Brewer, E. Cobham. Dictionary of Phrase & Fable. Magpie.

Reference > Brewer’s Dictionary > Magpie.

Magot (French).

Magricio.

CONTENTS · BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.

Magpie.

A contraction of magotpie, or mag’ata-pie. “Mag” is generally thought to be a contraction of Margaret; thus we have Robin red-breast, Tom-tit, Philip—i.e. a sparrow, etc.

“Angurs and understood relations have

(By magotpies, and choughs, and rooks) brought forth

The secret’st man of blood.”

Shakespeare: Macbeth, iii. 4.

Magpie. Here is an old Scotch rhyme:

“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 ane sel’.”

Magot (French).

Magricio.

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