[374] Has not the idea of this _black flag_ been taken from the black sail referred to by Plutarch in his life of Theseus? When the latter was to go with the Athenian youths to attempt the destruction of the Minotaur, a ship was prepared with a black sail, us carrying them to certain ruin. But when Theseus encouraged his father Ægeus by his confidence of success against the Minotaur, he gave another sail, a white one, to the pilot, ordering him, if he brought Theseus safe back, to hoist the white; but if not, to sail with the black one in token of his misfortune. When Theseus returned, the pilot forgot to hoist the white sail and Ægeus destroyed himself. [375] Vol. ii. 310, 314. [376] It has been called Calphurnia consulting the Penates on the fate of Cæsar. [377] Dagley’s Gems, p. 6. [378] We do not know who is the author of these lines. They appeared anonymously in the Gentlemen’s Magazine (London) for 1780, vol. 1. Old Series, 337, and it is merely said that they are by the “writer of lines on presenting a knife and verses on a former wedding day.” [379] Douce’s Illustrations of Shakspeare, 549. Transcriber’s Notes Obvious printer and scanning errors have been silently corrected. Other errors made by the author such as listing T. Cutwode’s poem as as “Calthæ Poetarum, or the Humble Bee” have been maintained. Inconsistencies in spelling and hyphenation such as “high-priest/high priest” and “wedding-ring/wedding ring” have been maintained. Page 59: “§ 22.” added before “The story of losing rings”. Page 129: “a ring thereof without allou” changed to “a ring thereof without alloy”. Page 207: “in the ceremony of the mariage” changed to “in the ceremony of the marriage”. Page 235: “4” changed to “81” in Index entry for _Anselm_. Footnote 308: “Burgou’s Life and Times” changed to “Burgon’s Life and Times”. End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The History and Poetry of Finger-rings, by Charles Edwards