The ladybird is the representative among ourselves of a large class of insects which were associated with the movement of the sun from the earliest times. The association goes back to the kheper or chafer of ancient Egypt, which has the habit of rolling along the ball that contains its eggs. This ball was identified as the orb of the sun, and the kheper was esteemed as the beneficent power that helped to keep it moving.
A like importance attached to the chafers that had the power of flying, especially to the ladybird (Coccinella septem punctata). In India the insect was called Indragopas, that is "protected by Indra." The story is told how this insect flew too near the sun, singed its wings, and fell back to the earth.[43]
In Greece the same idea was embodied in the myth of Ikaros, the son of Dædalus, who flew too near the sun with the wings he had made for himself, and, falling into the sea, was drowned. Already the ancient Greeks were puzzled by this myth, which found its reasonable explanation in describing Ikaros as the inventor of sails. He was the first to attach sails to a boat, and sailing westwards, he was borne out to sea and perished.
Among ourselves the ladybird is always addressed in connection with its power of flight. It is mostly told to return to its house or home, which is in danger of being destroyed by fire, and warned of the ruin threatening its children if it fails to fly. But some rhymes address it on matters of divination, and one urges it to bring down blessings from heaven.
The rhyme addressed to the ladybird first appears in the nursery collection of 1744, where it stands as follows:—
1. Ladybird, ladybird, fly away home,
Your house is on fire, your children will burn.
Many variations of the rhyme are current in different parts of the country, which may be tabulated as follows:—
2. Lady cow, lady cow, fly away home,
Your house is on fire, your children all roam.
(1892, p. 326.)
3. Ladycow, Ladycow, fly and be gone,
Your house is on fire, and your children at home.
(Hallamshire, 1892, p. 326.)
4. Gowdenbug, gowdenbug, fly away home,
Yahr house is bahnt dun, and your children all gone.
(Suffolk, N. & Q., IV., 55.)