RAVENS IN SOMERSET 113 



one of his men told me, that the ravens would 

 attack and kill his lambs. It was true that they 

 had not done so as yet, but they might kiU a 

 lamb at any time ; and, besides, there were the 

 rabbits — the place swarmed with them — there 

 was no doubt that a young rabbit was taken 

 occasionally. 



Why, then, I asked, if they were so destruc- 

 tive, did not his master go out and shoot them 

 at once ? The man looked grave, and answered 

 that his master would not do the kilhng himself, 

 but would be very glad to see it done by some 

 other person. 



How curious it is to find that the old super- 

 stitions about the raven and the evil consequences 

 of inflicting wilful injury on the bird stUl survive, 

 in spite of the fact that the species has been 

 persecuted almost to extirpation ! 



" Have you not read, sir," Don Quixote is made 

 to say, " the annals and histories of England, 

 wherein are renowned and famous exploits of 

 King Arthur, of whom there goes a tradition, 

 and a common one, all over that kingdom of 

 Great Britain, that the king did not die, but that 

 by magic art he was transformed into a raven, 



