Heritage Doncaster

“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 to be told”.

This poem likely stems from ornithomancy, the ancient practise of predicting the future based on the behaviour of birds.  In this case, the rhyme relates to magpies, and there have been several versions of it over time. Some believe that greeting a magpie with a salutation such as “good morning Mr Magpie!” can offset any bad luck they may bring.