St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1894-08-30
5l1isrrllanu.
WoODPECKER LEGENDS.
Bird with Unique Folk lonesome
Quaint SupersfitiOus that Have Pre-
vailed for Many A ees

ping OF q WOOOp SCk6T, anna the StIIl-
ness of the quiet greenwood, or on
the outskirts of some lovely swamp
or bog-land, is most peculiar. 1t is
pleasant sound, to the majority of
persons, with charm about it that
fingers in the memory after its last
echoes have died away. The very
regularity of its repetition, growing
louder and softer with the gentle
breezes of a summers day, is calcu-
lated to throw one into deligh fully
reminiscent and thoughtful mood,
and it is not surprising to know that
in past ages it was regarded with a
certain amount of uperstitious awe,
and that the bird by which it is pro-
duced was thought to possess some
occult or mysterious attributes.
The beliefs and convictions that
constitute the folklore of the wood
pecker, or sapsucker, as it is some
times enormously Called-fOr its
bOisterOuS opera tiOns occur solely in
quest of the insects that lie concealed
beneath the bark, and are never in
furious to the trees-are in fact, very
many and varied, and many of them
can be traced back to a some what
more venerable antiquity than is
usual in such matters. Probably
every one remembers having read or
heard, at one time or another, the
story of the transformation of the
pagan god Picus, the son of Satur-
nus, to the shape Of a woodpecker,
by the witch goddess Gree, in re-
venge for his GOODNESS and non-re-
quittal of her love. The tale Of itself
is OF little Importance, and is but one
of the countless fairy legends that
compose the lesser and extremely
poetic mytholCgies of the Greeks and
Romans. But it happily serves the
purpose of illustrating the cOnnec-
ton that evidently existed, in the
Roman mind, between birds-and, in
this instance, the wOOdpecker-and
the pernatural and the unknown
in general. And it would seem that
the relation in different forms was
almost universal in ancient times,
for the image of the bird, which was
used by the Romans to represent the
prosecuted deity already mentioned
after whom the family is named, in
cidentally, in ornitholOgy-and by
the augurs and priests of the city a S
a sort OF symbol, in foretelling COM
ing events, abOunds, in many of the
marvellous and complicated sculp-
lures and carvings of Central Amer
lea and Peru, and has even been
found in some Of the South Sea
Islands and other parts ofthe world,
in the form of wooden charms and
fetiches.
Whether or not these hoary super
stitiOns and usages had ANYTHING to
do with the curious ideas and tradi-
lions that were common in Europe
during the Middle Ages, and that are
even now prevalent among the peas
ants and rural inha bitants of any
countries in the Old World, it is hard
to say. Their influence is certainly
apparent, IN many cases, especially
in one, the famous legion of the
woodpeckcr plant" or "spring-
wort" an Asia tic belief that was no.
ticed by as old a writer as Pliny.
The legend, which has naturally
many variations in different local.
ties, is best preserved in the German
version, and asserts that the wood
pecker possesses the secret of magic
plant which, by its application, will
locks, and open the hrmest-fastened
doors. Why reputable young peo-
pie should experience the rather sus-
picious desire to become familiar
with such an agency is not apparent,
but to discover it they religiously
follow a formula embodied in the
myth, even to this time, which di-
reefs that they plug up the hole in
tree in which a wOodpecker has its
nest, and, cOncealing themselves a t
its foot, await the coming of the |
bird. eff the nest has young ones
IN 1t, so the recipe runs, the old
bird, as soon as it learns what has
been done, will fly off in search of
the plant, and return with it in its |
bill, to remove the plug. If those
hidden below will then irighten the |
bird by making a noise, she will drop |
the sPrlg, which will retain its quail |
titles for many years" In some por-
lions of France the plant is believed
to impart extraordinary strength to
the person treated by rubbing it upon |
the limbs and body; and it is de-
clared that it may be obtained bv
spreading a red cloth upon the |
ground into which the woodpecker,
installing the cloth for fire, will let
it fall, in order that it may be de-
stroyed.
The origin of the woodpecker has
been accounted tor in a number of /
ways, the most interesting of which
Is perhaps the Swiss and German
fable, which can still be heard. in
some parts Of the Alps. for the ask
ing. The tale Is also known to the
Scottish Highlanders. "One dav."
according to the tradition, when /
our Lord and St. Peter wandered /
upon the earth, they came, after
MaLklng q lone distance 10 L.