If St. Paul be fine and clear, We shall have a happy year. If St. Paul be thick with rain, Then dear will be the price of grain. After St. Bartholomew Come long evenings and cold dew. February fill dyke, Be it black or be it white, But if it is white, It is better to like. March winds and April showers, Bring forth May flowers. He who views his wheat on a weeping May, Will himself so weeping away; But he who views it on a weeping June, Will go away in another tune. When the sand doth feed the clay, England woe and well-a-day: But when the clay doth feed the sand, Then it is well with Angle Land. A swarm of bees in May Is worth a load of hay, A swarm of bees in June Is worth a silver spoon. A swarm of bees in July Is not worth a fly. Under a broomstalk silver and gold, Under a gorsestalk hunger and cold. When hempe's spun, England's done.

The latter referred to the reigns of Henry VIII., Edward IV., Mary and Philip, and Queen Elizabeth, but proved false prophecy.

CROWLAND ABBEY

In the days of Monks and Friars, the following lines in bad Latin, were composed on Crowland, Lincolnshire, or the adjoining Abbey:

In Hollandia stat Crowland; Ibi vinium talequale, Ibi foenum gladiale Ibi lecti lapidale, Ibi viri boreali, Ibi vale sine vale.

They are thus translated in the Beauties of England and Wales (1767):—

"In Holland stands Crowland Built on dirty low land. Where you'll find, if you go, The wine's but so so; The blades of the hay Are like swords one may say, The beds are like stones, And break a man's bones; The men rough and sturdy, Compliments will afford me But bid you good b'w'y, When both hungry and dry."

W.H.

THE HOBBY HORSE

Bromley Pagets was remarkable for a very singular sport on New Year's Day and Twelfth Day, called the Hobby Horse Dance: a person rode upon the image of a horse, with a bow and arrow in his hands, with which he made a snapping noise, keeping time with the music, whilst six others danced the hay and other country dances, with as many rein-deer's heads on their shoulders. To this hobby-horse belonged a pot, which the Reeves of the town kept and filled with cakes and ale, towards which the spectators contributed a penny, and with the remainder maintained their poor and repaired the church.—W.H.

HOLY LAND

Ramsey Island, near St. David's Head, is said to have been inhabited by so many saints, that no less than twenty thousand are stated in ancient histories to lie interred there. Near this place are the rocks styled the Bishop and his Clerks, which, says an ancient author "preache deadly doctrine to their winter audience, such poor sea-faring men as are forcyd thether by tempest, onelie in one thing they are to be commended, they keepe residence better than the rest of the canons of that see (St. David's) are wont to do."

W.H.

ANCIENT AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES

After the Britons retired into Wales, it was enacted that no man should guide a plough that could not make one; and that the driver should make the ropes of twisted willows, with which it was drawn. It was usual for six or eight persons to form themselves into a society for fitting out one of these ploughs, providing it with oxen, and every thing necessary for ploughing; and many curious laws were made for the regulation of such societies. If any person laid dung on the field with the consent of the proprietor, he was by law allowed the use of that land for one year. If the dung was carried out in a cart in great abundance, he was to have the use of the land for three years. Whoever cut down a wood, and converted the ground into arable, with the consent of the owner, was to have the use of it for five years. If any one folded his cattle for one year, upon a piece of ground belonging to another, with the owner's consent, he was allowed the use of the ground for four years. Thus, though the Britons had in a great measure lost the knowledge of agriculture, they appear to have been very assiduous in giving encouragement to such as would attempt the revival of it.

T. GILL.

THE SELECTOR; AND LITERARY NOTICES OF NEW WORKS

LANDERS' DISCOVERY OF THE TERMINATION OF THE NIGER

We continue our extracts from this very entertaining work, the following being from the second volume.

At Boossà, the travellers receive a visit from "the noted widow Zuma." She must be an Amazonian lady, for, having quarrelled with her prince, the ruler of Wowow, she was obliged to fly, and actually to climb over the city wall in the night, and travel on foot to Boossà. Female politicians in Africa are not so safe as in the coteries of civilized Europe: they have to fight their own battles, and we conclude, to raise their own supplies: "the widow complained sadly of poverty and the hardness of the times; she had fought with the Yarribeans against Alòrie; but instead of receiving a recompense for her bravery, she had lost half her slaves in an engagement, which so disgusted her with the military profession, that she immediately abandoned it and returned home. Yet, in spite of all her losses and misfortunes, she has gained so much in corpulency, that it was with the utmost difficulty, she could squeeze herself into the doorway of our hut, although it is by no means small. The widow Zuma is a very good-looking, elderly person of matronly appearance. Her skin is of a light copper colour." Should this meet the eye of any soldier of fortune, &c.

At Boossà, they hear some tidings of

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The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 19, No. 542, April 14, 1832

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OLD WEATHER RHYMES

CROWLAND ABBEY

THE HOBBY HORSE

HOLY LAND

ANCIENT AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES

THE SELECTOR; AND LITERARY NOTICES OF NEW WORKS

LANDERS' DISCOVERY OF THE TERMINATION OF THE NIGER

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