The Magpie

With their gangster spats/Taoist two-tone motif with iridescent blue and green finish and their rough, cawing chatter and mean reputation, the Magpie is one of my favourites - the Robin Hood of the bird world.

On this moon's Podcast is a song about the Magpie. I first heard it sung at a folk session in Sheffield by a couple called Paul and Liz Davenport. The song was written by a chap called Dave Dodds, whom I have been unable to contact, but hope he won't mind my recording it here.

There is a notion in England that the Magpie is a bird of ill omen and "The Devil's bird".

My cousin taught me at a young age to salute a lone Magpie with the words "Hello, Mr. Magpie, where's your wife?" in order to ward off bad luck - the usual methods of crossing your fingers, spitting or looking away are also employed.

Certainly they are an aggressive bird and like any member of the Corvid family (jackdaw, crow, raven, rook) will take fledglings and eat eggs, which may explain some of the prevailing bad feeling against them but there is no evidence that they significantly affect garden or songbird numbers. See RSPB website for detailed info.

Anyone familiar with Brian Bates' book "The Way of Wyrd" will be familiar with the notion that pre-Christian Anglo Saxon spirituality included the interpretation of bird flight as a form of augury or soothsaying and that significance could be interpreted not only from the species of bird, but also it's direction of flight in relation to the observer.

From the lyrics of this song it's clear that the local Christian preacher has been dissuading his flock from their "old ways", but that the writer holds true to a similar type of augury. The Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids have made an interesting collation of Magpie lore from around the world which you may find interesting, in which it is said that "If one is seen on the way to church it signifies that death is present". I don't know about the being born tradition though

but my favourite introduction to the Magpie is the Terry Toon cartoon Heckle and Jeckle - two Bugs Bunny-like characters who always outwit the human.

I especially love memorable clip from The Talking Magpies (3:05) when one gets into a radio and says "The Magpie is the most charming bird in all the world, treat him gently, treat him kindly..."

Magpies are cool.

And the lyrics to the song on the podcast are reproduced here:

The Magpie by David Dodds.

The magpie brings us tidings
Of news both fair and foul
She’s more cunning than the raven
More wise than any owl
She brings us news of the harvest
Of the Barley, wheat and corn
She knows when we’ll go to our graves
And when we will be born

CHORUS
One for sorrow, two for joy
Three for a girl and four for a boy
Five for silver, six for gold
Seven for a secret never told
Devil, devil, I defy thee
Devil, devil, I defy thee
Devil, devil, I defy thee

The priest, he says we’re wicked
To worship the devil’s bird
But we respect the old ways
And disregard his word
We know they rest uneasy
As we slumber in the night
But we always leave a little bit of meat
For the bird that’s black and white

She brings us joy when from the right
And grief when from the left
Of all the birds that are in the air
We know and trust her best
For she sees us at our labour
And she mocks us at our work
She steals the eggs from out of the nest
And she can mob the hawk.