proverb · Words worth keeping
When the clouds are on the hills, They'll come down by the mills.
When the clouds are on the hills, They'll come down by the mills.
Historical period not yet established
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
Clouds seen over the hills are imagined to bring rain or low cloud down to the mills. The saying links a visible higher place with conditions expected below it.
What the words are saying
The movement from hills to mills gives the weather a local journey. It can encourage attention to surroundings while also making a compact predictive claim. The explanation does not verify the claimed movement or identify which landscape the rhyme first described. A useful reading notes the sign and expected result without treating the rhyme as sufficient guidance for actual conditions.
Everyday example
A reader traces the landscape in the rhyme while checking separate information before making a weather-dependent plan.
When to use it
Use it to discuss a landscape-based weather sign as folklore.
What it does not mean
The rhyme is not a verified local forecast or origin statement.
Agent-assisted editorial interpretation. This explains the words; it does not by itself verify their author or earliest origin.
Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Traditional
Attribution: traditional - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- Historical period not yet established
No sufficiently supported historical placement has been established. Import and download dates are not treated as composition dates. - Recorded source
- A Dictionary of English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases
Entry 273 · Clouds
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.
- Culture
- English