"In Buckinghamshire it is common, on the death of any one of the family, for the nurse to go to all the bee-hives in the garden, and tap gently three times, each time repeating three times these words, 'Little brownie, little brownie, your master's dead;' when the bees, beginning to hum, show their consent to remain. The omission of this ceremony, it is believed, would occasion the loss of the bees by flight, or otherwise."
To show that a similar custom and belief, though varying in some particulars, are found upon the continent of Europe, I give the following extract:
"In Lithuania, when the master or mistress of the house dies, it is considered necessary to give notice of the fact to the bees, horses, and cows, by rattling a bunch of keys; and it is believed, that if this were omitted the bees and cattle would die."—See the Journal of Agriculture. Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland, Oct. 1848, p. 538.
One word more of bees: "His head is full of bees" is a Scotch proverb, said of a drunkard. (Ray's Proverbs, p. 198.) "He has a bee in his head" is an English proverb. So, "He has a bee in his bonnet." What is the meaning? As I was writing the last lines I said to a friend who was lounging in his arm-chair by our fireside, "Why is a drunkard's head said to be full of bees?" "I don't know," he answered, "unless it is on account of their humming. You remember," he added,
"With a pudding on Sundays, with stout humming liquor,
And remnants of Latin to welcome the vicar."
The half-hour bell rang before we had done talking of and repeating parts of V. Bourne's "The Wish." Many a time has "NOTES AND QUERIES" given subjects for talk in our family before and after dinner.
F. W. T.
Oliver, in his account of Cherry-Burton (History of Beverley, p. 499.), speaks thus on the superstitious practice of informing bees, and putting them in mourning on the occasion of a death in the family:
"The inhabitants entertain a superstitious belief, that when the head of a family dies, it is necessary to clothe the bees in mourning on the funeral day to ensure the future prosperity of the hive."