Red sky: Shepherd or Sailor?
By rhinoboy
@rhinoboy (2129)
July 10, 2007 2:36am CST
I'm sure most people have heard the rhyme;
Red sky at night: shepherds delight,
Red sky at morning: shepherds warning.
I've also heard it with sailor in place of shepherd. Is one version 'correct'? or does it depend whether you live in-land or by the sea?
I'd love to hear which version you were told as a child and whether you lived by the sea (to see if geography is the decider!).
Have you heard any other versions of this popular childrens rhyme?
(No I haven't finally flipped, I just took some shots of burning red clouds at sunset last night - sorry i haven't transferred them from my camera yet either!)
3 people like this
5 responses
@cloudwatcher (6861)
• Australia
23 Jul 07
I spent my young life in England and the rhyme was always about shepherds. Funny thing is, I can't remember any red skies in England. Apart from the war years, when the skies were lit in a different way, I only remember grey skies.
In Australia, the most common phrase is about sailors. Yes, I live on the coastal fringe, as do the vast majority of Aussies, but there are no shepherds in Oz anyway. It used to be said that Australia rides on the sheep's backs and our Merino wool is still the best, but we do not use the term shepherd.
I remember the very vivid red skies as we sailed through the Red Sea, but since we were told this is an everyday occurrence, how would the rhyme apply there?
1 person likes this
@rhinoboy (2129)
•
24 Jul 07
I think it's more rare here than in other parts of the world, but mostly depends on the cloud cover on any given day. The one that inspired this post was mainly those fluffy type cotton-wool clouds and the setting sun cast a red fringe over them, so not technically a red sky but...
@Willowlady (10658)
• United States
10 Jul 07
Would have taken only a minute to transfer those...lol
anway, I have only heard in sailor talk. There was a weatehrman being interviewed on television and he said that sayings and some old wives tales are still used to today since the machines are not always accurate. hmmm
Anyway, will be neat to see if others have a landlocked version of this saying.
1 person likes this
@rhinoboy (2129)
•
10 Jul 07
All sailors so far (oo err missus!). I know what you mean about the weather predictors, I heard somewhere that anything beyond about 4 or 5 days is pure speculation.
(I was up at 5am yesterday and again today thanks to my little princess, sunset was about 10pm last night so I surprised myself by finding the camera and actually taking the shots before collapsing in bed! lol - I promise to post them soon.)
@recycledgoth (9894)
•
10 Jul 07
I always used to say .....
Red sky at night, shepherd's cottage alight
LOL
