...as they were setting out. The rhyme is as follows, — I dare say familiar to many of my readers : One for sorrow — two for mirth, Three for a wedding — four for a birth. In many parts of England, and indeed not many miles from London, I firmly believe, that were any one...

...Magatipie, and the import of the augury is determined by the number of the hirds that are seen together : " One for sorrow ; two for mirth; three for a wedding; four for death." Mr. Park, in a note in his copy of Bourne and Brand's " Popular Antiquities," p. 88, says that...

...year. The magpie is a well-known bird of omen. The following lines were familiar when I was a boy : " One for sorrow, two for mirth, Three for a wedding, four for death ; Five for a fiddle, six for a dance, Seven for England, eight for France." TD Lambs. — The...

...— ' Rusticus in luna quem sarcina deprimit una, Monstrat per spinas nulli prodesse rapinas.' " " One for sorrow, Two for mirth ; Three for a wedding, Four for a birth."* It is well known that the pagan priests in heathen times predicted good or evil events from the appearance...

...church, but I hardly believe it. That they are birds of omen is well known, witness the old rhyme : One for sorrow, two for mirth ; Three for a wedding, four for a birth. Another bit of folk-lore relates to housemartins, and to old bachelors, whose houses are said to be...

...year. The magpie is a well-known bird of omen. The following lines were familiar when I was a boy : " One for sorrow, two for mirth, Three for a wedding, four for death ; Five for a fiddle, six for a dance, Seven for England, eight for France." TD OMENS FROM BIRDS....

...the arrival of good news. So says our prose version ; but the poetical narrative runs thus : — " One for sorrow ; two for mirth ; " Three for a wedding ; four for a birth." We still dislike the moaning of owls and the croaking of ravens, as much as the Romans did of old ;...

...magatipie, and the import of the augury is determined by the number of the birds that are seen together: " One for sorrow; two for mirth; three for a wedding; four for death." Mr. Park, in a note in his copy of Bourne and Brand's Popular Antiquities, p. 88, says that...

...portend death. The magpie is a bird of good or ill omen, according to the number seen at one time. — " One for sorrow : — two for mirth : — Three for a wedding : — four for death." KK A crowing hen is a bird of ill-luck. An old proverb in use here says,lt A whistling woman,...

...from the number of magpies seen together at one time. An old rhyme on the subject runs thus : — " One for sorrow, two for mirth ; Three for a wedding, four for a birth." The origin of the word magpie we have not heard explained, but it is possible, from the manner in which...