Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1906-11-28
MANY BASED on oBsER-
WALTON ARE RELIABLE,
NOT ALL ABSURDITlES
Familiar Verses Dealing with Meteo-
rolosIcal Subjects oftes Correct
Some Notable ExampIes-Many
Conditions Of Life Depend on Bar
ometric Variations.

man, and indeed all those whose con-
ditions of life force them to rely upon
the soil for the emans of subsistence,
are so dependent upon the changes
of temperature and the alterations
of foul and fair, wet and dry, that it
is not surprising that questions re.
garding the weather should from time
immemorial have been made a sub,
ject for particular attention Long,
| therefore, before there was any me-
Neurological bureau to enligbten the
world with its scientific predictions,
people had begun to study the face of
The sky. the shifting of tle wind, and
the changes of the moon, and to pro
verbs for the guidance of themselves
and those who should follow IN their
steps,
These opinions, as usual, found ex-
| preston In verse For instance, there
was an old Latin stanza which was
very popular, and of which the fol
/ lowing lines forms one of several
English versions:
IF st. Paul's Day be fair and clear,
1t doth betide a happy year;
If clustering winds do blow aloft,
Then wars will trouble our realms full
Oft;
And if 1t CHANGED to snow or rain.
Then will be dear all sorts of grain."
Even more important for the wealth
er-wise Of the past was the 18th of
July, a day which, as the feast of ST.
Swithin. is even to-day by no means
shorn of all it's former reputation. In
England, at all events, it is not un-
usual to hear people of some pretense
to education frequently in joke, per-
haps, but sometimes partly in earn
est, remark that as st. Swithins day
is wet or dry (as the case may be-,
so for 40 days thereafter there would
be a continuance of the same kind of
weather. Thus the old rhyme ran;
st Swithin's Day If thou dost rain
For forty days it will remain
st. Swithin's Day, if thou be fair
For forty days twill rain no more
The commonly accepted explanation
of this ancient and widespread super
s'ltion is too curious to be omitted,
though its value. even as tradition.
has been authoritatively impugnei.
St Swithin was bishop of Wincues
ter, who, after his death ia S64 was
canoniz d by the pope. 1t is said that
he had expressed o wish to be buried
in the open churchyard, and not, as
was usual in the case of bishops. in
the chaucel of the cathedral. Some
time afterwards. however, the monks
of the establishment were seized with
of fit of pious Indignation at the
thugbt that so great and good a man
should sleep his last sleep in so hum
bic, and, for a saint, so unseemly a
spot; and needless of his well remam-
bered desire, they determined to con
Wy the body in great state into the
cathedral and renter 1t there. But
Just as they were on the point of
their operations a heavy rain burst
forth, which continued without inter
mission for 40 succeeding days The
monks ever ready to regard any de
parture from the ordinary course IF
I nature in a miraculous light. at once
Interpreted the tempest as a special
warning from heaven. and relinquish.
ID their und ertaking-whence 1t Is
said st. Swithin's day derived it's
prophetic character In relation TO the
conditioner the weather for the en-
suing six weeks.
But when our forefathers were con-
cent to limit themselves to a less ex-
tensive field of prophetic vision
when, instead of undertaking to set
tie the weather for weeks or months
beforehand, they simply attempted
+ TO provide against the changes i'm
j mediately approaching, they were a
great deal more successful Many Of
the wise saws upon which they plac,
ed such implicit reliance are not 20
be laughtd at or thrown aside with
scorn, based though they were. not
upon scientific observation and exper.
'ence. Everybody, 1 suppose, Is IA
millar with the curt little verse which
.uns:
"A rainbow in the morning
Is the shepherds uarning;
A rainbow at night
Is the shepherds delight"
But not everybody who repeats Il is
aware that statement which 1t con
tains is capable Of scientific verifica.
ton. So. too. with such common
adagos as
If red the sun begins his rece.
Be sure the rain will fall apane."
And
Evening red and morning gray
Set the traveller on ais way;
! Evening gray and morning red
Bring down rain upon his head"
Are something more than old wives
. fables for they embody az least a
rough approximation to establish
truth. Both of these latter proverbs.
indeed, seem to be fashioned directly
upon words found in the gospel of st.
Matthew. where we read (chapter
xvi): In the morning. We say it will
be foul weather to-day. for the sky y
red and lowering" and again. when
II * avapfnu va tsay 1t MIL -, F,t