LL-L "Folklore" 2006.02.03 (08) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

======================================================================
L O W L A N D S - L * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
http://www.lowlands-l.net * lowlands-l at lowlands-l.net
Rules & Guidelines: http://www.lowlands-l.net/index.php?page=rules
Posting: lowlands-l at listserv.linguistlist.org or lowlands-l at lowlands-l.net
Commands ("signoff lowlands-l" etc.): listserv at listserv.net
Server Manual: http://www.lsoft.com/manuals/1.8c/userindex.html
Archives: http://listserv.linguistlist.org/archives/lowlands-l.html
Encoding: Unicode (UTF-8) [Please switch your view mode to it.]
=======================================================================
You have received this because you have been subscribed upon request.
To unsubscribe, please send the command "signoff lowlands-l" as message
text from the same account to listserv at listserv.linguistlist.org or
sign off at http://linguistlist.org/subscribing/sub-lowlands-l.html.
=======================================================================
A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian B=Brabantish D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian
L=Limburgish LS=Lowlands Saxon (Low German) N=Northumbrian
S=Scots Sh=Shetlandic V=(West) Flemish Z=Zeelandic (Zeeuws)
=======================================================================

03 February 2006 * Volume 08
=======================================================================

From: Sandy Fleming <sandy at scotstext.org>
Subject: LL-L "Folklore" 2006.01.31 (02) [E]

> From: Heather Rendall <HeatherRendall at compuserve.com>
> Subject: LL-L "Folklore" 2006.01.30 (08) [E]
>
> And of course you have to greet a magpie with "Good morning, Mr 
> Magpie" or
> so a chauffeur to a army general reported in a letter to a newspaper: he
> would watch in the rear mirror as the General, sitting in the back, 
> turned
> to the window and whispered the words, whenever they passed a magpie!
>
> Or recite: "One for sorrow, two for joy, three for a girl and four for a
> boy, five for silver, six for gold and seven for a secret never to be
> told."

It's the "one for sorrow" line that makes a lone magpie such a 
horripillating experience for the superstitious. So a lone magpie should 
be greeted with, "Good morning, Mr Magpie, how's your wife?" implying 
that the magpie isn't such a loner after all. No greeting is necessary 
for multiple magpies, though if you know the rhyme you can read your 
fortune by counting them:

One for sorrow,
Two for joy;
Three for a girl
And four for a boy;
Five's a wish,
Six a kiss,
Seven for a litter
And eight for something better;
Nine for silver,
Ten for gold,
Eleven for a secret
Never to be told.

Sandy Fleming
http://scotstext.org/

==============================END===================================
* Please submit postings to lowlands-l at listserv.linguistlist.org.
* Postings will be displayed unedited in digest form.
* Please display only the relevant parts of quotes in your replies.
* Commands for automated functions (including "signoff lowlands-l") are
  to be sent to listserv at listserv.linguistlist.org or at
  http://linguistlist.org/subscribing/sub-lowlands-l.html.
======================================================================