Names are a funny game for our crows

All these suggest that something not very pleasant is associated with members of the crow family and to this we can add the question of symbolism. The crow is said to symbolise war, death, solitude and bad luck, with the jackdaw representing conceit and vanity. The jay means garrulousness whilst the magpie symbolises happiness, marital bliss and mischievousness. Not surprisingly, the raven is an indication of war, particularly loss and death during such times. I have no record of such associations being linked to other members of the crow family.

However, the symbolism associated with birds is not all gloomy. The bantam is regarded as brave, the cockerel is vigilant and courageous whilst doves represent peace. Ducks represent happiness and faithfulness, herons are inquisitive, hawks are rapacious and belligerent, whilst larks are cheerful, wrens are happy and robins indicate trustworthiness.

There are many such links with birds and animals, too many to include in today’s diary, but here are a few collective nouns – a covey of partridges or grouse, an exaltation of larks, a convocation of eagles, a charm of goldfinches, a siege of herons, a watch of nightingales, a clamour of rooks, a tribe of sparrows, a flight of dunlins, a herd of curlews, a brood of chickens and a flight of pochards.

The symbolism of animals can also be seen in some of our inn signs, often representing heraldry. Down the ages, lions have represented monarchs and knights. The White Lion, for example, is the badge of King Edward IV, the Golden Lion represented the Lion of Flanders and the Blue Lion relates to the Prince of Denmark who was the consort of Queen Anne.

A black lion was associated with Queen Philippa, consort of Edward III, whilst the many Red Lions throughout England stem from John of Gaunt.

Mythical creatures also featured in such heraldic signs, with the Unicorn being the badge of James I and, somewhat oddly, the symbol of Christ. Perhaps the most common of the mythical creatures is the dragon, which appears on many inn signs, usually being defeated by St George. The dragon has long been a symbol of evil and this has led to lots of fables about brave knights saving damsels in distress when they were captured by a dragon.

This region is rich with such stories, often with the dragon being called a worm or sometimes a serpent – we may recall the Lambton Worm, the Laidley Worm, the Nunnington Worm, the Serpent of Handale, the Worm of Sexhow and the Dragon of Wantley.

IMAKE no claims about my gardening skills, which are limited to cutting the lawn and digging holes for something to be either uprooted or planted.

My wife is the gardener of the family and during our 54 years of wedded bliss, she has shown a remarkable determination and aptitude in creating and developing our pleasant patch of England.

In one corner she has developed a herb garden, and like most such patches, it contains parsley.

My own research tells me that parsley should be planted in March, April or May, with a strong preference for Good Friday at 3pm, the hour of Christ’s crucifixion.

Many gardeners continue to follow that tradition and it is not surprising to learn that, among our herbs, parsley is probably the most widely used, not only in this country but around the world.

One reason for its popularity may be its long association with the health of women.

Indeed, there used to be a belief that parsley should be planted only by a woman, and its flourishing growth was evidence that the woman was head of the household. I won’t argue with that!

One persistent belief was that the act of sowing parsley was a means of encouraging pregnancy when difficulties had been experienced. To sow parsley seeds was, in the minds of some women, to sow babies.

It was believed that a woman who planted parsley would become pregnant before the plant germinated but, of course, there are no reliable figures to support that.

However, there was an opposite effect. Parsley was used when a woman had an unwanted pregnancy. All she had to do to terminate the pregnancy naturally was to eat lots of parsley and I have heard tales of some children, upon asking where they came from, being told they were found in a patch of parsley. Others grew up thinking they had been found under a gooseberry bush.

Parsley’s other strong link with humans is associated with death. The Romans used to line their coffins with parsley to help them on their route to the hereafter, but there was also a belief that if anyone moved parsley from one bed to another, then that person would soon die. However, if it was moved on Good Friday, then it was safe, this being the one day in the year when the Devil was considered unable to act.

It appears that a whole range of beliefs, practices and superstitions about parsley are not confined to our islands. I believe the Germans have customs and beliefs very similar to ours but perhaps the most curious is the so-called Bible Belt of America. Certain precautions were taken when sowing parsley seeds – in Maryland and Louisiana, for example, the seeds for planting must always be blown from the pages of a bible, and never sown by hand. In some areas, boiling water was poured over parsley seeds to protect them against the Devil.

I must ask my grand-daughter if she has come across this. She is currently attending university in Louisiana.

TOMORROW, May 11, is the first of the socalled Ice Saints’ Days, sometimes called the Frost Saints. The days run from today until May 14 and there is an old piece of weather lore that says there is always frost during the Ice Saints’ Days.

Each of these days has a patron saint – St Mamertus (May 11), St Pancras (May 12), St Serviatus (May 13) and St Boniface (May 14).

There was an old saying among shepherds that: “He who shears his sheep before St Serviatus loves the wool more than his sheep.” And St Pancras is not the patron saint of railway stations – that London station was built on the site of the former Church of St Pancras.