What is the origin and meaning of the folk saying, "When it rains in sunlight, the devil is beating his wife"?

looney_tunes

There are a number of interesting sayings connected with sunshowers (light rain while the sun is shining, often producing a rainbow). The phenomenon has a wide range of (sometimes remarkably similar) folkloric sayings associated with it in cultures around the world. A common theme is that of trickster animals, or the devil, getting married, although many variations of parts of this theme exist. In the South of the US and in Great Britain, a common saying is that the devil is beating his wife (presumably causing her to produce tears). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunshower Nov 28 08, 6:26 PM