Mother Shipton

Ursula Southeil (c. 1488 - 1561) (possibly Ursula Southill or Ursula SoothtellThe Strange and Wonderful History of Mother Shipton, London, 1686), better known as Mother Shipton, was an English soothsayer and prophetess. The first publication of her prophecies, which did not appear until 1641, eighty years after her death, contained a number of mainly regional predictions, but only two prophetic verses -- neither of which foretold the End of the World, despite widespread assumptions to that effect.Mother Shipton's Prophecies (Mann, 1989) 
One of the most notable editions of her prophecies was published in 1684.Mother Shipton's Prophecies (Mann, 1989) It states that she was born in Knaresborough, Yorkshire, in a cave now known as Mother Shipton's Cave, and was reputed to be hideously ugly. The book also claims that she married Toby Shipton, a local carpenter, near York in 1512 and told fortunes and made predictions throughout her life.
It is recorded in the diaries of Samuel Pepys that whilst surveying the damage to London caused by the Great Fire in the company of the Royal Family they were heard to discuss Mother Shipton's prophecy of the event.Entry for 20th October 1666, cited in Mother Shipton's Prophecies (Mann, 1989)
==Prophecies==
The most famous claimed edition of Mother Shipton's prophecies supposedly foretells many modern events and phenomena. Widely quoted today as if it were the original, it contains over a hundred prophetic rhymed couplets in notably non-sixteenth-century language and includes the now-famous lines:
:The world to an end shall come
:In eighteen hundred and eighty one.Harrison, W. H.: Mother Shipton Investigated, 1881
This supposed prophecy has appeared over the years with different dates and in (or about) several countries. However, this version did not appear in print until 1862, and its true author, one Charles Hindley, subsequently admitted in print that he had forged itNotes and Queries, April 26th, 1873. 
==Legacy==
Quite who Mother Shipton was or what exactly she said is not definitively known. What is certain is that her name became linked with many tragic events and strange goings on recorded all over the UK, Australia and North America throughout the 17/18/19th centuries. Many fortune tellers used her effigy and statue, presumably for purposes of association marketing. Many pubs were named after her. Only two survive, one near her birthplace in Knaresborough and the other in Portsmouth where there is a lifesize statue above the door.
A caricature of Mother Shipton was used in early pantomime and is believed by historians to be the forerunner of the pantomime dame.
There is a small moth native to Yorkshire named after her. It seemingly bears a profile of a hag's head on each wing.
 
== References ==
==External links==
*Works by and about Mother Shipton on Wikisource
*Mother Shipton's Cave
*An 1881 Essay about Mother Shipton by William H Harrison
Category:Prophets