Dennis-Exciting-Times

I first read Mother Shipton's prophecies decades ago and was impressed that in the 1500's this woman was writing about so many things that were unheard of in her day even recent trends such as sexual equality. Following the outbreak of coronavirus I thought I would share it because of her prediction of an ague ( malaria or another illness involving fever and shivering) coming from China and which she claimed would be worse than leprosy. The first publication of Mother Shipton’s prophecies appeared in 1641 (eighty years after her death) and contained a number of mainly regional predictions, but only two prophetic verses -- neither of which foretold the End of the World, despite widespread assumptions to that effect. A later edition was published in 1684, it states that she was born in Knaresborough Yorkshire, in a cave now known as Mother Shipton's Cave , and was reputed to be hideously ugly. Her maiden name was thought to be Ursula Southill or Ursula Soothtel. The