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> One day, the grouse was seen perching atop the family house. When I told this to my grandmother, she went silent at first, and then she told me that it means

> One day, the grouse was seen perching atop the family house. When I told this to my grandmother, she went silent at first, and then she told me that it means someone will die in the family. This was of course terrifying news to me. But it also turned out to become true, because my grandfather also died that year. Do you actually believe the grouse perching on house was foreshadowing??

x3iv130f 5y ago
Could be a gentle way for an elder to let their grandchild know that they are passing soon. Does the Grouse know? Probably not. The grandmother would though.
- bluepizza 5y ago
  That's a very nice way of seeing things. Thanks for that.
- zikzak 5y ago
  We had similar sayings around the number of crows you'd see together. As I got older, I realized if you spend enough time outside you'll see any combination of crows you might need to fit the rhyme and have a little talk. 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. We would say "Crow" instead of "for". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_for_Sorrow_%28nursery_rhyme%29?wprov=sfla1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_for_Sorrow_%28nursery_rhym...
  - samvher 5y ago
    Huh - I know these numbers from a Counting Crows song (“A Murder of One”, one of my favorites). Never knew this came from cultural heritage.
  - pbhjpbhj 5y ago
    In rural England I've heard of that for magpies (which are corvids I think), but never crows themselves. Someone I know from Scotland sings a song with the same sort of pattern but about crows proper (like 'Ten green bottles' but for crows - "the last craw wasna' there at a'").
  - wrboyce 5y ago
    Interesting, in the UK I know this for magpies but I also know some additional lines which are absent from the Wiki page… 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, eight for a wish, nine for a kiss, ten for a bird you must not miss. EDIT: It seems the 8/9/10 lines are from Magpie, a British children’s TV show: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magpie_(TV_series)#Theme_song https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magpie_(TV_series)#Theme_son...
kebman 5y ago
Does it matter? This is an old belief told from one generation to another. And in the instance of my family, it certainly turned out to be true. Later that summer, during an especially hot and bright night (it's midnight sun where I come from because it's above the Arctic Circle) I saw that grouse on the tractor road further down the fields of the farm. It silhouetted in the midnight sun. It surprised me to see it standing in the middle of the road like that, like it was mocking me, so I got angry and chased it off the property. It went off into the property of my grandmother's sister. And later that year, also she died. But look, there's probably a reasonable explanation for it. When farmers grow old and sick, they often move away from their cabin, and in with their younger family and children further away, who take care of them. So when the house becomes derelict, wild and otherwise shy animals dare to move closer. But of course, old people would only move away from their farm if they were in a bad shape. And there's your omen and the logical explanation for it.
- graderjs 5y ago
  No need to surrender your beliefs to some egghead who's not imaginative enough to see the world with wonder. Who cares about someone else's logic that is too narrow to contain the wonder of the universe. No need to pander to their inability to believe. They sit on their high horse telling other people they are crazy, then the grouse sits above them and they drop dead. Good story. The end.
  - busymom0 5y ago
    The ending of your comment gave me a chuckle. Thank you.
  - bryanrasmussen 5y ago
    well, maybe so but they say a stray dog come howling around Johnny Miller's house, 'bout midnight, as much as two weeks ago; and a whippoorwill come in and lit on the banisters and sung, the very same evening; and there ain't anybody dead there yet.
    - graderjs 5y ago
LocalH 5y ago
Everything is filtered through human perception and pattern-matching. Everything. There's a difference between groupthink religion (which tends to spread exponentially when unchecked) and harmless little beliefs like this. So what if someone notices a pattern where there isn't one? It's known that animals can sense certain scents that can indeed be foreshadowing of death or health decline. Isn't it even the slightest bit possible that the grouse may have smelled something that humans couldn't begin to perceive? More importantly, do you have any proof or knowledge that would actively disprove this? No, that's not a requirement in science, but it is a handy discussion aid.

x3iv130f 5y ago

Could be a gentle way for an elder to let their grandchild know that they are passing soon. Does the Grouse know? Probably not. The grandmother would though.

bluepizza 5y ago
That's a very nice way of seeing things. Thanks for that.
zikzak 5y ago
We had similar sayings around the number of crows you'd see together. As I got older, I realized if you spend enough time outside you'll see any combination of crows you might need to fit the rhyme and have a little talk. 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. We would say "Crow" instead of "for". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_for_Sorrow_%28nursery_rhyme%29?wprov=sfla1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_for_Sorrow_%28nursery_rhym...
- samvher 5y ago
  Huh - I know these numbers from a Counting Crows song (“A Murder of One”, one of my favorites). Never knew this came from cultural heritage.
- pbhjpbhj 5y ago
  In rural England I've heard of that for magpies (which are corvids I think), but never crows themselves. Someone I know from Scotland sings a song with the same sort of pattern but about crows proper (like 'Ten green bottles' but for crows - "the last craw wasna' there at a'").
- wrboyce 5y ago
  Interesting, in the UK I know this for magpies but I also know some additional lines which are absent from the Wiki page… 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, eight for a wish, nine for a kiss, ten for a bird you must not miss. EDIT: It seems the 8/9/10 lines are from Magpie, a British children’s TV show: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magpie_(TV_series)#Theme_song https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magpie_(TV_series)#Theme_son...

kebman 5y ago

Does it matter? This is an old belief told from one generation to another. And in the instance of my family, it certainly turned out to be true. Later that summer, during an especially hot and bright night (it's midnight sun where I come from because it's above the Arctic Circle) I saw that grouse on the tractor road further down the fields of the farm. It silhouetted in the midnight sun. It surprised me to see it standing in the middle of the road like that, like it was mocking me, so I got angry and chased it off the property. It went off into the property of my grandmother's sister. And later that year, also she died. But look, there's probably a reasonable explanation for it. When farmers grow old and sick, they often move away from their cabin, and in with their younger family and children further away, who take care of them. So when the house becomes derelict, wild and otherwise shy animals dare to move closer. But of course, old people would only move away from their farm if they were in a bad shape. And there's your omen and the logical explanation for it.

graderjs 5y ago
No need to surrender your beliefs to some egghead who's not imaginative enough to see the world with wonder. Who cares about someone else's logic that is too narrow to contain the wonder of the universe. No need to pander to their inability to believe. They sit on their high horse telling other people they are crazy, then the grouse sits above them and they drop dead. Good story. The end.
- busymom0 5y ago
  The ending of your comment gave me a chuckle. Thank you.
- bryanrasmussen 5y ago
  well, maybe so but they say a stray dog come howling around Johnny Miller's house, 'bout midnight, as much as two weeks ago; and a whippoorwill come in and lit on the banisters and sung, the very same evening; and there ain't anybody dead there yet.
  - graderjs 5y ago

LocalH 5y ago

Everything is filtered through human perception and pattern-matching. Everything. There's a difference between groupthink religion (which tends to spread exponentially when unchecked) and harmless little beliefs like this. So what if someone notices a pattern where there isn't one? It's known that animals can sense certain scents that can indeed be foreshadowing of death or health decline. Isn't it even the slightest bit possible that the grouse may have smelled something that humans couldn't begin to perceive? More importantly, do you have any proof or knowledge that would actively disprove this? No, that's not a requirement in science, but it is a handy discussion aid.