Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 20, 1909.djvu/99

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Collectanea.
79


II. Yorkshire.

1. The cuckoo she's a pretty bird,
She sings as she flies;
She brings us good tidings,
And tells us no lies.

She sucks little birds' eggs,
To make her voice clear;
And when she cries cuckoo,
The summer is near.

(Told him by an old man-servant, born in 1752).

2. Old Brigg is dead, that good old man,
We shall see him no more;
Then let us chime six, four, and nine.
As we have done before.

(Told him by an old aunt, as words to the chime of a house clock. Tune, "York.")

3. The same aunt thought it unlucky to find a dead bird on the path leading to the house.


III. Trinity College, Cambridge.

4. At Trinity College, Cambridge, it is considered unlucky to put the loving cup on the table; it must be passed from hand to hand. On Ascension Day, 1847, it was put on the table by a man who did not know, and that evening the college kitchen caught fire, and the college was in great danger.

5. Mince pies are eaten at Trinity, from Nov. 1 to Feb. 2, the end of Christmas.

6. Tansy pudding is eaten on Easter Monday and Tuesday.


IV. Marlborough District (Wilts).

Silbury Traditions and Customs.

There is a legend that Silbury is the burial place of a "King Sel" (just as Merlin is traditionally connected with