"Happy the man who dreaming sees
The little humble busy bees
Fly humming round their hive."
If the bees sting you, it is a sign of bad luck, crosses and difficulties. 11. Dreaming of marriage, brides, &c., is a sign of death, or long sickness. 12. To dream of a candle burning brightly betokens health, prosperity; and vice versâ. 13. Dreaming of cats betokens treachery; but if you kill the cat you will have revenge. 14. To dream of seeing a coffin is unlucky; but to dream of seeing a corpse betokens a speedy marriage. 15. Dreaming of death betokens long life and happiness. 16. To dream that you are dirty implies sickness for a longer or shorter period. 17. If you dream of being drowned you will experience some loss. 18. To dream of falling indicates loss. 19. To dream of flying implies that you will not succeed in accomplishing high things. 20. If you dream of the water in a river being very clear you will have good luck; if the water be muddy you will have misfortune. 21. When a widow dreams of seeing her husband, it is a sure sign that she will soon have an eligible offer. 22. If you dream that you are daubed with ink, you may be sure that some one is writing evil of you. 23. Dreaming of going on a journey indicates a change in your circumstances. 24. To dream of flying kites, or playing with bunches of keys, betokens prosperity and advancement in business. 25. To dream of cutting yourself, or of being infested with lice, indicates misfortune or disease. 26. It is very fortunate to dream of milk. 27. To dream of being naked indicates shame and misfortune. 28. To dream of the nose bleeding is a very sure sign of misfortune and loss. 29. Dreaming of seeing the ocean in a calm state betokens steadiness of circumstances; and vice versâ. 30. To dream of rats indicates difficulties; of snow, prosperity and success; of a wedding, death; and of a widow, that your husband, wife, or lover, will desert you.
All the preceding, and many more, are well-known to every Lancashire lad and lass.
THE MOON.
Our farmers predict fair weather, or the reverse, according as the new moon "lies on her back," or "stands upright." It is also very unlucky for anyone to look at the new moon, for the first time, through the window.
HÆVER OR HIVER.
A "quarter" of the heavens, or compass, or direction; "a lucky hæver" is a fortunate or desirable direction. The origin of this word is somewhat difficult of explanation; nor is it certain whether its proper etymon has yet been ascertained. It is still in common use among some of the farmers in East Lancashire, and was much more frequently used some thirty or forty years ago. "What hæver is the wind in this morning?" was a common inquiry when any prediction respecting the weather for the day was about to be hazarded. "I don't expect much rain," would probably be the reply, "the wind is in a good hæver." There is generally most rain in these parts of Lancashire when the wind blows from the south or south-west; and hence if the wind came from the eastward continued rain was not to be expected.
Most persons have a notion that the East is the most sacred point of the compass. The Star of the Nativity was seen in the east; the chancel, or most holy portion of a church is placed at the east; and the dead are buried so as to rise with their faces towards the east on the morning of the resurrection. These considerations have been applied to the hæver from which the wind may blow; and hence the proverb occasionally met with among those who live in the neighbourhood of Mellor and Ramsgreave, near Blackburn, to the effect that "the East is a lucky hæver."
A writer who signs himself "F. C. H." in Notes and Queries, 3rd series, vol. vii. p. 310, asks whether hæver is not "a peculiar pronunciation of ever, so that the above inquiry would be in plain English, whatever is the wind in this morning?" This derivation appears both too fanciful and insufficient; for when we consider that Lancashire formed part of the Danelagh, and was long a Danish kingdom, and that its dialect contains a large admixture of Danish words; we are naturally led to examine whether such a term may not be found in the Danish language. On examination this proves to be the fact, for "Hive," (pronounced "heeve," as "high" is pronounced "hee,") is the verb "to blow;" and hence "hiver" or "hæver," as applied to the place whence the wind is blowing. This derivation appears to be both natural and sufficient, since it fully accounts for the use of this peculiar term; which, by the way, is not found in Halliwell's Dictionary of Archaic Words, or in Wright's more recent work on the same subject.