A whistling girl and a crowing hen . . .

Old adage, dating back to at least the 1800s:
"A whistling girl and a crowing hen are bound to come to some bad end."

When I was a girl, back in the 1950s, my grandmother told me that girls should never whistle, climb trees or chew bubble gum. I never did master a decent whistle, but I certainly climbed trees and chewed bubble gum every chance I got. :twisted:

Lately I've been hearing an odd sound outside in the mornings, much like the pitiful first attempts of a cockerel to crow. We don't have any cockerels, just one Silkie rooster and he has quite a respectable voice. Today I caught sight of the perpetrator in action: one of our big Cuckoo Maran hens, standing under the cherry tree, flapping her wings and trying to crow. :chicken:

Traditionally, crowing hens were considered to be poor producers of eggs. Having reached what I like to call "henopause", they generally wound up in the pot with a nice batch of dumplings. :stirpot: A bad end, indeed.

I wonder what bad end they expected to overtake a whistling girl? :whistle2:

oh maggie...you made me laugh!

Older hens start to crow?!? :shock:

MaggieJ":1le3vde4 said:

I wonder what bad end they expected to overtake a whistling girl? :whistle2:

Click to expand...

Hmm. :hmm: Since your lips are pursed when whistling, I would think that the bad end would start with a kiss. :mrgreen:

MamaSheepdog":4jhmppdy said:

Older hens start to crow?!? :shock:

Click to expand...

I don't think it happens all that often that an older hen will crow. I think it must be triggered by hormone changes. There is another possibility. When hens have lived together a long time without a rooster, a dominant hen may try to assume his authority and duties. Or so I've been told.

MamaSheepdog":4jhmppdy said:

Hmm. :hmm: Since your lips are pursed when whistling, I would think that the bad end would start with a kiss. :mrgreen:

Click to expand...

A bad end could certainly start that way! :lol: But since whistling was considered very tomboyish, it occurs to me that perhaps the bad end meant was spinsterhood. Nice girls, the ones likely to get married, were supposed to be little ladies. :x

Enjoyed your post Maggie. And decided maybe it wasn't over-active imagination a week or so ago when I heard what sounded like attempts at crowing coming from the coop with our older hens. Heard a couple mornings when I was drinking my coffee and watching birds from the porch swing. Haven't heard her lately and had never heard a hen do that before although we've had some pretty old ones before.

:lol:

That is too funny!

Galadriel and I heard what sounded like a crow attempt inside the rabbitry a few weeks ago, but there was no rooster in the area where the sound originated. We weren't sure what to think. Maybe it was one of our older hens. :roll:

It's beginning to sound like crowing hens are more common than I thought.

I was kind of hoping some of our younger members might take a look at this thread . . . just to give them a glimpse of how girls were brought up in the past and a bit of perspective about how things have changed in the past fifty years.

Folks in my area are still quite opinionated about things woman should and should not do, or wear, or say.
That attitude hasn't gone away here yet. :evil:


But, I spent my developmental years in San Diego during the very late 80's and early 90's. There was a very progressive mentality.
We were taught to not see a whole lot of difference between men and woman, or people of other ethnic groups.

I still value that core programming more than anything else I've ever learned.

It's a good thing my husband (of 11 years) also agrees that I was born feminine enough, and that it isn't something I have to put on, or establish by shaving anything off. It's not something I need to PURCHASE.
(So far as I can tell, marketing establishes much of the new sexism, since two separate marks for each product will make more money then one.)

:lol:

A crowing hen however....may just get a bit annoying.
I could see a bad end there. :dinner: :chickenface:

MaggieJ":egsr4s2l said:

I was kind of hoping some of our younger members might take a look at this thread . . . just to give them a glimpse of how girls were brought up in the past and a bit of perspective about how things have changed in the past fifty years.

Click to expand...

Cool. Thanks for the insight!
I'm not ashamed of my tomboy ways, and quite happily climb trees whenever I get the chance. :lol:

Easy Ears":mjrkw2hc said:

MaggieJ":mjrkw2hc said:

I was kind of hoping some of our younger members might take a look at this thread . . . just to give them a glimpse of how girls were brought up in the past and a bit of perspective about how things have changed in the past fifty years.

Click to expand...

Cool. Thanks for the insight!
I'm not ashamed of my tomboy ways, and quite happily climb trees whenever I get the chance. :lol:

Click to expand...

Way to go, Easy Ears!

Do girls still get hassles for being tomboys?

MaggieJ":3ssygkvv said:

Way to go, Easy Ears!

Do girls still get hassles for being tomboys?

Click to expand...

Thanks MaggieJ! I enjoy roughing it outside. Sleeping out under the stars is-- I think-- a glorious activity! :springtime:

And since we are talking about trees I thought this smiley would be appropriate: utonlimb: :lol:

I haven't noticed the public hassle of tomboys, I think most guys where I'm at find it fun to be friends with girls more like them.
But I'm sure more feminine girls would get the "romantic" attention. :roll: :lol:

I was/am a tomboy. Low maintenance lifestyle. Never worry about chipping a fingernail. Could handle snakes and spiders better than most boys. Never have to worry about getting your dress dirty, unless it was after church on Sunday by the river that ran by it. The only hassle I was ever given about being a tomboy was by my mother, who said I'd never find a boyfriend if I didn't stop beating the boys.

Now I have been married for 17 years. I can fix a lawn mower and my dryer. I butcher rabbits, help my friends when they move, help with installing insulation or doing masonry. I can squash a spider, dispose of a dead mouse in a trap, be the gate Lead at the airport in charge of up to six other men and get my aircraft out on time with no problems, play football with my son, mow the lawn, teach my daughter how to ride her bike, and many other "manly" tasks which horrify my mother.

However, I can do mani-pedis with my daughter, cook dinner, garden, dance in 6 inch heels, enjoy getting my hair done, do artsy/crafty things with both kids, apply make up to the degree needed by the occasion, teach my son how to cook, hang with my girlfriends and talk about all the squeamishly girly things that afflict women, although I have to admit I hate shopping.

None of my high school guys ever looked at me and I had to deal with girlfriends who didn't understand I wasn't after their "man" (um, I just kicked his butt at baseball), but let me tell you, once I hit the real world with men instead of high school boys, whew, I didn't lack for attention. I still don't and I've been married these many years.

I am grateful I was a tomboy. I learned so many things that have made my adult life much easier, especially being married. If DH is sick I can mow the lawn. If something breaks I can generally do the quick fix myself rather than waiting for DH to get home, simply because I'm ok with getting dirty, getting some scratches on my hands (you know what I mean rabbit people!!), and trying new things. I found I don't melt in the rain and I don't melt in the hot sunshine. I won't whine about a broken fingernail or a pimple on my chin.

My daughter is by nature very girly, but you should see her handle a five foot snake!!!

I was quite a tomboy...and grew up Mennonite and German Baptist (not at the same time) so always wore dresses! My goal was to prove I could do anything a boy could do, but better, and in a dress! :lol: I climbed trees, had contests to see who could throw the farthest, played basketball, used a lawnmower, rode bikes, mucked animal pens, chopped wood, hunted snakes, ran races, arm-wrestled, did push-ups, pull-ups, and learned to whistle as many different ways as I could.
As my brothers started to surpass me in strength, I gave up there, but could still out-do them with push-ups and a few other things. (I'm the oldest, with three brothers and two sisters) I never had much interest in mechanics, so I don't know how to fix machines, but I did learn how to fix a bicycle before I ventured out on a trip with my brother to visit friends in PA.
Thankfully, my Mom always was a bit of a tomboy herself, and my Dad encouraged me, so I never got harassed for being boyish. There may have been a few comments regarding my future husband being intimidated by me, but now I am happily married, and he doesn't seem intimidated...but then I have lost the drive to prove I'm better than any man.
I am now comfortable dressing up to look nice when necessary, wearing pretty feminine clothing and shoes, wearing earrings, and letting the stronger men do the heavy lifting (most of the time ).
I will definitely encourage my daughter (and any future daughters, too) to pursue anything she's interested in, no matter if it is 'boyish' or 'girly'. Ok, to be honest, she may get a little more encouragement towards the 'boyish' pursuits... :roll:

I am a tomboy to.
And I agree, girls can do ANYthing boys can do.
Even climb trees and do sports AND wear pants.