Provincial Names and Folk Lore of British Birds, Volume 32

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English Dialect Society, 1885 - Birds - 243 pages
 

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Page 90 - God: 8 who covereth the heaven with clouds, who prepareth rain for the earth, who maketh grass to grow upon the mountains. 9 He giveth to the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry.
Page 51 - Oft in the barns they climbed to the populous nests on the rafters, Seeking with eager eyes that wondrous stone, which the swallow Brings from the shore of the sea to restore the sight of its fledglings ; Lucky was he who found that stone in the nest of the swallow ! Thus passed a few swift years, and they no longer were children.
Page 84 - Lawn as white as driven snow ; Cyprus black as e'er was crow; Gloves as sweet as damask roses ; Masks for faces and for noses...
Page 191 - Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times ; and the turtle, and the crane, and the swallow, observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the LORD.
Page 49 - Cloddipole we learnt to read the skies, To know when hail will fall, or winds arise. He taught us erst the heifer's tail to view, When...
Page 74 - tis, to cast one's eyes so low! The crows and choughs, that wing the midway air, Show scarce so gross as beetles : Half way down Hangs one that gathers samphire; dreadful trade! Methinks, he seems no bigger than his head: The fishermen, that walk upon the beach, Appear like mice; and yon...
Page 127 - When merry milkmaids click the latch, And rarely smells the new-mown hay, And the cock hath sung beneath the thatch Twice or thrice his roundelay, Twice or thrice his roundelay ; Alone and warming his five wits, The white owl in the belfry sits, SECOND SONG.
Page 146 - I remember, in the place where I was a boy, with what terror this bird's note affected the whole village; they considered it as the presage of some sad event; and generally found or made one to succeed it. I do not speak ludicrously ; but if any person in the neighbourhood died, they supposed it could not be otherwise, for the night-raven had foretold it: but if nobody happened to die, the death of a cow or a sheep gave completion to the prophecy.
Page 16 - A RULE FOR BIRDS' NESTERS The robin and the red-breast, The sparrow and the wren; If ye take out o' their nest, Ye'll never thrive again! The robin and the red-breast, The martin and the swallow; If ye touch one o' their eggs, Bad luck will surely follow!
Page 134 - Titans deawy face, Up rose the gentle virgin from her place, And looked all about, if she might spy Her loved knight to move his manly pace: For she had great doubt of his safety, Since late she saw him fall before his enimy.