Until 1598, it was believed that barnacle geese came from a literal barnacle – and that the said barnacle could grow on trees.
There were even plenty of ‘eye-witnesses’, an example being Hector Boece, a Scottish philosopher, historian, and a big ole liar. [1]
The whole myth is said to originate with Venerable Bede in his 8th-century book “De Natura Rerum” (Of the Nature of Things). He was known as the ‘Father of English History’ and, apparently, the father of goose myths. [2]
Luckily, we had Gerrit de Veer, who in 1598 became the first person to observe the geese and their eggs. [3] Veer was also the first person to see and record the Novarya Zemlya Effect, a type of polar mirage – which is arguably cooler. [4]
Sources
[1] Popular Science Monthly Volume 4 (1874). Found on the Internet Archive, and digitized by The University of Toronto.
[2] Illuminating Our World: An Essay on the Unraveling of the Species Problem, with Assistance from a Barnacle and a Goose (2012) by John Buckeridge and Rob Watts. Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute, Earth & Ocean Systems Group.
[3] Goose Barnacle and Barnacle Goose (2017), Leiden Arts In Society Blog, Universiteit Leiden.
[4] Gerrit de Veer – Wikipedia