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Moon Lore, by Timothy Harley, [1885], at sacred-texts.com


p. 258 p. 259

APPENDIX.

Literature of the Lunar Man.

Vide p. 8.

1. The Man in the Moone. Telling Strange Fortunes. London, 1609.

2. "The Man in the Moone, discovering a world of Knavery under the Sunne; both in the Parliament, the Councel of State, the Army, the City, and the Country." Dated, "Die Lunæ, From Nov. 14 to Wednesday Novemb. 21 1649." Periodical Publications, London. British Museum. Another Edition, "Printed for Charles Tyns, at the Three Cups on London Bridge, 1657."

3. "ΣΕΛΗΝΑΡΧΙΑ, or the Government of the World in the Moon. A comical history written by Cyrano Bergerac, and done into English by Tho. St. Serf. London 1659."

The same, Englished by A. Lovell, A.M., London, 1687.

4. "The Man in the Moon, or Travels into the Lunar Regions, by W. Thomson, London, 1783."

In this lucubration the Man in the Moon shows the Man of the People (Charles Fox), many eminent contemporaries, by means of a magical glass.

5. "The Man in the Moon, consisting of Essays and Critiques." London, 1804. Of no value. After shining feebly like a rushlight for about two months, it went out in smoke.

6. The Man in the Moon. London, 1820. A Political Squib.

7. The Loyal Man in the Moon, 1820, is a Political Satire, with thirteen cuts.

8. The Man in the Moon, London, 1827(?). A Poem. N.B. The word poem has many meanings.

p. 260

9. The Man in the Moon. Edinburgh, 1832. A small sheet, sold for political purposes, at the high price of a penny. The Lunar Man pledges himself to "do as I like, and not to care one straw for the opinion of any person on earth."

10. The Man in the Moon. London, 1847. This is a comical serial, edited by Albert Smith and Angus B. Reach; and is rich, racy, and now rare.

11. The Moon's Histories. By a Lady. London, 1848.

 

The Mirror of Pythagoras

Vide p. 147.

"In laying thus the blame upon the moone,
Thou imitat'st subtill Pythagoras,
Who, what he would the people should beleeve,
The same be wrote with blood upon a glasse,
And turn'd it opposite 'gainst the new moone
Whose beames reflecting on it with full force,
Shew'd all those lynes, to them that stood behinde,
Most playnly writ in circle of the moone;
And then he said, Not I, but the new moone
Fair Cynthia, perswades you this and that."

Summer to Sol, in A Pleasant Comedie, called Summer's Last Will and Testament. Written by Thomas Nash. London, 1600.

 

The East Coast of Greenland.

Vide p. 171.

"When an eclipse of the moon takes place, they attribute it to the moon's going into their houses, and peeping into every nook and corner, in search of skins and eatables, and on such occasions accordingly, they conceal all they can, and make as much noise as possible, in order to frighten away their unbidden guest."--Narrative of an Expedition to the East Coast of Greenland: Capt. W. A. Graah, of the Danish Roy. Navy. London, 1837, p. 124.

p. 261

Lord Iddesleigh on the Moon.

Vide p. 189.

Speaking at a political meeting in Aberdeen, on the 22nd of September, 1885, the Earl of Iddesleigh approved the superannuated notion of lunar influence, and likened the leading opponents of his party to the old and new moon. "What signs of bad weather are there which sometimes you notice when storms are coming on? It always seems to me that the worst sign of bad weather is when you see what is called the new moon with the old moon in its arms. I have no doubt that many of you Aberdeen men have read the fine old ballad of Sir Patrick Spens, who was drowned some twenty or thirty miles off the coast of Aberdeen. In that ballad he was cautioned not to go to sea, because his faithful and weatherwise attendant had noticed the new moon with the old moon in its lap. I think myself that that is a very dangerous sign, and when I see Mr. Chamberlain, the new moon, with Mr. Gladstone, the old one, in his arms, I think it is time to look out for squally weather."--The Standard, London, Sept. 23rd, 1885.

The Scottish ballad of Sir Patrick Spens, which is given in the collections of Thomas Percy, Sir Walter Scott, William Motherwell, and others, is supposed by Scott to refer to a voyage that may really have taken place for the purpose of bringing back the Maid of Norway, Margaret, daughter of Alexander III., to her own kingdom of Scotland. Finlay regards it as of more modern date. Chambers suspects Lady Wardlaw of the authorship. While William Allingham counsels his readers to cease troubling themselves with the historical connection of this and all other ballads, and to enjoy rather than investigate. Coleridge calls Sir Patrick Spens a "grand old ballad."

 

Greeting the New Moon in Fiji.

Vide p. 212.

"There is, I find, in Colo ('the devil's country' as it is called), in the mountainous interior of Viti Levu, the largest island of Fiji, a very curious method of greeting the new moon,

p. 262

that may not, as few Europeans have visited this wild part, have been noticed. The native, on seeing the thin crescent rise above the hills, salutes it with a prolonged 'Ah!' at the same time quickly tapping his open mouth with his hand, thus producing a rapid vibratory sound. I inquired of a chief in the town the meaning and origin of this custom, and my interpreter told me that he said, 'We always look and hunt for the moon in the sky, and when it comes we do so to show our pleasure at finding it again. I don't know the meaning of it; our fathers always did so.'"--Alfred St. Johnston, in Notes and Queries for July 23rd, 1881, p. 67. See also Mr. St. Johnston's Camping Among Cannibals, London, 1883, p. 283.

 

Lunar Influence on Dreams.

Vide p. 214.

Arnason says that in Iceland "there are great differences between a dream dreamt in a crescent moon, and one dreamt when the moon is waning. Dreams that are dreamt before full moon are but a short while in coming true; those dreamt later take a longer time for their fulfilment."--Icelandic Legends, Introductory Essay, p. lxxxvii.


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