A Highcliffe dog

A ‘brynic‘ is some sort of sign in the sky foretelling some event¹1898 English dialect dictionary Vol VI T to Z Supplement Page 49. The end of a rainbow for instance might be a warning of a coming shower, if not a bad spell of weather²1898 English dialect dictionary Page 532 Vol II D to G.

This rainbow, with its crock of gold at Highcliffe Nab, is not a complete one. A mere stump or ‘stob‘ in Scottish dialect³1898 English dialect dictionary Vol V R to S.pdf Page 16 Page 773. Another dialect word used was a ‘tooth‘⁴1898 English dialect dictionary Vol VI T to Z Page  191.

In North Yorkshire, the incomplete arc of a rainbow was called a ‘weather-gaul‘, a sure sign of a coming shower, if not of a bad spell of weather⁵1912 DIALECT GLOSSARY OF Over 4,000 WORDS and IDIOMS NOW IN USE IN THE North Riding of Yorkshire, RICHARD BLAKEBOROUGH Page 161:

A dyer’s neeaf an’ a weather-gaul
Sheppards warn ‘at rain ‘ll fall.

Elsewhere, a ‘weather-gaw’, ‘water-gall‘, ‘water-gull’, or just plain ‘giel’ are variations on the spelling; ‘gall‘ and ‘gull‘ though could also refer to a secondary rainbow above the first, a not unusual occurence⁶1898 English dialect dictionary Page 110 Vol II D to G⁷1898 English dialect dictionary Vol VI T to Z Page  399⁸1898 English dialect dictionary Page 606 Vol II D to G. A time traveller to the 19th-century might also hear the term ‘weather-beam‘⁹1898 English dialect dictionary Vol VI T to Z Page 414.

Another name when only a portion of a rainbow can be seen is a ‘dog‘ as in the saying¹⁰1898 English dialect dictionary Page 110 Vol II D to G:

A rainbow in the morning is the shepherd’s warning;
A dog in the night is the sailor’s delight.

So what do you do when a rainbow appears?  In Scotland, the following rhyme is shouted at the top of your voice¹¹1898 English dialect dictionary Vol III H to L Page 505:

Rainbow, rainbow,
Brack an gang hame,
Yir father an yir mither’s aneth the layer stehn ;
Yir coo’s calvt, yir mare’s foalt.
Yir wife ‘ill be dead
Or ye win hame.

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• 1
  1898 English dialect dictionary Vol VI T to Z Supplement Page 49
• 2
  1898 English dialect dictionary Page 532 Vol II D to G
• 3
  1898 English dialect dictionary Vol V R to S.pdf Page 16 Page 773
• 4
  1898 English dialect dictionary Vol VI T to Z Page  191
• 5
  1912 DIALECT GLOSSARY OF Over 4,000 WORDS and IDIOMS NOW IN USE IN THE North Riding of Yorkshire, RICHARD BLAKEBOROUGH Page 161
• 6
  1898 English dialect dictionary Page 110 Vol II D to G
• 7
  1898 English dialect dictionary Vol VI T to Z Page  399
• 8
  1898 English dialect dictionary Page 606 Vol II D to G
• 9
  1898 English dialect dictionary Vol VI T to Z Page 414
• 10
  1898 English dialect dictionary Page 110 Vol II D to G
• 11
  1898 English dialect dictionary Vol III H to L Page 505