Chapter Sun to Superstitions of S by Brewer's Readers Handbook

Spiders envenom whatever they touch.

There may be in the cup
A spider steeped, and one may drink, depart,
And yet partake no evil.
   —Shakespeare: Winter’s Tale, act ii. sc. 1 (1604).

A spider enclosed in a quilt and hung round the neck will cure the ague.—Mrs. Delany: A Letter dated March 1, 1743.

I … hung three spiders about my neck, and they drove my ague away.—Elias Ashmole: Diary (April 11, 1681).

A spider worn in a nutshell round the neck is a cure for fever.

Cured by the wearing a spider hung round one’s neck in a nutshell.
   —Longfellow: Evangeline, ii. (1849).

Spiders spin only on dark days.

The subtle spider never spins
But on dark days his slimy gins.
   —S. Butler: On a Nonconformist, iv.

Spiders have a natural antipathy to toads.

(55) Stag. Stags draw, by their breath, serpents from their holes, and then trample them to death. (Hence the stag has been used to symbolize Christ.)—Pliny: Natural History, viii. 50.

(56) Stork. It is unlucky to kill a stork.

According to Swedish legend, a stork fluttered round the cross of the crucified Redeemer, crying, Styrkè! styrkê! (“Strengthen ye! strengthen ye!”), and was hence called the styrk or stork, but ever after lost its voice.

(57) Swallow. According to Scandinavian legend, this bird hovered over the cross of Christ, crying, Svalê! Svalê! (“Cheer up! cheer up!”), and hence it received the name of svalê or swallow, “the bird of consolation.”

If a swallow builds on a house, it brings good luck. (See Swallow, p. 1064.)

Swallows spend the winter underground.

The swallow is said to bring home from the sea-shore a stone which gives sight to her fledglings.

Seeking with eager eyes that wondrous stone which the swallow
Brings from the shore of the sea, to restore the sight of its fledglings.
   —Longfellow: Evangeline, i. 1 (1849).

To kill a swallow is unlucky.

When swallows fly high, the weather will be fine.

When swallows fleet soar high and sport in air,
He told us that the welkin would be clear.
   —Gay: Pastoral, i. (1714).

(58) Swans cannot hatch without a crack of thunder.

The swanne cannot hatch without a cracke of thunder.—Lord Northampton: Defensive, etc. (1583)

The swan retires from observation when about to die, and sings most melodiously. (See Swan, p. 1064.)

Swans, a little before their death, sing most sweetly.—Pliny: Natural History, x. 23.