According to English folklore, those born at certain hours could see ghosts. The crucial time was generally said to be midnight. In Irish folklore, those born in the chime hours would have the second sight.
The term "born in the chimehours" likely refers to the old monastic hours of night prayer (Matins) which were marked by the ringing of bells.
Famous quotes containing the word hours:
“The mountainous region of the State of Maine stretches from near the White Mountains, northeasterly one hundred and sixty miles, to the head of the Aroostook River, and is about sixty miles wide. The wild or unsettled portion is far more extensive. So that some hours only of travel in this direction will carry the curious to the verge of a primitive forest, more interesting, perhaps, on all accounts, than they would reach by going a thousand miles westward.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)