rli terlow,
So mereli the sheppards their pipes can blow."

[262] Nares's "Glossary," vol. ii. p. 886; Douce's
"Illustrations of Shakespeare," 1839, p. 217.

In Scotland[263] and the north of England the peasantry say that if one
is desirous of knowing what the lark says, he must lie down on his back
in the field and listen, and he will then hear it say:

"Up in the lift go we,
Tehee, tehee, tehee, tehee!
There's not a shoemaker on the earth
Can make a shoe to me, to me!
Why so, why so, why so?
Because my heel is as long as my toe."

[263] Chambers's "Popular Rhymes of Scotland," 1870, p. 192.

_Magpie._ It was formerly known as magot-pie, probably from the French
_magot_, a monkey, because the bird chatters and plays droll tricks like
a monkey. It has generally been regarded with superstitious awe as a
mysterious bird,[264] and is thus alluded to in "Macbeth" (iii. 4):

"Augurs and understood relations, have
By magot-pies, and choughs, and rooks, brought forth
The secret'st man of blood."

[264] See "English Folk-Lore," p. 81.

And again, in "3 Henry VI." (v. 6), it is said:

"chattering pies in dismal discords sung."

There are numerous rhymes[265] relating to the magpie, of which we
subjoin, as a specimen, one prevalent in the north of England:

"One is sorrow, two mirth,
Three a wedding, four a birth,
Five heaven, six hell,
Seven the de'il's ain sell."

[265] Henderson's "Folk-Lore of Northern Counties," p. 127.

In Devonshire, in order to avert the ill-luck from seeing a magpie, the
peasant spits over his right shoulder three times, and in Yorkshire
various charms are in use. One is to raise the hat as a salutation, and
then to sign the cross on the breast; and another consists in making the
same sign by crossing the thumbs. It is a common notion in Scotland that
magpies flying near the windows of a house portend a speedy death to one
of its inmates. The superstitions associated with the magpie are not
confined to this country, for in Sweden[266] it is considered the
witch's bird, belonging to the evil one and the other powers of night.
In Denmark, when a magpie perches on a house it is regarded as a sign
that strangers are coming.

[266] Thorpe's "Northern Mythology," vol. ii. p. 34; Brand's
"Pop. Antiq.," 1849, pp. 215, 216; see also Harland and
Wilkinson's "Lancashire Folk-Lore," 1867, pp. 143, 145.