Historical dream account · English · published source text
The alarm gun in Edinburgh
John Abercrombie
The Literature and Curiosities of Dreams (1869) · Original 1869 edition, printed pp. 444, 445
Dreamer identified by the source: An unnamed volunteer and his wife
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But the most striking anecdote in this interesting document is one in which similar dreams were produced in a gentleman and his wife at the same time, and by the same cause. It happened at a period when there was an alarm of French invasion, and almost every man in Edinburgh was a soldier. All things had been arranged in expectation of the landing of an enemy, the first notice of which was to be given by a gun from the castle, and this was to be followed by a chain of signals calculated to alarm the country in all directions. Further, there had been recently in Edinburgh a splendid military spectacle, in which five thousand men had been drawn up in Prince’s Street, fronting the castle. The gentleman to whom the dream occurred, and who had been a most zealous volunteer, was in bed between two and three o’clock in the morning, when he dreamed of hearing the signal gun. He was immediately at the castle, witnessed the proceedings for displaying the signals, and saw and heard a great bustle over the town from troops and artillery assembling, especially in Prince’s Street. At this time he was aroused by his wife, who awoke in a fright in consequence of a similar dream, connected with much noise and the landing of the enemy, and concluding with the death of a particular friend of her husband’s, who had served with him as a volunteer in the late war. The origin of this remarkable concurrence was ascertained in the morning to be the noise produced in the room above by the fall of a pair of tongs, which had been left in some very awkward position in support of a clothes screen.
Source & context
Historical published account of a recalled sleep dream, not a verified prediction or contemporary community submission. One complete separately narrated case; source explanation and subsequent unrelated cases excluded. Paired/recurring episodes remain together. These are historically published claimed recollections. Source claims of fulfilment/causation are not independently established facts, predictions or medical evidence. One source-linked paired episode: husband and wife’s dreams retained together, not counted twice.
John Abercrombie, Inquiries concerning the Intellectual Powers, and the Investigation of Truth, as quoted by Frank Seafield, The Literature and Curiosities of Dreams, second edition, revised (London: Lockwood & Co., 1869), printed pp. 444, 445. Source: Wellcome Collection. Dreamer and anthology compiler are credited separately. Descriptive title and navigation themes added by Synastry.
The publication year is not the dream date. No exact dream date or present-day person location is inferred. Dates printed in the narrative remain source wording.
Public Domain Mark 1.0 (source status) ↗
Wellcome’s catalogue and IIIF manifest identify the original 1869 revised second edition as public domain. Public Domain Mark identifies status, not a new license grant. The English text is retained as printed, including historical translations; no modern translation is included. Earlier works and authors are credited as printed in this anthology, not claimed independently reverified.
Source locator and text provenance
Original 1869 edition, printed pp. 444, 445
The original text and redactions are preserved. The page title is an editorial navigation label.
Editorial descriptive title. Printed header/page number excluded; original OCR line wraps joined, including word-wrap hyphens; exact raw page spans retained. OCR repairs replayable from normalizedOCR; source words/spelling retained except documented scan-confirmed repairs. No new translation, generated narrative, fabricated date, contemporary dreamer identity, or AI visual. Primary witness is this1869 anthology; quoted earlier work/author credited as printed, not claimed independently reverified.
- Account text SHA-256
- 5322b1bb9c4984623737a670f5ae393f37cb9c6a1f26d1226439929ef058bdf8
- Source file SHA-256
- a73a0cec3f3d14cf9cf75b6335ee55d560d5b927017f27a081afdc3bc7ca3dba
Content notes
- War
- Death
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.