Swan
.Fionnuaʹla, daughter of Lir, was transformed into a swan, and condemned to wander for many hundred years over the lakes and rivers of Ireland till the introduction of Christianity into that island. T. Moore has a poem entitled The Song of Fionnuala. (Irish Melodies, No. 11.)
Swan. Erman says of the Cygnus olor, “This bird, when wounded, pours forth its last breath in notes most beautifully clear and loud.” (Travels in Siberia, translated by Cooley, vol. ii.)
“‘What is that, mother?ʹ ‘The swan, my love.
He is floating down to his native grove …
Death darkens his eyes and unplumes his wings,
Yet the sweetest song is the last he sings.
Swan. Mr. Nicol says of the Cygnus muʹsicus that its note resembles the tones of a violin, though somewhat higher. Each note occurs after a long interval. The music presages a thaw in Iceland, and hence one of its great charms.
Swan. A nickname for a blackamoor. (See Lucus a non Lucendo.)
“Ethiopem vocaʹmus cygnum.”
A black swan. A curiosity, a rara avis. The expression is borrowed from the well known verse—“Rara avis in terris, nigroque simillima cycno.”
“‘What! is it my rara avis, my black swan?ʹ”—Sir Walter Scott: The Antiquary.
