foot in standard measure: so in our accompt of the parts of time, we
take the daie consisting of foure and twentie houres, to be the
greatest of the least, and least of the greatest, whereby we keepe our
reckoning: for of the houre (to saie the truth) the most ancient
Romans, Greeks, nor Hebrues had anie vse; sith they reckoned by
watches: and whereof also Censorinus cap. 19. sheweth a reason
wherefore they were neglected. For my part I doo not sée anie great
difference vsed in the obseruation of time & hir parts, betwéene our
owne & any other forren nation, wherfore I shall not néed to stand
long on this matter. Howbeit to the end our exact order herein shall
appéere vnto all men, I will set downe some short rehearsall thereof,
and that in so briefe manner as vnto me is possible. As for our
astronomicall practises, I meane not to meddle with them, sith their
course is vniformelie obserued, ouer all. Our common order therefore
is to begin at the minut, which conteineth 1/60 part of an houre, as
at the smallest part of time knowne vnto the people, notwithstanding
that in most places they descend no lower than the halfe quarter or
quarter of the houre; and from whence they procéed vnto the houre, to
wit, the foure and twentith part of that which we call the common and
naturall daie, which dooth begin at midnight, and is obserued
continuallie by clockes, dialles, and astronomicall instruments of all
sorts. The artificiall varietie of which kind of ware is so great here
in England, as no place else (in mine opinion) can be comparable
therein to this Ile. I will not speake of the cost bestowed vpon them
in perle and stone, neither of the valure of mettall, whereof they
haue béene made, as gold, siluer, &c: and almost no abbeie or
religious house without some of them. This onelie shall suffice to
note here (as by the waie) that as antiquitie hath delighted in these
things, so in our time pompe and excesse spendeth all, and nothing is
regarded that bringeth in no bread. Of vnequall or temporall houres or
daies, our nation hath no regard, and therefore to shew their
quantities, differences, and diuisions, into the greater and the
lesser, (whereof the later conteineth one vnequall houre, or the
rising of halfe a signe, the other of a whole signe, which is in two
houres space, wherof Marke seemth to speake cap. 15 c 25, as the rest
of the euangelists (yea and he also ibid. vers. 33) doo of the other,
Matth. 27 e 45, Luke 23 e 44, John 19 b 14) it should be but in vaine.
In like sort, wheras the elder Aegyptians, Italians, Bohemians, latter
Atheniens, and Iews begin their daie at the sun set ouer night; the
Persians, Babylonians, Grecians, and Noribergians, at the sun rising
(ech of them accompting their daies and nights by vnequall houres)
also the elder Atheniens, Arabians, Dutchmen, Vmbers, Hetrurians, and
Astronomers at high noone, and so reckon from noone to noone: we after
Hipparchus and the latter Aegyptians, or to speake more properlie,
imitating the Roman maner vsed in the church there of long time,
choose the verie point of midnight; from whence we accompt twelue
equall houres vnto middaie insuing, and other twelue againe vnto the
aforesaid point, according to these verses;
Manè diem Græca gens incipit astra sequentes
In medio lucis Iudæis vespere sancta,
Inchoat ecclesia media sua tempora nocte.
And this is our generall order for the naturall daie. Of the
artificiall we make so farre accompt, as that we reckon it daie when
the sun is vp, and night when the sun leaueth our horizon. Otherwise
also we diuide it into two parts, that is to saie, fore noone and
after noone, not regarding the ruddie, shining, burning and warming
seasons (of thrée vnequall houres a péece, which others séeme to
diuide into spring time, summer, autumne, and winter, in like curious
manner) and whereof I read these verses:
Solis equi lucis dicuntur quatuor horæ,
Hæc rubet, hæc splendet, hæc calet, illa tepet.
Indéed our physicians haue another partition of the daie, as men of no
lesse learning no doubt than the best of forren countries, if we could
so conceiue of them. And herein they concurre also with those of other
nations, who for distinction in regiment of our humors, diuide the
artificiall daie and night in such wise as these verses doo import,
and are indéed a generall rule which ech of them doth follow:
Tres lucis primas, noctis tres sanguinis imas,
Vis choleræ medias lucis sex vendicat horas.
Dátque melam primas noctis, tres lucis & imas,
Centrales ponas sex noctis phlegmatis horas.
Or thus, as Tansteter hath giuen them foorth in his prelections:
A nona noctis donec sit tertia lucis,
Est dominus sanguis, sex inde sequentibus horis
Est dominans cholera, dum lucis nona sit hora
Post niger humid inest donec sit tertia noctis,
Posthæc phlegma venit, donec sit nona quietis.
_In English thus in effect_:
Three houres yer sun doo rise,
and so manie after, blud,
From nine to three at after noone,
hot choler beares the swaie,
Euen so to nine at night,
swart choler hath to rule,
As phlegme from thence to three at morne;
six houres ech one I saie.
[Sidenote: Night.]
[Sidenote: Vesper.]
In like sort for the night we haue none other parts than the twilight,
darkenight, midnight, and cocks crowing: wheras the Latins diuide the
same into 7 parts, as _Vesper_ or _Vesperugo_, as Plautus calleth it,
as Virgil vseth the word _Hesper_ the euening, which is immediatlie
[Sidenote: Crepsuculum.]
after the setting of the sun. _Crepusculum_ the twilight (which some
call _Prima fax_, because men begin then to light candles) when it is
betwéene daie and night, light and darkenesse, or properlie neither
[Sidenote: Concubium.]
daie nor night. _Concubium_ the still of the night, when ech one is
laid to rest.
[Sidenote: Intempestum.]
_Intempestum_, the dull or dead of the night, which is midnight, when
[Sidenote: Gallicinium.]
[Sidenote: Conticinium.]
[Sidenote: Matutinum.]
[Sidenote: Diluculum.]
men be in their first or dead sléepe. _Gallicinium_, the cocks
crowing. _Conticinium_, when the cocks haue left crowing. _Matutinum_,
the breach of the daie, and _Diluculum siue aurora_, the ruddie,
orenge, golden or shining colour, séene immediatlie before the rising
of the sun, and is opposite to the euening, as _Matutinum_ is to the
twilight.
[Sidenote: Watches.]
Other there are which doo reckon by watches, diuiding the night after
sun setting into foure equall parts. Of which the first beginneth at
euening called the first watch, and continueth by thrée vnequall
houres, and so foorth vntill the end of the ninth houre, whereat the
fourth watch entreth, which is called the morning watch, bicause it
concurreth partlie with the darke night, and partlie with the morning
and breach of the daie before the rising of the sun.
[Sidenote: Houre.]
As for the originall of the word houre, it is verie ancient; but yet
not so old as that of the watch, wherof we shall read abundantlie in
the scriptures, which was deuised first among souldiors for their
better safegard and change of watchmen in their camps; the like
whereof is almost vsed among our seafaring men, which they call
clearing of the glasse, and performed from time to time with great
héed and some solemnitie. Herevnto the word _Hora_ among the Grecians
signified so well the foure quarters of the yéere, as the foure and
twentith part of the daie, and limits of anie forme. But what stand I
vpon these things to let my purpose staie? To procéed therefore.
[Sidenote: Wéeke.]
Of naturall daies is the wéeke compacted, which consisteth of seauen
of them, the fridaie being commonlie called among the vulgar sort
either king or worling, bicause it is either the fairest or foulest of
the seauen: albeit that I cannot ghesse of anie reason whie they
should so imagine. The first of these entreth with mondaie, whereby it
commeth to passe, that we rest vpon the sundaie, which is the seauenth
in number, as almightie God hath commanded in his word. The Iews begin
their wéeke vpon our saturdaie at the setting of the sun: and the
Turks in these daies with the saturdaie, whereby it commeth to passe,
that as the Iews make our last daie the first of their wéeke, so the
Turks make the Iewish sabaoth the beginning of their _Hebdoma_:
bicause Mahomet their prophet (as they saie) was borne and dead vpon
the fridaie, and so he was indéed, except their Alcharon deceiue them.
The Iews doo reckon their daies by their distance from their sabaoth,
so that the first daie of their wéeke is the first daie of the
sabaoth, and so foorth vnto the sixt. The Latins and Aegyptians
accompted their daies after the seauen planets, choosing the same for
the denominator of the daie, that entreth his regiment with the first
vnequall houre of the same after the sun be risen. Howbeit, as this
order is not wholie reteined with vs, so the vse of the same is not
yet altogither abolished, as may appéere by our sunday, mondaie, and
saturdaie. The rest were changed by the Saxons, who in remembrance of
Theut sometime their prince, called the second day of the wéek
Theutsdach, the third Woden, Othin, Othon, or Edon, or Wodensdach.
Also of Thor they named the fourth daie Thorsdach, and of Frea wife to
Woden the fift was called Freadach. Albeit there are (and not amisse
as I thinke) that suppose them to meane by Thor, Iupiter, by Woden,
Mercurie, by Frea (or Frigga as Saxo calleth hir) Venus, and finallie
by Theut, Mars: which if it be so, then it is an easie matter to find
out the german Mars, Venus, Mercurie, and Iupiter, whereof you may
read more hereafter in my chronologie. The truth is, that Frea albeit
that Saxo giueth hir scant a good report, for that she loued one of
hir husbands men better than himselfe, had seauen sonnes by Woden; the
first, father to Wecca, of whome descended those that were afterwards
kings of Kent. Fethelgeta was the second, and of him came the kings of
Mercia. Baldaie the third, father to the kings of the west Saxons.
Beldagius the fourth, parent to the kings of Brenicia or
Northumberland. Weogodach the fift, author of the kings of Deira.
Caser the sixt race of the east Angle race, & Nascad originall
burgeant of the kings of Essex. As for the kings of Sussex, although
they were of the same people, yet were they not of the same streine,
as our old monuments doo expresse. But to procéed.
As certeine of our daies suffered this alteration by the Saxons, so in
[Sidenote: * _Ferias._]
our churches we reteined for a long time the number of daies or of [*]
feries from the sabaoth, after the manner of the Iews, I meane vntill
the seruice after the Romane vse was abolished, which custome was
first receiued (as some thinke) by pope Syluester, though other saie
by Constantine; albeit another sort doo affirme, that Syluester caused
the sundaie onelie to be called the Lords day, and dealt not with the
rest.
[Sidenote: Moneth.]
In like maner of wéekes our moneths are made, which are so called of
the moone, each one conteining eight and twentie daies, or foure
wéekes, without anie further curiositie. For we reckon not our time by
the yeare of the moone, as the Iews, Grecians, or Romans did at the
first; or as the Turks, Arabians and Persians doo now: neither anie
parcell thereof by the said planet, as in some part of the west
Indies, where they haue neither weeke, moneth, nor yéere, but onlie a
generall accompt of hundreds and thousands of moones. Wherefore if we
saie or write a moneth, it is to be expounded of eight and twentie
daies, or foure wéeks onelie, and not of hir vsuall period of nine and
twentie daies and one and thirtie minuts. Or (if you take it at large)
[Sidenote: _Triuethus in Antarticos._]
for a moneth of the common calender, which neuerthelesse in plées and
sutes is nothing at all allowed of, sith the moone maketh hir full
reuolution in eight and twentie daies or foure weeks, that is, vnto
the place where she left the sun: notwithstanding that he be now gone,
and at hir returne not to be found verie often in that signe wherin
she before had left him. Plutarch writeth of diuers barbarous nations
which reckoned a more or lesse number of these moneths for whole
yeares: and that of these some accompted but thrée, as the Archadians
did foure, the Acarnans six, and the Aegyptians but one for a whole
yeare, which causeth them to make such a large accompt of their
antiquitie and originall. But forsomuch as we are not troubled with
anie such disorder, it shall suffice that I haue generallie said of
moneths and their quantities at this time. Now a word or two of the
ancient Romane calender.
In old time each moneth of the Romane calender was reckoned after the
course of the moone, and their enterances were vncerteine, as were
also the changes of that planet: whereby it came to passe, that the
daie of the change was the first of the moneth, howsoeuer it fell out.
But after Iulius Cesar had once corrected the same, the seuerall
beginnings of euerie one of them did not onelie remaine fixed, but
also the old order in the diuision of their parts continued still
vnaltered: so that the moneth is yet diuided as before, into calends,
ides and nones, albeit that in my daies, the vse of the same bée but
small, and their order reteined onelie in our calenders, for the
better vnderstanding of such times, as the historiographers and old
authors doo remember. The reckoning also of each of these goeth (as
you sée) after a preposterous order, whereby the Romans did rather
note how many daies were to the next change from the precedent, than
contrariwise, as by perusall of the same you shall more easilie
perceiue.
The daies also of the change of the moneth of the moone, are called
_Calendæ_, which in time of paganisme were consecrated to Iuno, and
sacrifice made to that goddesse on the same. On these daies also, and
on the ides and nones they would not marie. Likewise the morow after
each of them were called _Dies atri_, blacke daies, as were also
diuerse other, and those either by reason of some notable ouerthrow or
mishap that befell vnto the Romans vpon those daies, or in respect of
some superstitious imagination conceiued of euill successe likelie to
fall out vpon the same. Of some they were called _Dies Aegyptiaci_.
Wherby it appeareth that this peeuish estimation of these daies came
from that nation. And as we doo note our holie and festiuall daies
with red letters in our calenders, so did the Romans their principall
feasts & circle of the moone, either in red or golden letters, and
their victories in white, in their publike or consularie tables. This
also is more to be added, that if anie good successe happened
afterward vpon such day as was alreadie blacke in their calender, they
would solemnlie enter it in white letters by racing out of the blacke,
whereby the blacke daie was turned into white, and wherein they not a
little reioised.
The word _Calendæ_ (in Gréeke _Neomenia_) is deriued of _Calo_, to
call: for vpon the first day of euerie moneth, the priest vsed to call
the people of the citie and countrie togither in Calabria, for so the
place was called where they met, and shew them by a custome how manie
daies were from the said calends to the nones, & what feasts were to
be celebrated betwéene that and the next change. Their order is
retrograde, because that after the moneth was halfe expired, or the
moone past the full, they reckoned by the daies to come vntill the
next change, as seuentéene daies, sixtéene daies, fourtéene daies, &c:
as the Gréekes did in the latter decad onelie, for they had no vse of
calends. The verie day therefore of the change is called _Calendæ_,
dedicated to Iuno, who thereof was also called _Calendaris_. At the
first also the fasts or feast daies were knowne by none other meanes
vnto the people but by the denunciation of the priests (as I said)
vpon this daie, till Flauius Scriba caused them to be written &
published in their common calenders, contrarie to the will and meaning
of the senat, for the ease and benefit of the people, as he pretended.
The nones commonlie are not aboue foure or six in euerie moneth: and
so long as the nones lasted, so long did the markets continue, and
therefore they were called _Nonæ quasi Nundinæ_. In them also were
neither holiedaies more than is at this present (except the day of the
purification of our ladie) no sacrifice offered to the gods, but each
one applied his businesse, and kept his market, reckoning the first
day after the calends or change, to be the fourth or sixt daie before
the faire ended. Some thinke that they were called _Nonæ_, of the word
_Non_, "quia in ijsdem dij non coluntur." For as Ouid saith, "Nonarum
tutela deo caret," or for that the nones were alwaies on the ninth
daie before the ides: other because _Nundina dea_ was honored the
ninth day before the ides, albeit I suppose rather that _Nundina dea_
(a goddesse far yoonger than the name of _Nonæ_) tooke hir name of the
nones, whereon it was a custome among the Romans, "Lustrare infantes
ac nomina maribus imponere," as they did with their maid children vpon
the eight: but howsoeuer this be, sure it is that they were the mart
daies of euerie moneth, wherin the people bought, sold, exchanged or
bartered, and did nothing else.
The ides are so named of the Hethruscan word, _Iduare_, to diuide: and
before that Cesar altered the calender, they diuided the moneth
commonlie by the middest. But afterward when he had added certeine
daies thereto, therby to make it agrée to the yéere of the sunne
(which he intruded about the end of euerie moneth, bicause he would
not alter the celebration of their vsuall feasts, whereof the chiefe
were holden alwaies vpon the day of the ides) then came they short of
the middest, sometime by two or thrée daies. In these therefore (which
alwaies are eight) the merchants had leisure to packe vp and conueie
their merchandize, to pay their creditors, and make merie with their
friends.
After the ides doo the calends follow, but in a decreasing order (as I
noted) as the moone dooth in light when she is past the full. But
herein lieth all the mysterie, if you can say so manie daies before
the next change or new moone, as the number there expressed dooth
betoken, as for 16 calends so manie daies before the next coniunction,
&c: (as is aboue remembred.) Of these calends, I meane touching their
number in euerie moneth, I find these verses insuing:
Ianus & Augustus denas nouémq; December,
Iunius Aprilis September & ipse Nouember
Ter senas retinent, Februs his octo calendas,
Iulius October Mars Maius epta decémq;
_In English thus_:
December Iune and August month
full nineteene calends haue,
Septemb Aprill Nouemb and Iune
twise nine they doo desire,
Sixteene foule Februarie hath,
no more can he well craue,
October Maie and Iulie hot
but seuenteene doo require.
_In like maner doo the nones and ides._
Sex Maius nonas, October, Iulius, & Mars,
Quatuor at reliqui, dabit idus quilibet octo.
To Iulie, Mars, October, Maie,
six nones I hight,
The rest but foure, and as for ides
they keepe still eight.
Againe touching the number of daies in euerie moneth:
Iunius, Aprilis, Septémq; Nouémq; tricenos,
Vnum plus reliqui, Februs tenet octo vicenos,
At si bissextus fuerit superadditur vnus.
Thirtie daies hath Nouember,
Aprill, Iune, and September,
Twentie and eight hath Februarie alone,
and all the rest thirtie and one,
but in the leape you must ad one.
Our yeare is counted after the course of the sunne, and although the
church hath some vse of that of the moone for obseruation of certeine
mooueable feasts, yet it is reducible to that of the sunne, which in
our ciuill dealings is chieflie had in vse. Herein onelie I find a
scruple, that the beginning thereof is not vniforme and certeine, for
most of our records beare date the 25 of March, and our calenders the
first of Ianuarie; so that with vs Christ is borne before he be
conceiued. Our sundrie officers also haue sundrie entrances into their
charges of custome, which bréedeth great confusion, whereas if all
these might be referred to one originall (and that to be the first of
Ianuarie) I doo not thinke but that there would be more certeintie,
and lesse trouble for our historiographers, notaries, & other officers
in their account of the yere. In old time the Atheniens began their
yeare with the change of the moone that fell néerest to the enterance
of the sunne into the crab, the Latines at the winter solstice, or his
going into the goat, the Iewes in ciuill case at the latter
equinoctiall, and in ecclesiasticall with the first. They of Calecute
begin their yeare somewhere in September, but vpon no daie certeine,
sith they first consult with their wisards, who pronounce one day or
other thereof to be most happie (as the yeare goeth about) and
therewith they make their entrance, as Osorius dooth remember, who
addeth that vpon the eleuenth calends of September, they haue solemne
plaies, much like to the idoll games, & that they write in leaues of
tree with a pencill, in stead of paper, which is not found among them.
Some of the old Grecians began their yere also in September: but sith
we seeke herein but for the custome of our countrie onelie, it shall
be enough to affirme that we make our account from the calends or
first of Ianuarie, and from the middest of the night which is _Limes_
betweene that and the last of December, whereof this maie suffice. I
might speake of the Cynike yeare also in this place (for the ease of
our English readers) sometime in vse amongst the Egyptians, which
conteineth 1460 common yeares, whose beginning is alwaies reckoned
from the rising of the lesser dog. The first vse thereof entered the
selfe yeare wherin the Olimpiads were restored. And forsomuch as this
nation hath no vse of intercalation, at the end of euerie 1460 yeares,
they added an whole yeare of intercalation, because there are 365
leape yeers in the period, so that 1460 Iulian yéers doo conteine 1461
after the Egyptians account, wherby their common yeare is found to be
lesse than ours. Furthermore, wheras our intercalation for the leape
yere is somewhat too much by certeine minuts, which in 115 yeares
amount vnto about an whole day, if one intercalation in so manie were
omitted, our calender would be the more perfect: and I would wish that
the same yeare wherein the said intercalation trulie found out should
be ouerpassed, might be obserued and called _Annus magnus Elizabethæ_,
in perpetuall remembrance of our noble and souereigne princesse now
reigning amongst vs.
I might here saie somewhat also of the prime and hir alteration, which
is risen higher by fiue daies in our common calender than it was
placed by Iulius Cæsar: and in seauen thousand yeares some writer
would grow to an error of an whole, if the world should last so long.
But for somuch as in some calenders of ours it is reduced againe to
the daie of euerie change, it shall suffice to saie no more therof.
The pope also hath made a generall correction of the calender, wherein
he hath reduced it to the same that it was or should haue beene at the
councell of Nice. Howbeit as he hath abolished the vse of the golden
number, so hath he continued the epact, applieng it vnto such generall
vse, as dooth now serue both the turnes, whose reformation had also
yer this time béene admitted into England, if it had not procéeded
from him, against whom and all whose ordinances we haue so faithfullie
sworne and set our hands.