THE FOLK LORE OF BIRDS IN RELATION TO ESSEX. 79
The verses which I have just quoted were used in other parts
of the country.
The vogue of Wren-hunting was widely distributed over
this country and was also known in France.
The last example which I introduce is placed by Swainson
under the Swallow, but it deals also with the Robin, Wren and
Martin. This author writes: "Our country people couple the
"Swallow and the Martin with the Robin and the Wren as sacred
"birds in the adages :
" The Robin and the Wren
Are God Almighty's cock and hen ;
The Martin and the Swallow
Are God Almighty's shirt and collar."
This version of the rhyme is probably peculiar to Essex. The
first three lines are common to several districts, the rhyme being
completed with a peculiar fourth line, as, for example, in Cheshire
it runs: "Are God Almighty's mate and marrow (i.e.
companions)."
The subject of the folk lore of birds is an extensive one, and
although my searches have been of a limited nature yet I have
considered an imposing amount of material. That eighty-seven
of the some 275 species, nearly 32 per cent of the birds on the
Essex list, should possess folk lore indicates how generally
birds were affected by this vogue; moreover, many of the birds
on this list are rare and would be mostly unknown to the folk
of the past. It is not surprising to find that most of the birds
about which folk lore exists, are common and well known to the
people. The list is composed mainly of terrestrial species,
there being only fourteen really aquatic birds and ten waders
included. The amount of folk lore attached to different species
varies enormously. Some birds have been very liberally endowed
and others treated very sparsely. The Cuckoo seems to have
seized more than any other the public imagination, and Swainson
states that the folk lore, which relates to this bird, is almost
inexhaustible. The Wren, Swallow, Robin, Nightingale, Magpie,
and Raven are birds to which many legends are attached.
The aquatic species apart from the Swans have been almost
ignored, and the only birds among the waders to have received
much attention are the Lapwing, Woodcock, Golden Plover
and Curlew.