Sunday, November 12, 2017

Sunday and magpies

'Wacky baccy'. the Detectorists have arrived for the third and last series in this funny, but so pathetic story of two metal detectorists and their forlorn lives.  Mackenzie Crook has written, directed and starred in this six part series, with Toby Jones as his sidekick.  Except that is unfair, they ride the wave as equals.  The plot is now that their favourite hunting ground - Church Farm is to be the site of a great solar farm.  The two other series followed their search for the hidden gold under the soil which they both believe exist, Crook picks up a hawk's whistle and blows it and it is then as they disappear into the beautiful pastoral landscape that a girl in white appears in ghostly and spectral form blowing the same whistle, and we see  the burial of a pot of coins by a family, and then the magpies appear.  So the story hinges of course on their finding the hoard, I have a feeling they will not!
This magical folk song is the background, sung by The Unthanked, it is the spell we have all chanted since childhood,  One for Sorrow, Two for Joy, three for a girl and four for a boy and dedicated to that black and white intelligent bird the magpie, who steals bright things and plays in the trees like no other bird.




It reminded me of Em Parkinson's print of magpies, a blogger till a year ago who lives by  wild Dartmoor, and who did such a beautiful portrait of Moss for me.



 I hardly see any magpies round this part of Yorkshire and wonder if they are shot as predators, same as buzzards, the shooting fraternity can be heard occasionally, in fact there were six men in the pub yesterday who were obviously a gun shooting party!

You can catch The Detectorist on BBC Iplayer, deadbeat and funny it will catch your heart.


6 comments:

  1. I do miss Em's blog and her paintings, hope her son is OK
    We have magpies everywhere in Suffolk, gamekeepers used to trap them to protect the pheasants, but not so many gamekeepers now. In town last year the magpies took all the young birds from the nests.

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    1. They are wicked birds for robbing nests. I miss Em's blog as well, she left on an optimistic note about her son, work seemed to be piling up around her though.

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  2. We have masses of magpies round here. Beautiful painting. One friend put marbles on top of her planters and then found the local magpie kept pinching them!
    Arilx

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    1. They are such funny birds, too intelligent by half. Glad there are plenty around down South!

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  3. I love magpies; I had never seen one until a trip to Ireland two years ago. I didn't even know what they were---sent a photo to a birder friend who identified them. She said they used to be so numerous in the western US that farmers shot them. And now I learn they steal baby birds. I think they are pretty smart though, and my daughter calls one of her daughters a magpie. Missing shiny or pretty things always end up in that child's bedroom.

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  4. They are very pretty birds, sad that they got shot in the US as well. Children love shiny things ;)

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