This Portuguese legend tells of a peasant who set out from the town of Barcelos to make the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. On the outskirts of Barcelos, a rich landowner accused him of stealing silver. He was tried, found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging. Before his execution, the peasant demanded to speak one last time with the judge who had sentenced him. The judge was about to eat roast cock when the condemned man told him that as a sign of his innocence the cock would hop off the plate and crow during his execution. Then, when the condemned man was to be executed, the rooster actually began to crow. The judge ran to the town square to stop the execution. He saw that the rope had miraculously risen.
A few years later he returned to Barcelos and built a memorial to Saint James (San Tiago) and the Virgin Mary.
In Portugal, the rooster is offered almost everywhere as a souvenir.
