Folk wisdom empirically confirmed

Post author By Harry
Post date 30 March 2011
2 Comments on Folk wisdom empirically confirmed

I made plans to go birding yesterday in the expectation it would be sunny again; in the event it was grey, overcast and drizzly.

But I did see one swallow.

Tags birds, folklore, spring

2 replies on “Folk wisdom empirically confirmed”

I saw 8 magpies hopping around the East Marsh (almost in formation) yesterday as I walked to Asda. There’s no rhyme I know of for 8 magpies – my previous record was 5 (for silver).

Wikipedia has a couple of variations, including:

One for sorrow,
Two for luck; (or mirth)
Three for a wedding,
Four for death; (or birth)
Five for silver,
Six for gold;
Seven for a secret,
Not to be told;
Eight for heaven,
Nine for hell
And ten for the devil’s own sell!

Eight for a wish
Nine for a kiss
Ten for a bird you must not miss

Either way, eight doesn’t seem too bad… nine would be more of a worry.

2 replies on “Folk wisdom empirically confirmed”

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