Mother Shipton

British  

/ ˈʃɪptən /

noun

1. a day-flying noctuid moth, Callistege mi, mottled brown in colour and named from a fancied resemblance between its darker marking and a haggish profile

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Etymology

Origin of Mother Shipton

named after Mother Shipton, a legendary prophetess in 15th-century Yorkshire

Example Sentences

If we expect to find lasting pleasure in contemplating the Dropping Well, or the pathetic little exhibition of petrified objects in the Mother Shipton Inn, we may be prepared for disappointment.

From Yorkshire by Home, Gordon

Somewhere in a wood there is a stone, supposed to be a tombstone of the prophetess Mother Shipton, and bearing an undecipherable inscription.

From Field and Hedgerow Being the Last Essays of Richard Jefferies by Jefferies, Richard

One of the witnesses recognised her, from her likeness to the portraits of Mother Shipton the sorceress.

From Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 450 Volume 18, New Series, August 14, 1852 by Chambers, Robert

Mother Shipton, in one of her prophecies, had said that London would be reduced to ashes, and they refused to make any efforts to prevent it.

From Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions — Volume 1 by Mackay, Charles

There was a figure on crutches at the door; and Old Mother Shipton, the witch, kicked the astonished visitor as he left.

From Old and New London Volume I by Thornbury, Walter