Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 5.djvu/289

 9* S.V.APRIL 14, 1900.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

281

LONDON, SATURDAY, APRIL Ik, 1900.

CONTENTS. -No. 120.

NOTES : Tables to find Easter, 281 Walpole and his Editors, 282 Shakespeariana Football on Shrove Tues- day, 283 Horns of Moses Inscribed Gravestones at West- minster, 284 Evil Eye Daniel Defoe English Soldiers at Colenso, 285 " Kindlily " Sir Clipsby Crew Open Spaces, 286.

QUERIES :" Hognayle " Mourning in 1661 Coats of Arms Wanted Author of Epigram Wanted ' The Infernal Marriage ' Filliol Family, 287 Laws of Cricket Gram- matical Usage Casts of Ancient Seals ' Easier than Lying ' Reardon : McCarthy " Batsueins " Ghosts and Suicides Savage and Adames Flemish Weavers Shake- speare and Cicero, 288 Virtues and Vices General Cope Walton and Layer Families Low Geo. Romney Lighthouse Sinecure, 289.

REPLIES : Fahrenheit Thermometer, 289 Surname Jekyll " Neither fish, nor flesh, nor good red herring " "The Beurre," 290" Sunday " Hare " Havelock " Thames Tunnel 1 Punch ' Changes" Ivers "Arms of Wales, 291 " Comparisons are odious " Wall ington Arms on Bar Gate of Southampton Carteret Coincidence in Washing- ton Family Mogul Cards, 292 ' Three Wise Men of Gotham ' ' Expostulation 'Volant as Christian Name "Bird-eyed" "Dozzil," 293 St. Hieretha Waterproof Clothing Forshaw, 294 Alum Trade " To jipper a joint " Kellet Family Byng Fateful Pocket handker- chief Jarndyce v. Jarndyce " The green-eved monster " Future of Books and Bookmen First British Light- house, 295 Nelson's House at Merton Battle Sheaves Hanky Panky "Irish Fearagurthok, " 296 'Letters on the English Nation 'Bar- At-Gin & Co. " Childerpox " Boundary Stones in Open Fields "Mary had a little lamb," 297 Sir John Weld, 298.

NOTES ON BOOKS : Airy's 'Burnet's History of my Own Time ' ' New English Dictionary ' ' Dictionary of National Biography,' Vol. LXII.

gates.

THE TABLES FOR FINDING EASTER PREFIXED TO THE PRAYER BOOK. SOME omissions are certainly now de- sirable from these tables, since we have passed the time when a shift had to be made in the respective positions of the Golden Number and the Sunday or Dominical Letter. "A Table to find Easter Day from the present time till the year 1899 in- clusive" and "Another Table to find Easter till the year 1899 inclusive" are obviously unneces- sary now that 1899 is past. I pointed out in 7 th S. i. 243 the absurdity of the addition to the heading of the former of these tables and of some following ones of the words " accord- ing to the foregoing calendar." They must to ordinary minds appear quite unintelli- gible, being a survival from the editions of the Prayer Book before 1752, in which there was prefixed to the ' Calendar of Lessons ' a column giving the Golden Numbers against those days in which new moons would occur in the years to which these Golden Numbers applied. The Gregorian reformation was brought into use in 1752, and these numbers were omitted because they would not always 'avail for finding Easter. Our present tables were then inserted, some of which ceased (as

before remarked) to be applicable after 1899, and should now be omitted.

It is a fact worth notice that the Golden Numbers require nearly the same amount of shift (but in the opposite direction) under the Julian and the Gregorian reckonings. A lunation, or period from new moon to new moon or full moon to full moon, is 29 d- 5306 or 29 d 12 h 44 m, and 235 of these amount to 6,939 d 16 h 35 m , whilst there are in nineteen tropi- cal years 6,939 d 14 h 27 m. But nineteen Julian years (which took a year as 365| days exactly) amounted to 6,939 d 18 h O m. We are now con- cerned with the Gregorian year, which is very nearly of the true length of the year. It will be seen that nineteen of these (which comprise a Golden Number period) are about two hours short of 235 lunations, which will make a whole day in twelve such periods or 228 years. By the Julian reckoning nineteen years are 1'4 hours in excess of a Golden Number period, so that a shift is, strictly speaking, not required until after 323 years. It is not then quite accurate to say that the following tables in the Prayer Book will be applicable until 2199 inclusive, for, starting from 1900, another shift will be required in A.D. 2128 that the same Golden Number may indicate the same state of the moon.

It is rather amusing to note the stir which has this year been made in some quarters because the day of Easter did not appear in this country to correspond to the rule in the Prayer Book. For the Greenwich time of full moon was past 1 o'clock in the morning on 15 April, which is taken as Easter Day, not the following, as the rule seemed to re-

Juire. But the full moon intended in the 'rayer Book is the fourteenth day of the moon according to calendar rules. A little consideration would have shown that the real full moon cannot be used for this pur- pose, as it would make Easter in a different week in different parts of the world. Thus this year the full moon occurs at a time which by local time is past midnight on 14 April all over Europe, and, therefore, by civil time on the morning of 15 April. But even in West Africa it is before midnight, and in America the moon is full in the evening of 14 April. Now if Easter Day were the Sun- day after the actual full moon, it would have to be taken this year on 15 April in America and 22 April in Europe. Such confusion is avoided by making the calendar full moon take place according to certain artificial rules, which put the Paschal full moon this year on 14 April. ^. far better and simpler plan (which we may lope will some day be adopted) would un- doubtedly be to drop the moon altogether in