Welsh Folk-Lore Part 40

The Welsh words I heard at Llanuwchllyn, a good many years ago, just as the cuckoo's voice was heard for the first time in those parts, and there were then no leaves out on the hedgerows. I do not recollect whether the prophecy became true, but it was an aged Welshman that made use of the words. Another version of the same is heard in Llanwddyn parish:--

Os can y gog ar bincyn llwm, Gwerth dy geffyl a phryn dy bwn.

If the cuckoo sings on a sprig that's bare, Sell thy horse, and thy pack prepare.

The latter ditty suits a hilly country, and the former applies to the low lands where there are hedgerows.

The early singing of the cuckoo implies a plentiful crop of hay, and this belief is embodied in the following ditty:--

Mis cyn Clamme can y coge, Mis cyn Awst y cana' inne.

That is:--

If the cuckoo sings a month before May-day, I will sing a month before August.

_Calan Mai_, May-day, abbreviated to _Clamme_, according to the Old Style, corresponds with our 12th of May, and the above saying means, that there would be such an abundant hay harvest if the cuckoo sang a month before May-day, that the farmer would himself sing for joy on the 12th of July. It was the custom in the uplands of Wales to begin the hay harvest on the 1st of July.

The above I heard in Montgomerys.h.i.+re, and also the following:--

Mis cyn Clamme can y coge, Mis cyn hynny tyf mriallu.

That is:--

If the cuckoo sings a month before May-day,

Primroses will grow a month before that time.

I do not know what this means, unless it implies that early primroses foretell an early summer.

But, speaking of the song of the cuckoo, we have the following lines:--

Amser i ganu ydi Ebrill a Mai, A hanner Mehefin, chwi wyddoch bob rhai.

This corresponds somewhat with the English:--

The cuckoo sings in April, The cuckoo sings in May, The cuckoo sings to the middle of June, And then she flies away.

In Mochdre parish, Montgomerys.h.i.+re, I was told the following:--

In May she sings all day, In June she's out of tune.

The following Welsh lines show that the cuckoo will not sing when the hay harvest begins:--

Pan welith hi gocyn, Ni chanith hi gwcw.

When she sees a heap, Silence she will keep.

In certain parts of Wales, such as Montgomerys.h.i.+re, bordering on Shrops.h.i.+re, it is thought that the cuckoo never sings after Midsummer-day. This faith finds corroborative support in the following lines:--

The cuckoo sings in April, The cuckoo sings in May, The cuckoo sings in Midsummer, But never on that day.

In Flints.h.i.+re, in Hawarden parish, it is believed that she mates in June, as shown by these words:--

The cuckoo comes in April, The cuckoo sings in May, The cuckoo mates in June, And in July she flies away.

In Montgomerys.h.i.+re I have often heard these lines:--

The cuckoo is a fine bird, She sings as she flies, She brings us good tidings, And never tells us lies; She sucks young birds' eggs, To make her voice clear, And the more she sings "Cuckoo,"

The summer is quite near.

The last two lines are varied thus:--

And then she sings, "Cuckoo"

Three months in every year.

Or:--

And when she sings "Cuckoo"

The summer is near.

The cuckoo was credited with sucking birds' eggs, to make room for her own, as well as to acquire a clear voice. Perhaps the rustic belief is at fault here. The writer has seen a cuckoo rise from the ground with an egg in her mouth, but he has seen it stated that the cuckoo always lays her eggs on the ground, and carries them in her mouth until she discovers a nest wherein to deposit them, and when she has done this her mother's care is over.

_A White c.o.c.k_.

A white c.o.c.k was looked upon as an unlucky bird, thus:--

Na chadw byth yn nghylch dy dy, Na cheiliog gwyn, na chath ddu.

Never keep about thy house, A white c.o.c.k, nor black cat.

_Crane_.

The crane is often mistaken for the heron. When the crane flies against the stream, she asks for rain, when with the stream she asks for fair weather.

This bird is said to be thin when the moon wanes, and fat at the waxing of the moon.

_Ducks_.

When ducks sportively chase each other through the water, and flap their wings and dive about, in evident enjoyment of their pastime, it is a sign that rain is not far off.