Climate & legends. The rooster of Barcelos

The rooster of Barcelos is one of the representative symbols of our neighboring country, Portugal. It has the quality of predicting the weather in the short term and has its origin in a medieval legend with a galician as protagonist.

The legend of Rooster of Barcelos

Some versions point out that an unsolved crime in Barcelinhos was attributed to a galician pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. Other sources suggest that the pilgrim had stolen from a local landowner and that he had denounced it.

According to the archives of the Archaeological Museum of Barcelos, there was a gallows in Barcelinhos and, near it, an inn famous for the beauty of its owner. She was caught at first sight of a galician, on a pilgrimage to Compostela paying a promise made. The innkeeper’s insinuations fell on deaf ears when the rosemary, without symptoms of falling in love, excused herself in the pious nature of her journey.

A clever lusa

The woman, resentful, arranged her revenge. That night, he hid several pieces of silver in the Galician’s luggage. In the morning he had already been denounced and the authoridaes found the silver in his luggage. He was brought before the judge, who was about to have lunch with a roasted rooster. Between the irrefutable evidence and the hunger he had, he did not take long to sentence him to the maximum penalty at the next gallows. The Galician, suddenly possessed by the spirit of the Apostle James, spat at the diner:

While he was being carried to the gallows, near there, the magistrate doubted whether to insert the knife under the stilts or to open the breast without looking. It was interrupted by the rooster himself, who, making an entire daily routine a vital philosophy, stood on the plate and sang as if the sun was rising. The judge, realizing that divine intervention contradicted his verdict, ran after the executed man trying to avoid the sentence. But when he arrived at the place, the Galician was hanging by his neck… but held by his feet by Santiago Apostol.

ilustración joana quental gallo de barcelos castellano
The rooster sang before the judge. Illustration by Joana Quental

The pilgrim returned years later and carved in stone a cruise to commemorate the event. This cruise is in the Archaeological Museum of Barcelos. Dated in the 14th century, on one of its faces you can see a scene of a man hanging on a gallows and the Apostle Santiago holding him by his feet avoiding death.

crucero de barcelos para leyenda del gallo de barcelos castellano
The cruise carved by the pilgrim
gallo de barcelos sobre ahorcado en crucero de barcelos
Detail. Man hanging in the shaft of the cruiser
detalle del crucero da leyenda de barcelos para gallo de barcelos
Detail. Apostle Santiago holding the hanged man.
detalle parte alta del crucero de barcelos para gallo de barcelos castellano
Detail. Rooster under the cross.

Science of the Weather Rooster

gel de silice en bolas para gallo de barcelos castellano
Completely dry silica gel.
sacos de gel de silice para gallo de barcelos castellano
The first bag is dry. The second one changed color when it got wet.

The ceramic tradition of the region of Braga and, above all, Barcelos, pulled the legend to design a rooster to represent the town. But the revolutionary was in the plumage of its wings and tail, which through changes in its color could predict the weather in the short term. The magic of the Gaul lies in the painting that is decorated by the plumage. It redeems color when it senses the changes of time. It is composed of silica gel, a desiccant agent that can be found in small bags that accompany clothing, electronic devices and anything that could be damaged by moisture. This gel is transparent, but when cobalt chloride is added it changes to blue and is used as a load meter of the moisture present in the gel. The more the color evolves to pale pink, the more moisture is loaded.

gallo de barcelos en seco y húmedo castellano
Blue rooster, sunny weather. Pink rooster, possibility of rain.
Weather key in the Rooster of Barcelos
comic de william leite sobre el gallo de barcelos
comic strip of William Leite

Chemistry of the rooster

XX Century. The rooster of Portugal

But when we reach the decade of the 30s of the twentieth century appears Antonio Hierro, propagandist of the New State, the dictatorship of Salazar between 1933 and 1974. A close friend of nationalizing Portuguese regional symbols, he modernized the design of the rooster and presented it at the “Exposição de Arte Popular Portuguesa” held in Geneva in 1935. In the following year it was repeated in Lisbon, with great success. In the years ´ and ´ became the reference of tourism and symbol of the country. Since the Revolution of ´ is reinvented again offering a fresher image, representing freedom. It even becomes white canvas where anyone can design their dreams.

Sources:

oscarreirosdahistoria.blogspot.com

fromaportuguesewithlove.blogspot.com

cm-barcelos.pt

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