True signs of rain from an old almanac - part 1

Morning mist over Chagford, Devon - If you wish to use my photos please attribute this blog

"The hollow winds begin to blow,
The clouds look black, the glass is low,
The soot falls down, the spaniels sleep,
The spiders from their cobwebs creep.

Last night the sun went pale to bed,
The moon in halos hid her head ;
The boding shepherd heaves a sigh,
For see a rainbow spans the sky.

The walls are damp, the ditches smell,
Closed is the pink-eyed pimpernel ;
Hark ! how the chairs and tables crack,
Old Betty's joints are on the rack...." [cont.]

Hewett 1900

[I posted these in the wrong order and don't know how to sort them - sorry!]

True signs of rain from an old almanac - part 3

Morning mist over Chagford, Devon - If you wish to use my photos please attribute this blog

[cont.] "...The leech disturbed is newly risen,
Quite to the summit of his prison ;
The whirling winds the dust obeys,
And in the rapid eddies plays.

My dog, so altered is his taste,
Quits mutton bones, on grass to feast ;
And see yon rooks, how odd their flight,
They imitate the gliding kite,

Or seem precipitate to fall,
As if they felt the piercing ball.
'Twill surely rain ! I see with sorrow,
Our jaunt must be put off to-morrow.

From an Almanac published 1844.

Hewet 1900

True signs of rain from an old almanac - part 2

Morning mist over Chagford, Devon - If you wish to use my photos please attribute this blog

[cont.] "...Loud quack the ducks, the peacocks cry, .
The distant hills are seeming nigh ;
How restless are the snorting swine,
The busy flies disturb the kine.

Low o'er the grass the swallow wings,
The cricket too, how loud it sings ;
Puss on the hearth with velvet paws,
Sits smoothing o'er her whiskered jaws.

Through the clear stream the fishes rise,
And nimbly catch the incautious flies ;
The sheep are seen at early light,
Cropping the meads with eager bite.

Though June, the air is cold and chill,
The mellow blackbird's voice is still ;
The glow-worms, numerous and bright,
Illumed the dewy dell last night.

At dusk the squalid toad was seen,
Hopping and crawling o'er the green ;
The frog has lost his yellow vest,
And in a dingy suit is dressed..." [cont.]

Hewett 1900

A non-traditional weather rhyme about Devon rain.

Mist over Padley Common, Chagford, Devon - if you wish to use my pictures please attribute this blog.

"A gentleman who once visited the west country thinks the following fairly represents the chronic conditions of Devonshire weather :

One unlucky Friday, with sorrow and pain
I proceed to record it, it came on to rain,
It rained on the Saturday, rained on the Sunday,
It rained every hour of the day on the Monday.
On Tuesday it rained cats and dogs as they say,
And Wednesday was also a very wet day,
On Thursday and Friday, especially the latter day,
It rained very hard, but my gracious on Saturday
The rain was most dreadful, a great deal more bad
Than that of any other day we had had.

Anti-Pluvius, Western Morning News, Feb. l7th, 1899."

Hewett 1900

Reading the weather in Devon from the movements of animals - Kingfisher

Kingfisher, by Ruskin

"The kingfisher builds its nest in holes in the banks of a river. Should it become dislodged and float down the river and out on the surface of the sea without capsizing, then there will be a long spell of fine weather.

In some parts of the country this bird is used as a vane, not exposed to the action of the wind, but stuffed and suspended in a room by a thin string, its bill always indicating the point from which the wind blows.

Into what corner peers the halcyon bill ?
Ha ! to the east yes see how stands the wind

The antients supposed that it built its nest on the ocean, and hatched its young at the winter solstice.

To account for the preservation of the nest and young birds amidst the severity of the season, they imagined that the bird had a power of lulling the raging of the waves during the period of incubation ; and this power was believed to reside in its song," so says the author of Chambers's Information for the People, vol. ii, page 447."

Hewett 1900

Devon / Westcountry weather as fortold by plants

White Clover in Devon - if you wish to use my photos please attribute this blog.

"Expect rain if the stalks of clover stand upright ; if the flower of the convolvulus closes ; if the flowers of the sorrel and of the African marigold close ; if the flower of the pitcher-plant turns upside down ; if the flower of the cinquefoil expands.

 Fine weather is preceded by the opening of the flowers of the sorrel or the closing of the cinquefoil, and the standing erect of the flower of the pitcherplant.

A foot deep of rain
Will kill hay again ;
But three feet of snow
Will make it come mo'.

When hemp is ripe and ready to pull,
Then Englishman, beware of thy skull."

Hewett 1900

Reading the weather in Devon from the movements of animals - Cattle

Cow near Chagford, Devon - If you wish to use my photos please attribute this blog.

"Cattle leaving off to feed and hastening to shelter under hedges, bushes, trees, outhouses, &c., shows sudden showers are coming."

Hewett 1900

Reading the weather in Devon from the movements of animals - Peacocks

"Peacocks crying much denotes rain."

Hewett 1900

Reading the weather in Devon from the movements of animals - Water Fowl

"The frequent dropping and diving of waterfowl foreshows that rain is at hand."

Hewett 1900

Reading the weather in Devon from the movements of animals - Crows

Ivan Yakovlevich Bilibin - early 1900's

"Crows flocking in large flights, holding their heads upwards as they fly, and cawing louder than usual, is a sign of rain, as is also their stalking by ponds and rivers and sprinkling themselves."

Hewett 1900

Devon / Westcountry Weather lore - sweating stones

"The sweating of stone pillars denotes rain."

Hewett 1900

Reading the weather in Devon from the movements of animals - Ants

Formica exsecta, the Narrow headed ant.  Bovey in Devon houses the only known English colonies of these rare ants. By  April Nobile / © AntWeb.org / CC-BY-SA-3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

"Ants moving their eggs denotes rain, for by a secret instinct of nature finding the air changing into much moisture, they carry them to a place of drier security."

Hewett 1900

Reading the weather in Devon from the movements of animals - Frogs

"The much croaking of frogs in the ditches and pools, &c., in the evening, foretells rain in a short time to follow."

Hewett 1900

Westcountry / Devon weather signs in the movements of animals - Swallows

"The chattering of swallows and their flying low about lakes and ponds denote rain."

Hewett 1900

Reading the weather in Devon from the movements of animals - Cattle

'Kine' is an archaic English word for 'cow'. In Devon it can refer to Devon Reds - a duel purpose cow (milk and beef) - If you wish to use my photos please attribute this blog.

"When kine view the sky, stretching up their heads and snuffing the air, moist vapours are engendering, the cause of their doing so being their sensibility of the air's sudden alteration from dry to wet ; and sudden rain will ensue, though at that time the sun may be shining brightly."

Hewett 1900

[My dad always said if the cows where lying down it would rain...]

Reading the weather in Devon from the movements of animals - Heron/Bittern

"IF a heron or bittern flies low, the air is becoming charged with water vapour."

Hewett 1900

Westcountry / Devon weather lore - Wind Direction

After a south-west wind in 1990  in Bristol. This was our garden after the wind. Somone didnt shut the door to the washing-machine room properly!  I think this shows that  "South-west wind doth no harm" is not entirely true! - If you wish to use my photos please attribute this blog.

"Every wind hath its weather.

No weather is ill,

if the wind be still.

When the wind is in the north, hail comes forth,

When the wind is in the west, look for a wet blast ;

When the wind is in the south, the weather will be fresh and good,

When the wind is in the east, cold and snow comes most.

North wind brings hail,

South wind brings rain,

East winds we bewail.

West winds blow amain,

North-east wind is too cold,

South-east wind not too warm,

North-west wind is far too bold,

South-west wind doth no harm.

East wind and west the sign of blast, North and south the sign of drouth.

When the wind is in the east,

The fisherman likes it the least ;

When the wind is in the west,

The fisherman likes it the best.

A west wind north about,

Never long holds out.

When the wind is in the east,

It's neither good for man nor beast.

When the wind is in the west,

Then the weather's always best.

A western wind carries water in its hand.

A northern air brings weather fair.

When the wind is in the south,

'Tis in the rain's mouth.

The southern wind

Doth play the trumpet to his purposes

And, by his hollow whistling in the leaves

Foretells a tempest, and a blustering day.

Hewett 1900

Devon / Westcountry Weather by season or time of day

Winter at Chagford - "Slippy, Drippy, Nippy" - If you want to use my photo please attribute this blog.

"'Twixt twelve and two,

Will shew what the day will do.

Autumn is wheezy, sneezy, freezy ;

Winter is slippy, drippy, nippy ;

Spring is showery, flowery, bowery ;

Summer is hoppy, croppy, poppy."

Hewett 1900

Two Devon Ploughing Proverbs

Modern Ploughing near Higher Gabwell, near Torbay (of course this sort of ploughing does not require a holder, only a driver!) - by Derek Harper [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

"He who by the plough would thrive,

Himself must either hold or drive.

Who ploughs deep while sluggards sleep,

Will have corn to sell and to keep."

Hewett 1900