ich now had become their new home. When it was found that they
would not return, the man desisted, and his master, as he had feared, met
with dire misfortune shortly afterwards (see p. 304).

_The Cuckoo_. _Y Gog_.

The cuckoo is a sacred bird. It is safe from the gamekeeper's gun. Its
advent is welcomed with pleasure. "Have you heard the cuckoo?" is a
question put by the fortunate person who first hears its notes to every
person he meets. When it is ascertained that the cuckoo has arrived,
parents give their children pence for luck, and they themselves take care
not to leave their houses with empty pockets, for should they do so,
those pockets, if the cuckoo is heard, will be empty all the year. Those
who hear the cuckoo for the first time thrust immediately their hand in
their pockets, and turn their money, or toss a piece into the air, and
all this is for luck for the coming year ushered in by the cheering sound
of the cuckoo's notes.

It is believed that the cuckoo is in our country for several days before
its welcome two notes are heard, and that the cause of its huskiness is,
that it is tired, and has not cleared its voice by sucking birds' eggs.

Generally the cuckoo is heard for the first time yearly about the same
place, and the hill tops not far from the abodes of man are its favourite
resort. Thus we have the ditty:--

Cynta' lle y can y cogydd,
Yw y fawnog ar y mynydd.

The place where first the cuckoo sings,
Is by the peat pits on the hills.

The cuckoo is supposed to be accompanied by the wry-neck, hence its name,
"Gwas-y-gog," the cuckoo's servant. The wryneck was thought to build the
nest, and hatch and feed the young of the cuckoo.

Many superstitions cluster round the cuckoo; thus, should a person be in
doubt as to the way to take, when going from home, to secure success in
life, he, or she, waits for the cuckoo's return, and then should the bird
be heard for the first time, singing towards the east, as it flies, that
is the direction to take, or any other direction as the case may be; and
it is, or was, even thought that the flight of the cuckoo, singing as it
flies before a person, for the first time in the year, indicated a change
of abode for that person, and the new home lay in the direction in which
the cuckoo flew.

Should the cuckoo make its appearance before the leaves appear on the
hawthorn bush, it is a sign of a dry, barren year.

Os can y gog