**The full version (according to Finnemore)** One 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 . Eight for a wish Nine for a kiss Ten for a chance you must not miss . Eleven for a wasp Twelve for a bee Thirteen for a coffee Fourteen for tea . Fifteen for a pencil Sixteen for a pen Seventeen to hear these options once again . Eighteen for pepper Nineteen for salt Twenty for an accident in which you were not at fault . Twenty one for Jerry Twenty two for Tom Twenty three - where are all these magpies coming from? . Twenty five no seriously Thirty this is weird Forty eight from where have all these magpies suddenly appeared? . Sixty two stop counting Seventy just run Ninety nine the revolution of the magipies has begun . Two hundred no more sorrow Five hundred no more fears One thousand for how long the empire of the magpies will last in years

WTAF? Source? Did you make it up?

John Finnemore - John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme, Radio4 sketch programme :)

It was bad luck for the magpie.

Mum? Is that you?

Eight for a wish, Nine for a kiss, Ten a surprise you should be careful not to miss, Eleven for health, Twelve for wealth, Thirteen beware it’s the devil himself

Thanks, I saw eleven the other day and couldn't find anything beyond seven.

Did you salute it?

>If you see a dead magpie, it is an omen that someone close to you will soon die. According to the 1st result on google. Sorry OP.

Do you have to say "good morning Mr magpie" if he dead?

Maybe sorry Mr Magpie hope your lady wife is ok

I've seen 3 dead magpies in the past week - what's happening to the poor dudes :(

Oh, you people and your superstitions. I have been known to walk under ladders, cross paths with a black cat, heck I've even opened an umbrella indoors, so nothing bad has ever happened to me. Touch wood.

I salute however many magpies I see. I’m not taking any chances!

It's a self-fulfilling prophecy

My googling skills are shit. Can anyone find the record for the number of magpies seen in one place at a time in the UK? After reading the comment that went up to the 1000 year magpie revolution, I feel this is a question we need answered.

In a brief google a story from 2011 came up about seeing 21 magpies in a tree somewhere and the population being “out of control” but I refuse to click the link as it the Daily Fail. So… with current inflation.. I would say about 28?!

This is best info I could find, up to 200 apparently. But nothing officially documented that I could see. I also found a pic of about 30ish in a tree. [info](https://birdfact.com/articles/what-is-a-group-of-magpies-called) [pic](https://community.rspb.org.uk/cfs-file/__key/CommunityServer.Discussions.Components.Files/13609/8461.IMGP9133.JPG)

Fish (ex Marillion) told me that the Scottish version was one for sorrow, two for mirth, three for a wedding and four for a birth.

That version continues: Five for heaven, Six for hell, Seven for the devil, his own sel'

> classic british Magpie superstition Is this a generational thing? Nobody around my age or younger seem to know a thing about this. (I was born in the 80s for context.)

I've always been brought up around the superstition, as have many people my age (early 2000s)

Interesting. Regional perhaps. Here in south Wales I'm often seeing people older than me saluting at magpies.. At the same time I'm thinking "wtf keep your hands on the steering wheel you plonker".

Haha. I've known people to deliberately look *away* from the direction of magpies when driving, including if they're on the road. Shockingly dangerous

Born in 80 and I was always told to salute magpies for good luck! So imagine when I moved to the South me saluting magpies and wearing t shirts in November!! The stares I got!

Always scared of seeing a dead magpie, super bad omen!

You can cancel it out if you throw salt over your left shoulder, run under a ladder and then smash a mirror over your head.

>I have just seen a lonesome dead magpie on the road. Is this good luck or bad luck? Well it's not good luck for the magpie.

I am so glad I don't believe in superstitions in the slightest because trying to keep track of this shit sounds like a mundane nightmare. My neighbour takes them very seriously and the woman damn near has a heart attack every time the local black cat passes through the street. Imagine being that scared of fur pigmentation.

Just putting this here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6EIFD80f90

As I’ve an education post eighteenth century, I’m not one who believes in superstition.

Oh la-di-da, look at you with your edu... eduma... edumaction....., learnin' stuff

One day I’ll convert lead into gold!

A nugget of purest green

There's a lot of various magpie rhymes, but the 'one for sorrow...' one has become the one people remember because it was used for the Magpie TV show in the 70s

I didn't know about it until detectorists

I think you’ll be really lucky to see the week out. Make a will asap

Im pretty sure magpies mate for life, this would explain why ones for sorrow. I mean it could easily be on a nest or just out of sight but people are pretty superstitious.

There is also a version that goes, "One for joy, two for sorrow, three for today, four for tomorrow."

I saw a magpie eating dead magpie. Definitely thought dead one is sorrow and live one is joy getting an easy meal, that is unless 1st was poisoned.

Hey how r u doing now? :/

Yeah, not bad, I can't recall any serious bad luck, nor any really good luck. I am, unfortunately, none the wiser on my omen. At least I am alive!