The Magpie's Nest: A Treasury of Bird Folk Tales

By Taffy Thomas and Becca Hall

From crowded train stations to quiet woods, and from city centres to our own back gardens, birds remind us that nature is everywhere. As children we are fascinated by these magical flying creatures that live amongst us, and as adults we have a fondness for our feathered friends. Numerous books about different habitats and markings exists to help us find and identify birds, but for the first time one of Britain's finest storytellers has gathered together the best folk tales about birds. Suitable for all ages and charmingly illustrated by Lakeland artist Becca Hall, this is an essential collection of stories for all who love the natural world.

• Language: English
• Publisher: The History Press
• Release date: Jun 3, 2019
• ISBN: 9780750991803

Taffy Thomas

TAFFY THOMAS is a professional storyteller who gives around 300 storytelling performances across the country each year. One of the UK’s most loved storytellers, he was made an MBE in the 2000 New Year’s Honours List for services to storytelling and charity. In 2000-2011 he became the first laureate for storytelling, a role created to promote the power of stories. Taffy is the artistic director of the Northern Centre for Storytelling in Grasmere and the author of three collections of folk tales for The History Press. He lives in Grasmere, Ambleside.

Book preview

INTRODUCTION

As I peer out of my kitchen window in the Storyteller’s House in England’s Lake District, I delight in observing the rocky outcrop that stretches upwards from the back of my house to the fell side. One day I saw a small yellowish bird, defying gravity by running down this slab of stone. By its colour and behaviour it identified to me as a nuthatch, a bird rich in folklore and legend. Nuthatches have always interested storytellers and folklorists as they are cloaked in superstition. One of the few positive outcomes of global warming is that this tiny treasure can now live as far north as the borders.

Once upon a time a wise old blackbird positioned a nest two-thirds of the way up this rock, like the nuthatch, defying gravity. This site was chosen so that a large cat at ground level standing on tippy-toes couldn’t reach it, and so the neighbour’s inquisitive cat, peering over the top of the rock, couldn’t stretch down to it. Imagine my delight this spring when a pair of blackbirds arrived, mud and twigs in beak, and started to fettle this old habitation. A few days later, when the busy pair were off on a worm hunt or seeking more building material, I risked peeking into the nest. To my delight there was a clutch of five light blue eggs. The brown bird of the pair sat on them patiently for a week or so whilst her mate brought her food. Then, one morning, I observed five tiny beaks peeping over the edge of the nest. My storytelling performances took me away from home for several days. On my return, there was no sign of the baby birds or their parents. With no sign of injured or dead birds in the garden I must presume that the miracle of life had been accomplished. My family of blackbirds successfully fledged. I can only hope a pair will return next spring, indeed for many to come.

If, however, I want to remember my first interest in our feathered friends I have to go back to my boyhood in the 1950s in Somerset. One of my earliest memories is of sitting on the knees of my twin aunts, Peggy and Barbara, whilst they recited ‘Two little dicky birds sitting on a wall’. My parental home and the much visited homes of both sets of grandparents all had gardens. They grew a mixture of flowers, fruits, vegetables and occasionally weeds. All provided welcome landing strips for our feathered friends. As a family we encouraged the visits of these avian adventurers. I remember well threading peanuts in their shell on wool, to be suspended between the washing line post and the canes strategically placed for the growing of sweet