"THE SHEPHERD OF BANBURY'S WEATHER-RULES."
_The Shepherd of Banbury's Rules to judge of the Changes of the
Weather_, first printed in 1670, was long a favourite book with the
country gentleman, the farmer, and the peasant. They were accustomed to
regard it with the consideration and confidence which were due to the
authority of so experienced a master of the art of prognostication, and
dismissing every sceptical thought, received his maxims with the same
implicit faith as led them to believe that if their cat chanced to wash
her face, rainy weather would be the certain and inevitable result.
Moreover, this valuable little manual instructed them how to keep their
horses, sheep, and oxen sound, and prescribed cures for them when
distempered. No wonder, then, if it has passed through many editions.
Yet it has been invariably stated that _The Banbury Shepherd_ in fact
had no existence; was purely an imaginary creation; and that the work
which passes under his name, "John Claridge," was written by Dr. John
Campbell, the Scottish historian, who died in 1775. The statements made
in connexion with this book are curious enough; and it is with a view of
placing the matter in a clear and correct light that I now trouble you
with a Note, which will, I hope, tend to restore to this poor
weather-wise old shepherd his long-lost rank and station among the rural
authors of England.
I believe that the source of the error is to be traced to the second
edition of the _Biographia Britannica_, in a memoir of Dr. Campbell by
Kippis, in which, when enumerating the works of the learned Doctor,
Kippis says, "He was also the author of _The Shepherd of Banbury's
Rules_,--a favourite pamphlet with the common people." We next find the
book down to Campbell as the "author" in Watt's _Bibliotheca
Britannica_, which is copied both by Chalmers and Lowndes. And so the
error has been perpetuated, even up to the time of the publication of a
meritorious _History of Banbury_, by the late Mr. Alfred Beesley, in
1841. This writer thus speaks of the work:
"The far-famed shepherd of Banbury is only an apocryphal
personage. In 1744 there was published {374} _The Shepherd of
Banbury's Rules to judge of the Changes of the Weather, grounded
on forty Years' Experience. To which is added, a rational
Account of the Causes of such Alterations, the Nature of Wind,
Rain, Snow, &c., on the Principles of the Newtonian Philosophy.
By John Claridge. London: printed for W. Bickerton, in the
Temple Exchange, Fleet Street. Price 1s._ The work attracted a
large share of public attention, and deserved it. A second
edition appeared in 1748.... It is stated in Kippis's
_Biographia Britannica_ that, the real author was Dr. John
Campbell, a Scotchman."
In 1770 there appeared _An Essay on the Weather, with Remarks on "The
Shepherd of Banbury's Rules, &c."_: by John Mills, Esq., F.R.S. Mr.
Mills observes:
"Who the shepherd of Banbury was, we know not; nor indeed have
we any proof that the rules called his were penned by a real
shepherd. Both these points are, however, immaterial; their
truth is their best voucher.... Mr. Claridge published them in
the year 1744, since which time they are become very scarce,
having long been out of print."
Now all these blundering attempts at annihilating the poor shepherd may,
I think, be accounted for by neither of the above-mentioned writers
having a knowledge of the original edition, published in 1670, of the
real shepherd's book (the title of which I will presently give), which
any one may see in the British Museum library. It has on the title-page
a slight disfigurement of name, viz. John _Clearidge_; but it is
_Claridge_ in the Preface. The truth is, that Dr. John Campbell
_re-published_ the book in 1744, but without affixing his own name, or
giving any information of its author or of previous editions. The part,
however, which he bore in this edition is explained by the latter
portion of the title already given; and still more clearly in the
Preface. We find authorities added, to give weight to the shepherd's
remarks; and likewise additional rules in relation to the weather,
derived from the common sayings and proverbs of the country people, and
from old English books of husbandry. It may, in short, be called a
clever scientific commentary on the shepherd's observations. After what
has been stated, your readers will not be surprised to learn that one
edition of the work appears in Watt's very inaccurate book under
CLARIDGE, another under CLEARIDGE, and a third under CAMPBELL. I will
now speak of the original work: it is a small octavo volume of
thirty-two pages, rudely printed, with an amusing Preface "To the
Reader," in which the shepherd dwells with much satisfaction on his
peculiar vaticinating talents. As this Preface has been omitted in all
subsequent editions, and as the book itself is extremely scarce, I
conceive that a reprint of it in your pages may be acceptable to your
Folk-lore readers. The "Rules" are interlarded with scraps of poetry,
somewhat after the manner of old Tusser, and bear the unmistakeable
impress of a "plain, unlettered Muse." The author concludes his work
with a poetical address "to the antiquity and honour of shepheards." The
title is rather a droll one, and is as follows:
"The Shepheard's Legacy: or John Clearidge his forty Years'
Experience of the Weather: being an excellent Treatise, wherein
is shewed the Knowledge of the Weather. First, by the Rising and
Setting of the Sun. 2. How the Weather is known by the Moon. 3.
By the Stars. 4. By the Clouds. 5. By the Mists. 6. By the
Rainbow. 7. And especially by the Winds. Whereby the Weather may
be exactly known from Time to Time: which Observation was never
heretofore published by any Author. 8. Also, how to keep your
Sheep sound when they be sound. 9. And how to cure them if they
be rotten. 10. Is shewed the Antiquity and Honour of Shepheards.
With some certain and assured Cures for thy Horse, Cow, and
Sheep.
An Almanack is out at twelve months day,
My Legacy it doth endure for aye.
But take you notice, though 'tis but a hint,
It far excels some books of greater print.
London: printed and are to be sold by John Hancock, Junior, at
the Three Bibles in Popes-head Ally, next Cornhill, 1670."