Sheep.
It was thought that the devil could assume any animal’s form excepting that of the sheep. This saying, however, is somewhat different from what a farmer friend told me of black sheep. He said his father, and other farmers as well, were in the habit of killing all their black lambs, because they were of the same colour as the devil, and the owners were afraid that Satan had entered, or would enter into them, and that therefore these sheep were destroyed. He stated that his father went on his knees on the ground and prayed, either before or after he had killed the black lambs. It is a common saying that the black sheep is the ringleader of all mischief in a flock of sheep. The expression, “He is a black sheep,” as applied to a person, conveys the idea that he is a worthless being, inclined to everything that is bad.
It is even now in country places thought to be a lucky omen if anyone sees the head of the first spring lamb towards him. This foretells a lucky and prosperous year to the person whose eyes are thus greeted.
Spider.
The long-legged spider, or, as it is generally called in Wales, the Tailor, is an object of cruel sport to children. They catch it, and then handle it roughly, saying the while:—
Old Harry long-leg
Cannot say his prayers,
Catch him by the right leg,
Catch him by the left leg.
And throw him down stairs;
and then one leg after the other is plucked off, and the poor creature is left to die miserably. This was done in Llanidloes.
The Squirrel.
Hunting this sprightly little animal became at Christmas the sport of our rustic population. A number of lads
gathered together, and proceeded to the woods to hunt the squirrel. They followed it with stones and sticks from tree to tree, shouting and screaming, to frighten it on and on, until it was quite unable to make further progress, and then they caught it. The writer, when a lad, has often joined in this cruel hunt, but whether the squirrel was killed when caught he is unable to recall to mind. Generally it escaped.