Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1911-06-22

prior to and AFTER the fteVoiu-
ton. The name of Merlin is given
as the author of the mystic
rhymes, which date back to the III
teenth century and run in couplets
fraught with double meaning. and
seeming to be the work of some sooth-
sayer or student of the stars who fore
saw, or fancied he foresaw, in the
heavenly bodies strange portents OF
the days to come.
The lines can be found in the works
of Dean Swift, edition of 1866, page
214, volume 3. They were also print
ed in the United States in September,
1856, three years after peace with Eng
land had been declared, and published
in a few foreign journals; but the ear
Hest appearance of the poem was in
an ancient English work edited and
produced in London in the year 1880.
In complete form 1t runs as follows:
"When the savage is meek and mild
The frantic mother shall stab her child.
When the Cock shall WOO the Dove
The Mother shall cease the child to love.
When men like moles work underground
The Lion a Virgin true shall wound.
When the Dove and the Cock the Lion
shall fight
The Lion shall crouch beneath their
might.
When the Cock shall guard the Eagles
nest
The stars shall rise-all in the West.
When ships above the clouds shall sail
| nL. 7 l~-s. N,n-.A -Al@II 49, fail
When Neptune's back with stripes is REQ
The sickly Lion shall hide his head.
When seven and six shall make but one
The Lions might shall be undone."
Many diverse opinions are held as
to the ability of mere man to peer
into the future, but without entering
into an argument on the subject, ii
is at least interesting to note how
curiously certain of the prophecies
made by the dead and forgotten rhym
ster coincide with the march Of act
aal events when submitted to the proc
ess Of deduction.
We can take the first couplet as re
ferring to the history of America
and more particularly to the colonia
period. The white settlers had plan
, ed civilization, by means of De Soto
l sword, Champlain's guns and the mil
s~ionaries' prayers, deeply in the TO-
est, and the Indians may be said t
have become temporarily subdue
: through awe of these combined ell
: ments. The red man was subjected I
meek and mild influences by the tax
and religious examples of such me
as Roger Williams and William Pen,
S whose kindness is a part Of India
l. tradition to this very day. Henc
when the savage evidently IL
North American Indian) lis meek ar
mild, the frantic mother" (meanir
e England) shall stab her child" I'll
d American colonies).
g When and how England enacted tn
= needs scant comment other than tn
d the courts of the colonies, just pri
d to the Revolution, used the sword
justice to destroy the rights of t
American subjects of the crown.
this point England actually and n
is figuratively stabbed her children.
when the Cock shall woo the Dove
ie The mother shall cease the child to Low,
\ Now, the cock for ages has be
emblematic Of France, as the Lion b
Of England, and the %cartoonists
early days invariably designated I
French "as proud as the cock"
~ France, victory at arms or civic I
:. umphs were always. as at the prese
- time, proclaimed by the display of I
rooster. The dove referred to "
undoubtedly intended for Columbia,
the United States or colonies. 7
re word Columbia means "Dove-like''
in "Columbo," the original meaning
his Columbus, the noun base Of the pr
ne err adjective Columbia, but accepted
,a- Americans Gs a proper noun.
Our colonial history abounds W
illustrations as to how eagerly Fral
courted the good will Of the Amerit
90 colonies, and an equally emphatic I
"a in the drama is the jealousy of e
land at the display Of any color
regard for the French governme
n This second couplet is especially v
illustrated in the continental congr