330 On Wiltshire Traditions, Charms and Superstitions, 



performing. And again it is generally affirmed, that the owl is a 

 destroyer of young pigeons, thus mistaking the policeman for the 

 thief, for it is in search of the rats which often prove so destructive 

 in our dove-cotes, and not with any evil intentions against the young 

 pigeons, that the owl is sometimes seen exploring such places, which 

 entail upon him suspicion, and very often an untimely end. 



Of course it is held in Wiltshire, as elsewhere, an Unfortunate 1 

 omen to upset any salt at table; or to listen to the first cry of the 

 cuckoo without turning money in your po'eket ; or to see a solitary 

 magpie as you journey along : but these, (though I fear they have 

 degenerated in modern days to mere superstition) were originally 

 rather traditions founded on reason. For as regards salt, it was, 

 (and is in the East to this day) considered symbolical of hospitality 

 and friendship, and I suppose an accidental upsetting the salt be- 

 tokened an approaching dissolution of friendship, as an intentional 

 spilling of that emblem of good-will marked an open rupture. Then 

 with regard to the cuckoo, the intention of the saying was, that after 

 the pinching rigours of winter were past, whoever had any money 

 in his pocket to turn at the coming of the cuckoo, was a fortunate 

 man. While as to the magpie, it was a fisherman's saying in the 

 first place, and applied only to the season of spring, when it was 

 unlucky for the angler to see a single magpie, because that betokened 

 cold and stormy weather, when one magpie would remain on the 

 nest, sitting on the eggs or young, to keep them warm : whereas it 

 was lucky to see two, for when both parents went out together, the 

 weather must be assuredly warm and settled. 



In candour however I must acknowledge that the Wiltshire rustic 

 is sometimes a little dull, and has been known to exhibit marks the 

 reverse of brilliancy. As for instance, in the case of a cooper not a 

 great way from Calne, who, baffled in his attempts to hold the head 

 of a cask in place while he fixed it, happily bethought him to put 

 his little boy inside, who should support it with his hands : but it 

 did not occur to him how effectually he had incarcerated his son, till 

 he heard the plaintive voice of his firstborn exclaiming from the in- 

 terior, " Fe-ather, how be I to get out ? 33 This anecdote is however 

 equalled, if not surpassed, by the famous story of the man who 



