Hiya o wise one - oh, and greetings fellow Sussex man (dxb)!
One for sorrow, two for joy,
Three to marry, four to die.
Five for silver, six for gold,
Seven for a secret never to be told.Back in the 70s (
I hear he hastily adds ) there used to be a children's TV show called
Magpie. The theme song was almost exactly like wow's rhyme, and similarly only went up to seven, with the one difference that the second line was:
Three for a girl and four for a boy
- which at least makes for a rhyme (as did dxb's original, albeit with different words). Oh, and it had a chorus "Ma-ah-ah-ag-pieeee" of course. Dunno which is the original rhyme, though. dxb's
feels older.
I usually see at least a few magpies as I cycle into work, but I've never seen more than four or so at a single site, even for a dead fox.
I suggest a modern-day version of the rhyme should be something like:
One for a vole and two for a frog
Three for a fox and four for a dog
Five for a sheep and six for a goat
Seven a dead cow in the middle of the road
Fisk
