Pardon my asking, but what do the words "jill" and "sow" mean here? I'm guessing that a jill is a female weasel, and a sow is one with little weasels?

And I like the idea of Miniver wearing Fitch's fur for a wig.

"Sow" is a generic (if somewhat derogatory) term for an elderly mated female, i.e. an "old wife's tale." Incidentally, female badgers are also called sows, whether they are mated or not, and the males are called boars. I'm not positive, but I think only the slim-bodied mustelids (weasels, ferrets, mink etc.) are called hobs and jills, while the stockier ones (badgers, and possibly wolverines as well) are called boars and sows.

Thanks for the explanation.

Looks like the protagonists also learned some important lessons.

Well well.

AAAAW!

The thing about being able to bring their babies back to life probably had to do with people seeing a jill carrying a scruffed kit, which certainly can seem dead.

That would make sense. Of course, this is all fantasy. But wouldn't it be neat if the following superstition were true:

"There is one vestige of the use of a weasel as a healer's helper still existing today. The Irish consider that milk "blessed" by a ferret or weasel (that is, milk of which a weasel has consented to take a few laps) is the simplest and most complete cure for the common cold."

Actual;ly, we had a discussion about this years ago,a fter your... was it Rowrbrazzle? piece about various weasel-related myths.I pointed out that, while the Celts liked stoats, they considered pine martens to be poisonous.

Don't ever let a pine marten spit in your beer!

D'aww.

oo he just wants a cheap hug grope

Hold me in your arms tonight

If that quote has any truth to it I sure need to figure out how to tap in to it :p

The book I quoted from goes on to say:

"In the usual pattern of sympathetic magic, it was felt that a weasel might lend its talent to others, or bestow its talent on another. Both the weasel and the ferret were kept by witches [remember The Familiar Contest?], in hopes of gaining the weasel's healing power. With so little medical knowledge available to anyone at that time, any help which could be conceivably gained was welcome indeed."

Cool, thanks :)

Hi Tracy! I'm slowly catching up on some of my outstanding pictures.

*smiles* I really enjoyed reading your comic and learning about the healing powers of Miniver as she held onto Shadow.

Such a lovely comic tale you have illustrated and written!

Thanks for sharing it!