Friday, the sixth day of the week, has for ages borne the obloquy of odium and ill-luck. Friday, October 5th, B. C. 105, was marked _nefastus_ in the Roman calendar because on that day Marcus Mallius and Caepio the Consul were slain and their whole army annihilated in Gallia Narbonensis by the Cimbrians. It was considered a very unlucky day in Spain and Italy; it is still deemed an ill-starred day among the Buddhists and Brahmins. The reason given by Christians for its ill-luck is, of course, because it was the day of Christ's crucifixion, though one would hardly term that an "unlucky event" for Christians. A Friday moon is considered unlucky for weather. It is the Mohammedan Sabbath and was the day on which Adam was created. The Sabeans consecrated it to Venus or Astarte. According to mediaeval romance, on this day fairies and all the tribes of elves of every description were converted into hideous animals and remained so until Monday. In Scotland it is a great day for weddings. In England it is not. Sir William Churchill says, "Friday is my lucky day. I was born, christened, married, and knighted on that day, and all my best accidents have befallen me on a Friday." Aurungzebe considered Friday a lucky day and used to say in prayer, "Oh, that I may die on a Friday, for blessed is he that dies on that day." British popular saying terms a trial, misfortune, or cross a "Friday tree," from the "accursed tree" on which the Savior was crucified on that day. Stow, the historian of London, states that "Friday Street" was so called because it was the street of fish merchants who served the Friday markets. In the Roman Catholic church Friday is a fast day, and is considered an unlucky day because it was the day of Christ's crucifixion. Soames ("Anglo-Saxon Church," page 255) says of it, "Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit on Friday and died on Friday." Shakspere refers to the ill-omened nature of the day as follows: "The duke, I say to thee again, would eat mutton Friday" ("Measure for Measure," Act 3, Scene 2).