6oo . TheeighceenthBaokeof 



may mifc^mc :but if it fall out befidcSjthat the moonciipon that day docchanngCj all tdits as G 

 wcU winter fruits as thofcvjhich be called Haftic^ mull of neceifitie take hanne and bee hurt 

 thcreby.RudcandfimpIcJconfeirejWereouraiincertorsinoIdtimejandalEOgitiier unlettered, 

 howbeitasvvittie(as{hallappearc)in their obfervations and ceienionics, as our Moderns in 

 thefedaicsbe refolutej with all their skill they have, grounded upon rcafon andconfequenee: 

 for according as they feared three feafons above the reft^ leaft they fhould doe haimc unto die 

 fruits of the earth jfo they inftitutcd as many Holydaies and fet feafts^ to wit^Rubigalia, Flora- 

 Jia, and Vinalia^ As touchingRubigaliaj they were ordained firft by King Nur^ia in the eleventh 

 ^khu7^ y^^^^ rcignc, which now we celebrate a fevcn-nighc before May day^to wit,the 2 5 of A- 

 " prill : the reafon is^ for that about this time corne is fubjed to the blaft. Howbeit, ^arro folio w- 



ing the order obferved in his daics, fetteih downe this daungerous time to be, when the Sun is H 

 in the tenth degree of Taurusj and occafioned thereby.Butin deed, according tothe caleulof 

 others^ the true realbn and caulc is this. That about nineteen daies after the Spring /E'.]uinoXj 

 clivers nations have obferved foure malignant daies^, which reach to the 28 of Aprili: in which 

 time^theDog-ftarCaniscoLicheth (aviolentand daungerouslhrof himlelfcby nature) and 

 beforcwhich of ncceiTuic the other licdeftar Canicula mifth-etireand goe downc. And rhere- 

 fore thofe aunccftors and forefathers of ours, inftituted the feaft of Florciiia, as tiicy were advi- 

 led out of the bookes of ^%//«ijinthe5i^yeare after the foundation of Rome cittic: who or- 

 dained alfojthai the fa:d feaft lliould be held the fourth day before the Calends of May, to wir, 

 the 28 day before-named of Apriil, ^r this intent. That all plants might blowraekindlvjand 

 fhcd chcir bloflbms ^s well. Farro fetteth downe this day to fall out^ when as the Sonne is entred I 

 fourteenc dcgreesinto Taurus.Therefore in cafe it be full moone during thele foure daies of the 

 feaft Floralia J not onely corne, but all other plants whatfoeverthat fball bloflbmejare fureto 

 take grear harme thereby. As for the former feaft called Vinalia, which is kept five daies before, 

 *s.GcBrgeiday witjthc"^ 23 of April!, it concerncth nothing at all the fruits of the earth, but was appointed 

 with us, only as a fit time for to taft wines.And yer for all thefe obfervations before-named, there is none 

 of them pertinent either to Vines or Olive trees, for their time of conception beginneth at tha 

 fifing of the ftar Vergilix, to wit^fix daies before the Ides orMay,which is the tenth of that mo- 

 necbj.as we have before declared. About which timejtberebe other foure daungerous daies, in 

 which husbandmen in no wife would have any grolTe and filthieftinkingdswes to fall, for feare 

 of their Vines and Olives, (for above all,they ftand ia dread oi the ftar Ardiurus, which goeth 

 downc ihc morrow afcer the riling of Vcrgilis, and commonly brings with ic raw and unkindly 

 rimes) and mucaicife that the moone fliould happen to be in the full at fuch a time.The fourth 

 day before the Nones of lune, which isthefecond ofthe fame monedi, the Mi^k ftarre appea- 

 reth the (econd time in the evening : a judiciall day is this day, and it will go hard with Olives and 

 Vines now in their flourc, elpecialiy if the full moone alfo light thereupon, and give evidence 

 againft them. For mine owne part, I would thinke verily , that the Summer Sunftead ordinarily 

 upon the 2 5 of lunc is as dangerous 5 as alio the nfing ot the great Dog ftar which alwaies fai- 

 Icth out to be 2 3 daies after the faid Sunftead, if fo bee that tiie moone doe chaungc in any of 

 thofe two dales 5 tor then commeth the harme by extremitie of heat, which doth fo bake 6^ har- 

 den the young kernels of the grapes and Olives new knit, that they be tanned as it were into a £ 

 tough callo{itie,ihat they ca n thrive and grow no more from that day forward. Againe, the full 

 of theflioonc is as hurtfuU as it,t o vines and Olives, if it happen the fourth day bcrore the Nones 

 of luly, to wit, the fourth day of the faid moneth, at what time the lefteDog-ftat Canicula ri- 

 lech to them in ><Egypt 5 or at leaft wife the fixceenth day before the Calends ot Auguftj which is 

 ihefeventeenth of luly, when we in Italy difcover the rifing of thefaid Canicula, Likewife if the 

 moone chaunceco beinthefuU betweene the twentie and three and twentie daies of the faid 

 iijlic, what time the ^gie ftar goeth downe, the fame daungerbcfalleth vines and Olives . As 

 j^jiejiing the lecond feaft Vinalia, which is obferved and kept thirtsene daies before September, 

 t<> wit, the 20 of Auguftjitis not to beraunged among thefe, asbeingof another nature, and 

 inftitUted atfiift for other caufes * r4rrtf would have this feaftto begin at the departure of tiie M 

 Harp&rftar Fidicula, which beginneth to retire in the morning, and which day he fetteth downe 

 for the firft entric of Autumne ; faying moreover, that this leaft was inft itutcd for appeafing the 

 ftormes and tempefts incidentto that feafon. And now obferved itisjihat the faid Harpe-ftarre 

 fidicula fetteth & daies before the Ides of Auguftjwhich is th^ eighth day of that momh. Thus 



much 



