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McKee
Registered User
(9/13/00 11:37:05 am)
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Counting Crows rhyme
Does anyone have the text of the nursery rhyme about Counting Crows? It begins "One is for sorrow, two is for joy...". Thank you for your help.
| Midori
Unregistered User
(9/13/00 5:37:49 pm)
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crows
Aargh, I can't remember how far it goes but here's what I know
one for sorrow, two for joy, three for mirth (I also learned it "birth"--never knew which one for certain) four a boy.
that ain't much I'm afraid!
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Kerrie
Registered User
(9/14/00 2:50:11 am)
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Re: crows
There are a few I've heard of, but here's one I remember off the top of my head (the book I saw these in is still unpacked, I'll find it when I get home from work)
One for sorrow, two for mirth, three's a wedding, four's a birth, five is Heaven, six is Hell, seven is the Devil himself.
I think the rhyme is also mentioned several times in Charles de
Lint's MOONLIGHT AND VINES. I'll check that later too. I first discovered
the rhyme in college where it wasn't a surprise to look out my window
and see about 30-40 crows outside (this is in the city too, very
small, strip-mall kind of campus). I never found out what that many
meant!
Edited by: Kerrie at: 10/1/00
2:51:32 pm
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McKee
Registered User
(9/14/00 2:55:48 am)
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Counting Crows Thank You
Thank you very much for your efforts. I'll go to the library and see if I can find "Moonlight and Vines".
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McKee
Registered User
(9/14/00 2:56:45 am)
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Counting Crows Thank You
Thank you for your efforts. You are very kind.
| Midori
Unregistered User
(9/14/00 4:24:28 am)
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silly me
Kerrie,
Thanks for recalling it correctly!! It's funny how one screws things up from childhood memory. I probably sang it all wrong as a kid...and never cared. When I saw your version I realized how sensible it was, though I probably liked the word mirth as a kid but had no idea what it meant and threw it in anywhere!
I know there is a wonderful illustrated children's book of this. You might try a public library and see if you can find it.
| Ellen
Unregistered User
(9/14/00 8:19:59 am)
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Counting Crows
Speaking of Charles de Lint, his wife Mary Anne Harris wrote and sings a beautiful song called "Crow Girls" which incorporates this rhyme. You might want to check Charles's website (I think there's a link on Endicott Studio's links) and ask Mary Anne about this, because she would undoubtably know the source.
Cheers,
E.
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Carrie
Registered User
(9/14/00 8:49:39 am)
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Re: Counting Crows rhyme
Hi. In my Annotated Mother Goose the charm is:
Magpie, magpie, chatter and flee,
Turn up thy tail, and good luck to me.
"In most European countries, it is thought to be lucky to meet 'one' magpie, raven or crow:
One's lucky,
Two's unlucky,
Three is health,
Four is wealth,
Five is sickness
And six is death.
But in Maine, people say:
One crow sorrow,
Two crows joy,
Three crows a letter,
Four crows a boy.
I don't know if this is what you're looking for, but I hope it helps.
Cheers.
Carrie
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Kerrie
Registered User
(9/14/00 1:23:08 pm)
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Re: Counting Crows rhyme
I looked in my book and found the only differences to be in one where sorrow is replaced with anger, and the second stops at four.
Here's more I've found:
www.shades-of-night.com/a...rhyme.html
Counting Rhymes
Crow or Magpie Augry (the practice of foretelling the future based on the number of birds seen) has been around for centuries, and spawned many version of the "counting rhyme". These are a few of the ones I've collected. As you can see, there's quite a variety, but most follow the same themes.
The older ones and the European ones tend to be about magpies, while the newer ones and the North American ones tend to be about crows, suggesting that the subject switched from magpies to crows around the same time that people were crossing the atlantic.
Counting Rhyme (from The Folklore of Birds, by Laura C. Martin, 1993)
One for sorrow, two for mirth,
Three for a wedding, four for a 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 sel'.
Counting Crows (Emailed to me by a 'Net acquantance)
One for sorrow,
two for joy,
three for a girl,
for 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 time
of joyous bliss.
Magpie Rhyme (from Bird Brains, by Candace Savage, 1997. The Rhyme she quotes is from The Dictionary of Superstitions published by Oxford University Press in 1992)
One for sorrow,
two for mirth,
three for a wedding,
four for birth,
five for rich,
six for poor,
Seven for a witch,
I can tell you no more.
Counting Rhyme (another from an email acquaintance)
One crow sorrow,
Two crows mirth,
three, a wedding,
four, a birth,
five brings silver,
six takes wealth,
seven crows a secret,
More I can nae tell.
Counting Crows (again, from an email aquaintance)
One for sadness, two for mirth;
Three for marriage, four for birth;
Five for laughing, six for crying:
Seven for sickness, eight for dying;
Nine for silver, ten for gold;
Eleven a secret that will never be told.
kirov.seanet.com/~eldrbar...magpie.htm
Another version is:
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.
(I think this one (above) is the basis of one of the stories in M&V)
A third found in Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable is:
One's sorrow, two's mirth,
Three's a wedding, four's a birth,
Five's a christening, six a dearth,
Seven's heaven, eight is hell,
And nine's the devil his old self.
I think the song title Eleen mentioned is also the title of one of the stories in M&V that plays off the theme "two for mirth."
Hope these help!
Kerrie
Edited by: Kerrie Edited
by: 9/14/00 1:31:40 pm
| Midori
Unregistered User
(9/15/00 5:01:16 am)
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research goddess
Kerrie,
You are fabulous! I've printed out all the versions. They are splendid. You are like the library goddesses of old (before budget cuts) otherwise known as "ready reference"--those women knew everything about anything! Thanks!
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Kerrie
Registered User
(9/15/00 8:27:48 am)
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Re: research goddess
Thanks so much! Now, if only I
could figure out how to get that talent to pay my loans...
My guess is the one that says, "One for sorrow, two for joy, three for a girl, four for a boy..." is where your version may have come from. They all vary, so yours is a very valid interpretation! I also watched THE CROW last night, and in the background of one of the flashbacks, you can hear the young girl, Sarah, repeating the above version also (very eerie).
Have a great day!
Kerrie
Edited by: Kerrie at: 10/1/00
2:53:46 pm
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