Question: what do bum barrel, bush oven, huckmuck, feather poke, and jug pot all have in common? Answer: they are all once-popular names for a little bird that is a reasonably regular visitor to many of our gardens. The long-tailed tit, or titmouse as the older books would have it, is far from being alone in having a host of these names. In fact many birds seem to have a veritable plethora of them. But before we leave the long-tailed tit, if it were not for its overly-long tail, and based on its body size alone, it would qualify as Europe’s smallest bird. This honour, of course belongs not to the wren but the goldcrest. Only by an eighth of an inch, mind you, but when you are a mere three inches long, that makes a big difference.
You might think that only one name was possible for the cuckoo, and this is basically true. Yet various different ways have been found of spelling it. They range from the thirteenth century cuccu via Chaucer’s cokkow to cucko, kukkowe, cuccow, guckoe and guckoo.
Rain bird was a name once given to the woodpecker. Country folk believed that hearing its call forecast that rain was on the way, while the laughing call of the green species led to the nickname yaffingale. This was widely used between Berkshire and Somerset, with variants like yelpingale, yappingale, and even yippingale. I still hear it called yaffle from time to time, which is a shortened version of these names.
A name that goes way back into the mists of time is chaffinch. In medieval times it would be seen around the threshing floor and in the barns where it would eagerly glean amongst the chaff for grains and for weed seeds. Dapfinch, pie finch, scobby have also been used for it. Spink or chink are used in imitation of its call-note.
Moor-hen has been known since at least 1300, the word moor being used in the sense of marsh. More-hen and water hen have also been used. In 1776 Thomas Pennant coined the name common gallinule for it. Thank heavens it wasn’t long before this was dropped.
Mock nightingale, and poor man’s nightingale have both been used for the blackcap, and certainly its rich warbling song, though not quite of nightingale quality, is a delight to me whenever I hear it. Although I must say that I prefer the song of its close relative the garden warbler.
Confusingly the name mallard was for long used to denote the male of that species only, the female being called the wild duck. Even the universally known name for the magpie only dates back to about 1605, and then it was used mainly in the south and the midlands. To the north it was piannet, whilst magot pie, pie mag, and nan pie were also used for it.
Devil bird or devil screech were once used for the all-black swift, perhaps referring to its colouring or to its screeching calls as it flies, apparently in manic fashion, to and fro over our town and village streets. Devil Dick, scare devil, swing devil, and even devilton, Jack-a-dells, and deviling also occur.
Finally the pied wagtail, the ‘little trotty wagtail’ beloved of the poet John Clare, has an impressive collection of local and folklore names. These include washtail and nanny washtail, Moll washer and washerwoman. Peggy dishwasher and Polly washdish are also known. Of course the wagtail does not wag its tail. It pumps it up and down, almost as if it is in a kind of perpetual motion, characteristic of this restless little bird.