One for Sorrow (nursery rhyme)
| "One for Sorrow" | |
|---|---|
| Roud #20096 | |
A magpie
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| Song | |
| Written | England |
| Published | c. 1780 |
| Form | Nursery rhyme |
| Writer(s) | Traditional |
| Language | English |
"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. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 20096.
There is considerable variation in the lyrics used. A common modern version follows:
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.
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. 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 funeral
And four for birth
One of the earliest versions to extend this was published, with variations, in Michael Aislabie Denham's Proverbs and Popular Saying of the Seasons (London, 1846)
One for sorrow,
Two for mirth
Three for a funeral,
Four for birth
Five for heaven
Six for hell
Seven for the devil, his own self
On occasion, jackdaws, crows, and other Corvidae are associated with the rhyme, particularly in America where magpies are less common.
A version of the rhyme became familiar to many UK children when it became the theme tune of an ITV children's TV show called Magpie, which ran from 1968 to 1980. The popularity of this version is thought to have displaced the many regional versions that had previously existed.
In the Counting Crows song "A Murder of One", the lyrics contain a modified version of the rhyme. The rhyme is also the origin of the group's name.
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