Saturday 12th January 1808

Dear Diary,
'One for sorrow,
Two for joy,
Three for a girl,
Four for a boy,
Five for silver,
Six for gold,
Seven for a secret
Never to be told.'....such is the well known rhyme related to the sighting of magpies. I do not pretend to be superstitious but whenever I see a magpie, and in general, it is often just a solitary bird, the rhyme comes back to me and I find myself wondering what misfortune might befall me. For sometime now I have contemplated a simple means of entrapment and then tying two magpies together thus increasing my chances of happiness and that of others. However, today, while out on a lengthy constitutional upon the Knob, I chanced upon four of the birds frolicking in a bush.
I wait in anticipation.