“ All in ye Merrie Month of May ” 
Cold and weary, round her head, 
Wraps a rainbow, seeks to rest 
In her dripping cloudy robes 
Somewhere on earth mother’s breast, 
Homeless Gipsy, wandering still, 
Weep for Summer, poor Sun Maid, 
In the far land whence she came 
Surely she had better stayed. 
Welcome Summer, come at last, 
Over seas from some far land, 
Where her flitting footsteps pause, 
Tyrants rise and bid her stand. 
The Cuckoo is a popular bird on the Border, and dif- 
ferent birds have been known to enjoy the doubtful honour 
of fostering him. There are many local legends about him. 
He is one of the seven creatures thought to hybernate, and 
there are stories about Cuckoos flying out of hollow logs as 
they crackled and burnt on the fire. Some people say he 
then turned into a Hawk ! If the first time you hear the 
Cuckoo you are careful to kiss your hand towards him, and 
then count the successive cries, you will know how many 
chances you have of wedding. If you have money in your 
pocket when you hear the Cuckoo for the first time, you 
will have plenty all the year to come, but ill-luck if your 
pocket be empty. Gay makes allusion to an old belief, 
which used to prevail hereabouts, that if a girl, on hearing 
the Cuckoo for the first time, took off her left shoe she 
would find in it a hair of her future husband. Just about 
here he is, unluckily, rather rare, as he prefers the Lammer- 
muirs and the real uplands, which I am sorry for, as I love 
hearing him. In Devonshire we had so many near us ! I 
remember, when Boy was a tiny baby newly come, I heard 
Cuckoos calling all around the house ; so much so, I used to 
tell him he came from Cloudland with the April Cuckoo. 
The time of the Cuckoo’s departure hence seems rather 
uncertain, but there used to be an old rhyme which 
declared : 
In April come he will, 
In May he sings all day 
In June he changes tune, 
In July may fly away ; 
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