FABLE AND FOLKLORE 115 



Still another theory explains that its reddish front re- 

 mains tinctured by the stain it received in trying to 

 staunch the blood that flowed from the Redeemer's 

 pierced side. 



Almost all boys in Great Britain are, or used to be, 

 collectors of birds' eggs, before bird-protecting societies 

 and public enlightenment restricted their destructive en- 

 thusiasm; but the nest of the "ruddock" (robin) was 

 rarely disturbed by the most careless of them, who, if un- 

 deterred by any soft sentiment, were frightened by the 

 superstition that bad luck followed any such vandalism. 

 Many maxims to this effect might be quoted, one of 

 which, a proverb in Cornwall, runs : 



He that hurts robin or wren 

 Will never prosper, boy or men. 



In Essex they repeat to children a little ballad like this: 



The robin and the redbreast, 



The robin and the wren; 

 If ye take out o' their nest 



Ye'U never thrive again. 



The robin and the redbreast, 



The martin and the swallow; 

 If ye touch one o' their eggs 



Bad luck will follow. 



The Scotch say it a little differently: 



The laverock and the lintie, 



The robin and the wren; 

 If ye harry their nests 



Ye'll never thrive again. 



Let me digress here for a moment. "Laverock" is 

 Scottish for lark, meaning the skylark. De Gubernatis, 54 



