School: Lowtown (C.), Galbally
- Location:
- Lowe's Town, Co. Limerick
- Teacher: Máire, Bean Uí Néill
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0512, Page 574
Image and data © National Folklore Collection, UCD.
See copyright details.
DownloadOpen data
Available under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Note: We will soon deprecate our XML Application Programming Interface and a new, comprehensive JSON API will be made available. Keep an eye on our website for further details.
On this page
- (continued from previous page)When the sky is pitchy dark,
The brighter grows the magpie
As he sits there stiff and stark.
Whoever sees him there alone,
When the moon has hid her face,
Will meet with disappointment,
And get left in fortune's chase."But surely," said Pop Clohessy
"You do not mean to say
That such a bird can prophesy
What happens me to-day.I never saw it in a book,
So I don't believe that tale,
That the lone magpie brings bad luck,
That sits there on the rail.
I think 'tis superstition,
Are we crazy by the by?
To think that our condition
Depends on a magpie.""The magpie," said the seanachie,
"Is not at all to blame;
It is the number, not the bird
That figures in the game.(continues on next page)
- Informant
- Edmond Murphy
- Gender
- Male
