46. Theocracy: a state governed directly by the ministers of God. 58. hand-grenade: a hollow shell, filled with explosives, arranged to be thrown by hand among the enemy and to explode on impact. 73. Koordish robber. The Kurds were a nomadic people living in Kurdistan, Persia, and Caucasia. They were very savage and vindictive, specially towards Armenians. The Sheik was the leader of a clan or town and as such had great power. 81. Newbury, Mass. Judge Sewall's father was one of the founders of the town. 130-156. This prophecy is most effective in its use of local color for a spiritual purpose. Beginning with local conditions which might be changed, it broadens to include all nature which shall never grow old. SKIPPER IRESON'S RIDE Skipper Ireson's Ride. Whittier was told after this poem was published that it was not historically accurate, since the crew and not Skipper Ireson was to blame for the desertion of the wreck. He stated that he had founded his poem on a song sung to him when he was a boy. 3. Apuleius's Golden Ass. Apuleius was a Latin satirical writer whose greatest work was a romance or novel called "The Golden Ass." The hero is by chance changed into an ass,, and has all sorts of adventures until he is finally freed from the magic by eating roses in the hands of a priest of Isis. 3. one-eyed Calendar's horse of brass. See the Arabian Nights' Entertainments for the story of the one-eyed beggar. 6. Al-Borak: according to the Moslem creed the animal brought by Gabriel to carry Mohammed to the seventh heaven. It had the face of a man, the body of a horse, the wings of an eagle, and spoke with a human voice. 11. Marblehead, in Massachusetts. 30. Maenads: the nymphs who danced and sang in honor of Bacchus, the god of vegetation and the vine. 35. Chalettr Bay, in Newfoundland, a part of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. THE DOUBLE-HEADED SNAKE of NEWBURY 6. Deucalion flood. The python was a monstrous serpent which arose from the mud left after the flood in which Deucalion survived. The python lived in a cave on Mount Parnassus and there Apollo slew him. Deucalion and his wife, Pyrrha were saved from the flood because Zeus respected their piety. They obeyed the oracle and threw stones behind them from which sprang men and women to repopulate the earth. 9. See "The Prophecy of Samuel Sewall" for another story of Newbury town. 22. stones of Cheops: an Egyptian king, about 2900 b.c.; built the great pyramid, which is called by his name. 59. Each town in colonial days set aside certain land for free pasture-land for the inhabitants. 80. double-ganger: a double or apparition of a person; here, a reptile moving in double form.