Clock: Difference between revisions

In the [[United Kingdom]], clocks are associated with various beliefs, many involving death or bad luck. In legends, clocks have reportedly stopped of their own accord upon a nearby person's death, especially those of monarchs. The clock in the [[House of Lords]] supposedly stopped at "nearly" the hour of [[George III]]'s death in 1820, the one at [[Balmoral Castle]] stopped during the hour of [[Queen Victoria]]'s death, and similar legends are related about clocks associated with [[William IV]] and [[Elizabeth I]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Opie |first1=Iona |title=A Dictionary of Superstitions |last2=Tatem |first2=Moira |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=1989 |isbn=9780760714829 |publication-date=1990 |pages=84–5}}</ref> Many superstitions exist about clocks. One stopping before a person has died may foretell coming death.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Opie |first1=Iona |title=A Dictionary of Superstitions |last2=Tatem |first2=Moira |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=1989 |isbn=9780760714829 |publication-date=1990 |pages=85}}</ref> Similarly, if a clock strikes during a church hymn or a marriage ceremony, death or calamity is prefigured for the parishioners or a spouse, respectively.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Opie |first1=Iona |title=A Dictionary of Superstitions |last2=Tatem |first2=Moira |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=1989 |isbn=9780760714829 |publication-date=1990 |pages=85–6}}</ref> Death or ill events are foreshadowed if a clock strikes the wrong time. It may also be unlucky to have a clock face a fire or to speak while a clock is striking.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Opie |first1=Iona |title=A Dictionary of Superstitions |last2=Tatem |first2=Moira |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=1989 |isbn=9780760714829 |publication-date=1990 |pages=84–6}}</ref>