Sub Category:

Title: Magpie Thief

The magpie was thought to be a great thief, and it was popularly supposed that if its tongue were split into two with silver it could talk like a man.|The cry of the magpie is a sign of rain. To man its dreaded notes indicated disaster, thus:—|Clyw grechwen nerth pen, iaith pi—yn addaw| Newyddion drwg i mi.|List! the magpie’s hoarse and bitter cry|Shows that misfortune’s sigh is nigh.|If this bird builds her nest at the top of a tree the summer will be dry; if on the lower branches, the summer will be wet.|[As a matter of interest I can confirm the fact of Magpies stealing. In Colwyn Bay in 1960 our pet magpie flew off with my brothers gold coloured watch and dropped it among the bramble bushes of our neighbours field. We lived in Kenneth Avenue next to Thomas's Farm (known as the stables), located below the Pwllychrochan Woods at the foot of Nant y Glyn Valley.Editor]