but, as in the case of most poets, the dramatic value of an eclipse seems to have escaped his notice.
In the year 1140 there occurred a total eclipse of the sun, the last to be visible in England for more than five centuries. Indeed there have been only two such since—namely, those of 1715 and 1724, to which we shall allude in due course. The eclipse of 1140 took place on the 20th March, and is thus referred to in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle:—
"In the Lent, the sun and the day darkened, about the noon-tide of the day, when men were eating, and they lighted candles to eat by. That was the 13th day before the calends of April. Men were very much struck with wonder."
Several of the older historians speak of a "fearful eclipse" as having taken place on the morning of the Battle of Crecy, 1346. Lingard, for instance, in his History of England, has as follows:—
"Never, perhaps, were preparations for battle made under circumstances so truly awful. On that very day the sun suffered a partial eclipse: birds, in clouds, the precursors of a storm, flew screaming over the two armies, and the rain fell in torrents, accompanied by incessant thunder and lightning. About five in the afternoon the weather cleared up; the sun in full splendour darted his rays in the eyes of the enemy."
Calculations, however, show that no eclipse of the sun took place in Europe during that year. This error is found to have arisen from the mistranslation of an obsolete French word esclistre (lightning), which is employed by Froissart in his description of the battle.
In 1598 an eclipse was total over Scotland and part of North Germany. It was observed at Torgau by Jessenius, an Hungarian physician, who noticed a bright light around the moon during the time of totality. This is said to be the first reference to the corona since that of Plutarch, to which we have already drawn attention.
Mention of Scotland recalls the fact that an unusual number of eclipses happen to have been visible in that country, and the occult bent natural to the Scottish character has traditionalised a few of them in such terms as the "Black Hour" (an eclipse of 1433), "Black Saturday" (the eclipse of 1598 which has been alluded to above), and "Mirk Monday" (1652). The track of the last-named also passed over Carrickfergus in Ireland, where it was observed by a certain Dr. Wybord, in whose account the term "corona" is first employed. This eclipse is the last which has been total in Scotland, and it is calculated that there will not be another eclipse seen as total there until the twenty-second century.
An eclipse of the sun which took place on May 30, 1612, is recorded as having been seen "through a tube." This probably refers to the then recent invention—the telescope.
The eclipses which we have been describing are chiefly interesting from an historical point of view. The old mystery and confusion to the beholders seem to have lingered even into comparatively enlightened times, for we see how late it is before the corona attracts definite attention for the sake of itself alone.