The Cuckoo on Islay

It is always lovely hearing the cuckoo on Islay. It marks a change in the weather, with brighter, sunshine filled days. With all of the hedging at Persabus the cuckoo hangs around the farm and can often be seen with a few angry birds trying their best to chase the cuckoo on, away from their nests. On Islay there are superstitions attached to hearing the cuckoo. Read on.

The Happy Farmer is dancing with glee

Yesterday he was lucky enough to be the first member of the clan to hear the cuckoo at Persabus. Later in the day I was also treated to the returning call of our spring visitor who is known to be quite selective and evasive when it comes to hearing her shrill cuckoo.

It is an island tradition

If you hear the cuckoo on Islay you get to live for another year. It is a happy tradition, especially among the older members of the community. It is also important that you have had food before hearing the cuckoo, so much so that some people have even been known to sleep with a biscuit under their pillow, so they can eat as soon as they awaken to make sure they get to appreciate the ‘cuckoo’s luck’.

However at this point I must assure you that we are not all completely cuckoo on the island.

Although I did love the story of how one of my good friends

Appeared to have ‘mislaid’ her husband this weekend

She accidentally locked him out after a night of partying with great craic. The poor man is rumoured to have doubled as a garden gnome for the night, when failing to wake his wife, he had to sleep in the potting shed. Thank goodness the weather has become milder as in his haste he had unfortunately forgotten he could have booked a more comfortable bed in the Persabus Farmhouse bed and breakfast suite. We could have been fully booked but the Happy Farmer never likes to see a good friend stuck and is already running away with ideas of  how he could have come to his friend’s rescue. He has started erecting glamping pods on the back of his trusty farm trailer. He is looking into ways he can offer a delivery service of his new Persabus ‘portable accommodation suite’ with the ‘latest pod’ fixed on top of his trailer so  it can be hastily transported by the tractor for ‘times in need’. He hates to see a friend stuck and of course it might just come in handy should he find himself in a similar predicament.

Until next time…