ABSTRACT
Stories of prophetic and warning dreams abound in all ancient literatures. A special group of legends deals with the announcement of some famous child about to be born; some of these are symbolic, others literal. Sometimes these premonitory dreams come as warnings that are heeded in time to avert disaster; many more predict a future that is inescapable. Kipling dreamt that he was standing in a line of men in formal dress "in some vast hall, floored with rough jointed slabs". So many dreams are bound up with disaster, sickness and death that an instance which opens the door on good fortune is a shining exception. John Chapman was making out what must have been a bleak livelihood for himself and his wife at the double trade of tinker and pedlar in the town of Swaffham, or Swaffham Market, when, one night, he had a dream.
