*striking forehead with palm*
*blushing furiously*
*scuffling toe on the floor*
*stuttering*
Well... I, uh... erm... it's just... you see... well the thing is... you know... I... we... argh... oh... blast and botheration!! I didn't know!!
In my defense --- I'm not a Brit, I just lived there for a year, and that was in my early teens.
The bit I do remember, on further racking my brain, is that one magpie alone was supposed to be bad, that's why we always had to make mention of a partner; but two magpies together was supposed to be good luck. How does the rhyme go?
"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 ain sel'."
I still don't know what all that has to do with Merlin/Merlyn... Care to enlighten me, Murphy? Pleeeease?
--- sweetstuff