NOTE.-Whitfuntide is obferved in Scotland always on the 15th of May, fifty days of the 27th of March, the date which was observed by the Church for Eafterday, according to the reckoning of Dionyfius, A.D. 533. Vide pp. 126, 127. OLAR Regulars are certain fixed numbers. attached to the months of the Julian and Gregorian years. Thefe Regulars have been cuftomarily ufed with the "Concurrents," [which are certain other fixed numbers corresponding to the feven Year-Letters,] for ascertaining the day of the week of the first day of any month in the year to which the Year-Letter belongs, from 9 A.D. with Year-Letter F, Concurrent I, for any Julian Year; and from 1 Nov. 1582 A.D. with the Year-Letter for any Gregorian year. Concurrents. "Con S common years confift of 52 weeks and 1 day, and Leap or bifextile years have 52 weeks and 2 days, in order that the civil year may concur with the Solar the term year, current" is appropriate, when ferving to defignate any one of the fupernumerary days, by means of a number, regulated by the Year-Letter, for the year to which either of the extra days may belong. We thus have the letters and numbers in the following order :-F 1; E 2; D3; C4; B5; A 6; and G 7. The term "Dominical Letter" has not been used, because the Dominical Letters change in each Leapyear after the 24th of February. The Year-letter muft therefore alone be recognized, the fecond Year-letter in a Leap-year coming into ufe on the 1st of March. [N.B. The Dominical Letters were not introduced until 1285 A.U.C., when that year was called 532 Anno Domini.] Rule for finding the Initial day of each month, in any Add the "Solar Regular" for the required month, to the "Concurrent" belonging to the Year-Letter for the year in question, the fum, if it exceed not feven, will represent the initial day of the month. Thus : If the fum be greater than feven, that number (7) must be deducted; the remainder being then taken to indicate the day of the week with which the month in question begins. Example:-Required the day of the week upon which the ift day of February falls in the year 1867. 5 Solar Regular for February 6 = Friday ift of February. HE Epact is the number which denotes the excess of the Solar year above the Lunar year, [the "Prime" or Golden Number of the cycle of 19 years, introduced by Dionyfius Exiguus A.D. 532, being ufed]. A table of Epacts must therefore be taken to be merely a table of differences. Epacts were used as dates in ancient writings, before the new ftyle of Pope Gregory's calendar was introduced, A.D. 1582. |