Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1881-12-08
Mother Shipton.
The History Of Her o-CaIled
Prophecy.

H. ~
/ people to verify any alleged extrao,
dlnary phenomenon. Fifteen yea,
!; ago one Charles Hindley, while edi,
\ ing certain old and worthless pampt
let's that were hawed about Londo
! 200 years ago, much as Zadkiel's A
mansc is now, conceived the sorr
notion Of publishing the "Prophecie
OF Mother Shipton certain prophe
cles Of his own forging. These fcti
tious utterances were embodied i
that kind Of runic dopgerel whic
prevails in the Roxborough Ballsd:
and they represent the old femal
"astrologer, Mother shipton (who wa
born about the year l4S9) AS predict
ing:
"CarIiages without horses shall go
Around the world thmgh,s shall fly
In the iwinkling of an eye
Iron in the water shall float
As easy as Il wooden boat.
Gold shall be found. ana found
In land that's not now known.
Fire and water shall more wonders do.
England shall Il, last admit Jew.
"A house % glass shall come to pass
In England- alas.
War will follow with the work,
In the land "f the Pagan and Turk;
And stnlc aud state in fierce strif.
viii seek each Others life
But when the North hall divide the South
An cage shall build in the lions mouth.
"The world then to an end shall come
In eighteen hundred and eightv-onc."
The a!luslons in this doggerel te
steam, the telegraph, iron ships. Cal
ifornia, Disraeli, the American wal
(going on while Hinc ley was writin }
and even the Crystal Palace attracted
the attention of antiquarians. A cor
respondent occurred in Notes aAo
Queries (Series w., vol. ill., and in
the end Hindlev confession OF th,
forgery WAS made and published
But the Chinese provelb was verified
that the royal chariot and postllions
can not overtake the word once es
capped. These fictitious u,terance.
obtained wide circulation and he
lief among the class which is not ac
custome'l to read Notes and Queries
aud unfortunate V among these ap
pears to be some person authorized sc
to write in a respectable London
journal. In the Globe newspaper oil
February II, 1877, portiohs OF the
forged predictions We're printed as be-
ing very wonderful, and, more won
de,ful, they were said % have been
published" in l44S, /. e before the
introduction OF printing! The s!lus,
ion to the war in Turkev-the only
hit reallv--attracted attention and
the immediate result WAS that the
'prophec es' were printed on n card
price twopence now sold in vast nun.
bers throughout the length and
breadth Of the land. On the windows
Of hundreds Of newspapers and candy
shops in London one reads, "Rea
Mother Shipron's Wonderful Prophe.
cies !! Having invested his twoperce
one possesses coarse piece Of paste
board. FIVE inches by three, on which
are the lines already quoted, and
more OF a similar kind. under the fol.
lowing head ng: Mother Shipton'
Prophecies Have recently been dis
covered IN the British Museum, writ.
ten in An old manuscript work, A. D
lS4s, and portions have been pnb
lshed in the Globe newspaper Of Feb
ruary II 1877. This wonderful won
an lived till she was of extraordinary
age. She died at Diifton. in York
shire, from which is taken the follow
ing epitaph. copied from a stone mon
ument:
."Here Ives she who never ly'd.
Whose skin often Las been try'd.
Her Prophecies shall survive,
And ever keep her name alive"
But besides this cheap edition o
the spurious additions to originally
spurious prophecies. there is on the
market a sensationaIly decorated ak
penny hook, whirb, | am told, is be
ing circulated wildly in aIlthe colon
les, and possibly it ls known in Amer
ica: On the cover Mother Shiptor
is represented csreering amid comet
and stars on her broomstick, her ia
miliars accompanying her in shape o
a cat crouching behind her. and al