Salting a bird's tail is a legendary superstition of Europe and America, and an English language idiom. The superstition is that sprinkling salt on a bird's tail will render the bird temporarily unable to fly, enabling its capture. The nursery rhyme " Simple Simon", which dates to at least the 17th century and possibly earlier, includes the verse The belief itself is documented to the 16th century, and may be older. Found in European countries such as Sweden, it also crossed the ocean to North America. It is generally told to children, and not commonly believed any more by adults. In "Simple Simon", the point is made even then only a simpleton would believe the legend. Tammany_salting_the_Fenian_taiil

Salting of a bird's tail has been used by analogy as an idiom for immobilizing someone since at least the 19th century, by writers such as

Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...

Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the List of national poets, national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the be ...

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, and John Phillips with his song “No Salt On Her Tail”, performed by

The Mamas & the Papas The Mamas & the Papas were an American folk rock vocal group that recorded and performed from 1965 to 1968, with a brief reunion in 1971. The group was a defining force in the music scene of the counterculture of the 1960s. Formed in New York C ...

. Another example is "Ye'll ne'er cast saut on his tail" ("You'll never cast salt on his tail"), a Scottish proverb of unknown antiquity.

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite web , url=http://ingeb.org/songs/simplesi.html , title=Simple Simon , work=Ingeb.com , access-date=June 28, 2020 {{cite book , editor-last1=Farmer , editor-first1=John Stephen , editor-last2=Henley , editor-first2=W. E. , title=Slang And Its Analogues , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IK0YAAAAIAAJ&dq=1580.+LYLY,+Euphues+%5BOLIPHANT,+New+Eng.,+i.+607.+Among+the+verbs+are+.+.+.+LAY+SALT+ON+A+BIRD%27S+TAILE%5D&pg=PA97 , access-date=June 28, 2020 , year=1903 , volume=VI, publisher=Printed for subscribers only , pages=60, 97 {{cite book , editor-last=Hand , editor-first=Wayland , title=Popular Beliefs And Superstitions From North Carolina , year=1964 , series=The Frank C. Brown Collection of North Carolina Folklore , volume=7 , publisher=Duke University Press , isbn=0822302594 , page=390 {{cite book , editor-last=Olenius , editor-first=Elsa , translator-last1=Lundbergh , translator-first1=Holder , title=Great Swedish Fairy Tales , chapter=The Magpie with Salt on her Tail , last=

Anna Wahlenberg Anna Maria Lovisa Wahlenberg (23 May 1858 – 29 November 1933) was a Swedish writer and playwright. Life Anna Wahlenberg was born on 23 May 1858 in Stockholm., retrieved 2020-09-11 For nine years, she lived on the old farm in Kungsholmen where ...

, first=Anna , year=1973 , publisher=Delacorte Press / Seymour Lawrence , isbn=978-0440030416 , page=136 {{cite web , url=https://www.farmersalmanac.com/salting-a-birds-tail-fact-or-folklore-3135 , title=Salting a Bird's Tail — Fact or Folklore? , author= , date=February 23, 2009 , work=Farmer's Almanac , access-date=June 28, 2020 {{cite web , url=https://naturenet.net/blogs/2006/11/25/laying-salt-on-a-pigeons-tail/ , title=Laying salt on a pigeon's tail , author=Matthew Chatfield , date=November 25, 2006 , work=Naturenet , access-date=June 28, 2020 {{cite book , last1=Alker , first1=Sharon , last2=Davis , first2=Leith , editor-last1=Nelson , editor-first1=Holly Faith , title=Robert Burns and Transatlantic Culture , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w_ahAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA172 , access-date=June 28, 2020 , year=2012 , publisher=Ashgate , series=Ashgate Series in Nineteenth-Century Transatlantic Studies , isbn=978-1409405764 , pages=171–172 {{cite book , last=Hislop , first=Alexander , title=The Proverbs of Scotland , url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/26150/26150-h/26150-h.htm#Page_325 , access-date=July 28, 2020 , year=1868 , location=Edinburgh , publisher=Alexander Hislop & Company , page=325 , isbn=978-1113457684{{cite book , last=Mackay , first=Charles , title=A Dictionary of Lowland Scots , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zLACAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA380 , access-date=July 4, 2023 , year=1888 , location=Boston , publisher=Ticknor & Company, page=380 , isbn=978-1112458590 {{cite book , last=McCall , first=Douglas L. , title=Film Cartoons: A Guide to 20th Century American Animated Features and Shorts , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ALmJCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA154 , access-date=July 31, 2020 , year=1998 , publisher=McFarland Publishing , isbn=978-0786405848 , page=154 {{Discogs release, 3444112, No Salt On Her Tail, type=single Superstitions of Europe Superstitions of the United States English-language idioms Metaphors referring to birds