The Legend of the Risca Cuckoo

Many, many, years ago, or so the legend says -------- a man and his son lived in the tiny village of Risca in the ancient county of Monmouthshire And it came to pass one day in the month of April that a brown bird was heard to sing in the garden of their home...The son, enamored of the bird and covetous of its song, beseeched his father that he might possess the brown bird for himself. The doting father agreed and thus they devised a plan...When next they spied the bird, they would swiftly build a fence around it and thus it would be trapped...The bird appeared and they began their task! They toiled from dawn till dusk and when they had finished, they stood back in admiration of their handiwork.

Just then the bird ceased its singing, flew into the air and away into the wood....

Disappointed but not daunted, they resolved to build the fence higher when next the brown bird came to rest in their garden...The brown bird came back again and while he sang, father and son toiled once more, but at dusk the bird flew away to the wood...Foolishly they toiled for many days and the fence grew higher while the bird's song became sweeter....

Eventually, they realised that they could never capture the creature in that way....

An old and wise acquaintance who was passing by, rebuked their simple-mindedness...

“Why on earth,” said he, “are you trying to catch a cuckoo, when you already have two cuckoos in your garden?” And thus it was thereafter that all those born in the village of Risca in Monmouthshire, came to be called “Cuckoos”...