"MOTHER CAREY'S CHICKENS"—EGGS.
(For the Mirror.)
In a paper on the Superstitions of the Sea, a few years ago,[3] I slightly alluded to the nautical belief that the appearance of the Stormy Petrel, and other marine birds at sea, was often considered to be the forerunner of peril and disaster; and as your excellent correspondent, M.L.B., in a recent number, expresses a wish to know the origin of the soubriquet of Mother Carey's Chickens, which the former birds have obtained, I now give it with all the brevity which is consistent with so important a narration. It appears that a certain outward-bound Indiaman, called the Tiger, (but in what year I am unable to state,) had encountered one continued series of storms, during her whole passage; till on nearing the Cape of Good Hope, she was almost reduced to a wreck. Here, however, the winds and waves seemed bent on her destruction; in the midst of the storm, flocks of strange looking birds were seen hovering and wheeling in the air around the devoted ship, and one of the passengers, a woman called "Mother Carey," was observed by the glare of the lightning to laugh and smile when she looked at these foul-weather visitants; on which she was not only set down as a witch, but it was also thought that they were her familiars, whom she had invoked from the Red Sea; and "all hands" were seriously considering on the propriety of getting rid of the old beldam, (as is usual in such cases,) by setting her afloat, when she saved them the trouble, and at that moment jumped overboard, surrounded by flames; on which the birds vanished, the storm cleared away, and the tempest-tossed Tiger went peacefully on her course! Ever since the occurrence of this "astounding yarn," the birds have been called "Mother Carey's Chickens," and are considered by our sailors to be the most unlucky of all the feathered visitants at sea.
To turn by a not unnatural transition from birds to eggs, permit me to inform your Scottish correspondent, S.S. (see No. 536,) where he asserts that the plan of rubbing eggs with grease in order to preserve them, "is not so much as known in our own boasted land of stale eggs and bundlewood;" that the said discovery has long been known and practised in many parts of old England; and that the repeated experience of several friends warrants me in giving a decided negative to his assertion that eggs so prepared "will keep any length of time perfectly fresh." If kept for a considerable period, though they do not become absolutely bad, yet they turn very stale. I happen to know something of Scotland, and was never before aware that the raw clime of our northern neighbours was so celebrated for its poultry. M.L.B. is certainly misinformed in speaking of the trade in Scotch eggs to America. The importation of eggs from the continent into England is very extensive: the duty in 1827 amounted at the rate of 10d. per 120, to 23,062l. 19s. 1d.; since which period there has, we believe, been an increase. The importation of eggs from Ireland is also very large. If S.S. resides in London, he may have occasion to sneer at "our boasted land of stale eggs;" but he should rather sneer at the preserved French eggs, with which the London dealers are principally supplied.
VYVYAN.