OLD SUPERSTITIONS
The idea that May is au unlucky month for matrimony is said to be as old as the time of Ovid, but no reason is given for the superstition. Strange fatalities cer* tainly appear to be associated with certain dates. Perhaps this is the best explained by Lord Bacon's theory that we note.the coincidences and not the misses. Twenty old predictions and superstitions pass unfulfilled, and we.regard them not, but the twenty-first is verified, and we cry "a miracle." At the same time the coincidences do occur The death of the lamented Princess of Hesse on the same day of the month and week as that of the Prince Consort attracted general attention but it may not hare been so universally observed that. Saturday has been a fatal day to the Royal Family of England for the last 167 years :—
William 111. died Saturday, March 18, 1702. Queen Anne died Saturday, August 1, 1714. George I. died Saturday, June 10,1727. George II- died Saturday, October 25, 1760. George 111. died Saturday, January 29, 1820. Georgo IV. died Saturday, June 26, 1830. The Duchess of Kent died- Saturday, March 16, ; 861. Prince Consort died Saturday, December 14, 1861. Princess Alice died Saturday, December 14, 1878.
Thursday was a fatal day to our Tudor sovereigns, Henry VIII, and his three children,. Edward, Mary, and Elizabeth, all dying on that day of the week. Ihe fact that Columbus sailed on his great voyage of discovery on Friday, August 21, 1492, sighted the shores of the new World on Friday, October 12. 1492, set sail for Spain on a Friday in the following January, and reached his destination safely on another Friday, has done nothidg to redeem this unlucky day from its evil reputation with Americans and sailors. The former sh uld certainly have a better opiuion of it, for it is a memorable day in their natnnal history. The " Mayflower arrived in the harbour, of Provence Town on Friday, November 20,1620, and on a Friday in the following month the pilgrims landed at Plymouth. George Washington was born, and the victories: of Seedier Hill, Saratoga, and Yorkgtown were gained on Fridays. .Bat the day is marked still as one of evil omen on both, ■idea of the Atlantic.
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Thames Star, Volume XII, Issue 3843, 23 April 1881, Page 1
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377OLD SUPERSTITIONS Thames Star, Volume XII, Issue 3843, 23 April 1881, Page 1
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