Note 1 — Chapter XVI · Myths and Doctrines of Taoism

Lao Tze1 means “Old Boy”, as Osiris, in his Libyan form, is said to mean the “Old Man”.2 He was given this name by his followers, because “his mother carried him in her womb for seventy-two years, so that when he was at length cut out of it his hair was already white”. Julius Cæsar was reputed to have been born in like manner; so was the Gaelic hero, Goll MacMorna, who, as we gather from Dunbar, was known in the Lowlands as well as the Highlands; the poet makes one of his characters exclaim,