Weasel Superstitions 329 



sun. A Scotch rhyme predicts a worse fate from the same 

 phenomenon : 



" A man mun ride when he canna wressel, 

 But if at starting he sees a wessel 

 Gan weddershins around a stane, 

 His horse'll sune be back its lane." 



According to another, it is unlucky for a swain to meet the 

 animal when setting out to see the lady of his affections : 



" Gin yer gan te meet yer lassie, 

 An' a wesel chance te pass ye, 

 Ye'd better bide at hame that day, 

 She'll be as soor as lapper'd whey." 



While an Irish variant makes the meeting with a Weasel no 

 less desirable to the fisherman than the lover : 



" If ye go fishin' or sweet-heartin', 

 And meet a weasel when ye're startin', 

 It's divil a throut that day ye'll be killin', 

 And ye'll find the lady verry unwillin'." 



One little girl told me that she regarded Weasels as good 

 fairies, and that it was a belief widely shared in Merioneth- 

 shire. " If," she added by way of backing up her opinion, 

 " they are not the c Little people,' where have the 

 T Tylwyth Teg, 11 gone?" And when I suggested the 

 rustling leaves, scattering before the autumn wind, as an 

 alternative, she quickly replied : " No, dead leaves can work 

 neither good nor mischief, and the fairies could ; so can the 

 Wenci bach? I think, for I saw one on my way to school the 

 day before the examinations, and I passed." To such an 

 argument there could be no reply. 



When taking refuge one day from a heavy April shower, 

 at the Flag Station, I saw a Weasel carry out a most 

 interesting mouse-hunt, lasting for some twenty minutes, 

 and resulting in the extermination of probably a whole 

 colony of Field Voles. The Weasel was a very small one, 



1 Y Tylwyth Teg^ literally " The fair family," a common name for fairies in 

 Wales. 



2 Wend, or Givend bach, " little weasel." 



