Cuckoo (4) (The)

 CUCKOO [4], THE (A' Chuthag). Scottish, Slow Air (3/4 time). D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AA. No relation to "The Cuckoo [3]," in Joyce. The cuckoo is thought to be a bird of ill-omen on St. Kilka, and an augury in the Highlands, where it is bad luck to hear the first cuckoo of the season before one has broken his fast (Henderson, Survivals in Belief Among the Celts, 2009, p. 81). In other parts of Britain as well there are various divination beliefs regarding the cuckoo, whose arrival is a signal that spring has arrived (see Simpson & Roud, Oxford Dictionary of English Folklore, 2000). In some 19th century working populations (Shropshire colliers, for example), it was customary to take off of work at the first call of the cuckoo of the season, which would then be celebrated by going outdoors and drinking a health to the bird with beer or ale. Martin (Ceol na Fidhle), vol. 2, 1988; p. 28. Recorded source: Tradition 2118, Jim MacLeod & His Band - "Scottish Dances: Jigs, Waltzes and Reels" (1979).

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