning a penny" have arisen from 

 this old relic of " Eolk-Lore ? " Some persons 

 take out their money when they first hear the 



welcome cry, and spit upon it for good luck. Spit- 

 ting for good luck on the first money taken during 

 the clay is very common ; this money is popularly 

 called " hansel!' Tettigonia spumaria, the froth 

 exuded from the body of which is found so common 

 upon grass in the summer months is said by some 

 to be cuckoo-spit, whilst others call it toad-spit. 

 "Scabbed as a cuckoo" is a Yorkshire saying, 

 alluding, I suppose, to the great quantity of scurE 

 which comes off the young birds. 



The lady-bird (Coccinelhc) is eagerly sought after 

 by country boys, who believe, or profess to believe, 

 that the price of corn for the next year will be as 

 many shillings per bushel as there are dots on the 

 wing-cases of this little insect. In our rambles we 

 often see young Rusticus with one on his finger 

 end, to which he sings the old rhyme, — 



Lady-bird ! Lady-bird ! fly away home '. 

 Your house is on fire, and all your banes gone! 

 Lady-bird ! Lady-bird ' ! fly away home. 

 Fly away ! fly away ! ! fly away home ! ! ! 



Woodlice {Armadillo) are an infallible remedy for 

 fits. A friend of the writer's was in the constant 

 habit of swallowing Armadillo vulgaris like pills. 

 Docks {Rumex sp.) are a remedy against the 

 sting of the nettle. You must take the leaf of the 

 dock, aud rub it well on the place nettled, saying 

 nine times, " Docken in, nettle out." Rooks do not 

 breed until two years old. Birds pair on St. Valen- 

 tine's day, and do not build on Holy Thursday. 

 Hedgehogs suck milk from cows. Eels are not 

 in season when beans are in flower ; and bean-swads- 

 rubbed well into a wart are a cure for it. The 

 latter remedy I have frequently applied, and always 

 with success. A roasted mouse is a cure for the 

 whooping-cough. 



The ass, before our Saviour's entry into Jeru- 

 salem, had not the mark of a cross on his back ; 

 but that distinguishing mark was a token of our 

 Saviour's favour, given to the ass that bore him on 

 Palm Sunday, and has been ever since borne by 

 all asses. 



If you take up a haddock, and examine both the 

 gill-cases, you will observe on each what are not 

 unlike the marks of the pressure of a thumb. These 

 are said to be marks made by the finger and thumb. 

 of St. Peter, when he opened the mouth of the fish 

 to take out the tribute-money. The fish in whose 

 mouth it was found must of course have been a 

 haddock, but I question whether that fish is an 

 inhabitant of the Sea of Tiberias. 



Pigeon-feathers are never used for beds or pillows, 

 it being an article of " Eolk-Lore " that a person 

 cannot die on such a bed, but that his agonies are 

 only prolonged. It is also believed that death most 

 frequently takes place on the turn of the tide. 



Such are a few of the articles of " Eolk-Lore " in 

 Yorkshire. 



Linton-on-Ouse, York. Jjs t o. Ranson.. 



