Having bird droppings land on you is, strangely enough, considered lucky. The notion is still current, having been reported regularly in our 1998 Superstitions Survey, but the first known reference is little more than a hundred years old:
‘It's a pity this isn't Easter Day', said he; ‘for we say in Cleveland that if a bird drops on you on Easter Day you'll be lucky all the year after’. He added that on Whitsunday, if you don't put on at least one brand-new article of dress the birds will be sure to come and ‘drop’ on you… (N&Q5s:10 (1878), 287)
See also EXCREMENT.
Bibliography
The full bibliography list is available here.
- Opie and Tatem, 1989: 142
