Most people will claim that they are “not very superstitious” or that they “don’t believe in superstitions.” Regardless of belief though, it’s still difficult to find people who are willing to walk under ladders or those who don’t “knock on wood” when mentioning a possible outcome for a situation. Moreover, if people aren’t superstitious, then why does anyone bother to notice that it’s a certain day often considered to be unlucky, like Friday the 13th? Speaking of superstition, today’s word is an animal that has developed quite a pervasive superstition commonly held throughout Britain: the magpie.
There’s nothing too sinister about the magpie itself. The Eurasian or common magpie (Pica pica) is a bird that inhabits Europe, most of Asia, and Northwest Africa. Part of the crow family, it is considered one of the most intelligent birds, with a long, pointed tail, black and white plumage, noisy chirping, and a penchant for taking shiny objects. The word “magpie” originates from around the 1600’s, but it is actually a combination of the earlier (13th, century) name of the same bird, the Old French pie (from the original Latin pica), and the shortened form of the name Margaret, Mag, which was associated with femininity and- believe it or not- idle chattering.
Seemingly harmless enough, this “idle chattering bird” has, for whatever reason, become inexplicably linked with a number of superstitions designed to keep away the evil this bird can supposedly carry. In many parts of Britain, bad luck is kept at bay by greeting the first magpie you see each day with a “Morning Captain!” or the elongated, “Good Morning, Captain – how are your wife and kids?” as well as a salute, alluding to their being more than one magpie, which, as you’ll see later, is important. When seeing a magpie in Yorkshire, locals make the sign of the cross to ward off evil, as magpies are associated with witchcraft. In other areas, when seeing a lone magpie, it can be customary to doff your cap or spit three times over your shoulder to counteract bad luck.
The first known usage of the word magpie comes from Jacob Mosan’s translation of Christopher Wirsung’s Praxis Medicinae Universalis, or A Generall Practice of Physicke (1598), where it is identified: “Magpie, Pica, and Citta.” Remarking on the traits of the bird, W.C. Scully in 1895 writes in Kafir Stories that, “He was so fond of talking that his comrades nicknamed him ‘magpie’,” while the 1903 edition of the English Dialect Dictionary, compiled by Joseph Wright, defines with reference to its attraction to shiny objects, as a Magpie, “..in Birmingham the word is used of collectors. ‘What a magpie he is’, he is enthusiastic in adding to his collection.” Finally, with regard to the number of magpies mentioned, along with some of their link to superstition, is a nursery rhyme which was first published around 1780, but was extended in 1846, in Michael Aislabie Denham’s Proverbs and Popular Saying of the Seasons, which is as follows:
One for sorrow,
Two for luck; (or mirth)
Three for a wedding,
Four for death; (or birth)
Five for silver,
Six for gold;
Seven for a secret,
Not to be told;
Eight for heaven,
Nine for hell
And ten for the devil’s own sell!
