Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Wednesday Wives Tales ~Rain~

Since most of the south is experiencing a long period of rain, I thought we might talk about folk beliefs that concern it.

It’s said if a cat sneezes in your house it means there will be rain that day. (But, if it is your wedding day, it means that you will have a long and happy marriage~with no rain for the day!)

When a fog rises away rapidly, it is always a sign of rain: "Fog goes up with a hop, Rain comes down with a drop". However, if fog seems to disappear into the ground, you can expect several days of clear weather.

When it rains on the first Sunday of the month, old-timers expect rain on the three following Sundays.

If chickens go into roost earlier than usual, it means a storm is coming.

These are two that I've heard all of my life:

If it rains while the sun is shining, the Devil is whipping his wife.

If it begins raining in the middle of the day and chickens remain out in the rain, it means it will rain all day. If they run for cover, it means we will only have a short shower and then it will clear up.

Do you know any rain signs?





11 comments:

  1. I have always heard if it rains while the sun is shining it will be raining the same time the next day, and have found it to pretty much true! ;D

    ReplyDelete
  2. I've heard that if cows are laying down in the pasture it is gonna rain and the more of them that are the greater the chances.

    RoseMary has it been raining at your place... the rain has stopped here this morning but I have forgotten what the sun looks like... I love fall

    ReplyDelete
  3. Whenever we see the cows lying in a pasture, we always say "the cows are laying down... it's a sign" and then we giggle, because we don't know what the sign is!

    My husband used to commercial fish and one saying was about the sky:

    Red sky in morning, sailor's warning.... Red sky at night... sailor's delight.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Tammy, I've never heard that about it raining at the same time the next day~I'll test it out!

    I've never heard about the cows before. I'll try to watch~there's plenty around here to observe!

    Ranae~we've had nothing but rain here for days. Maybe tomorrow the sun will show it's face at least for a few minutes.

    PenPen, I have heard the saying about the sky and have found it to be true.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I have heard the cow tale. and the saying Red Sky at night sailors delight ect. I usually is correct. I feel better today, not well but better.

    ReplyDelete
  6. These are so interesting and fun, thanks Rosemary for researching them. Love the little rocker too!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I have heard that if smoke from the chimney floats down to the ground it will rain or snow.

    I usually just check the radar on channel five's website... LOL

    I also heard the one about if it rained while the sun was out, the devil was beating his wife and that it would rain the next day.

    Old wives' tales are interesting.

    ReplyDelete
  8. RM,
    FUN READ.
    Yes when I WAS GROWING UP WE COULD TELL WHEN A STORM WAS COMING THE COWS WOULD ALL GO UNDER TREES AND STAND. 'caps' We would think it was funny because the sun was shinning. But then it would rain.
    NANCY JO

    ReplyDelete
  9. I can't think of any to add, but I have heard about the cows and the red sky. Of course, it it rains while the sun is shinning there will be a rainbow, but that's not really a wive's tale.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I guess I'm the only one that hadn't heard about the cows, LOL!

    Ranae, it is still raining here. I'm ready for it to STOP!

    Today, I noticed a lot of cows~some were laying down, some standing. I guess the poor things got tired of just laying there for a week:)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Mary loved this one-actually I love all the wives tales posts : )

    Probably my favorite one-that I've heard all my life is the one you quoted if the sun is shining when its raining the devil is beating his wife.

    ReplyDelete

<$CommentPager$>