The Old Cock of Barcelos

Once upon a time in Barcelos, a small town in the north of Portugal, a man was to be hanged for a crime he did not commit. He swore his innocence but found no alibi to prove the truth of his affirmations.Under a sudden impulse of faith, he appealed to his patron Saint, St. James, for divine protection, and he pleaded to be released from the injustice of his sentence.

He then asked to be allowed to enter into the presence of the Judge. As this was to be his last wish, the Judge received him in his dining room where he was having a meal. Once again, the man under sentence of death swore his innocence, and in sudden defiance to Providence he declared that the roasted cock which lay on a tray on the Judge’s table would stand up and crow if his statements were really true.

The rooster immediately jumped up from the tray and crowed vigorously. The Judge, with much public acclaim and ceremony, made him a free man.
As this legend has passed from generation to generation through the centuries, the Cock of Barcelos has become a symbol of faith, justice and good luck.