Due to their carrion diet, the Celtic peoples strongly associated corvids with war, death, and the battlefield; their great intelligence meant that they were often considered messengers, or manifestations of the gods, such as Bendigeidfran (Welsh for “Blessed Crow”) or the Irish Morrigan (Middle Irish for “Great Queen”), both who were underworld deities that may be related to the later Arthurian Fisher King. The Welsh Dream of Rhonabwy illustrates well the association of ravens with war. In many parts of Britain, gatherings of crows, or more often magpies, are counted using the divination rhyme: “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.” Another rhyme is: “one for sorrow, two for mirth, three for a funeral, four for a birth, five for heaven, six for hell, and seven for the Devil, his own sel.” Cornish superstition holds that when a lone magpie is encountered, it must be loudly greeted with respect.
