Mellow Yellow Bumblebees & Ladybirds With Diamond Wild Flowers pattern - available at my Patternbank store
Ladybirds, known also by many names such as Bishop/Bishy Barnaby and Lady-Cow in the UK are believed to be magical little creatures of love, luck and marriage divination.
A common belief in British Folklore is that Ladybirds bring great luck and prosperity to those they choose they visit - whether by landing on someone, or appearing in the home.
Additionally, the deeper the colour of the ladybird and greater the number of spots, the better, and the longer lasting the luck is considered to be.
A ladybird should never be harmed, nor brushed off if they land on you, only gently blown upon to encourage them to fly away. When they do fly away, many people would repeat a version of this common rhyme:
Lady-bird, lady-bird , fly away home;
Your house is on fire and your children will burn / your children are gone
Ladybird wedding Divination
When a ladybird was seen or flew away, there are a number of different regional British Folklore rhymes and divinations that could be recited:
Bishy-bishy-barnabee,
Tell me when your wedding be:
If it be tomorrow day,
Take your wings and fly away
A 19th Century divination rhyme from Shropshire:
Lady-cow, lady-cow, fly away, flee!
Tell me which way my wedding’s to be.
Uphill, or downhill, or towards the brown Clee!
The Ladybird and the Flower Garden framed art print available to buy online
Ladybirds, Lilac Roses & Wild Flowers on Textured Fairy Tale Pink pattern - available on Patternbank
ladybird love divination
In the eastern counties of England, ladybirds were used as a form of love divination. It was believed that by throwing one up into the air it would show where a lover lives. A rhyme connected with this practice:
Fly away east, fly away west,
Show me where lives the one I love best
and an alternative version:
Fly, Lady Bird, North, South, East or West
Show me where lives the one I like best
Ladybird folklore surface pattern - collection inspiration
As a surface pattern designer and illustrator I am inspired by both the nature outside my studio on the edge of Sherwood forest, and the folklore of the British Isles, which has a rich visual and mystical history. I create my illustrations first in pencil, creating highly detailed drawings with delicate shading before moving digitally to colour and create patterns for art licensing. As a folklore artist, I try to bring in the themes and stories into my folk art, before developing the illustrations into repeat patterns that have a vintage pattern feel.
In this collection I have two hero patterns, one a Mellow Yellow Bumblebees and Ladybirds floral pattern, the second, a cottagecore aesthetic pattern filled with ladybirds, lilac roses and wild flowers on a pink ground. My Mellow Yellow Bumblebee and Ladybirds pattern features ladybirds aligned to the four directions which is inspired by the love divination folklore. The Ladybirds, Lilac Roses & Wild Flowers pattern is inspired by the folklore of ladybird wedding divination. Both patterns are available to buy in my Patternbank store, and are available for both personal and commercial art licensing to create apparel, homeware, maximalist interiors, gift and stationary.
Sources for this article and recommended reading:
Discovering the Folklore of Birds and Beasts, Venetia Newall
A Dictionary of English Folklore, Jacqueline Simpson & Steve Round
The Hand of Destiny, Folklore, Superstition for Everyday Life, C.J.S Thompson