How did the expression 'a little bird told me' come about?

Some different explanations:


"A little bird told me. This "little bird" implies a secret or private source of knowledge. Most authorities believe in a Biblical origin, found in Ecclesiastes 10:20 which includes "for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter".

"There is an alternative explanation involving King Solomon. All the birds of the air were summoned to him but the Lapwing did not appear. Later the Lapwing explained that he had been with the Queen of Sheba and that she had indicated that she intended to visit Solomon. The King began to make preparations for the visit; in the meanwhile the Lapwing flew to the Queen and told her that the King had a great desire to see her. As history records, such a meeting did take place, but the role of the Lapwing is less clear."

"One scholar suggests that this familiar saying may have originated with the similar-sounding Dutch expression Er lif t'el baerd, which means 'I should betray another."

http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/7/messages/381.html

Goes back a way, I would think. One example similar is in Wagner's Ring Cycle (Victorian period). In 'Siegfried', after the eponymous hero (and to my mind idiot) has slain the former giant and later dragon Fafner, a wood-bird gives Siegfried some advice about not trusting Mime who is about to try to poison him. In this case, he can understand the bird because he has tasted the blood of the dragon. Don't try this at home. Dragons can be extremely dangerous and are few enough in number to count as seriously endangered as well. If the dragon don't get you, the environmentalists will.... As well as this, very few birds have enough intelligence to carry this sort of message. They're far more concerned about territory, food, eggs and what the possession of territory gives that leads to the eggs....
http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/ron/ron05.htm

A couple more explanations:


"Various authors over the centuries, including Shakespeare, have made reference to birds, feathered or otherwise, giving messages. The first that comes close to our current version of this phrase is Frederick Marryat, in Peter Simple, 1833:

"A little bird has whispered a secret to me."

http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/a-little-bird-told-me.html

"A third explanation is simply an allusion to carrier pigeons or other such messenger birds."

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/a_little_bird_told_me

"2. Arabic version - A rare bird, the Hoopoe, was missing. Another bird was sent to find it and bring it back to Solomon. On return, the Hoopoe said that it had been with the Queen of Sheba and that she was planning to visit. Same theme, but only one journey.

3. The phrase could have come from Pope Gregory's alleged dictation of the chant melodies from a dove that landed on his shoulder."

http://www.eduqna.com/Words-Wordplay/1055-1-Words-Wordplay-7.html

Birds sing. (Not for the joys of spring - they're claiming territory.) The songs can sound like words. It doesn't take much imagination to connect this with a warning (or gossiping) message whose original source needs to be concealed. The ancestor of the modern anonymous 'spokesman' or 'close friend', in other words.

Incidentally, attempts at translating that sentence have given 'There lif t'el baerd' as the meaning.. If Flem-ish is lurking, perhaps he could help with this one.

http://translation.langenberg.com/ and others, remarkably unanimous. According to Babelfish, 'I should betray another' is 'Ik zou moeten verraden andere' (same site)

[Edited -- Zbeck]

Final instalment: the Dutch phrase appears only to exist in the context of a scholar suggesting, and to have been copied and pasted (like Bern Williams quotes...). Probably a wiki thing like that one author found about the forces at a battle, where one kingdom turned out to be a modern Irish company. We could do with an addition to the heading here: under 'Answers to Everything' could be 'Legends Demolished'...