Much is to be gleaned by the countryman who watches from the hilltop the drifting of the clouds, the descending of mists, the presence of dew, or the coming of rain.

Accurate weather predictions have always been an important human ambition and one that for some could ensure their success or failure. The result has been the framing of a rough set of rules about the weather. Some of these observations have become proverbs; others have taken the shape of rhymes; while many have been passed down by word of mouth, as mere records of facts.