The twenty-fourth of February was happy to Charles V. four times.
(Ibid.) Heylin, speaking of the Temple of Jerusalem, hints three of
these four; his birth, taking of Francis, King of France, prisoner;
his receiving the Imperial crown at Bononia. And so doth also the
Journal History before mentioned.
Of the family of the Trevors, six successive principal branches have
been born the sixth of July. Same memoirs.
Sir Humphrey Davenport was born the 7th of July; and on that day
anniversary, his father and mother died, within a quarter of an hour
one of another. Same memoirs.
I have seen an old Romish MSS. prayer-book, (and shewed the same to
that general scholar, and great astrologer, Elias Ashmole, Esq.;) at
the beginning whereof was a Calendar wherein were inserted the unlucky
days of each month, set out in verse. I will recite them just as they
are, sometimes infringing the rule of grammar, sometimes of Prosodia;
a matter of which the old monkish rhymers were no way scrupulous.
It was as ancient as Henry the sixth, or Edward the fourth's time.
January "Prima dies mensis, & septima truncat ut ensis".
February "Quarta subit mortem, prostemit tertia fortem."
March. "Primus mandentem, disrumpit quarto, bibentem".
April "Denus & undenus est mortis vulnere plenus".
May "Tertius occidit, & Septimus ora relidit".*
June "Denus pallescit, quindenus feeders nescit".
July. "Ter-decimus mactat, Julij denus labefactat."
August. "Prima necat fortem, prostemit secunda cohortem".
September "Tertia Septembris & denus fert mala membris".
October. "Tertius & denus est, sicut, mors alienus".
November. "Scorpius est quintus, & tertius e nece cinctus".
December. "Septimus exanguis, virosus denus & anguis".
* Ex re & ledo.
The tenth verse is intolerable, and might be mended thus.
"Tertia cum dena sit sicut mors aliena".
If any object and say, "Deni" is only the plural; I excuse my self by
that admirable chronogram upon King Charles the martyr.
"Ter deno, Jani, Lunae, Rex (Sole cadente)"
"Carolus euxtus Solio, Sceptroque, secure".
Neither will I have recourse for refuge to that old tetrastich,
"Intrat Avaloniam duodena Caterva virorum
"Flos Arimathioe Joseph, &c."
because I have even now blamed the liberty of the ancient rhymers. He
means by "Mors aliena", some strange kind of death; though "aliena",
signifies in quite another sense than there used.
I shall take particular notice here of the third of November, both
because 'tis my own birth day, and also for that I have observed some
remarkable accidents to have happened thereupon.
Constantius, the Emperor, son of Constantine the Great, little inferior
to his father, a worthy warrior, and good man, died the third of
November: "Ex veteri Calendario penes me".
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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