This Easter weekend, the annual Historic Scotland Easter Eggsplorer Trail will take place across over 30 sites. It’s a great chance for families to explore a fascinating historic site from top to bottom, whilst searching high and low for hidden clues.
This year’s trail introduces a brand-new cast of characters: the Birds of Scotland, flocking together for their annual Spring party.
Whilst designing and researching the trail, I consulted the book Scottish Birds: Culture and Tradition, by the (very aptly named) author Robin Hull. This encyclopaedia of all things Scottish birds delves into the origins, histories, and folklores of hundreds of our feathered friends.
After reading the book, I was inspired to write my own poems about each of the birds, incorporating some of their histories.
Birds have been the subject of spiritual and religious folklore, in turns being revered and denounced for their relationships with both God and the Devil. They’ve also held roles in major events in Scottish history, although perhaps unbeknownst to themselves. For example, in 1306, King Edward I of England hosted The Feast of the Swans, where he knighted 267 men in preparation for his mounting war against the Scots. At the event, King Edward swore ‘by God of Heaven and the Swan’ that he would take vengeance against Robert Bruce for the killing of John Comyn.
Edinburgh illustrator Alice Druitt has done a fantastic job of bringing charm and personality to the trail with her characterful drawings of the birds and I hope you love them as much as I do!
Read on to discover the surprising stories behind some of Scotland’s most iconic creatures.
Yellowhammer
The Scotch Canary preens his golden feathers.
Have you heard his famous blether?
Listen close near shrubs and trees:
♬ A-little-bit-of-bread-and… no-cheese! ♬
In my poem, I chose to highlight the Yellowhammer’s charming moniker of ‘Scotch Canary’, and a popular interpretation of its distinctive intonating song. I was equally struck by another name for the bird, used among some Highland communities: ‘De’il, De’il, De’il tak’ you’.
Not only is the call of the Yellowhammer said by some to sound like this eerie remark. The bird is also steeped in the lore of the Devil, with Hull calling it ‘a bird of very evil repute in the Highlands’. It’s said that the Yellowhammer was present at the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, the deep red-brown plumage on the wings of the males a mark of the blood of Christ. Yellowhammers are also said to ‘drink a drop of the Devil’s blood every May Day’.
Could the eggs of the Yellowhammer also hold a mystical secret? Unique splattered blotches on their eggshells have been said by some to be mysterious inky ‘writings’. Others believe the initials of a future lover will be revealed on the shell’s markings.
Capercaillie
Stomping along the forest floor,
The Horse of the Woods bellows a roar.
A Highland bird with a fearsome beak
But he eats buds and berries—That’s rather meek!
The English name of this stocky forest dwelling bird comes from its Gaelic name, Capall-coille, meaning ‘Horse of the Woods’. The deep, guttural call of the male bird during mating season is said to sound like the bellow of a horse.
By 1785, the popularity of the Capercaillie – which is the world’s largest grouse – among hunting parties led to its extinction in Scotland. It was re-introduced to the country in 1838 as thousands of the birds were brought across from Sweden. Today the Capercaillie in Scotland is once again endangered, this time due to rising temperatures and shrinking habitat space. Less than 600 are now estimated to be living in the wild across Scotland.
Puffin
As the sun sets over the sea-washed cliff,
the red-nebbit fisher waddles homeward-bound
back to the burrow with a beak full of fish
to feed her puffling the treats she’s found.
Puffins don’t come off lightly as far of the origins of their names are concerned.
The name ‘Puffin’ was originally used to refer to shearwaters (another seabird) who became plump, or ‘puffed up’, following a luxurious season of nesting, after which they were harvested to be eaten.
The rotund nature of the Puffin is also pointed out in the Hebridean names Bouger and Bulker, which have origins in one Gaelic name: Buthaid, which translates to ‘Bird with a belly’.
There are over 20 different terms for Puffin recorded in Gaelic, and one of the terms for Puffling is Gille-bog, meaning a soft, squishy boy! The School of Scottish Studies also has records of people in the Hebrides using Puffin down in pillows, and even one person keeping a Puffin as a pet.
Puffins have traditionally been characterised as shy, meek and solemn birds. Robin Hull describes them as ‘monkish’ in appearance – an idea echoed in the Puffin’s Latin name, Fratercula Arctica (Little Brother of the Arctic). The Puffin’s tendency to stand with their feet crossed, ‘like hands in prayer’, adds another layer to this monastic characterisation.
Robin
Have you seen a robin here? Watch close!
For some call him the Mason’s Ghost.
He’s seen near castles and ancient stones.
Could this once have been his home?
One of my favourite discoveries during this project has been the name ‘Mason’s ghost’, given to robins.
This name may have its origins in the Borders: on 17 September 1915, it was reported in the Jedburgh Gazette that the name, purportedly often heard in Jedburgh, alludes to the fact that ‘during frosty and snowy weather, when masons are unable to work and therefore stay more at home, the emboldened bird may be said to ‘haunt’ dwellings, frequently entering them, in search of sustenance’.
Robin Hull interprets the name differently, stating that it comes from ‘the bird’s love of haunting old masonry, where it may have been likened to the spirit of the mason who built the wall.’ I think I prefer this version!
Robins are also known for being fiercely territorial. Inverness-based writer Ruairidh Maclean shares a Gaelic rhyme in his NatureScot blog that celebrates the bold and fearless nature of this wee bird.
Big, big, bigean, Cò chreach mo neadan?
Mas e duine beag e, Cuiridh mi le creag e,
Mas e duine mòr e, Bogaidh mi san lòn e,
Mas e duine beag gun chiall, gun nàir’ e,
Gun gleidheadh Dia dha mhàthair fhèin e.
Cheep, cheep, little bird, who destroyed my nest?
If he is a wee man, I’ll push him over the cliff.
If he is a big man, I’ll plunge him into the pond.
If he is a wee senseless, shameless man,
May God preserve him to his mother.
Tawny Owl
‘Hoot, Hoot!’ Jenny Hoolit calls
From her nest in tree trunk tall
With wide, deep eyes and fluffy face
Some call her Cat Owl, full of grace.
Names like Jenny Hoolet and Jinny Oolert refer to the hooting call of the tawny owl. In the Northern Isles, several names reference the bird’s feline features – wide eyes and a small, slight beak. In Orkney, the name Cat Owl or Cataface may be used. These come from the Norn name for the bird, Katogle. Norn is a now extinct language historically used in Orkney, Shetland, and Caithness.
Whilst researching, I came across a blog from a Hungarian wildlife charity. It mentioned that in Hungary, tawny owls are also sometimes called cat owls, therefore making this an internationally pondered resemblance.
I also particularly enjoy this Gaelic name for owls: Cailleach-oidhche – old woman of the night.
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