254 
DICTIONARY OF NAMES OF BRITISH BIRDS. 
Central Germany. Frederick I] of Brandenburg instituted 
an Order of the Swan in 1440, and another Order existed 
at Cleves. The name is a royal one in Bohemia, and the 
name of the great river Elbe that flows from the confines 
of that ancient kingdom to the North Sea is itself probably 
a ‘swan river,” elbschwan being a German name for a kind 
of Swan, while edb itself is an equivalent of fairy. In the 
Norse we find elptr, elftr, for these birds, which are obviously 
connected names, while on our eastern coasts “elk” is the 
name given to a wild Swan. At the mouth of the Elbe 
are the states of Schleswig-Holstein, formerly a part of the 
Kingdom of Denmark; and a province in the ancient 
state of Holsatia was named Stormaria and had for its 
arms a Swan with its neck encircled by a ducal coronet, 
which also figures in the ancient arms of the Kings of 
Denmark (Jonae ab Elvervelt, “De MHolsatia,” 1592). 
This province of Stormaria includes among other towns 
the great modern city of Hamburg, and it appears to have 
been from this portion of Europe that the invasion of 
England by the Angles under Ida sailed, landing on the 
north-east coast of England. For an account of the “‘swan- 
coins ” of ancient Germany, a curious old work by Christian 
Schlegel, “De Nummis antiquis Gothanis et Cygneis 
Dissertatis,”” may be consulted. An ancient belief was that 
it was lucky to meet a Swan atsea. On the Island of Rigen 
in the Baltic it is said to have been credited with bringing 
the newly-born babies, an office assigned in most parts of 
Germany to the Stork. The Swan appears several times 
in the story of the Irish legendary hero Cuchullaind. On 
one occasion the rescued Princess and her servant follow 
the hero in the shape of Swans, a story which recalls the tales 
of Swan-maidensin Danish and German folk-lore. According 
to a correspondent in the “‘ Athenzeum ” (vol. m1, p. 229), 
if the Swan flies against the wind, it is a certain indication 
of a hurricane within twenty-four hours, generally within | 
twelve. A Scottish saying is ‘““ When the white Swan visits 
the Orkneys expect a continued severe winter” (Inwards). 
A Hampshire superstition is that Swans are generally 
hatched during a thunderstorm. The same belief is contra- 
dicted by Lord Northampton in his “ Defensative against 
the Poyson of Supposed Prophecies ” (1583), who says : 
“Tt chaunceth sometimes to thunder about that time and 
season of the yeare when Swannes hatch their young: 
and yet no doubt it is a paradox of simple men to think 
that a Swanne cannot hatch without a crack of thunder.” 
