A FEW WORDS ON FEN-LAND. 207 



" Against Sir Hugh Montgomery 

 So right his shaft he set^ 

 The grey goose- wing that was thereon 

 In his hearths blood was wet." 



Chevy Chace. 



Latham states "that this bird is very long-lived, and we have full 

 authority for its arriving at no less than a hundred years." 



Daniel says that the old ganders and geese which have been plucked 

 pretty frequently are called " cagmags." He relates a curious anecdote of 

 the aflFection of a gander to his owner, an old blind woman, in Germany. He 

 used to lead her every Sunday to church, taking hold of her gown with his bill. 

 " When he had introduced her to her seat, he retired to graze in the church- 

 yard ; and no sooner was the congregation dismissed, but he returned to his 

 duty and led her home." 



In Thompson's ' Birds of Ireland,' vol. iii. p. 31, mention is made of a 

 like friendship between a gander and an old blind mare. 



In Lincolnshire there are several sayings relating to Geese, such as : — 

 "The bairns to bed, and the Goose to the fire;" "More Geese than men 

 in the Lincolnshire fen." Also they used to forecast the weather by the 

 breast-bone of the Goose : if it looked cloudy, a severe winter was said to 

 follow. 



Pishey Thompson, though he mentions many of these provincial sayings, 

 does not allude to the above ; still he works his subject pretty close. 



I have said that Geese are on the decline, one reason being that free 

 quarters can no longer be had for them by the fenman ; and another is that 

 the feathers now are not in such demand. Feather beds are out of fashion, 



VOL. III. 2 H 



