Historical dream account · English · published source text
Followed by a strange monkey
Horace G. Hutchinson
Dreams and Their Meanings (1901) · Original 1901 edition, printed pp. 260, 261; chapter VII; PDF pages 272, 273
Dreamer identified by the source: Mrs. C. (source initials only)
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I have an intense horror of monkeys, — I seldom look at one if I can help it — they are objects of such antipathy to me ; and I dreamed that I was persistently followed by one such as I had never seen before, but which terrified me extremely and from which I could not escape.
Thinking I should be better able to throw off the impression of my dream if I told it, I mentioned it to my family, and my husband recommended a short walk. In consequence, and quite contrary to my custom, I arranged to take my children for a short walk without their nurse accompanying me, and as their favourite walk was up Nightingale Lane (Holland Lane), past another lane enclosed by the high walls of Argyll Lodge, the residence of the Duke of Argyll, I agreed to take them there, and when we arrived at Argyll Lodge, what was my horror to see on the roof of the coach-house the very monkey of my dreams ! In my surprise and terror I clasped my hands and exclaimed, much to the amazement of a coachman waiting outside, ' My dream ! my dream ! '
This I suppose attracted the attention of the monkey and he began to come after us, he on the top of the wall, we beneath, every minute I expecting he would jump upon me, and having precisely the same terror I experienced in my dream. One of my children being very young, we could not go fast, which added to my distress, but we succeeded in escaping it, and on my return home I sent a servant to inquire if a monkey had been seen there, for my state of nervousness was extreme. She was informed that that morning a rare and very valuable monkey belonging to the duchess had got loose, and so the incident was explained. But my dreaming of it previously remains unexplained.
Source & context
Mrs. C. reports a dream and an ensuing waking encounter as one account. The compiler allows accidental coincidence and suggests that the dream prompted the walk. Her later statement says that she had already told others about the dream; it remains an attributed historical claim. Her identity stays as printed initials, and the later source dating is not independently established. Source qualification (The 1901 editor’s commentary, Mrs. C.’s subsequent statement and the printed dating note, printed pp. 260, 261): “The next case which I shall quote is, I think, almost unique in our collection in this respect — that the premonition seems to work its own fulfilment, by suggesting the one course of action which, as it happened, would bring about the dreaded experience. It is of course possible that the coincidence may have been accidental. Mrs. C. says she is rather a frequent dreamer, although few of her dreams make so strong an impression as the one which I quote, with the exception of another involving a similar coincidence which I omit for want of space. The ' monkey dream ' was told to at least six persons before I went for my walk, and my children still remember my terror and the ' peculiar monkey ' which followed us. Mrs. C. also states that the dream occurred in 1867, and sends letters of corroboration from her husband and her nurse, which are given below.”
Mrs. C. (source initials only), reported in Horace G. Hutchinson, Dreams and Their Meanings (Longmans, Green and Co.,1901), Original 1901 edition, printed pp. 260, 261; chapter VII; PDF pages 272, 273. Earlier reporter: Mrs. C., first-person letters reproduced by the unnamed collaborator. Chapters VI–VII were prepared by an unnamed collaborator. The book author/compiler, dreamer and earlier reporter are credited separately. Editorial title and navigation themes added; no generated narrative or new translation.
The publication year1901 and letter datelines are not assigned as the dream date. Dates/relative dates in original prose remain unchanged.
Public domain in the United States (1901 edition) ↗
The original English 1901 edition is public domain in the United States by expired publication term; Archive metadata reports NOT_IN_COPYRIGHT. No new Archive license or Public Domain Mark grant is asserted. The linked NoC-US statement describes the US-only rights basis; blanket worldwide clearance is not asserted. These are named, initialled or anonymous published-correspondent accounts reproduced by an unnamed collaborator in Hutchinson’s book. The dreamer and earlier reporter are credited separately; no contributor is assigned the compiler’s death date. No modern translation is used.
Source locator and text provenance
Original 1901 edition, printed pp. 260, 261; chapter VII; PDF pages 272, 273
The original text and redactions are preserved. The page title is an editorial navigation label.
Descriptive editorial title only; no generated dream prose or translation. Book repeated paragraph-opening quotation marks and trailing presentation quote excluded through exact source-span boundaries. Literal internal dialogue retained. Whitespace/line wraps normalized; only explicitly listed scan-confirmed corrections/dehyphenations. Complete qualification spans retained separately as attributed source context. Addresses/signatures/letter headers outside dream prose are boundary furniture, not silent dream omissions.
- Account text SHA-256
- db5d4c05a87389d0e0a6fe0584cb883024d5057ae636019c03ae492d3dbaae8e
- Source file SHA-256
- 40a41bb112104c3680401c260e060fde498bfe84e41f4394ee28e47f7e827b5f
Content notes
- Fear
Connections in the Loom
Titles, theme labels, illustrations and map connections are editorial navigation aids. They are separate from the account’s words and do not establish connections between real people.