Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 1.djvu/538

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [io* s. i. JUNE 4, 190*.

sun shines." By not paying attention to the signs and the seasons, many have suffered, and charged God foolishly, because he did not change the laws of nature to accommodate their indplence and

'"ft is said that the late Dr. Darwin having made an appointment to take a country jaunt with some friends on the ensuing day, but perceiving that the weather would be unfavorable, sent, as an excuse for not keeping his promise, a poetical epistle containing an enumeration of most of the signs of approaching ill -weather, remodelling others. I subjoin it as very useful and a thing easy to be remembered.

SIGNS OF APPROACHING FOUL WEATHER.

The hollow winds begin to blow ;

The clouds .look black, the glass is low ;

The soot falls down, the spaniels sleep ;

And spiders from their cobwebs peep.

Last night the sun went pale to bed,

The Moon in halos hid her head ;

The boding shepherd heaves a sigh,

For see ! a rainbow spans the sky.

The walls are damp, the ditches smell,

Closed is the pink-eyed pimpernel.

Hark ! how the chairs and tables crack ;

Old Betty's joints are on the rack,

Her corns with shooting pains torment her,

And to her bed untimely sent her.

Loud quack the ducks, the sea-fowl cry ;

The distant hills are looking nigh ;

How restless are the snorting swine !

The busy flies disturb the kine.

Low o'er the grass the swallow wings ;

The cricket too, how sharp he sings !

Puss on the hearth, with velvet paws,

Sits wiping o'er her whiskered jaws.

The smoke from chimneys right ascends,

Then spreading, back to earth it bends.

The wind unsteady veers around,

Or settling in the South is found.

Through the clear stream the fishes rise,

And nimbly catch the incautious flies.

The glowworms, num'rous, clear and bright,

Illum'd the dewy hill last night.

At dusk the squalid toad was seen,

Like quadruped, stalk o'er the green.

The whirling wind the dust obeys,

And in the rapid eddy plays.

The frog has changed his yellow vest,

And in a russet coat is drest.

The sky is green, the air is still,

The mellow blackbird's voice is shrill ;

The dog, so altered is his taste,

Quits mutton bones on grass to feast.

Behold the rooks, how odd their flight,

They imitate the gliding kite,

And seem precipitate to fall,

As if they felt the piercing ball.

The tender colts on back do lie,

Nor heed the'traveller passing by.

In fiery red the sun doth rise,

Then wades through clouds to mount the skies.

'Twill surely rain, we see 't with sorrow

No working in the fields tomorrow.

Lucis.

[With many verbal differences these lines are given in 'The Naturalist's Poetical Companion' (Leeds, 1833), and are attributed to Dr. Jenner.]

INSCRIPTIONS AT SANTA CRUZ, TENERIFE.

I SUPPLEMENT my list of inscriptions at Orotava (ante, p. 361) by a complete list of inscriptions on tombs of persons of English and American nationality in the English cemetery at Santa Cruz, Tenerife, taken on 7 March. There are, besides, a few inter- ments of other nationalities.

1. Lieut.-Col. Archibald Guthrie, of Ayr, Scotland, ob. at Geneto, Laguna, 9 Ap., 1902, a. 64.

2. Henry Edward, s. of George Brown, of Ne]w Cross, Kent, ob. on board the S.S. 31an Cameron, 14 Dec., 1895, a. 45. The stone is decaying.

3. William J. Mitchell, ob. 29 Dec., 1894, a. 37.

4. Louise Winifred, w. of Alexr. Hellier Berens, ob. at Laguna, 18 Oct., 1896.

5. Alfred Hartridge, of Guernsey, b. 3 Oct., 1875, ob. at Giiimar, 30 Sept., 1901.

6. Fletcher C. Tonge, ob. 24 Feb., 1897, a. 39.

7. Colonel Joseph C. Hart, United States Consul at the Canary Islands, b. in New York, 25 Ap., 1799, ob. 24 July, 1855.

8. William Douglas Ferguson, b. 2 May, 1872, ob. 5 Mar., 1897.

9. Catherine Eleanor Nugent, ob. 15 Oct., 186[5 ?], and her bro. Wm. Henry Nugent, ob. at Dieppe, 17 June, 186[5?].

10. Sarah Ann Davidson, b. 13 Nov., 1843, ob. 16 Dec., 1851.

Archibald Thomas Davidson, b. 15 Oct., 1840, ob. 1 Aug., 1866.

11. Lewis Gellie Hamilton, b. at Greenock, Scotland, 16 July, 1798, ob. 30 Aug., 1872, a. 74.

Selina, w. of the above, b. at Funchal, 18 Feb., 1812, ob. at Santa Cruz, 28 Dec.,

1877, a. 66.

12. Harold Lambert Davidson, ob. 19 Mar.,

1878, a. 18 months.

13. Lucy, w. of H. C. Grattan, Esq., 1874. Erected by G. L. G., April, 1901.

14. Richard Balkwill, ob. 22 July, 1885, a. 88. Erected by his shipmates.

15. Harrison B. McKaye, United States Consul for the Canary Islands, ob. 9 Ap., 1889, a. 45.

16. Emma Adele Reina, ob. 11 Feb., 1893.

17. Walter Percival Acton Ogle, R.N., ob. at Laguna, 27 July, 1891, a. 43.

18. Elizabeth Mary Newbery, of Bigsweir House, Gloucestershire, b. at Ottery St. Mary, ob. at Santa Cruz, 12 Oct., 1880, a. 21.

19. Bert Fryer, ob. 31 May, 1891, a. 24.

20. Florence Croft, of Exmouth, 3d dau. of Alfred Croft, ob. 30 Nov., 1891.