One for Sorrow (nursery rhyme)
| "One for Sorrow" Roud #20096 |
|
 A magpie |
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| Written by | Traditional |
|---|---|
| Published | c. 1780 |
| Written | England |
| Language | English |
| Form | Nursery rhyme |
"One for Sorrow" is a traditional children's nursery rhyme about magpies. According to an old superstition, the number of magpies one sees determines if one will have bad luck or not. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 20096.
Contents |
[edit] Lyrics
There is considerable variation in the lyrics used. The following is perhaps the most common modern version:
- 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 bird
- You must not miss.
[edit] Origins
The rhyme has its origins in superstitions connected with magpies, considered a bird of ill omen in some cultures, and in Britain, at least as far back as the early sixteenth century.[1] The rhyme was first recorded around 1780 in a note in John Brand's Observations on Popular Antiquities on Lincolnshire with the lyric:
- One for sorrow,
- Two for mirth,
- Three for a wedding,
- And four for death.[1]
One of the earliest versions to extend this was published, with variations, in M. A. Denham's Proverbs and Popular Saying of the Seasons (London, 1846):
- 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 d[evi]l's own sell![1]
On occasion, jackdaws, crows, bluebirds, and other Corvidae are associated with the rhyme, particularly in America where magpies are less common.[2] Blackbirds have also been used in place of magpies (probably due to their coloring), though they belong to the family Turdidae.
[edit] In popular culture
- A version of the rhyme was used as the theme music to the British TV programme Magpie in the 1960s and 70s.[3]
- The rhyme was quoted for counting crows in the 1989 film Signs of Life.[3]
- The band Counting Crows took their name from the version in the film Signs of Life.[3] The rhyme itself is referenced in their song "A Murder of One", from the album August and Everything After.
- All of the preceding variations are used by different characters in Terry Pratchett's novel Carpe Jugulum, wherein the antagonists, a family of vampires, take the form of magpies.
- A version of the rhyme was partly used for Patrick Wolf's song "Magpie".
- A version of the rhyme was partly used for RebekkaMaria's song "Pica Pica".
- A version of the rhyme was partly used for Band Of Skulls's song "Patterns".
- A version of the rhyme was partly used for Corinne Bailey Rae's song "Choux Pastry Heart".
- A version of the rhyme was partly recited in Meow Meow's stage production "Little Match Girl".
- A version of the rhyme was partly recited by the character Eric in The Crow.
- A version of the rhyme was recited by the character Ashe in The Crow: City of Angels.
- A version of the rhyme was recited by the character Eve in The Sandman: Parliament of Rooks, and later reprised by Delirium in The Sandman: The Wake.
- The rhyme is featured in the book The Seven Magpies by the late Monica Hughes, where it is a big part of the plot.
- Finnish melodic death metal band, Insomnium named their fifth studio album after the poem.
- Book by Elizabeth Bear, Seven for a Secret.
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b c I. Opie and M. Tatem, eds, A Dictionary of Superstitions (Oxford University Press, 1989), pp. 235-6.
- ^ J. M. Marzluff, A. Angell, P. R. Ehrlich, In the Company of Crows and Ravens (Yale University Press, 2007), p. 127.
- ^ a b c D. Wilson, Rock Formations: Categorical Answers to How Band Names Were Formed (Cidermill Books, 2004), p. 21.
[edit] References
- Binney, Ruth (2004). Wise Words and Country Ways: Traditional Advice and Whether It Works Today. David & Charles. p. 223. ISBN 0715318462.
