The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1888-12-01
SOME REMARKABLE DREAMS
More or Less Accredited Premo-
nitions of Death and
Disaster.
A PUZZLE TO PSYCHOLOGISTS,
The "Oholce Article" Herein Con-
tajned and How 1t Impressed
Its Victims.

tanned and How It Impressed
Its Victims.
The nature and origin Of dreams will
probably be q puzzle to psychologists
till the end Of time. 1t seems certain
that no absolutely new experiences are
gained in sleep, and it also seems Ger.
tain that dreams are often induced by
physical sensations, or by the well
known law of association of ideas work
ing at random. But it may be ques
toned whether all visions of the night
can be explained on a simple theory Of
this kind. There are in existence an
enormous number of stories, some ap-
parently ell-authenticate2, others
with no authenticity to speak of, which
cannot be explained as being the result
Of physical accidents, OF the laws Of
mental associations working without
guidance. Some Of these tales ara in
their own nature so weird and strange,
that it seems to matter little whether
they are accounts of actual dreams or
the result of the waking imagination;
for they are almost as remarkable in the
latter character as they would be in the
former. Such is the story of the High
land laird, who, according to the tale,
dreant one night that he saw number
OF his friends and retainers pulling a
dead body out of the loch near which he
dweit. To his dismay he discovered
that the corpse was that Of himself.
Deeply agitated by this vision, he posi-
lively refused to go upon the water for
some time. at length, however, the
banter of his friends shamed him out of
this weakness; and On one occasion
when party Of his friends were going
to CROSS the laks he was pursuaded to
accompany them. The day was fair,
the boat was sound-it seemed impos-
slble that on that day, at all events, the
prophecy should be fulfilled. 1t was
arranged that the laird should he
landed On the opposite shore and left
there, while his friends visited some
other part of the lake, and that they
should return for him on their way
home. He was landed in safety, and
after some time he went down to the
waters edge to guide the boat which he
saw approaching to landing place. He
stood on little grassy promotory which
jotted out from the shore; but the
ground had been undermined by the ac-
tion of the water, and without a mo-
ment's warning he was plunged into
the lake. His friends rowed fast to the
spot, but they were too late. His body
was taken out Of the water exactly as
he had seen in his dream. If this story
is mere invention, it shows inventive
power of no mean order.
One Of the most striking, though one
of the simplest, stories of prophetic
dreams, is narrated by DR.. Abercromby
in his "Intellectual Powers;' and the
author says Of it: ~ am enabled to give
it as entirely authentic" which means,
of course, that DR.. Abercromby consid-
cred the evidence sufficient to convince
him that the incident really occurred.
1t is a pity that he did not think it
worth while, or did not feel himself at
liberty, to detail the testimony which
seemed to him so conclusive. The story
is, that a lady dreamed that she saw an
aged female relative of her own in the
act of being murdered by her servant,
who was negro. The dream so i'm
pressed her that she persua ded gentle
man to sleep in the house, or rather to
keep watch near the old lady's door.
In the gray dawn of the summers
morning the watcher heard a slight
noise, and on going into the passage he
met the black servant carrying scut-
tlefu! of coal upstairs, and knife was
found concealed under the Goals. It
will be observed that in the former tale
human foresight seemed incapable of
guarding against the fate predicted by
the dream; while in this instance the
warning led to the fatality being alto
gether averted. Accounts of muderers
being discovered through a dream are
very frequent; but the following one is
remarkable for this, that according to
the tale) the dreamer swore in open
court that he had received a warning Of
the tragedy in his sleep. The story is
told in the Gentleman's Magazine for
1887. In the village of Portlaw, near
Waterford, public house was kept by
q respectable man named Adam Rogers.
This man told his wife one morning
that he had seen in dream big man
and q little man travelling together, and
that at certain spot on q mountain
path the little man sudd denly sprang on
his companion and murd dered him. He
also related his vision 5Sto the parish