Having had a magpie land in the back garden the other day, Mrs PubChat asked me if I saluted him. That of course got me thinking as these things do. Why do people salute magpies?
Well, it seems truth be told it is just an old superstition, mostly found in both Britain and Ireland but. However, over time it has seemingly spread elsewhere.
Magpies have for a long time been believed to be very intelligent, watchful, and tied to the spirit world. As such ignoring one, especially a lone magpie was thought to bring bad luck.
Saluting, greeting, or tipping your hat evolved over time to be a way of showing respect and basically saying, “No offense, please don’t curse my day.”
It ties into the famous rhyme:
One for sorrow,
Two for joy,
Three for a girl,
Four for a boy…
Seeing one magpie alone = sorrow per the old rhyme. Therefore gave rise to the cue to salute or greet the impressive looking bird to try and cancel out any bad vibes.
Over time some of the weird and wonderful sayings this tradition have evolved include:
- “Good morning, Mr Magpie”
- “Good morning, Captain”
- Or even ask after its wife to acknowledge it’s not really “alone”
Historically, there’s also a an angle developed from Christianity. Magpies were said to have sat out the Crucifixion, making them suspect birds, so people felt the need to keep on their good side.
Nowadays, most people do it half-jokingly “it can’t hurt, right?” becoming a tiny modern day ritual against chaos in everyday life 😄
