1883.] The Meteorology of Shakspere. 33 
considered an indication of the weather that is to follow. 
Proverbs in common use in France and Germany, as well as 
in Britain, warn us against a red sky in the morning. 
Shakspere was no stranger to this view, which does not 
always hold good. 
“ As doth the blushing discontented sun 
From out the fiery portal of the east, 
When he perceives the envious clouds are bent 
To dim his glory, and to stain the tradt 
Of his bright passage to the Occident/’ 
Richard II., Adt III., Sc. 6. 
Here we have a pidlure of a particular type of unpromising 
morning, which every observer of the weather must have 
observed, and which was but too common both in 1879 and 
in 1882. The sun rises “ blushing ” — i.e., red— into a tradt: 
of clear, fiery sky, beyond which lies a dense bank of clouds, 
which maintain their position and thicken till the whole sky 
is overcast, and the rain sets in. 
Another red dawn is described, as on the day of the 
battle of Shrewsbury : — 
“ How bloodily the sun begins to peer 
Above yon busky hill ! The day looks pale 
At his distemperature. 
The southern wind 
Doth play the trumpet to his purposes, 
And by his hollow whistling in the leaves 
Foretells a tempest and a blust’ring day.” 
Henry IV., Part I., Adt V., Sc. 1 . 
Here, in addition to a red dawn, we have another indica- 
tion of rain drawn from the peculiar character of the wind. 
In various rural distridts we have heard a “ bustling wind ” 
spoken of as a sure sign of rain, and, as far as our observa- 
tions have gone, it has invariably proved corredt. This wind 
is by no means violent ; it does not seem to move the stems 
or the larger branches of trees or shrubs, but it causes a 
great commotion in the leaves, especially if these are broad. 
It is, perhaps, curious that in the writings of Shakspere 
we find no reference to the sunset as an augury for the day 
to come. Nor is the rainbow mentioned, concerning the 
signification of which there exist not a few contradidlory 
proverbs. All, we think, agree that a rainbow in the morning 
is a bad sign. But the English countryman is apt to 
regard — 
“ A rainbow at night 
As the shepherd's delight.” 
