ast_. It is given in _Bye-Gones_,
vol. i., p. 173, from Mr. Hardwick's _Traditions_, _Superstitions_,
_Folk-lore_, _etc_.:--"Far, far away, is a land of woe, darkness, spirits
of evil, and fire. Day by day does the little bird bear in its bill a
drop of water to quench the flame. So near to the burning stream does he
fly that his dear little feathers are scorched; and hence is he named
Bronchuddyn (qu. Bronrhuddyn), i.e., breast-burned, or breast-scorched.
To serve little children, the robin dares approach the infernal pit. No
good child will hurt the devoted benefactor of man. The robin returns
from the land of fire, and therefore he feels the cold of winter far more
than the other birds. He shivers in brumal blasts, and hungry he chirps
before your door. Oh, my child, then, in pity throw a few crumbs to poor
red-breast."

_The Sea Gull_.

It is believed that when sea gulls leave the sea for the mountains it is
a sign of stormy weather.

A few years ago I was walking from Corwen to Gwyddelwern, and I overtook
an aged man, and we entered into conversation. Noticing the sea gulls
hovering about, I said, there is going to be a storm. The answer of my
old companion was, yes, for the sea gull says before starting from the
sea shore:--

Drychin, drychin,
Awn i'r eithin;

and then when the storm is over, they say one to the other, before they
take their flight back again to the sea:--

Hindda, hindda,
Awn i'r morfa.

which first couplet may be translated:--

Foul weather, foul weather,
Let's go to the heather;

and then the two last lines may be rendered:--

The storm is no more,
Let's go to the shore.

This was the only occasion when I heard the above stanza, and I have
spoken to many aged Welshmen, and they had not heard the words, but every
one to whom I spoke believed that the sea gulls seen at a distance from
the sea was a sign of foul weather.

_The Swallow_.

The joy with which the first swallow is welcomed is almost if not quite
equal to the welcome given to the cuckoo. "One swallow does not make a
summer" is an old saw.

There is a superstition connected with the swallow that is common in
Wales, which is, that if it forsakes its old nest on a house, it is a
sign of ill luck to that house. But swallows rarely forsake their old
nests, and shortly after their arrival they are busily engaged in
repairing the breaches, which the storms of winter