A Dictionary of English and Folk-Names of British Birds; With Their History, Meaning, and First Usage, and the Folk-Lore, Weather-Lore, Legends, Etc., Relating to the More Familiar Species

A Dictionary Of English And Folk-Names Of British Birds – is a work, which was published in 1913 and written by Harry Kirke Swann, English ornithologist and author of books on birds. In this "Dictionary" the author has collected, including spellings, about 5,000 titles. Of course, there are also partial or local lists of names to be found in various ornithological works and periodicals of all kinds. The work of collecting, collating and processing these names from a hundred or more different sources, one can judge, was enormous. The author has attempted to consolidate in this volume the English names from past authors, providing the history and first use of common species names, and provincial, local, and dialectal names now or formerly in use in the British Isles, with indications of place and meaning where possible. Welsh, Gaelic, Cornish and some Irish names were added, but in the case of Irish names the information available to the author was insufficient. As a rule, folklore legends, legends, legends about the weather, etc., which the author managed to collect regarding each species of birds, were also added to the generally accepted name of birds.