Scythians into Thrace
Preserved but no longer current.
Cicero was forewarned of his death by the fluttering of ravens, and Macaulay relates the legend that a raven en- tered the chamber of the great orator the very day of his murder and pulled the clothes off his bed. Like many other birds, ravens indicate by their cries the approach of foul weather, but "it is ful unleful to beleve that God sheweth His prevy counsayle to crowes, as Isidore sayth.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “Scythians into Thrace” mean?
Cicero was forewarned of his death by the fluttering of ravens, and Macaulay relates the legend that a raven en- tered the chamber of the great orator the very day of his murder and pulled the clothes off his bed. Like many other birds, ravens indicate by their cries the approach of foul weather, but "it is ful unleful to beleve that God sheweth His prevy counsayle to crowes, as Isidore sayth.
Is “Scythians into Thrace” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.