46 On Wiltshire Weather Proverbs and Weather Fallacies. 



which is only our homely way of expressing the famous lines of 

 Byron : — 



" Be thou the rainbow to the storms of life, 

 The evening beam that smiles the clouds away 

 And tints tomorrow with prophetic ray." 



Then again how true is the old Wiltshire saying : — 



" When the wind is North -West, 

 The weather is at the best : 

 But if the rain comes out of the East, 

 'Twill rain twice twenty-four hours at the least." 



These are general proverbs, applicable to all times ; but we have 

 an unusual number of proverbs in Wiltshire, which describe the 

 evils of too advanced vegetation in a precocious spring : indeed on 

 a careful comparison of all the Wiltshire weather proverbs with which 

 I am acquainted, by far the larger portion refers to this fact; which 

 is perhaps brought home to us in our confessedly cold county more 

 than elsewhere. 



In a healthy orthodox winter, the middle of January was looked 

 upon as the coldest period of the year, and the Feast of St. Hilary 1 

 was in many places regarded as the coldest day, as indeed it often- 

 times is. There is a proverb to this effect in the mouths of all 

 Wiltshiremen : — 



" As the day lengthens 

 So the cold strengthens." 



But nothing is more deprecated than a mild January; 



" So hoch der Schnee 

 So hoch das Gras," 



is the German way of expressing their appreciation of a hard winter : 



while we have : — 



"If the grass grows in Janiveer, 

 It grows the worse for't all the year." * 



1 January 13th ; O.S. January 25th. 

 • Exactly the same proverb prevails in Germany :— 



" Wenn's Gras wachst in Januar, 

 Wachst es schlecht (lurch's ganze Jahr." 



Elsewhere the same sentiment appears in the following proverbs :— 



" March in Janiveer, 

 Janiveer in March, I fear." 



