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Author
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Comment
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Otherworld
Registered User
(2/13/05 11:27 am)
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counting magpies or crows - charms against sorrow
hi there
sure this has been asked before but the old rhyme to do with magpies [crows in usa] the number you see means >
1 for sorrow
2 for joy
3 for a girl
4 for a boy
etc
what is number 10???
and does any body no its origins
thanks
martin
Edited by: Otherworld at: 2/21/05 3:58 pm
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Random
Registered User
(2/13/05 11:44 am)
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Re: Counting Crows
A quick google search turns up this Everything2 node on the subject which contains a lot of what looks like useful information (though about half of that is on the band Counting Crows, the rest is on the rhymes).
I especially recommend the last person's (halfway down the page), which gives good information and several variations of the rhyme. Number ten, according to those variations, can be "the devil's own sel'", "a time of joyous bliss", or "gold".
Please check out the link, though, because s/he says a lot that I haven't conveyed here.
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AlisonPegg
Registered User
(2/13/05 1:25 pm)
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Re: counting magpies or crows
I don't know about ten crows, but here is a story based on the old rhyme which you might find interesting
The Strange Tale of Seven Crows in a Corbie Tree
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GailS
Unregistered User
(2/14/05 10:57 am)
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Counting Crows
Here is a thread related to the topic:
GailS
www.surlalunefairytales.c...crows.html
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Black Sheep
Registered User
(2/14/05 3:30 pm)
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Re: counting magpies or crows
There is also a ten for a dance version Otherworld.
The oldest recorded version of this kind of rhyme is from Lincolnshire and dates from about 1780:
One for sorrow,
Two for mirth,
Three for a wedding,
And four for a death.
Crow/magpie divination is, of course, much older than the above rhyme and is recorded in earlier sources as well as in other places.
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Otherworld
Registered User
(2/21/05 3:14 pm)
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Re: counting magpies or crows
thanks every one
one last question
in Scotland when you see 1 magpie, you say "good morning Mr magpie" [depending on time of day] to avoid the "One for sorrow" curse. does anyone know of similar charms from any anywhere else?? for crows or magpies??
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Black Sheep
Registered User
(2/22/05 12:07 pm)
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Re: counting magpies or crows
Where I'm from in England it was considered unlucky to see a lone crow but if you pointed it out to someone else then it had been seen twice and counted as two crows which is supposed to be lucky. The luck all went to the person who actively pointed out the crow so when I was a kid I remember the older folk constantly pointed at lone crows and saying, "Look! A crow."
There's also the identification phrase: "A crow in a crowd is a rook, a rook on its own is a crow."
There's plenty of other crow lore because the basic patterns had endless regional variations.
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