# Strange and wonderful history and prophecies of Mother Shipton/Chapter 8

CHAP. VIII.
Her Prophecies in Verse to the Abbot of Beverly.
THE abbot of Beverly giving her a visit one day, told her, that as he found several things which she had formerly faid to be extely true, so he was persuaded she was not ignorant of those which for the future were to ensue, and ​therefore requested her to impart some of her foreknowledge to him; for which favour, though it was more than his deserts could command, yet should he never want tongue to acknowledge nor a heart to endeavour a requital of so great an obligation. Mr Abbot, faid she, leave of complimenting, I am an old women who will not flatter nor be flattered by any, yet will answer desires as fast as I may: And therefore did in mystic verses discover to him the greatest accidents that have happened in England from that day to this, as in the following explanation will appear.
I. PROPHECY.
When the cow doth ride the bull.
Then priest beware of thy skull.
EXPLANATION:
By the cow was meant Henry VIII, who gave the cow in his arms, as the earl of Richmond, and the bull betokened madam Ann of Boulogne, not only as the first syllable of her name but because her father gave the black bull's head in his crest; and when the king married her, immediately after happened the dissolution of monasteries and restraint laid on the priests.
II: PROPHECY.
For a sweet pious prince make room,
And in a church prepare each broom.
EXPLANATION.
This was meant by king Edward VI. in whose time the Protestant religion was established, and the Popish superftitions swept out of the kirk, an old word used still in Scotland for church.
III. PROPHECY.
Alecto next assumes the crown,
And streams of blood shall Smithfield
run down.
EXPLANATION.
These lines decypher queen Mary, called Alecto, the name of one of the furies for her cruelty to the Protestants, of whom great numbers were then burnt in Smithfield.
IV. PROPHECY.
A maiden queen full many a year,
Shall England's warlike sceptre bear.
EXPLANATION.
Spoken to queen Elizabeth, who reigned extremely beloved by her subjects, and dreaded by her enemies, above forty years.
V. PROPHECY.
The western monarch's wooden
horses,
Shall be destroyed by Drake's forces.
EXPLANATION.
The king of Spain's mighty navy, 1588, destroyed by the English fleet under captain Drake.
VI. PROPHECY.
The northern lion over Tweed,
The maiden queen shalt next succed;
And join in one two mighty states;
Then shall Janus shut his gates.
EXPLANATION.
This relates to king James, who having been many years king of Scotland, the crown of England, by queen Elizabeth's death, fell to him; whereupon he came over Tweed to take up his residence here, and so joined the two kingdoms under one government. And as for Janus shutting his gates, you must know Janus was one of the Heathen gods that had a temple at Rome, the gates of which were never shut but in times of peace, alluding to which our prophetess here declares the peaceful reign of king James.
VII. PROPHECY.
Forth from the north mischief blew,
And English Hob shall add thereunto;
Mars shall rage as he were woo'd,
And earth shall darken'd be with blood.
EXPLANATION
This relates to our lamentable civil war.
VIII PROPHECY.
But tell what's next? O cruel fate,
A king made martyr at his gate.
EXPLANATION,
Meaning the execrable murder of that most excellent prince, king Charles I.
IX PROPHECY.
The just king dead, the wolf shall then, With blood usurp the lion's den, But death shall hurry him away, Confufion shall a while bear sway, Till fate to England shall restore, A king to reign, as heretofore, Who mercy and justice likewise Shall in his empire exercise.
EXPLANATION.
This prophecy we have seen fulfilled by Cromwell's usurpations, the committee of Safety's confusion, and our gracious Sovereign's miraculous restoration.
X PROPHECY
Triumphant death rides London thro', And men on tops of houses go.
EXPLANATION.
The first line points out the great sickness in London, in 1665, and the second the dreadful fire in the year following.
XI. PROPHECY, 30
The north shall rue it wondrous fore,
But the south shall rue it evermore.
EXPLANATION
You shall have a year of pining hunger, and shall not know of the way over night, yet shall you have it in the morning; and when it happens, it shall last three years; and then will come woman with one eye, and she shall tread in many a men's blood up to the knees; then shall come in clubs and clouted shoes.
XII. PROPHECY.
Then may a man take hease or bower, land or tower, for one and twenty years; but afterwards shall be a white harvest of corn gotten in by women; then shall it be, that one woman shall say to another, mother, I have seen a man to day, for to one man there shall be a thousand women:
​Unhappy's he who lives to see those days, But happy are the dead, Shipton,s wife says. Let this suffice, the night draws on, You must depart, and I begone; Appollo does forbid my chimes, For to unveil succeeding times.
Having said this, Mother Shipton arose, and the admiring Abbot, who, you must suppose, took all these prophesies in writing, gave her many thanks, and returned home.