School: Glassalts (roll number 1239)

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1. Bird-Lore

   

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   Bird Lore
   The wild birds commonly found in this district are wild geese, wild ducks, curlews, hawks, crows and pigeons. The other smaller birds are robins, wrens, blackbirds finches (an) linnets, swallows, larks + "Willie-wag-tails" The smaller birds stay about the houses looking for food particulary the robin. Some old people say that the robin rubbed his breast on our Lord's side when out Lord was dying and that is why he hasa red breast on our Lord's side when our Lord was dying and that is why he has a red breast ever since that. Some of the old people also say that it was the robin who (showed) told Herod's soldiers that (that) the Infant Jesus had gone to Egypt. The wren is sometimes called "the king of all birds." Some boys (hund) hunt him on Saint Stephen's Day the 26th of December. When Saint Colmcille put all the birds to fly to see which was going to be king the wren went on the eagles back and when the eagle was the highest of all the birds the wren jumped from his back and only flew the height of a man's knee from the eagle's back and it only flys that height ever since from the ground. One Saint Valentine's day the 14th of February that the birds get married. On this they will go fluttering and chirping about.

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   Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.

   History Edit

   Topics

   1. agents (~1)
      1. animal-lore (~1,185)
         1. bird-lore (~2,478)

   Language

   English

   Collector

   Sadie Frances Mc Donald

   Gender

   Female

   Address

   Glenmakee, Co. Donegal

   Informant

   John Doherty

   Gender

   Male

   Age

   86

   Address

   Glenmakee, Co. Donegal