Some Notes on the Folklore of Poultry

Abstract

Eggs, during the bird-breeding season, must have formed a staple article of diet, from the time that mankind first become omniverous and the early domestication of the fowl led to that close social and moral connection, which always arises when man adopts any animal as a domestic pet (if this term may be applied to the rather one-sided connection existing between man and fowl). The superstitions and ceremonial observances forming part of what is known as folklore may, therefore, be of some interest to those, who normally consider poultry from its utilitarian aspect. The customs and beliefs of mankind die hard, and they continue long after any real or definite connection with magic or religious ritual persists. Many people to-day may not believe very emphatically in illluck or in animal fetishism, in spite of the charms and mascots so commonly worn. Nor do they take the many problems of witchcraft or magic seriously, but ingrained custom and tradition especially among the rural community leads to the retention of a number of interesting observances, and there is often a very definite belief in their truth. One of the oldest and most respectable survivals met with is the belief in the efficacy of ceremonial magic in love affairs. Eggs take a prominent part in such divinations and, especially among gypsies, have generally formed the material for divination rites as to the future, particularly as regards the birth of children. A great many town and country people exhibit such an intense interest in the possibility of a birth and of the sex of a desired child, that there exists a number of ritual observances and procedure which must be adopted in order to obtain early information on these important points. Many of them are scarcely suitable for a detailed description, but it may be briefly stated that in the majority of cases divination takes the form of mixing urine with an egg which has been freed from its shell without 104