i 5 6 



CUCKOO SONGS. 



while the descriptions, which breathe of rural sights and 

 sounds, show that nature has suffered no change : 



Sumer is icumen in, 

 Lhude sing cuccu ; 

 Groweth sed and bloweth med, 

 And springeth the wde nu ; 



Sing cuccu. 



Awe bleteth after lamb, 

 Lhouth after calve cu ; 

 Bulluc sterteth, bucke verteth, 

 Murie sing cuccu; 



Cuccu, cuccu ; 

 Wei singes thu cuccu, 

 Ne swik thu naver nu." 



Summer is come in, 



Loud sing cuckoo ; 



The seed groweth and the mead bloweth , 



And the wood shoots now ; 



Sing cuckoo. 



The ewe bleats after the lamb, 

 The cow lows after the calf; 

 The bullock starts, the buck verts, 

 Merrily sing cuckoo ; 



Cuckoo, cuckoo ; 

 Well singest thou cuckoo, 

 Mayest thou never cease . 



This song is preserved amongst the Harleian MSS., 

 No. 978, and is remarkable for being accompanied with 

 musical notes, and as being the oldest sample of English 

 secular music. 



The Wagtail (Motacilla Yarrellii) has no claim to be 

 included amongst the birds of song, but as the latter are 

 chiefly small birds, and as Shakespeare has only alluded 

 to it once, we may be excused for introducing it in the 

 present chapter. 



In an opprobrious sense, the word " wagtail " would 

 doubtless denote a pert, flippant fellow. Kent, in King 

 Lear (Act ii. Sc. 2), says, 



" Spare my grey beard, you wagtail 7" 



In many parts of the country this bird is called " dish- 

 washer," and the name appears to be of some antiquity. 

 Turbervile, in his " Booke of Falconrie," 1575, speaking 



