'One for sorrow' lyrics

How old is the magpie nursery rhyme 'One for sorrow'?

Throughout history magpies have been considered a bad omen and it is thought the rhyme evolved from ornithomancy, which involved taking omens from the flight and cries of birds. The rhyme was first recorded around 1780.

The rhyme became famous to a whole new generation of children in the 1970s as the the them tune for the children's TV show Magpie, which ran from 1968 to 1980.

'One for sorrow' lyrics

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 a surprise you should be careful not to miss,
Eleven for health,
Twelve for wealth,
Thirteen beware it's the devil himself

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