Shinkin ap Shone her Prognostication.
IT was spoken long since by her cosen, a wise and learned Welsh Shentleman, that art had no enemy but ignorance; and therefore her shall not speak much by way of Preface, Preludium or Exordium, for her do not doubt in the least but to give her understanding Countreymen good content, and for carping zoiluses and mumbling Mommuses, her takes no care to please, but for her ingenuous sons of art, her hopes her will take her pains and industry in good part, and so her begins her Prognostication; and because divers of her learned Astrologers, especially her own cosens and her Country men, differ about which moneth should be the first in the yeer, som taking it to begin in Ianuary, others in March, therefore her will deliver her sence concerning that point, and says that in her judgment the yeere begins in March, and that for these her welsh reasons: First, because according to her rules of her welch art, the first day of March is St. Taffies day, at which time the Leeks be ripe and fit for her pot, and if her mistake not, there will be a new Moon about the eighth day of March, five quarters of an hour past 5 at night; and therefore her doz conclude, by these her welsh reasons, that the yeer begins in March. Another of her reasons is, because her own cosen and countreyman Lewis ap Shone, being a fery learned shentleman in the Mathematical Science, doz confirm her in her judgment; and now to her prognostication. In this Moneth her shall have fair weather if it be not foul, in this moneth also is a very good time for her to eat Leeks and Onions, especially in her welsh porrage, it will moke her good plood, and will cleanse her veins from excrementuous humours: in this Moneth her is fearful divers of her cosens and countrymen will be in great danger, by reason of some malevolent Planets influence upon her deer countrymen; for if her be not mistaken in her Annals, her Cosen Lewis Keeg Guidon was hang'd at Presteign much about this time of the yeer, and if her countreymen be not serry careful of their own safeties, there will be many of her Countreymen go the same way: for her know, that when the sign is in the neck, as it is on the 11 day of this moneth, her Countreymen are in much danger, of which her is [Page 2]ready to give them warning, which her prayes all her Countreymen to take in time; for if her do not take her counsell in time, it will be worse for her, and therefore if her love her neck peware apout this time, creat plots and conspiracies are like to he found out, but hope, though her bee not fery sure, that her honest countreymen wil have nothing to do with such deeds of darkness, for her own part, her do declare her shudgement freely, her thinks it best and safest to sleep in a whole skin, and her say again, and again, tat for her own part, let whose neck wil come into a halter, her is resolved to keep her neck out, if her can; for her do wel remember, tat if her head be once cotten in, its hardly cotten out again quickly; for her own father was a Shentleman of cood quality, for a Welshman, and was shoakt with a halter, and yet her was no plotter nor conspirator, but a fery honest shentleman of cood repute among her neighbors, only her borrowed five yoke of Oxen of her neer kinsman Rice ap Hugh, without her consent; which misfortune, her cannot attribute to any thing but her destinie and malevolent stars; and terefore her shal conclude tiss moneths Observations with te words of a wise man, xiz. He tat pewares not pefore, shal pee sorry afterwards.
Aprills Observations.
Tiss moneth pegins te firft day, according to te shudgement of the ancient, and for her own part, her is of the same shudgement, and tat for tiss reason, pecause as her humbly conceives, tere is a new Moon te seven day, apout three quarters of an hour past three of te clock in te morning; and du [...] her think a new Moon can pee made in less time than seven days, and some few odd hours and minuts? Truly her thinks not for her owne part, neither duz her pelieve tat te best or most skilfullest in aule her country can make one new moon in twice te time, let her prate what her wil, if her knows not te Law her duz but lose her labor, and make her self pee laught at; for her tat wanteth knowledg art and science is but the outside of a man, without an inside: For now her call to her memory, her have read a Story of Alexander and his great horse, for they were both wise: it is reported of his horse, tat when he had his trappings and rich furniture [Page 3]on, he would suffer none but his Master Alexander himself to come neer him, but when his rich furniture was off, hee was so gentle that any one of his Masters servants might get upon his back and ride him at pleasure: for which her wisdom, as her humbly conceives, it was that her Master Alexander loved her so wel, for Alexander was a man, that loved learning and learned men intirely, her made so creat account of knowledg and learning, tat her would oft times say, tat her thought her selfe more peholding to Aristotle for her learning, than to Philip her father for her life, pecaus as her conceived, the one viz▪ Learning, is immortal, and te other, viz. Life, but short and momentary. But her must not dwel here, her hope her countrymen will pardon her long and needful digression, peing in commendation of learning and learned men, and now to her business. Tiss month as her have read in fery cood Authors, was te Mountains of Wales first inhabited by her Ancestors and Predecessors, and pecaus many prophane and ignorant Englishmen have presumed to traduce her teer friends and countrymen with sundry opprobrious languages, as first, tat her countreymen sprang first of all from a horseturd left upon te top of Maburn-hills by Bucephulus, Alexanders creat horse, others of them say, tat when Brutus first entred Wales her horse left a Surreverence upon te top of Mawburn-hills, and from thence came her countrymen, and terefore tey call her Countrymen Brutes, as if they were Beasts, others of tem say, tat te first peginning of her countreymen sprang from a Baw Guithie, or a Goose — breathed upon Pigmalions Image, te Poets feigning tat te gods made her alive, and te first time she blew her nose she threw te snot from her, which falling upon a Goose — from that precious compound came te Welshman: But in all tese tings tey are deceived, not having read te writings of te Ancients: For first, her cannot finde in all her Welsh Histories, tat ever Alexander te creat ever was in her Countrey, and if ever her was at Mawburn-hills, which her cannot peleeve, Mawburne-hills is not in her Countrey, and terefore tat can pee no disparagement to her, or her Countrey-men, and for calling her countreymen brutes, or beasts, her understands not in te least, nor her thinkes no body els tat ever her knew, [Page 4]or could ever hear of; and therefore her will wave that, and the rest, and give her Countreymen a clear demonstration of her pedigree from the first inhabiting of Wales, her Ancestors antient Inheritance, and to the everlasting praise of her Countreymen be it spoken: It is thus. It was in ancient time, but her thinks it was since Noahs Flood, England was governed by severall Kings, and at that time Carnwall was a Kingdome of it self, distinct from the rest, and the King of Cornwal having occasion to use a great number of Oars at Sea, more then her own Domnions was able to furnish her withall, whereupon the King of Cornwal called a Council together to advise with her about her business, being of great weight to her small Commonwealth; whereupon it was unanimously agreed, that her Majesty of Cornwal should write a Letter in Cornish to her Majesty of France for a supply of French Oars for her Cornish Galleys, but when her Majesty of France had received her Majesty of Cornwals Letters, and her Majesty of France not well understanding the Cornish tongue, understood these Oars to bee Whores, of which kind of good creatures France did abound, insomuch that they might be well spared, her Majesty of France willingly consented, and accordingly sent over to Cornwall eight ships wel fraught with French whores, which when her Maiesty of Cornwall perceived, her was horn mad, especially for that her French whores were almost naked, whereby her Maiesty knew that her had gotten a great number of idle people into her Territories more then her had, though her Countrry was well provided before, as her own Countrey is to this day: But to proceed in her discourse, her Maiesty of Cornwal being willing to cloath these French whores, and to set them to work, and there being little store of cloath in Cornwall, because few good Huswives dwelt there, her Maiesty of Cornwal writ a Letter to the King of Jreland in the Cornish Tongue, to send him over as many Irish Rugs as would cloath those French whores; but when her Majesty of Jreland had received her Letter, and not well understanding the Cornish Tongue, her understood the Rugs to be Rogues, of which Ireland was well stored; whereupon her Majesty of Jreland mustered up as many Rogues as was expressed in her Letter, and more too, because her would be rid [Page 5]of them, and sent them over by shipping into Cornwall, which when her Majesty of Cornwall perceived, her was worse mad then before; whereupon her called her Councel together to consult what was fit to be done in such a case; whereupon, after much time spent in debate, some moving to hang them, others opposing that, alledged, that would make Hemp dear; and therefore in her judgment, it was best and the cheapest way to throw them all into the Sea, and drown them all: But against that was alledged, that that was the worst way that could be to dispose of them; for that was the way to breed a scarcity of fish in all the Nations round about, because the French whores and Irish rogues were such nasty stinking Cattel, that if her Maiesty should throw them into the Sea, they would poyson all the Fishes in the Sea, and so not only bring famine into her own Territories, but also provoke all the Princes round about her to war against her Crown and Kingdom; and if her should hang them, it would not only make Hemp dear, but destroy all her loving Subiects with a pestilential air, or ill smell; and if her drown them, it would poyson all the fishes in the Sea, and bring famine upon all her Subiects, to her exceeding great detrement; wherefore there was a necessity to find out some other way, whereupon it was resolved, that forasmuch as Wales was not then inhabited, and that it was but a short cut from Cornwall to Wales, and that as there was many hils, there could not choose but be some Dales, and they being there, they could neither make hemp dear, nor poison the fish, but if they poisoned any body, they must poison one another; For these, and the like reasons it was unanimously agreed Nemine contra dissente, that they should be forthwith sent over, which was done accordingly, and of their Off-spring came her welsh cosen and countreymen,
Thus her hopes her have done her Countrey good service in freeing her Countrey-men from calumnies and aspersions, also humbly craving pardon for her prolixity, it being fery needfull to clear her self and her countreymen from such aspersions usually [Page 8]cast upon her and her countreymen by prophane and ignorant Englishmen; and as her have been long and large in some things, so her shall be prief and short in som other, and so her comes to give her Iudgment to the gazing Star, or Stella nova, seen in and neer London, about the 22 and 23 of February, 1654.
Her duz humbly conceive, that this Star duz portend (if any thing at all) either peace or war, or both, but which her do not fery wel know, because her have not consulted with her Authors, because her Library was burnt at the destruction of Sodom and Gomorah, which neither her self, nor any body els for her is ever like to recover; but her have borrowed one of the Modern Astrologers books, which tells her, that Stars at that time of the day, signifie only fair and dry weather, her duz confess if there be no rain, it is like to be a dry summer, but her can give no great credit to Modern Astrologie, because things new are not always true, but if her had her Library, before spoken of, her would undertake to resolve her all her doubts, and so her bids her farewel.