The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1881-12-18
MOTHER SYMPTOMS PROPHE.
CIES,


binary phenomenon. Fifteen years
ago one Charles. Hindley, while edit
ing certain old and worthless pam
phlets that were haWked about Lon
don two hundred years ago, much as
Zadkiel's Almanac ia now, conceived
the sorry notion OF publishing the
Prophecies of Mother Snipton"-
oertain prophecies OF hi. own forging.
| These fictitious utterauces were en-
bodied In that kind of ruuic doggerel
which prevails in the Roxborough
Ballads. and they represent the old
female "astrologer" Mother Shipton
| (who WAS born ABOUT the year 1488)
ss predicting:
Carriages without horses shall 90.
Around the world thoughts shall fly
In the twinkling of an eye.
Iron IN the water shall float
As easy as a wooden boat. ea
| Gold shall be found, and found
In a land that's not now known.
| Fire and water shall more wonders do.
England shall at last admit Jew.
A house of glass shall come to pass
In England-but, alssl
War will follow with the work,
In the land of the pagan and the Turk;
| And state and stats in fierce strife
Will seek each OF hers life.
| But when the n orth shall divide the
South
An eagle shall build in the lions mouth
The world then 10 az end shall come
In eighteen hundred and eighty -one."
The sIlusions in this doggerel to
steam, the telegraph, iron ships, Gal.
ifornia, Disrseli, the American war
(going on while Hindley was writing,
and even the Crystal Palace, at once
attracted the attention OF anIiquari-
ans. A correspondence occurred in
Notes and Queries (5eries w., vol. ii. J
and in the end Hlndley's confession
OF the forgery was made and pub
lished. But the Chinese proverb was
verified, that the royal chariot and
positions can not overtake the word
once escaped. These fictitious utter
ances obtained wide circulation and
belief among the class which is not
accustomed to read Notes and Quer.
les, and unfortunately among these
appears to be some person author
lied to write in respectable London
journal. In the Globe newspaper oil
February II, 1877, portions OF the
forged predictions were printed az
being very wonderful, and, still more
wonderful, they were said to have
been published" in 144S. i. e., be-
fore the introduction OF printing
the allusion to the war in Turkey
the only hit reslly-sttracted atten'
ton, and the immediate results wal
that the prophecies" were printed
on a card, price twopence, now solo
in vaEt numbers throughout thu
length and breadth OF the land. Or
the windows of hundreds OF neWspa
per and candyshops in London on
reads, Read Mother Symptoms Won
derful Prophecies!' Having invested
his twopence, one possesses q coars
piece OF passeboard, five inches b.
three, on which are the lines alread!
quoted, and more Of similar kind
under the following heading
mother Symptoms Propheciesl Hav
recently been discovered in the Brit
ish Museum, written in an old manu-
script work, A. D. 1448, and portion
have been published in the GIOb
newspaper of February IL, 1877
This wonderful woman lived till sh
was OF extraordinary age. She die'
at Clifton, in Yorkshire, from which
| is taken the following epitsph. copie'
from stone monument:
"Here Ives she who never ly'd,
Whose skill often has been try d.
Her Prophecies shall survive,
And ever keep her name alive
But besides this cheap edition c
the spurious additions to Originate
spurious prophecies, there is Oh tn
market sensationally decorated six
penny book. which, l am told, is be
ing circulated widely in all the colo
MES, and possibly it as known i
America. On the cover Mother Ship
ton ia represented careeriDg ami
comets and stars on her broomstlck
Der familiars accompanying her i
shape of a cat crouchirg behind hel
and an owl perchsd before her on tn
broom-nandle. The steam train I'D
the balloon, which she is declared t
have predicted, are included. Insid
is related the old story of Mothe
Symptoms birth from the unhallowe
marriage of her mother with tn
devil; the prodigies which attende
her infancy, such as her cradle bein
found suspended up the Gimme
with the child in it without visibl
means of support, and her reading
book at first sight; and then the PIT
phecies after the fact forged in tb
seventeenth century. The ;act
notable tha! on the placards and O
the book. cover the thing made mo
prominent ia the prediction that tt
world lie to come to an end in 1873
This ia the most fascinating item.
lis notorious that English mines hA'
within these recent years, RENAME
vacant for tWenty-four hours whe
Zadkiel's Almanac ha d predicted 8
explosion on that day; and ii is not
III ,,,l;l-oIv fbot aFtor fbo n,YOni,