Morning journal and courier., 1889-07-20

pa66luk Ill uuADSI, HdSA tA0 E'ipAGAAo6O W.
man, whose exclusive vocation is to exercise
them, exists to this day among the noun
tains of the west of Ireland. In some parts
of the country crickets are regarded az pos
sessing vindictive powers, and all manner OF
devices are resorted to for their conoiliation.
But one of the oldest of all Irish supersti.
tions is the belief that if you chase and
catch butterfly you imprison the wandering
soul of your grandmother
have never seen printed any reference to
Irish superstitions, signs and portents re-
garding birds. In my wanderiugs among the
peasantry have found that such were sim
ply innumerable. Here are few out of sew
eral hundred scattered through my note
books: If an osprey be shot along any coast
all the herring and mackerel will immediate-
ly disappear. If the hen-harrier, which
only hunts by twilight in precisely the
same winged circles above the fallows each
evening, is missed from its accustomed
raptorial haunt, some evil spirit is said to
be lowering about the locality. When
unusual numbers In any unfrequented To-
cality, that is sign of abundance Of fresh
water fish, but also token of the ap-
proach of malignant disease. On the west
coast in early spring the poor fisherman
watches early and late for the gannet. He
calls it the solan, or swift flying goose. If 1t
does not come his heart sinks, for there will
be no luck at fishing; but if great numbers
wheel about the headlands of the coast plen-
ty will smile in his cabin home that year.
Great numbers of jays or missel thrushes
feeding upon the berries Of the hathorne be-
token the approach of a very cold winter,
and their grackle like calls bring fear to the
heart if the meal be low and the peat be
scant in the little tenant cabin. Tho crane
is believed by the peasantry to have disap-
psared from Erin during bloody Cromweil's
80 1s,Sll Ia Grro1 1v "a
lieved that its temperance will harbinger
the freedom of Ireland; while "as long for
sight of the cranen becomes tender and pa
thetic expression indicative of a universal
heart hunger for liberty. If the stacks are
not circled each night by the noiseless barn
owl a blight will fall upon next seasons
crops; and If the long cared owl, resting
its feeding ground upon the meadows, utters
three prolonged boots (popularly believed TO
be cry to the power of the trinity death
will coon occur in the family occupying that
holding; while if the snowy owl, weird and
dashing fellow indeed, be allowed to descend
from his lookout and carry away another
bird winged by shot of sportsman's gun,
some great Ill is certain to befall that hunter.
When the nest of the thrush or mavis is
built unusually high in the thorn bush this
| betokens q great calamity to a neighbor-
| hood, for some distressing disturbance is un-
l der way among the fairies, who in happy or
| friendly mood always see to 1t that these
nests are built near their haunts in the grass
| es, that they may more readily enjoy the
l music of the thrush's songs. The crops OF
l sweet singing black birds are supposed to
1 hold the souls of those in purgatory, espe-
| cially those exposed to Probationary fres un-
til the Judgment day; and whenever the
black-bird's notes are particularly shrill
these parched and burning souls are implor-
ing for rain, which never fails of coming in
response to the bird-cries for their relief.
The Wicklow mountains are notably the
haunts of the ring ousel or mountain stare.
Whenever after singing his fine, deep song
| he hesitates for a time and then is heard to
| utter loud, shrill and prolonged whistle,
that night every human that has heard II
| will remain behind barred doors; for that is
a true fairy call and the "wee folk of Wick
low" are sure to congregate In the moonit
| mountain hollows and s'darce rings round
their swate selves" until dawn. Both tht
robin and the wren compel superstition
reverence and love in the Irish peasant-heart
and there Is not soul in Ireland, whel
asked concerning the cause of 1t, who viii
not instantly quote the couplet,
"The robin and the wren
Are Gods two holy men"
1t is also strange superstition in some part
of Ireland that any old graveyard where tn
| robin is not found to sing its requiem songs
| indubitably possesses some malachi o
curse. The wheatear or stone-chat, haunt
ing low and rocky reaches of seashore, II
called in Irish the ''custeen fayolough," o
| the "cunning old man under the stone.
! | His call of .sKleekl-kleek!" resembles thu
ringing striking together of small stones
!, and when heard by coastwise folk is regarded
| with the utmost trepidation as calls OF tn
| most portentious character to the "Oult
| One" himself The winchat with its hyster'
ic futterings and its ory of "U-teek!-u.
teek!" in its attempts to decoy the intruder
from the locality of its nest, is regarded
with the same grewsome apprehension
| Nothing can prevent any Irish lad whel
:. once tempted to disturb the nest of the gold
en- wren from irrevocably becoming villag
shaughran or vagraut of the worst descrip
ton The sedge-warbler, known more pop
ularly as tho "Irish nightingale, is the oh
| iect of most tender superstition. BY da
. it is roystering fellow enough, almost a
, impish as our American mocking-bird, in 1t
3 cumulative attempts to demonstrate Its abili
tv to out-si1g the original songs of an.
3 feathered melodist that ventures near 1t
haunts among the reeds by the murmurin
streams. But when it sings at night, an
| particularly at the exact hour of midnight
its plaintive and tender notes are no les
y than the voices of babes that thus return
| from the spirit-land to soothe their poor
heart aching mothers for the great loss c
t their darlings. The haplsss little hedg
v sparrow has great trouble in raising an
. | young at ALL as its beautiful blueish-gree
{ eggs when strung above the hob, are in ce
i tain localities regarded as a potent char
l. against divers witch spells, especially thos
q which gain an entrance to the cabin throug
:. | the wide chimney. o. the contrary tt
"a | srayish white and brown mottled eggs of II
/. Wag- tail are never molested, as the grotesqr
" motion of the tail of this tiny attendant
b | the herds has gained for it the uncanny re-
!. utation and name of DEVILS bird.
d When the starting does not follow the or
,r zing cattle some witch charm has been p
,e upon them. The magpie, as with the a
le cient Greeks, ia the repository OF the soul
Or an evil-minded and gossiping woman.
TO round tower or castle ruin unfrequented
TO iackdaws Is certainly haunted. The "cur
ID of the crows" is quite as malevolent AZ t
ia course of Cromwell" When 'tprahe
lis cark' or hen crow Is found in the solltus
I'D of mountain glens away from human hab1
,d tions it aesuredly possesses the wanderi
an soul of an impenitent sinner. If raw
In hover near a herd of cattle or sheep, Wi
y ering blight has already been set upon
"a animals, hence the song of the bard Bene
or regarding the rights of the kings of Cssl
ria fourteen hundred years ago that cert
IN YEARLY ga thousand goodly COWS, not
"a cows of ravens" The waxwing, the beau
Itv full Incendiara avis of Pliny, whose breedi
at haunts have never yet been discovered
,e. man, are the torches of the bean sidhe,
10 banshees When the cuckoo utters her Fl
at note in the spring, if you chance to hear
40: you will find under your right foot VII
m, hair; and if you keep this about your peri
or the first name you thereafter hear will
'en that of your future husband or wife. Fl
nd other birds provide extremely mournful E
.en pathetic superstitions. The innet po
M forth the most melancholy song of all lr
ZEN birds, and I have seen honest hearted pc
ith ants effected by it to tears. On inquir,
are found the secret cause to be the belief t
rv its notes voiced the plants of some unhaI
40. soul in the spirit land. The changeless 6
IT, interminable chant of the yellow bunting
ar the subject of very singular superstiti
its Its notes, begun each afternoon at the r
,av else hour of three, are regarded as summ'
the to prayer for souls not yet relieved from r
IRA. gatorial pennanoe. A variety of finch
lies notes which resemble what is called
inc "Bride-groom's Song" of unutterabls d.
for lost bride-a legend of supersti'
1 L. Ao