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 Oh, 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 how we shall be born One for sorrow, ... Devil, devil, ... She brings us joy when from the right And grief when from the left Of all the news that's 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 One for sorrow, ... Devil, devil, ... The priest, he says we're wicked For to worship the devil's bird Ah, but we respect the old ways And disregard his word For we know they rest uneasy As we slumber in the night And we'll always leave out a little bit of meat For the bird that's black and white One for sorrow, ...
recording: Davey Dodds (Kernowcopia arrangement, live 2020) [YouTube]
recording: Davey Dodds (with Red Jasper) (prog rock arrangement, 1990) [YouTube]
recording: Davey Dodds (with Don and Sarah Morgan) (vocal trio arrangement, 1979) [YouTube]
recording: The Unthanks (2018) live at BBC Folk Prom [YouTube]
recording: The BlueBirds (2014), singing the Unthanks arrangement [YouTube]
recording: Paul & Liz Davenport (2008), singing their arrangement [Reverb Nation]
notes: history of the song [Nigel Parry]
notes: recording history [Mainly Norfolk]
notes: John Finnemore parody [Susan Elaine Jones]