... 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 bird You must not miss.
Magpies that is. I saw at the weekend that we have two nesting in a larch in the garden for the first time. I have mixed feelings about these birds; a certain respect is due as they are, after all, a part of nature, but they are a mite (or should that be might) too successful for my liking and are as good as the Maltese are at killing small birds — though not for fun, I suppose. They are also strutting, noisy, brash, and braggartly with a staccato line in communication that is unbirdlike. If birds had social media, magpies would be tweeting at 5 in the morning.
Does all this remind you of anyone? Could be a tricky summer.
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NB, the original version of the verse I quoted at the start of the blog is said to be ...
One for sorrow, Two for mirth, Three for a wedding, And four for death.
Although you'd have thought that "birth" would have been a happier rhyme in every sense, death might have been a more likely outcome.
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