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I checked onelook and nada there. But upon googling "sungates" and "direction" found one entry, a long discourse from (supposedly) the Domestic Annals of Scotland, which I'll paste below: rest. It was alleged that, twenty-two years ago, she had been found sitting in a field of green corn before sun-rising, when, being asked what she was doing, she said: ‘I have been peeling the blades of the corn: I find it will be ane dear year; the blade of the corn grows withershins [contrary to the course of the sun]: when it grows sungates about [in the direction of the sun’s course], it will be ane cheap year.’http://www.electricscotland.com/history/domestic/vol1ch8c.htm
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Leaving us to wonder whether a cheap year or a dear year is preferable.
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Corn seller wants a dear year, buyer wants a cheap year. Widdeershins remindes me of
German "wieder" which can mean "against" but I can't figure out the "shins".
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.
widdershins
SYLLABICATION:
wid·der·shins
PRONUNCIATION:
wdr-shnz
VARIANT FORMS:
or with·er·shins (wth-)
ADVERB:
In a contrary or counterclockwise direction: “The coracle whirled round,
clockwise, then widdershins” (Anthony Bailey).
ETYMOLOGY:
Middle Low German weddersinnes, from Middle High German widersinnes :
wider, back (from Old High German widar; see wi- in Appendix I) + sinnes,
in the direction of (from sin, direction, from Old High German; see sent- in
Appendix I).
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German "wieder" which can mean "against"
Actually, that's "wider", and it also surfaces in "withstand". Anglo-Saxon was "wiđ". As regards the "shins" part, that's explained in the dictionary along with the rest. It means "sense" or "direction", which I guess looks weird to English speakers, but in German, "clockwise" is "Uhrzeigersinn" ("in the direction of the clockpointers" or hands).
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in the direction of the clockpointers
And the clockpointers go that way because that's the way the shadow went on the sundial face.
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However, the German "der Widder" (ram or Aries) has nothing to do with this whatsoever, no matter how contrary those two species can be at times.
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... the clockpointers go that way because that's the way the shadow went on the sundial face
Do the shadows on a sundial in the southern hemisphere march "clockwise," too? (Don't quibble; you know what I mean !)
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shadows on a sundial in the southern hemisphere march "clockwise,"
No, assuming I know what you mean.
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...do shadows on a sundial in the southern hemisphere march "clockwise?" (don't quibble, you know what I mean)
No, assuming I know what you mean.
Clarification: "clockwise" = looking at a circle from above, starting at the top and moving to the right around it
Which means that if "clockwise" is defined from sundial-shadow motion, it's linguistic-based evidence that clocks were invented (read "modern civilization arose") in the northern hemisphere. Yes?
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