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Apr. 12th, 2009 06:28 pm
evilbeej: (Misc: Brightman)
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Beauséjour

THIS is the forest primeval. The murmuring pines and the hemlocks, Bearded with moss, and in garments green, indistinct in the twilight, Stand like Druids of eld, with voices sad and prophetic, Stand like harpers hoar, with beards that rest on their bosoms. Loud from its rocky caverns, the deep-voiced neighboring ocean Speaks, and in accents disconsolate answers the wail of the forest.

-- Evangeline, A Tale of Acadie, Longfellow
An old sailor who spent his life as a deep-sea fisher-
man around the coasts of Nova Scotia and Newfound-
land told of a great iron chest that was buried just be-
neath the water, so that its outline could be seen very
distinctly. Every time the crew tried to work around
it and, raise it up, thousands of crows, one of which was
headless, would swarm around them, so that it was im-
possible for them to get at it. These crows they be-
lieved to be helpers of the decapitated guarding spirit.

-- Folklore of Nova Scotia, Mary L. Fraser

'kukukuch' is the Mi'kmaq (Micmac) word for 'crow'

http://www.crowbusters.com/begart15.htm

http://tinwiki.org/wiki/Crimean_War_Monster

The Morrigan, goddess of war and death who could take the shape of a crow



black bird

All black birds, particularly those belonging to the crow family, were considered familiars of god-spirits, the fay or witches.

crow

1. Fishermen who had a crow cross over their bowwould return immediately to port, or spit "so it wouldn't do no harm".

2. A crow seen standing at the peak of a roof indicated bad luck for the inhabitants.

3. On seeing a black crow, one must spit, close the eyes, turn the head away and count ten to avoid sorrow. Creighton, BM, p. 138.

4. "One crow sorrow, Two crows joy, Three crows a wedding, Four crows a boy, Five crows silver, Six crows gold, Seven crows a secret, Never to be told. See Creighton's variations on this rhyme, BM, p. 138.

5. "I'm going tonight for Christmas Eve treats, telling you that tomorrow is Christmas Day; and if you don't give me a treat, may the black crow pluck out your eyes." Dunn, HS, p. 51.

6. It was considered excessively dangerous to mistreat a "gorbey". Those who plucked any member of the crow family might expect their hair to fall out before the next dawn. All black birds have traditionally had a bad reputation, but members of the crow family (including the raven, Canada jay and the blue jay) have been particularly suspect. In Atlantic Canada the Gaels call the jays "gorbeys", a word borrowed from the French "corbeaux". In his book The Birds of Nova Scotia, Robie W. Tufts denigrates the crow: "Few persons have anything good to say of this bird. Its call note is discordant; it steals eggs from the nests of valuable songbirds; it plagues the farmer...and pecks holes in ripening pears and apples." He mentions that ravens are equally disliked for their stealing meat from hunters. Tufts describes their ability to detect food and pass the word of it to others of their kind as an "uncanny power". The jays, he dismisses as bold, impetuous thieves, whole-heartedly hated by fur-trappers for stealing bait. Pierre Delancre, a medievalist, wrote that witch-priests conducting the black mass traditionally shouted out: "Black crow! Black crow!" at the moment of the elevation of the host. Of course,the Gaelic name for the witch, "baobh" implies a human hag or a carrion crow. All of this negative publicity is one sided, and even Tufts admits that the crow destroys "great quantities of grasshoppers, crickets and other insect pests, to say nothing of innumerable field mice." It is hardly co-incidence that the the god called Odin sat with two great ravens on this shoulders, one named Thought and the other Memory. Each day at dawn, he released them into Middle Earth, and at dusk awaited their return with reports from the world of men. Naturally, these northern men carried his ravens on their banners, and used them to decorate the sails of their ships. It may have been coincidence that these viking sailors were regarded with as much distaste as their bird. There was a time when British seamen were really at hazard, when the "black crow" crossed their bow at sea, or when they returned home and found the raven banner flying from their ridge pole. Spitting was, by the way, a favoured Norse means of sealing alliances and this may partially explain #3. Evil "demons" often vapourized between first and second sight, so it was considered useful to turn away during this ritual. The remaining superstitions may be considered from a similar starting point, bearing in mind that the crow was considered a good luck symbol north of the Isles.
--A GLOSSARY OF THE FOLKLORE OF MARITIME CANADA, Rodney MacKay (http://rodneymackay.com/writing/pdf%20files/folklor1.pdf)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Crow

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