REMARKABLE DREAMS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXV, Issue 9124, 4 August 1888, Page 2 (Supplement)

REMARKABLE DREAMS.

STRANGE PREMONITIONS OF DEATH

WHILE ASLEEP. The nature a-.nd origin of dreams will probably bo a puzzle to physiologists till the end of tiiwe. It seems certain that no absolutely new experiences are gained in sleep, and it also seems Certain that dreams are often induced by physical sensations, or by the wfll-knowu law of association of ideas working at random. But it may be questioned whether all visions of the night can be explained on a simple theory of this kind. '.There is in existence an enormous number of stories, some apparently well authentic.', ted, others with no authenticity to speak or, which cannot be explained as being the result of physical accidents, or the laws of tnental association working without guidance. Some of these tales are in their own nature so weird and strange th,v,t it seems to matter little whether t.hoy are accounts of actual dreams or tho result of the waking imagination, for they are almost as remarkable in the latter character as they would be in the former. Such is the story of the Highland laird, who, according to the tale, dreamed one night that) he saw a number of his friends and retainers pulling a dead body out of the loch near which ho dwelt. To his dismay he discovered that the corpse was that of himself, .Deeply agitated at this vision, he positively refused to go upon the water for some time. At length, however, the banter of his friends shamed him out of this weakness; and on one occasion, when a party of his friends were going to cross the lake he was persuaded to accompany them. The day was fair, the boat was sound—it seemed impossible that on that day, at all events, the prophecy should be fulfilled. It was arranged that the laird should be landed on the opposite shore and left there, while his friends visited some other part of the lake, and that they should return for him on their way home, He was landed in safety, and after some time he went down in the water's edge to guide the boat which he saw approaching to the landingplace. He stood on a little grassy promon tory which jutted out from the shore, but the' ground had been undermined by the action of the water, and without a moment's warning he was plunged into the lake. His friends rowed fast to the spot, hut, they were too late ; his body was taken out of the water exactly as he had seen in his dream. If this story is a mere invention, it shows inventive power of no mean order.

One of the most striking, though one of the simplest, stories of a prophetic dream is related by Dr. Abercromby in his " Intellectual Powers," and the author says of it : "1 am enabled to give it as entirely authentic," which means, of course, that Abercromby considered the evidence sufficient to convince him that the incident really occurred, li is a pity that he did not think it worth while, or did not feel himself at liberty to detail the testimony which seemed to him so conclusive. The story is that a lady dreamed that she saw an aged female relative of hers in the act of being murdered by her servant, who was a negro. The dream so impressed her that she persuaded a gentleman to sleep in the house, or rather to keep watch near tin- old lady's door. Near the grey dawn of the summer morning the watcher heard a slight noise, and on going into the passage he met the black servant carrying a scuttleful of coals upstairs, and a knife as found concealed under the coals. It will he observed that in the former tale human forethought seemed incapable of guarding against the fate predicted by the dream, while in this instance the warning led to the fatality being altogether averted. Accounts of murderer's being discovered rough a dream are very frequent; hut the following one is remarkable for this, that, (according to the tale) the dreamer swore in open court that lie had received a warning of the tragedy in his sleep. The story is told in the Gentleman's Magazine for 17*7. In the village of Fort law, near Wateri'ord, a publichouse Was kept by a respectable man named Adam Rogers. This man told his wife one morning that he had seen in a dream a big man and a little man travelling together, and that at a certain spot, on a mountain path the little man suddenly sprang on his companion and murdered him. He also related his vision to the parish priest, whose name was Father Browne. On the same day he happened to be out coursing, and Father Browne was present, when Rogers pointed to a place 011 the hillside and declared that that was the spot where, in his sleep, he had seen the murder committed. On the following day a big man and a little man travelling together called to rest at the public-house, and Rogers immediately recognised them as the two whom he had seen in his dream. It transpired that the little man, whose name was ilickey, had some money about him. He seemed a quiet, inoffensive person, while his companion, Caul Geld, was an ill-looking fellow. Rogers did all he could to persuade them to postpone their journey or separate, but he was unsuccessful. The two set out toget her, and shortly afterward the body of. the little man, Ilickey, was found murdered at the very spot which Rogers had indicated. Caultield was arrested and put on his trial, when Rogers swore he had seen the prisoner and the murdered man set out together. As he minutely described their dress, etc., Caultield necessarily asked him in cross-examination why he was able to be so sure of their identity, when he replied that he had a reason for observing them, but he was ashamed to tell it. The judge, of course, wanted to know what it was, and thereupon Rogers narrated hisdream in open court, and called upon the priest, who was standing by, to corroborate his statement,. Rogers' was not the only evidence. Caulfield was convicted and executed, and the chronicler mentions that the murderer bore the same name as the judge who tried him —Sir George Caultield, who resigned his office in 17IH). Those who uphold what may be called the supernatural theory of dreams will regard the, fact of the position of the murderer and his victim being reversed in the dream as a strong proof of the truth of the whole story,' while their oppone will not, fail to point out that the account given in the Gentleman's Magazine seems to have been written about thirty years after the event.