The Magpie Rhyme

“It’s the Magpie poem. I think I told you about that one. Did I?”

 

“I don’t know if you did.”

 

“It was like the ‘One is for sorrow, two for joy, three for a girl, four for a boy, five for silver, six for gold, seven for a secret never to be told.’

 

“So, that’s your new saying now?”

 

“That’s that’s my little poem.”

 

“Could you have picked any longer of one haha? You’ll have to practice saying it, like, 15 times. Like really fast and then when you, like, blurt it out.”

 

“Blurt it out, yeah. So, um, yeah so otherwise. I’m trying to think…”

 

“So where did you learn that one?”

 

“Internet haha.”

 

“Internet.”

 

[Laughing]

 

“Do you know where it’s from? Is it…?”

 

“Um…”

 

“Probably, like, a British one or something.”

 

“Yeah, yeah I remember I looked at the origin but I can’t remember what it is now.”

 

 

This rhyme is an example of a saying that has multiple versions, dictated by the occasion. Also, the subject matter itself, the magpie, can be found in various other superstitions, particularly in the British Isles.