The idea that true heroics require silence - how deep does this run? And to what extent does trope in folklore inform masculinity today?

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Images: Jean-Baptiste Peytavin 1808, Mary Evans c1910, Gustave Doré 1832-33, 'Merlin's Prophecy,' National Library of France 1290-1300

'"Ye canna' die wi' wild feathers."

In the old times in Northumberland (and beyond) it was believed that putting pigeon feathers, or those of any wild bird, in a pillow would prevent death coming at the proper time. A person on a wild feather pillow would linger in pain and suffering and be unable to 'cross over', so these should never be used.

This belief also seems to have held in Yorkshire, as Emily Brontë wrote in Wuthering Heights: "Ah, they put pigeons' feathers in the pillows; no wonder I couldn't die."

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