53. On Shrove Tuesday last, I’ll tell you what pass’d
In a neighbouring gentleman’s kitchen,
Where pancakes were making, with eggs, and with bacon
As good as e’er cut off a flitchen.
The cook-maid she makes four lusty pancakes
For William her favourite gardener,
“Pray be quick with that four,” cries Jack, “and make more,
For William won’t let me go partner.”
Being sparing of lard, the pan’s bottom she marr’d
In making the last of Will’s four;
So she said, “Pr’ythee, John, run and borrow a pan,
Or else I can’t make any more.”
Jack soon got a pan, but found by his span
That the first was more wide than the latter,
This being a foot o’er, whereas that before
Was three inches more and a quarter.
Jack cries, “Don’t me cozen, but make half a dozen.
For the pan is much less than before;”
Says Will, “For a crown (and I’ll put the cash down)
Your six will be more than my four.”
“Tis done,” says brisk Jack, and his crown he did stake,
So both of them sent for a gauger;
The dimensions he takes, of all their pancakes,
To determine this important wager.
He found, by his stick, they were equally thick,
So one of Will’s cakes he did take,
Which he straight cut in twain, twelve one-fifth[1] the chord line;
And gave the less piece unto Jack.
“To the best of my skill,” says the gauger, “this will
Make both of your shares equal and true;”
Will swore that he lied, so, the point to decide,
They refer themselves, sirs, unto you;
Then pray give your answers, as soon as you can, sirs,
For what with their quarrels and jars,
We’re afraid of some murder, for no day goes over
But they fight, and are cover’d with scars!
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
[1] Inches.
A Great Prophet--100 per cent.
Interesting Items About the Almanac.
The reason why February has only 28 days, while the other months have
30 and 31 is attributable to the vanity of the Emperor Augustus.
His uncle and predecessor corrected the calendar, arranging the
year almost as we have it now; he gave to the year 12 months, or
365¼ days. The months were--March (the first month), April, May,
June, Quintilis, Sextiles, September, October, November, December,
January, and February (the latter being the last month of the year,
which among the Romans had consisted originally of 10 months). Cæsar
ordered that the year should begin with January, and divided the
days among them thus: January, March, May, Quintilis, September,
and November each had 31 days; April, June, Sextiles, October and
December had 30 days each; and February (the last month added to the
year) had 29 days regularly and a 30th day every fourth year. After
Julius Cæsar’s death, Mark Antony changed the name of Quintilis to
July as we have it now. Augustus wanted a month for himself, and
wanted it as long as his uncle’s month, so he took Sextiles for his
and changed the name to August. Then he took February’s 29th day and
added it to August, so that it might have 31 days; and, to avoid
having 3 months of 31 days each in succession, September and November
were reduced to 30 days, and October and December increased to 31
days each.
Previous to the year 1752, the legal year in England commenced on
the 25th March. In that year it was enacted that the legal year
should begin on 1st January. The change brought the calendar into
unison with the actual state of the solar year. It is curious that
in Scotland the change which made the legal year begin on January
1st was effected in 1600. For some time after the change in England,
legal documents contained two dates for the period intervening
between 1st January and 25th March--that of the old year and that of
the new.
During the time of Oliver Cromwell, Christmas Day was described as a
superstitious festival, and put down in England by the strong hand of
the law.
There has been a superstitious notion that Fools’ Day dated back to
the time of Noah’s Ark. The dove that was sent forth from the Ark is
supposed to have returned on April 1st.
THE MOST REMARKABLE MONTH was February, 1866. It had no full
moon. January had two full moons, and so had March, but February had
none. This had not occurred since the creation of the world, and it
will not occur again, so scientists tell us.
_All Fools’ Day_ had it’s origin in France, before the time of the
Reformed Calendar. When the year commenced on March 25th, the French
frequently paid their New Year’s visits and bestowed their gifts on
April 1st, as March 25th occurred in Passion Week. After the adoption
of the new calendar, however, these New Year’s observances took place
on January 1st, and it was a common thing for people to forget the
change of date. Pretended presents and mock ceremonial visits became
common, and the persons thus imposed on were known as April fish,
_i.e._, a mackerel, which, like a fool, is easily caught. Hence,
All Fools’ Day.
54. Being at the summit of a tower 400 ft. high, I dropped a cricket
ball from my hand, causing it to alight on a ledge 260 ft. from the
base, over which it rolled and fell to the earth: supposing that
1½ seconds were occupied by the rolling of the ball over the
ledge, how many seconds elapsed from the ball leaving my hand till it
touched the earth, and what was the acquired velocity at the moment
of contact?