Abbots invested with the ring, 231
‘Abraxas,’ definition of, 139
Adriatic, marriage of the Doge of Venice with the, 419, 529
‘Agla,’ the mystic word inscribed on rings, 137
Agnes, legend of the saint and the ring, 239
Alcock, Bishop, on consecration of nuns, 233
Alexandrinus, Clemens, advice on rings, 39
‘Alhstan’ ring, the, 62
Amelia, memorial ring of the Princess, 375
American ring, gigantic, 488
Amulet-rings, 103, 126, 138, 166, 140, 141, 147
Ancient custom of Archbishops of Rouen, 211
Anecdote of a mourning-ring used at a wedding, 449
Angelo, ring of Michael, 470
Anglo-Saxons, betrothal rings of the, 306
Anne, mourning ring of Queen, 373
‘Annuli EcclesiÆ,’ Bishops’ rings so called, 212
Antique intaglio rings with mottoes, 418
Antoinette, ring of Queen Marie, 374
Apollo and Marsyas, ring of, 470
Archery, rings prizes for, 444
Armenians, betrothal rings among the, 312
Arnulphus, ring of Bishop, 228
Arundel Collection of gem rings, 462
Ashantee, rings from, 455
Astrological rings, 108
Bailewski Collection, Jewish betrothal ring in the, 300
Bards rewarded with rings, 192
Bavarian peasant’s ring, 84
Becket, ring from the shrine of Thomas À, 247
‘Beef Steak’ Club, ring of the, 193
Bequests of rings, 355
Berquem, rings engraved by Louis de, 450
Berry, Lady, the fish and the ring, 100
Bessborough Collection of gem-rings, 462
— — religious ring in the, 258
Betrothal and wedding rings, 275, 526
— — — — of the Jews, 298, 299
— — — — — — Romans, 303
— — — — — — Anglo-Saxons, 306
— — — — — — Germans, 310
— — — — — — Italians, 310
— — — — — — Middle Ages, 307
— — — — — — Armenians, 312
— — — — in the North, 305
— — — — — — of Sir Thomas Gresham, 318
— — — — — — Martin Luther, 481
— rings divided, 309, 316
Bishops buried with rings, 203
— rings used to seal baptismal fonts, 212
Bishops’ rings, manner of benediction, 219
— — — of investiture, 209, 213
— — engravings on, 212
— — used as signets, 213
— — importance attached to, 213
— — how worn, 218
— resignation of, by the ring, 211
— rings taken from degraded, 218
Bitton, ring of Bishop de, 228
Blaize, rings on the fingers of St., 221
Blessing of coronation-rings, 179
— — cramp-rings, 163, 522
Boccaccio’s fable of the three rings, 451
Bonomi, M., on Pharaoh’s ring, 1
Borgias, poison rings of the, 434
Bowet, ring of Archbishop, 225
Braybrooke Collection, Jewish marriage rings in the, 299
— — Gemmel ring in the, 321
— — rings with death’s-heads in the, 372
— — ring of Pope Boniface in the, 207
— — pilgrims’ rings in the, 265
— — Roman and Romano-British rings in the, 41
— — Royalist mourning ring in the, 371
— — mourning rings of Mary and William III. in the, 374
— — mortuary ring in the, 383
— — ring of Tippoo Saib in the, 490
— — nun’s ring in the, 240
— — thumb-ring in the, 89
Bribe rings, 444
Bride-cake, rings placed in, 171
British Museum, gem-rings in the, 459
Brooches and rings, 74
Bunyan, ring of John, 495
Burnet, bequest of ring by Bishop, 363
Bursting of rings a bad omen, 168
‘Bury’ wills, bequests of rings in the, 356
Byron, lines by, on the wedding-ring, 277
Cabalistic ring, 139
Cantelupe, ring of Bishop de, 229
Carbuncle rings, 159
Cardinals buried with rings, 203
— — invested with rings, 215
— — rings laid aside on Good Friday, 216
Castellani Collection, rings in the, 46
Catherine, legend of the spousal ring of St., 238
Chaplet, origin of the, 252
Chariclea, famous ring of, 463
Charles I., signet ring of, 461
— — memorial rings of, 366
Charles II., rings stolen from, 452
— — signet-ring of, 461
— — mourning-ring of, 371
Charlemagne charmed by a ring, 115
Charm rings of the Greeks and Romans, 103
— — Benvenuto Cellini on, 105
— — of the Oxford Conjurer, 132
Charms, Sigil, 113
Charters confirmed by rings, 184
Chichester, rings belonging to the Dean and Chapter of, 225
Childeric, ring of King, 386
Christ, espousals to, 233
Christian rings, representations on, 38, 258
Claddugh wedding-rings, 320
Clerical fondness for rings, 220
Clovis, ring-token of King, 323
Cockatrice, mystic properties of the, 152
Cologne, legend of the Three Kings of, 143
Colour, change of, in jewels evil portents, 160
Commonwealth, rings during the, 288
Cork, ring-token to the Earl of, 351
Cornwall, ancient signet-ring found in, 266
Coronation rings, 177
— ring of Queen Elizabeth, 165
— — — James II., 177
Coronets on rings, 475
Cotterell, curious ring bequeathed by Sir Charles, 361
Cramp-rings, 162, 522
Cranmer, ring of Archbishop, 217
Cromwell crest, ring on the, 421
Cross, the true, wood of in rings, 141
Crystallomancy, 100
Cuerdale, Saxon rings found at, 63
Curious advertisements of rings in cakes, 173
Custom, curious Russian ring, 447
Dactylomancia, or ring divination, 111
Dancas, a thank-offering ring, 247
Darnley ring, the, 460
Days, rings worn on particular, 165
Decade rings, 248
DeÆ Matres, worship of the, 107
Devereux ring, the, 338
Device rings illustrative of death, 372
Devonshire gems, the, 458
Diamond-pointed rings, 76
Diplomacy, rings given in, 184, 422
Divinating power in a ring, 450
Divination by prayer-book and ring, 172
— — sounds, 113
— — rings in wedding-cakes, 170
Doctors’ rings, 191
Doctors’ Commons, rings mentioned in wills at, 356
Earliest materials of rings, 3
Early Christian rings, 258, 259, 268
Ecclesiastical mortuary, or ‘corse-present,’ 221
— usages, rings in connection with, 198
Edgcumbe, Lady, and the ring, 429
Edward I., token-ring of, 324
Edward the Confessor, ‘pilgrim’ ring of, 116, 516
Egyptian rings, 5
— — exhibited at the South Kensington Museum, 12
— — — at the Louvre, 13
— — representations on, 11
— glass rings, 13
— ring with double keeper, 17
Egyptians, their fondness for rings, 10
— modern rings of the, 16
Eldon, memorial ring of, 375
Elfric’s canon against clerical rings, 220
Elizabeth, token-ring of Queen, 343
Eloy, rings of St., 232
Enchanted rings of the Greeks, 113
Engagement-ring of the Prince Regent, 284
Epilepsy, rings to cure, 153
Episcopal rings, 209, 225, 230, 239
— — engravings on, 212
— — fashion of, 216
— — formula of investiture with, 214
— — usually set with sapphires, 217
— ring of St. Loup, 217
Episode in ring history, 453
Escutcheon ring, French, 81
Espousals to Christ, 233, 259
Essex ring, the, 336, 528
Ethelswith, Queen of Mercia, ring of, 55
Ethelwulf, ring of King, 54
Etruscan rings, 18
— — in the BibliothÈque Nationale at Paris, 20
— — — — British Museum, 15
— — — — Waterton Collection, 15
‘Evil eye,’ rings to preserve from the, 151
Evil portents connected with rings, 165
Fish and the ring, legends of the, 98, 510
Fishes, rings found in the bodies of, 439
Fisherman’s ring, the, 198
Fleet marriages, 282
Forensic order of knighthood, 191
Formula for blessing cramp-rings, 164
— — investing bishops with rings, 215
Fotheringay, ring-relic of, 475
French ‘escutcheon’ ring, 81
— RÉgard, Souvenir, and AmitiÉ rings, 414
— rings, 79, 81
— episcopal rings, 228
Funerals, rings given to attendants at, 364
Gardiner, ring of Bishop, 226
Garter rings, 193
Gems mounted in Roman rings, 30, 40
Gemmel rings, 313, 318
Gentlemen formerly distinguished by rings, 446
George III., ring-token to, 352
German ‘liberation’ rings, 448
Germans, interchange of rings among the, 310
‘Gesta-Romanorum,’ ring stories in the, 124
‘Giardinetti’ rings, 79
Gift-rings of the Romans, 46
Glasgow, ring in the arms, of the city of, 98
Gnostic rings, 107
Gold ring at Irish weddings, 173
Gray the poet, bequest of rings by, 374
Greece, interchange of rings in modern, 311
Greek Church, rings how worn in the, 293
GrÆco-Egyptian gold rings, 7
Greek ring in form of a crescent, 26
— and Roman rings, 18, 50
— — — charm rings, 103, 113
Gresham, wedding-ring of Sir Thomas, 319
Gretna Green marriages, 283
Grey, linked rings of Lady, 317
Gundulf, ring of Bishop, 213
Gyges, ring of, 96, 508
Hatton, charm ring of Lord Chancellor, 161
Hebrew betrothal and marriage-rings, 298
Henrietta Maria, ring of Queen, 493
Henry VII., charm ring of, 133
Henry of Worcester, ring of, 230
Henry IV. of Germany, ring-token sent by,
— — — — signet-ring of, 459, 478
Massinissa and Sophonisba, figures of, on a ring, 38
Materials of wedding-rings, 285, 377
Mayhew, ring of Bishop, 227
Mecca, rings of, 17
Mechanical mystic ring, 147
Medical amulet-rings, 147, 161
Medici, rings of the, 471
MediÆval romances, charmed rings in, 121
‘Memento mori’ rings, 372
Memorial and mortuary rings, 355, 377
— ring of the Princess Amelia, 375
— rings, Charles I., 366
— — Charles II., 371
— — Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia, 361
— — Countess of Hartford, 366
— — Mary, Queen of Scots, 365
— — Royalist, 371
Merchant’s ‘mark’ rings, 84
Meridian rings, 451
Merovingian rings, 69
Modern French, 83
Montfaucon’s theory of the zodiac, 109
‘Month’ rings of the Poles, 115
Morgan, Papal ring in the collection of Mr. Octavius, 207
Moore’s poem on the ‘Ring,’ 129
— allusion to his mother’s wedding-ring, 281
Moorish rings, 83
Motto-rings, 390
Mourning rings, 360
Mourning ring of Queen Anne, 374
— — — Lord Eldon, 375
— — — Queen Mary and William III., 374
— — — Lord Nelson, 375
— — — the Emperor Nicholas of Russia, 384
Mummy, rings on the fingers of a, 10
Museum, Egyptian rings in the South Kensington, 12
— — — — — British, 5
— Etruscan ring with chimerÆ in the British, 15
— Prince of Canino’s ring in the British, 14
— ring of Queen Sebek-nefru, 7
— — — Sennacherib in the British, 9
— Egyptian rings in the Louvre, 13
Names on rings, 416
Necromantic rings, 146
Nelson, memorial rings of Lord, 375
New Year’s Gift rings, 421
Nobility, rings badges of, 195
Northmen, wedding-keys of the old, 294
Novices invested with the ring, 232
Nuns forbidden to wear rings, 240
Nuptial ring of the Virgin Mary, 93
Omens, blood-dropping from the ring-finger, 168
— breaking of rings, 168
— bursting of rings, 168
— fall of rings, 167
— loss of rings, 167
— taking off rings, 171
Oriental rings, 90, 491
Origin of merchant’s ‘mark’ rings, 192
Orpine plant, rings with devices of the, 169
Oswald, token-ring of, 325
Pagan graves, rings found in, 69
Paradise rings, 257
Parthenon, rings in the treasury of the, 43
Pedlar’s rings, 73
Pendrell, token-ring given to, 350
Pepys, bequest of rings by, 363
Perceval of Galles, bequest of rings by, 328
Perrot, bequest of rings by, 344
Persian rings, 17
Perugia, nuptial ring of the Virgin at, 93
Perugino’s picture of the marriage of the Virgin, 94
‘Pilgrim’ ring of Edward the Confessor, 116, 516
Pilgrim rings, 264
Planetary rings, virtues ascribed to, 108
Poets Laureate, rings given to, 191
Poison-rings, 432
Poles, ‘month’ rings of the, 115
Polycrates, ring of, 96
Pontifical rings, 205, 207
Pope, bequest of rings by, 374
Pope Boniface, ring of, 207
— Pius II., ring of, 207
— — IX., ring of, 201
Popes buried with their rings, 202
Popes, their sanctity disregarded, 202
Porcelain rings, Egyptian, 8
Portrait-rings, 496
Posy-rings, 390
Power of the royal ring, 182
‘Poynings,’ the charter of, confirmed by a ring, 186
Precious stones, episcopal rings enriched with, 216
Prometheus, the ring of, 95
Property conveyed by a ring, 185
Puzzle-rings, 322
Ring, Alhstan, the, 62
— of Angelo, Michael, 470
— — Bitton, Bishop, 228
— — Pope Boniface, 207
— — Bowett, Archbishop, 225
— — John Bunyan, 495
— — CantelupÉ, Bishop, 229
— — Chariclea, 463
— — Charles I. and Charles II., 461
— — Childeric, 386
— — Cranmer, Archbishop, 217
— found in the grave of St. Cuthbert, 227
— the Darnley, 460
— of Eloy, St., 232
— — Ethelswith, Queen of Mercia, 55
— — Ethelwulf, King, 54
— — Gardiner, Bishop, 226
— — Gundulf, Bishop of Rochester, 213
— — Gyges, 96, 508
— — Queen Henrietta Maria, 493
— — Henry of Worcester, 230
— — Hilary, Bishop, 225
— — Lion King-at-Arms, 194
— — Louis XII., 461, 469
— — Loup, St., 217
— — Turlough Lynnoch, 194
— — Madame de Maintenon, 469
— — Mary, Queen of Scots, 459, 478
— — Mayhew, Bishop, 227
— — the Great Mogul, 491
— — Lorenzo de Medici, 471
— — Pius II., 207
— — Pius IX., 201
— — Polycrates, 96
— — Sir Walter Raleigh, 486
— — Cola di Rienzi, 465
Ring of Seffrid, Bishop, 225
— the Seymour, 479
— — Shakspeare, 484
— of Solomon, 91, 503
— — Roger, King of Sicily, 465
— — the Stuarts, 492
— — Thierry, Bishop of Verdun, 201
— — Tippoo Saib, 490
— — William of Wyckham, 226
— the Worsley seal, 467
— American gigantic, 488
— amulet, of Prince Charles Edward, 166
— — found at Eltham Palace, 126
— authority of the, in law suits, 184
— of the ‘Beef Steak’ Club, 193
— Byzantine betrothal, 304
— charm of the ‘Oxford Conjurer,’ 132
— charters confirmed by the, 184
— Claddugh wedding, 320
— found in Cornwall, 266
— Queen Elizabeth’s coronation, 165
— given to the ‘Admirable’ Crichton, 194
— on the Cromwell crest, 421
— devices of the Medici, 473
— diplomas sanctioned by the, 184
— divination, 100, 172
— of Edward the Confessor, 116, 516
— escutcheon, French, 81
— superstition of Henry VIII., 133
— history, episode in, 453
— the ‘Fisherman’s,’ 198
— relic of Flodden Field, 478
— — of Fotheringay, 475
— heraldic, 481
— diamond-pointed Italian, 76
— of the Grand Master of the Order of St. John, 193
— found at Kenilworth Castle, 473
— of knighthood, 181
— legend, 130
— of Martin Luther, 481
— legends of the Fish and the Ring, 98, 510
— of St. Mark, 119
— mourning, of Charles II., 371
— — Royalist, 371
— — of the Princess Amelia, 375
— — — Queen Anne, 373
— — — Lord Eldon, 375
— — — Marie Antoinette, 374
— — — Mary and William III., 374
— — — Lord Nelson, 375
— — — the Emperor Nicholas of Russia, 384
— memorial, of the Countess of Hertford, 366
— of a nun, 240
— kissing the Pope’s, 201
— Russian customs of the wedding, 174
— secular investiture by the, 177
— small wedding, 287
— tragical incident of a, 449
— marriage, of the Doge of Venice, 89
— legend of a, on the statue of Venus, 128
Rings, Abbots invested with, 231
— the mystic word ‘Agla’ on, 137
— amulet, 148
— Anglo-Saxon betrothal, 306
— prizes for archery, 444
— Arundel and Bessborough Collection of gem, 462
— from Ashantee, 455
— astrological, 108
— Bavarian, 84
— bequests of, 355
— engraved by Berquem, 450
— betrothal and wedding, 275, 526
— dividing betrothal, 316
— bursting on the fingers, 168
— importance of Bishops’, 213
— taken from degraded Bishops, 218
— on the fingers of the arm of St. Blaize, 221
— Boccaccio’s fable of the three, 451
— offered as bribes, 444
— of British, Saxon, and mediÆval times, 53
— British Museum collection of gem, 459
— Byzantine, 48
— carbuncle, 159
— stolen from Charles II., 454
— charm, 105, 115, 121
— of espousals to Christ, 233, 241
— early Christian, 258, 268
— clerical extravagance in, 220
— coronation, 177
— claimed as ‘corse’ present, 221
— during the Commonwealth, 288
— coronets on, 475
— cramp, 162, 522
— customs and incidents in connection with, 419
— with wood of the true cross, 141
— with devices of death, 372
— decade, 248
— buried with the dead, 377
— Devonshire gem, 458
— given in diplomacy, 422
— divination, powers of, 450
— doctors’, 191
— taken from the finger, an ill omen, 171
— in connection with ecclesiastical usages, 198
— engravings on Bishops’, 212
— to cure epilepsy, 153
— attached to episcopal charters, 211
— episcopal investiture with, 215
— — how worn, 218
— — French, 228
— found in the bodies of fishes, 439
— French, 82, 415
— garter, 193
— gemmel,87, 89, 139, 501
— thank-offering, 247
— the Three, 352
— token, 323
— tooth, 495
— Trinity, 248, 254
— given on St. Valentine’s Day, 422
— at Venetian marriages, 311
— ‘Vertuosus,’ 162, 355
— offered to the Virgin, 130
— watch, 494
— in wedding cakes, 170
— — — possets, 173
— given at wrestling-matches, 195
— wedding, how worn, 291, 293
— blessing wedding, 288
— of espousals to the Virgin, 237
— mentioned in wardrobe books, 228
— thumb wedding, 289
— of the Virgin in Raphael’s Sponzalizio, 291
— ancient origin of wedding, 297
— whistle, 494
— worn on particular days, 165
— zodiacal, 110
Sanctity of the Popes disregarded, 202
Sapphires, episcopal rings set with, 217
Saxon rings found at Cuerdale, 63
ScarabÆus on rings, 5
Schliemann’s, Dr., discoveries at Troy (?), 32
Scots, wedding-ring of Mary, Queen of, 280
Scott, Sir Walter, on superstitious charms, 132
Season-rings of the Romans, 28, 30
Sebek-nefru, signet-ring of, 7
Secular investiture by the ring, 177
Seffrid, ring of Bishop, 225
Serjeants’ rings, 186
Seymour ring, the, 480
Shakspeare, rings bequeathed by, 359
— the ring (presumed) of, 484
Shrine of Thomas À Becket, ring from the, 247
— — the Magi, 144
Shrines, legacies of rings to, 244, 259
Sicily, supposed ring of Roger, King of, 465
Sidney, rings bequeathed by Sir Philip, 358
Sigebert, supposed ring of King, 70
Sigil charms, 113
Signet-ring of Sennacherib, 9
Singer, collection of posy-rings by Mr. J. W., 394
Singular mode of securing rings, 449
Soden Smith, rings in the collection of Mr. R. H., 230, 502
Solomon’s ring, 91, 503
Southey on zodiacal signs, 109
Spain, ring-customs in, 312
Spanish rings, 79
Squirt rings, 493
Stone and silver rings of the Romans, 31
Stuart rings, the, 492
Suckling, lines on a wedding-ring, by Sir John, 287
Superstitions connected with the carbuncle, 159
— — — change of colours in jewels, 160
— — — gold rings, 175
— — — rings generally, 91
— — — toadstone, 156
— — — turquoise, 159
Talismanic ring, remarkable gold, 95
Tau-rings, mystic character of, 155
Thierry, ring of Bishop, 204
Thumb-rings, allusions to, 88
— — magical, 89
— — of the Romans, 29
— — worn in token of widowhood, 364
Tippoo Saib, rings of, 490
Toadstone rings, virtues of, 157
Token-rings, Charles II., 350
— — Earl of Derby, 348
— — Duke of Dorset, 347
— — Edward I., 324
— — Queen Elizabeth, 340
— — Earl of Essex, 336, 528
— — George III., 352
— — Queen Henrietta Maria, 349
— — Henry VIII., 334, 335
— — Henry IV. of Germany, 326
— — James of Scotland, 327
— — King John, 325, 332
— — Margaret of Scotland, 333
— — Queen Mary, 335
— — Mary, Queen of Scots, 340
— — Viscount Melgum, 350
— — King Oswald, 324
— — Sir John Perrot, 344
— — Earl of Toulouse, 327
Tooth rings, 495
Tournaments, rings given at, 197
Trinity rings, 248, 254
— ivory rings, 487
Troy, discoveries on the (presumed) site of, 32
Turquoise rings, the gage d’amour of the Germans, 159
— — their magical virtues, 158
Valentine’s Day, rings given on St., 422
Venetian rings, 76
— weddings, rings at, 311
— reliquary ring, 143
Venice, marriage-ring of the Doge of, 99, 419, 529
— saved by St. Mark’s ring, 119
‘Vertuosus’ rings, 162, 355
Virgin, gifts of rings to the, 130
Virtues of a loadstone ring, 156
— — — turquoise ring, 158
— — the ring-finger, 155
Votive rings of the Romans, 44
Vow of chastity with mantle and ring, 241
Wales, the Prince of, invested with a ring, 183
Walton, rings bequeathed by Izaak, 360
Wardrobe books, rings mentioned in the, 228
Warwick, ring-token sent by Guy, Earl of, 331
Washington, bequest of rings by, 363
Watch set in a ring, 494
Waterton Collection, curious South Saxon ring in the, 60
— — ecclesiastical ring with figure of Christ, in the, 264
— — Egyptian rings in the, 13
— — episcopal ring in the, 230
— — Etruscan ring in the, 15
— — Gnostic rings in the, 107
— — Greek and Roman rings in the, 50
— — Papal rings in the, 207
— — ring on the forefinger of a statue in the, 291
Wedding-rings, ancient origin of, 297
— — mentioned in ancient rituals, 290
Wedding-ring, blessing the, 288
— — of the ‘Claddughs,’ 320
— — during the Commonwealth, 288, 290
— — given by the Prince Regent, 296
— — — — — Princess Royal, 296
— — — — — Queen Victoria, 296
— — plain gold, 295
— — how worn, 291
— — several, worn at marriages, 289
— — worn on the thumb, 289
— — one of the smallest, 287
— — of the German Jews, 302
— — in cakes, 170
— ring of the Rev. George Bull, 290
— — — James II., 281
— — — Mrs. Johnson, 279
— — — Mary, Queen of Scots, 280
— — — Mrs. Moore, 280
— — — Baron Rosen, 281
— — lines by Suckling on a, 287
— — — — Woodward on a, 277
— — Customs of the Russians, 174
Wells, rings belonging to the Dean and Chapter of, 231
Whistle rings, 494
William of Wyckham, ring of, 226
Winchester Cathedral, rings belonging to the Dean and Chapter of, 226
— — ring found in the tomb of William Rufus in, 385
Wire-rings of the Saxons, 58
Worcester Cathedral, Pontifical rings found in, 209
‘Worsley’ seal-ring, the, 467
Wotton, rings bequeathed by Sir Henry, 359
Wrestling, prize-rings for, 195
Xerxes, a great gem-fancier, 16
Zodiac, astrological definition of the, 109
— Montfaucon’s singular theory of the, 109
Zodiacal signs, Southey on, 109
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Footnotes:
[1] In 1841 Mr. Joseph Bonomi read a paper before the Royal Society of Literature on an ancient signet-ring of gold, resembling in every respect, except the name of the king, the ring which Pharaoh put on the finger of Joseph. The account of its purchase, loss, and subsequent recovery is very interesting. It was bought by Lord Ashburnham at Cairo in 1825. In the spring of the same year his Lordship embarked a valuable collection on board a brig he had chartered at Alexandria, to carry his heavy baggage to Smyrna. This was attacked and pillaged by Greek pirates, who sold their booty in the island of Syra. The ring then became the property of a Greek merchant, in whose possession it remained until it was sold at Constantinople, and was brought to England in 1840. It then passed from the hands of Mr. Bonomi into those of Lord Ashburnham, its former possessor. It is conjectured, from evidence peculiar to Egyptian antiquities, that this ring belonged to the age of Thothmes III.
Egyptian Gold Signet-ring.
In the winter of 1824 a discovery was made in Sakkara of a tomb enclosing a mummy entirely cased in solid gold (each limb, each finger of which had its particular envelope inscribed with hieroglyphics), a scarabÆus attached to a gold chain, a gold ring, and a pair of bracelets of gold with other valuable relics. This account was wrested from the excavators À coups de bÂton administered by Mohammed Defterdar Bey, by which means were recovered to Signor Drovetti (at whose charge the excavation was made) the scarabÆus and gold chain, a fragment of the gold envelope, and the bracelets, now in the Leyden Museum, which bear the same name as this ring. From the circumstance of the bracelets bearing the same name as this ring, and from the word Pthah, the name of the tutelar divinity of Memphis (of which city Sakkara was the necropolis) being also inscribed upon it, there is little doubt it was found in that place, and, from the confession of the Arabs, a great probability that it came out of the same excavation. The discovery of so much gold in a single tomb, which, from the nature of the ornaments, must have belonged to the Pharaoh himself, or to a distinguished officer of his household, accords well with Mr. Cory’s system of chronology, which places the death of the patriarch Joseph in the twenty-first year of the reign of Thothmes III., at which period the treasury of Pharaoh must have been well stored with the precious material of these ornaments accumulated by the prudent administration of the patriarch. Assuming, therefore, that Mr. Cory’s system is correct, this ring may be regarded, not only as an excellent specimen of that kind called TabÁt (a word still used in Egypt to signify a stamp or seal), but also as resembling in every respect, excepting the name, the ring which Pharaoh put on the hand of Joseph.
[2] Mr. Layard, in ‘Nineveh and Its Remains,’ describes the wife of an Arab Sheikh, whom he met, as having a nose adorned with a prodigious gold ring, set with jewels of such ample dimensions that it covered her mouth, and was obliged to be removed when she ate.
[3] The Egyptians made the scarabÆus the symbol of the world, because it rolled its excrements into a globe; of the sun; of the moon, from horns; one-horned, of Mercury; of generation, because it buried the bowls in which it included its eggs, &c.; of an only son, because they believed that every beetle was male and female; of valour, manly power, &c., whence they forced all the soldiers to wear a ring upon which a beetle was engraved. All these superstitions are very ancient, for they occur upon the sepulchres of Biban-el-Molook, and are traced to the Indians, Hottentots, and other nations. In the hieroglyphs it is used for the syllable Khepra, and expresses the verb ‘to be, exist.’ In connection with Egyptian notions, the Gnostics and some of the Fathers called Christ the ScarabÆus.
‘The usual mode of mounting the scarab,’ observes the Rev. C. W. King, in ‘Antique Gems,’ ‘as a finger-ring, was, the swivel, a wire as a pivot passing through the longitudinal perforation of the stone (the edge of which was generally protected by a gold rim), and then brought through holes in each end of a bar of gold, or else of a broad, flat band of plaited wire, and bent into a loop of sufficient size to admit the finger, which was usually the fore-finger of the left hand. For the sake of security, the ends of the loop were formed into small disks, touching each extremity of the scarabÆus. This loop, or ring shank, as it may be considered, was treated in a great variety of fashions, and sometimes was made extremely ornamental. One that I have seen terminated in rams’ heads, the pivot entering the mouth of each; in another the shank was formed as a serpent, the head of which was one of the supporting points, and the tail tied into a knot. Occasionally the form of the shank was varied by bending the bar upon itself, so as to form a bow in the middle of its length; the ends were then beaten to a point, which, being twisted inwards, passed into the opposite holes of the stone, and thus formed a handle to the signet. This last manner of mounting the scarabÆus was often used by the Egyptians, the shank being made of every kind of metal; it was also the common setting of the Phoenician stones of this form.’
[4] Appendix.
[5] Cellini, in his ‘Memoirs,’ says that Pope Clement VII. showed him a gold Etruscan necklace of exquisite workmanship, which had just been discovered in the ground. On examining it, ‘Alas,’ cried he, ‘it is better not to imitate these Etruscans, for we should be nothing but their humble servants. Let us rather strike out a new path, which will, at least, have the merit of originality.’
[6] Appendix.
[7] Addison remarks that when at Rome he had ‘seen old Roman rings so very thick about, and with such large stones in them, that it is no wonder a fop should reckon them a little cumbersome in the summer season of so hot a climate.’
A Roman ring found in Hungary contained more than two ounces of gold.
[8] ‘As soon as the despotic power of the CÆsars was established,’ remarks the Rev. C. W. King (‘Handbook of Engraved Gems’), ‘it became a mark of loyalty to adorn either one’s house, or one’s hand, with the visible presence of the sovereign. Capitolinus notices that the individual was looked upon as an impious wretch, who, having the means, did not set up at home a statue of M. Aurelius; and, a century later, the Senate obliged by an edict every householder to keep a picture of the restorer of the Empire, Aurelian. That official swore such portraits in their rings as an indispensable mark of distinction may be deduced from the negotiations of Claudius (preserved by Pliny) confining the entrÉe at court to such as had received from him a gold ring having the imperial bust carved on it.’
[9] Xenophon, in his ‘Economics,’ states that the Greek matrons had the power of sealing up, or placing the seal upon the house-goods, and at Rome, Cicero’s mother was accustomed to enhance to consumers the merits of some poor thin wine, vile Sabinum, by affixing to each amphora her official signet.
It appears that the women of Greece did not use the ring as frequently as the men, and that theirs were less costly.
[10] Amber rings were worn in our own country to a late date; thus Swift, writing to Pope respecting Curll and the ‘Dunciad,’ says:—‘Sir, you remind me of my Lord Bolingbroke’s ring; you have embalmed a gnat in amber.’
[11] At the exhibition of antiquities and works of art at the ArchÆological meeting of January 5, 1849, Major Ker Macdonald produced a ring supposed to be a recent imitation of the ring of Ethelwulf.
[12] I am much indebted to Mr. R. H. Soden Smith, F.S.A.—a gentleman so distinguished in art circles, and the possessor of a remarkably fine and rare collection of rings—for information on some points connected with this work.
[13] There is the well-known anecdote of Francis the First, who, in order to let the Duchess d’Estampes know that he was jealous, wrote with a diamond these lines on a pane of glass, ‘which,’ says Le Vieil, in his ‘Peinture sur Verre,’ ‘may be still seen in the ChÂteau Chambord’:—
Souvent femme varie,
Mal habil qui s’y fie.
A similar story is recorded of Henry the Fourth of France and the Duke of Montpensier. The latter had written with his diamond ring on a pane of glass the following, in allusion to his love for the aunt of the King:—
Nul bonheur me contente,
Absent de ma DivinitÉ.
Henry, in the same manner, wrote under it:—
N’appellez pas ainsi ma tante,
Elle aime trop l’HumanitÉ.
It was on the pane of a window in Hampton Court Palace that, during one of the festivals given there by Henry the Eighth, the ill-fated Earl of Surrey wrote with his diamond ring the name of fair Geraldine, and in quaint verse commemorated her beauty.
[14] Calmet, in his ‘Dictionary,’ states that the Arabian princesses wore golden rings on their fingers, to which little bells were suspended, as well as in the flowing tresses of their hair, that their superior rank might be known, and that they might receive in passing the homage due to them.
[15] Montfaucon, in his ‘L’AntiquitÉ ExpliquÉe,’ describes the representation of a trading seal ‘as one of the most extraordinary that has yet been seen.’ It was given to him by a monk of St. Victor, at Marseilles. The form was oblong, and the inscription was in three lines, the first of which is P. Hileyi, Publii Hileyi, at the end of which words was a well-formed caduceus. The second and third lines were Sex. Maci Paullini, Sexti Maci Paullini. The caduceus, which was a symbol of traffic, denotes that these were two merchants and co-partners, and the anchor, that they were adventurers by sea. One thing remarkable is that the first name, P. Hileyi, was taken by design, but yet so that it might be read; the letters being cut very deep, they contented themselves with taking out so much of them only as would spoil that part of the impression upon wax, or any other matter, and leave the other name to be impressed alone. That this was done by design appeared from the varnish seen in these traces, as well as in the rest of the seal, and was probably done by Sextus Macius Paullinus at the death of his partner Publius Hileyus.
[16] Appendix.
[17] Chaucer, in his ‘Squire’s Tale,’ says:—
‘Then speaken they of Canace’s ring
And saiden all that such a wondrous thing
Of crafte of ringÈs heard they never none,
Save that he, Moses, and King Solomon
Hadden a name of cunning in such art.’
[18] Among the Mohammedans at present a talisman, consisting generally of a formula on a scrap of paper, or sentences from the Koran, is placed in a piece of stuff and put into a ring between the stone and the metal. Although the Mussulman doctors generally concur in considering these practices vain, and many Asiatics do not use them, yet the multitude still retain a predilection for them.
[19] Appendix.
[20] Appendix.
[21] Plato relates the story of Gyges differently to that by Herodotus. He tells us that Gyges wore a ring, the stone of which, when turned towards him rendered him invisible, so that he had the advantage of seeing others without being seen himself. By means of this ring he deprived Candaules of his throne and life, with the concurrence of the queen. ‘This,’ remarks Rollin, ‘probably implies that in order to compass his own criminal design he used all the tricks and stratagems which the world calls subtle and refined policy, which penetrates into the most secret purposes of others without making the least discovery of its own.’ This story, thus explained, carries in it a greater appearance of truth than what we read in ‘Herodotus.’
Cicero, after relating the fable of Gyges’ famous ring, adds, that if a wise man had such a ring he would not use it to any wicked purpose, because virtue considers what is honourable and just, and has no occasion for darkness.
[22] See chapter on ‘Customs and Incidents in Connexion with Rings.’
[23] Dr. Gordon, in his ‘History of Glasgow,’ quotes the legend thus, from the ‘Aberdeen Breviary:’—‘The Queen of Cadzow was suspected by her husband, King Roderick, of being too intimate with a knight whom he had asked to hunt with him. The King waited his opportunity to abstract from the satchel of the knight, when asleep, a ring which the Queen had presented to him. King Roderick, in furious jealousy, threw it into the Clyde. When they returned to the palace of Cadzow from the day’s hunting, the King, in the course of the evening, asked her where her ring was. It could not be produced. Death was threatened if it were not forthcoming. The Queen sent one of her maids to the knight for the ring, and being unsuccessful, a bearer was sent to Cathures (Glasgow), to St Mungo, making a full confession of all. The Apostle of Strathclyde commiserated the Queen. Forthwith he sent one of his monks to the river to angle, instructing him to bring home alive the first fish that he caught. This was done. St. Mungo (dear friend) found the annulet in the mouth of the miraculous fish, and speedily sent it to the Queen, who restored it to her husband, and thereby saved her life.’
[24] Appendix.
[25] ‘A Berril,’ observes Aubrey in his ‘Miscellanies,’ ‘is a kind of crystal that hath a weak tincture of red. In this magicians see visions. There are certain formulas of prayers to be used before they make the inspection which they term a Call. In a manuscript of Dr. Forman, of Lambeth (which Mr. Elias Ashmole had), is a discourse of this and the prayer; also there is a Call which Dr. Napier did use. James Harrington (author of “Oceana”) told me that the Earl of Denbigh, then ambassador at Venice, did tell him that one did show him three several times, in a glass, things past and to come. When Sir Marmaduke Langdale was in Italy he went to one of these Magi, who did show him a glass where he saw himself kneeling before a crucifix.’ A ‘Berrill’ belonging to Sir Edward Harley is thus described by Aubrey:—‘It is a perfect sphere; the diameter of it I guess to be something more than an inch; it is set in a ring or circle of silver resembling the meridian of a globe; the stem of it is about ten inches high, all gilt. At the four quarters of it are the names of four angels, viz., Uriel, Raphael, Michael, Gabriel. On the top is a cross patÉe. This, it appears, was efficacious in detecting thieves; it also forewarned death.’
Dr. Dee’s famous crystal, now in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, will be remembered. (See discoveries in the tomb of Childeric, at Tournay, in chapter on ‘Memorial and Mortuary Rings.’)
[26] The superstitious custom of carrying the medals of Alexander the Great, as if they had some salutary virtue in them, was frequent among the Christians of Antioch, as is evident from St. John Chrysostom’s declamation against the practice:—‘What shall we say of those that use enchantments and ligatures, and bind upon their head and feet brass medals of Alexander of Macedon? Are these our hopes? And shall we, after the passion and death of our Saviour, place our salvation in an image of a heathen king?’
[27] Montfaucon, in his ‘L’AntiquitÉ ExpliquÉe,’ has a singular theory in regard to the signs of the Zodiac. He mentions a fine gem on which were represented the figures of Mercury, Jupiter, and Venus, included in a large circle which contained the twelve signs of the Zodiac. These he conjectured to signify the days of the week, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. ‘But, why,’ he observes, ‘do the three gods in this image indicate so many days of the week? Some ancient and particular custom is referred to and expressed, without doubt. Ausonius, in his “Eclogues,” inserts a verse current in his time preceded by this question:—“Quid quoque die demi de corpore oporteat?” On what days is it most proper to cut the beard, nails, or hair? “Ungues Mercurio, barbam Jove, Cypride crines.” That is, on Wednesday pare your nails, shave your beard on Thursday, and on Friday cut your hair. This usage Ausonius rallies in eight pleasant verses. “Mercury,” says he, “a pilferer by trade, loves his nails too well to let them be pared. Jupiter, venerable by his beard, Venus adorned by her hair, are by no means willing to part with what is so dear to them.”... I think it certain that these deities are represented as presiding over Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, without being able to assign the certain reason why they are pictured upon this gem.’
A very extraordinary form of oath, by which the astronomer Vettius Valens bound his disciples to secresy, is quoted by Selden. ‘I adjure thee, most honoured brother and your fellow-students, by the starry vault of heaven, by the circle of the zodiac, the sun, the moon, and the five wandering stars (by which universal life is governed), by Providence itself, and Holy Necessity, that you will keep these things secret, nor divulge them except to those who are worthy and are able to make a just compensation to me, Valens.’
[28] According to the ancient lapidaries, a ram with the half-figure of an ox, or any stone set in a silver ring, whoever was touched with should be immediately reconciled. A woman, one half a fish, holding a mirror and a branch, cut on a marine hyacinth (pale sapphire), set in a gold ring, the signet covered with wax, procured any desire. A man ploughing, and over him the hand of the Lord making a sign, and star, if cut on any stone, and worn in all purity, ensured safety from tempest and immunity to crops from storms. Head, with neck, cut in green jasper; set in a brass or iron ring engraved with the letters B. B. P. P. N. E. N. A.: wear this, and thou shalt in no wise perish, but be preserved from many diseases, especially fever and dropsy; it likewise gives good luck in fowling. Thou shalt be reasonable and amiable in all things; in battle and in law-suits thou shalt be victor. Man standing and tall, holding an obolus (patera) in one hand and a serpent in the other, with the sun over his head, and a lion at his feet: if cut on a diacordius (diadochus) set in a leaden ring and put underneath wormwood and fenugreek, carry it to the bank of a river and call up whatsoever evil spirit thou pleasest, and thou shalt have from them answers to all thy questions. A youth having a crown on his head and seated on a throne with four legs, and under each leg a man standing and supporting the throne on his neck; round the neck of the seated figure a circle, and his hands raised up to heaven; if cut on a white hyacinth (pale sapphire) ought to be set in a silver ring of the same weight as the stone, and under it put mastic and turpentine; make the seal in wax and give it to any one, and let him carry it about on his neck or person, either the wax or the ring, and go with pure mind and chastity before king, noble, or wise man, and he shall obtain from them whatsoever he may desire. A bearded man holding a flower in his hand cut on carnelian, and set in a tin ring, the ring being made on the change of the moon on a Friday, the 1st or the 8th of the month, whomsoever thou shalt touch therewith he shall come to do thy will. Man standing on a dragon, holding a sword, must be set in a leaden or iron ring; then all the spirits that dwell in darkness shall obey the wearer, and shall reveal to him in a low-toned song the place of hidden treasure and the mode of winning the same. Man riding and holding in one hand the bridle, in the other a bow, and girt with a sword, engraved on pyrites set in a gold ring, it will render thee invincible in all battles; and whosoever shall steep this ring in oil of musk and anoint his face with the said oil, all that see him shall fear him, and none shall resist. Man erect in armour, holding a drawn sword, and wearing a helmet, if set in an iron ring of the same weight, renders the wearer invincible in battle. Capricorn on carnelian, set in a silver ring and carry about with thee, thou shalt never be harmed in purse or person by thine enemies, neither shall a judge pass an unjust sentence against thee; thou shalt abound in business and in honour, and gain the friendship of many, and all enchantments made against thee shall be of none effect, and no foe, however powerful, shall be able to resist thee in battle. (Extracts from ‘Sigil-charms,’ ‘History of the Glyptic Art,’ ‘Handbook of Engraved Gems,’ by the Rev. C. W. King.)
[29] ‘The Hermetic Brethren had certain rules that they observed in relation to the power of precious stones to bring good or bad fortune through the planetary affinities of certain days, because they imagined that the various gems, equally as gold and silver, were produced through the chemic operation of the planets working secretly in the telluric body.... All yellow gems and gold are appropriate to be worn on Sunday, to draw down the propitious influences or to avert the antagonistic effects of the spirits on this day, through its ruler and name-giver, the Sun. On Monday, pearls and white stones (but not diamonds) are to be worn, because this is the day of the Moon, or of the second power in Nature. Tuesday, which is the day of Mars, claims rubies and all stones of a fiery lustre. Wednesday is the day for turquoises, sapphires, and all precious stones which seem to reflect the blue of the vault of heaven.... Thursday demands amethysts and deep-coloured stones of sanguine tint, because Thursday is the day of Thor—the Runic impersonated Male Divine Sacrifice. Friday, which is the day of Venus, has its appropriate emeralds, and reigns over all the varieties of the imperial, yet, strangely, the sinister, colour, green. Saturday, which is Saturn’s day, the oldest of the gods, claims for its distinctive talisman the most splendid of all gems, or the queen of precious stones, the lustre-darting diamond.’ (The ‘Rosicrucians,’ by Hargrave Jennings.)
[30] There is a tradition that this ring found its way to the chapel of Havering (have the ring), in the parish of Hornchurch, near Romford, and was kept there until the dissolution of religious houses. Weaver says he saw a representation of it on a window of Romford church. The legend is also displayed on an ancient window in the great church of St. Lawrence, at Ludlow, to which town the pilgrims who received the ring from the saint are said to have belonged. A tradition to this effect was current in the time of Leland, who notices it in his ‘Itinerary.’
[31] Appendix.
[32] To understand the language of birds was peculiarly one of the boasted sciences of the Arabians. Their writers relate that Balkis, the Queen of Sheba, or Saba, had a bird called Huddud, a lapwing, which she despatched to King Solomon on various occasions, and that this trusty bird was the messenger of their amours. We are told that Solomon, having been secretly informed by the winged confidant that Balkis intended to honour him with a grand embassy, enclosed a spacious square with a wall of gold and silver bricks, in which he ranged his numerous troops and attendants, in order to receive the ambassadors, who were astonished at the suddenness of these splendid and unexpected preparations.
[33] Moore, in his juvenile poem of the ‘Ring,’ has made use of this legend, and added considerably to its fanciful conceptions:—
‘Young Rupert for his wedding-ring
Unto the statue went,
But, ah! how was he shock’d to find
The marble finger bent!
‘The hand was closed upon the ring
With firm and mighty clasp;
In vain he tried, and tried, and tried,
He could not loose the grasp.’
Austin is the hermit that Rupert seeks, and whose aid enables him to regain the ring from the female fiend:—
“In Austin’s name take back the ring,
The ring thou gav’st to me;
And thou’rt to me no longer wed,
Nor longer I to thee.”
‘He took the ring, the rabble pass’d,
He home returned again;
His wife was then the happiest fair,
The happiest he of men.’
[34] Appendix.
[35] Appendix.
[36] A curious legend is connected with this famous jewel. The French monarch had visited the shrine of the saint to discharge a vow which he had made in battle, and he knelt before it with the stone set in a ring on his finger. The officiating prelate entreated the King to bestow the jewel on the shrine, but as the jewel ensured good luck, Louis hesitated, but offered, in compensation, one hundred thousand florins. The prelate was satisfied, but the saint evidently was not, for the stone leaped from the ring and fastened itself to the shrine. So bright was the stone that it was impossible to look at it distinctly, and at night it burned like fire.
[37] Abraxas-stones were so called from having the word Abraxas or Abrasax engraved on them. They are cut in various forms, and bear a variety of capricious symbols, mostly composed of human limbs, a fowl’s head and serpent’s body. These gems are represented as coming from Syria, Egypt, and Spain. It is certain that the use of the name Abraxas was at first peculiar to the Gnostic sect of the Basilideans. There is little doubt that the greater part of the Abraxas-stones were made in the Middle Ages as talismans.
[38] The shrine of the Magi, in Cologne Cathedral, dates from the twelfth century. The central subject is the Virgin with the infant Jesus; on the left, the Adoration of the Three Kings, accompanied by the Emperor Otho IV. On the right, the Baptism of Christ by John the Baptist, in presence of an angel. All these figures are of pure gold, and in full relief. The architectural decorations are covered with enamels and precious stones. Above these figures is a cover of silver-gilt, on removing which the skulls of the Three Kings are seen, with their names, Gaspar, Melchior, and Balthazar, traced in rubies. The crowns of copper gilt replace those of massive gold, which disappeared during the revolutionary storms. They weighed each six pounds, and were enriched with fine pearls and an aigrette of diamonds. Above the relics is the figure of Christ, as the Judge of men, between two angels, who hold the instruments of the Passion. This reliquary is 5½ feet long, by three wide, 5 feet high. It was begun in 1170, and made by order of Archbishop Philip von Heinsberg. In the Rosicrucian theory, Caspar, or Gaspar, is the ‘White One;’ Melchior is the ‘King of Light;’ Beltasar, the ‘Lord of Treasures.’ Balthasar, or Balthazar, is the septuagint spelling of Belshazzar. Talismanic rings and other objects were manufactured largely for sale to the pilgrims at the shrine of the ‘Three Kings.’
Mr. Thomas Wright, M.A., has, in his edition of the ‘Chester Plays,’ described, at length, this popular legend.
A magic ring was found a few years ago at Dunwich, with this inscription:—
‘Jasper fert myrrham; thus Melchior; Balthasar aurum,
HÆc tria qui secum portabit nomina Regum,
Solvitur a morbo, Christi pietate, caduco.’
Bishop Patrick, in his ‘Reflections on the Devotions of the Roman Church,’ 1674, asks, with assumed naÏvetÉ, how these names of the Three Wise Men—Melchior, Balthazar, and Jasper—are to be of service, ‘when another tradition says they were Apellius, Amerus, and Damascus; a third, that they were Megalath, Galgalath, and Sarasin; and a fourth calls them Ator, Sator, and Peratoras; which last I should choose (in this uncertainty), as having the more kingly sound.’
[39] The horn of the narwhal (which in the Middle Ages passed for the horn of the unicorn) was supposed to possess, among other virtues, that of neutralising and detecting the presence of poison. Various old writers relate that it became agitated when placed in contact with a poisoned body, and the most efficacious antidote to poison was the water in which it had been steeped. A piece of the horn was attached to a chain of gold, in order that it might be plunged into a dish without putting in the fingers.
[40] The Runic characters are of very remote antiquity, and of entirely pagan origin. They are attributed to Odin, whom tradition asserts to have been eminently skilful in the art of writing, as well for the common purposes of life, as for the operations of magic. It is the earliest alphabet in use among the Teutonic and Gothic nations of Northern Europe. The name is derived from the Teutonic rÛn, a mystery; whence runa, a whisper, and helrun, divination. They were distinguished into various kinds: the noxious—or, as they were called, the bitter—employed to bring various evils on their enemies; the favourable averted misfortunes; the victorious procured conquest to those who used them; the medicinal were inscribed on the leaves of trees for healing; others served to dispel melancholy thoughts; to prevent shipwreck; were antidotes against poison; preservatives against the anger of enemies; efficacious to render a mistress favourable—these last were to be used with great caution. If an ignorant person had chanced to write one letter for another, or had erred in the minutest stroke, he would have exposed his mistress to some dangerous illness, which was only to be cured by writing other runes with the greatest niceness. All these various kinds differed only in the ceremonies observed in writing them, in the materials on which they were written, in the place where they were exposed, in the manner in which the lines were drawn, whether in the form of a circle, of a serpent, or a triangle, &c.
‘In the strict observance of these childish particulars consisted’ (remarks Mallet in his ‘Northern Antiquities’) ‘that obscure and ridiculous art which acquired to so many weak and wicked persons the respectable name of priests and prophetesses, merely for filling rude minds with so much jealousy, fear, and hatred.’
Grimm states that the Anglo-Saxon Runic alphabet was derived from the Scandinavian at a period when it had only sixteen letters, the complementary letters of the two alphabets having been formed on principles that offer not the slightest analogy. While on the subject of Runic calendars I may mention (although unconnected with rings) a singular Runic almanack which was exhibited at the Winchester meeting of the ArchÆological Institute in 1845. It is in the form of a walking-stick, called in the north of Europe a ‘rim-stok,’ or ‘primstaf.’ The symbols and figures which ornament this calendar relate to the saints’ days and the successive occupations of the seasons. The staff is of a fashion rarely to be found in the north, and appears to be the same which was procured at Trondheim, in Norway, by Mr. Wolff, formerly Norwegian consul at London, who published an account of it.
[41] A modern poet thus apostrophises the turquoise and its changeful properties in the following beautiful sonnet:—
‘In sunny hours, long flown, how oft my eyes
Have gazed with rapture on thy tender blue!
Turquoise! thou magic gem, thy lovely hue
Vies with the tints celestial of the skies.
What sweet romance thy beauty bids arise,
When, beaming brightly to the anxious view,
Thou giv’st th’ assurance dear that love is true!
But should thy rays be clouded, what deep sighs,
What showers of tenderness distress the heart!
Ah! much of joy I owe thee, but no woe.
As to my mind, thou ever didst impart
That feeling blest which made my pale cheek glow
(For love was mine, shorn of his wings and dart).
Turquoise! in warmest strains thy praise should flow,
Such as some gifted minstrel could bestow.’
[42] A more homely remedy for the same disorder is given in Wittal’s ‘Little Dictionary,’ where we find that—
‘The bone of a hare’s foot, closed in a ring,
Will drive away the cramp, whenas it doth wring.’
[43] Appendix.
[44] Queen Bertha, consort of King Louis the Seventh, of France, was crowned by the Pope, who also placed a ring on her finger, saying: ‘Receive this ring, emblem of the Holy Trinity, by which you may resist heresy and bring the heathen to a knowledge of the faith by the virtue thus given. God, the source of all dignity and honour, give to thy servant, by this sign of the faith, grace to persevere in His sight, that she may evermore rest firm in the faith by the merits of Jesus Christ.’
[45] The ruby, according to De Laert (1647), appears to have been very generally used for rings, and unpolished; for, ‘unlike the diamond that hath no beauty unless shaped and polished, the ruby charms without any aid from art.’ True rubies, and of good colour uncut, but with their natural surface polished, set in rings, date from the earliest times. Gesner states that Catherine of Arragon used to wear a ring set with a stone luminous at night, which he conjectures was a ruby.
[46] A MS. account of the ‘Conveyance of Great Estates into the King’s presence at the time of their creation’ (British Museum, Additional MSS. No. 6,297) gives the preparation for a creation of the Prince. After the rich habits given on this occasion, we read: ‘Item, a sword, the scabbard covered with crimson cloth of gold, plain, and a girdle agreeable to the same. Item, a coronal. Item, a verge of gold. Item, a ring of gold to be put on the third finger.’
[47] The use of a seal, or signet-ring, for the purchase of property is mentioned in the Bible. In Jeremiah the formalities are thus given: ‘And I bought the field of Hanameel, and weighed him the money, even seventeen shekels of silver. And I subscribed the evidence, and sealed it, and took witnesses, and weighed him the money in the balances. So I took the evidence of the purchase, both that which was sealed, according to the law and custom, and that which was open’ (chap. xxxii.).
[48] In the Braybrooke Collection is a gold band-ring with a similar inscription, found at Wimbish, in Essex. It is noticed in the seventh volume of the ‘ArchÆological Institute Journal,’ p. 196, and is described as a serjeant-at-law’s gold ring, the hoop ? of an inch in width, and of equal thickness; the motto ‘Lex regis prÆsidium.’
[49] Horace Walpole, in one of his letters, alludes to the ‘Fisherman’s Ring’ in his usual lively manner: ‘Mr. Chute has received a present of a diamond mourning-ring from a cousin; he calls it l’annello del Piscatore. Mr. Chute, who is unmarried, meant that his cousin was fishing for his estate.’
[50] To show how little, in former times, the sanctity of the Popes was regarded after death, Aimon, in his ‘Tableau de la Cour de Rome,’ relates that ‘when the Pope is in the last extremity, his nephews and his servants carry from the palace all the furniture they can find. Immediately after his death, the officers of the Apostolic Chamber strip the body of everything valuable, but the relations of the Pope generally forestal them, and with such promptitude that nothing remains but bare walls and the body, placed on a wretched mattress, with an old wooden candlestick and a wax end in it.’
[51] In the ‘ArchÆologia,’ vol. xxxvi., Mr. Octavius Morgan remarks ‘that in the beginning of the seventeenth century some attention seems to have been paid to the subject of rings in general, and several persons wrote concerning them. John Kirchmann, a learned German of Lubeck, published a treatise “De Annulis;” and about the same time Henry Kornmann wrote another small treatise “De Triplici Annulo.” Kirchmann appears to have made deep researches on the subject, and in the chapter on “Episcopal Rings” he gives their history as far as he was able to trace it, though he cannot find in ancient writers any facts relating to them earlier than the reign of Charlemagne. In gratitude to this monarch for the important services he had rendered the Church, it was decreed in the eighth century that the Emperor should have the power of electing the Popes and ordering the Holy See, and that in addition the archbishops and the bishops of the provinces should receive investiture from him. No newly-elected prelate could be consecrated until he received from the Emperor the ring and the staff; these were to be returned on the death of the prelate. But this practice was disused for a time; for we find enumerated in the old chronicles of Mayence, among the jewels in that city, “sixteen large and good pontifical rings—one of ruby, with other gems, one of emerald, one of sapphire, and one of topaz.”’
[52] The mode of giving the benediction differs in the two Churches. In the Greek it is given with the forefinger open, to form an I, the middle finger curved like a C, the ancient sigma of the Greeks, the thumb and annulary crossed form an X, and the little finger curved represents a C. All this gives IC XC, the Greek monogram of Jesus Christ. Thus, as the author of the ‘Guide of Painting,’ of Mount Athos, observes:—‘By the Divine providence of the Creator, the fingers of the hand of man, be they more or less long, are arranged so as to form the name of Christ.’
The Latin benediction is more simple, being made with the annulary and the little finger closed, the three first fingers open, symbolical of the Trinity.
‘Formerly, bishops and priests blessed alike; latterly, bishops reserved to themselves the right of blessing with their fingers, the priest with the open hand; the bishops facing the congregation, the priests in profile, with the hand placed edgeways. The sign of the cross was formerly made with three fingers open, but now with the open hand, from the forehead to the breast, and from the left to the right shoulder by the Latins, but from the right to the left by the Greeks’ (Didron, ‘Iconographie ChrÉtienne’).
[53] The reader will be reminded of the anecdote of Queen Elizabeth, who, drawing from her finger the coronation ring, showed it to the Commons, and told them that when she received that ring she had solemnly bound herself in marriage to the realm, and it would be quite sufficient for the memorial of her name, and for her glory, if, when she died, an inscription were engraved on her marble tomb: ‘Here lyeth Elizabeth, which (sic) reigned a virgin, and died a woman.’ This coronation ring was filed off her finger shortly before her death, on account of the flesh having grown over it.
[54] In ‘A Relation, or rather True Account of the Islands of England,’ about the year 1500 (Camden Society), the author, after describing the shrine of St. Thomas, at Canterbury, adds: ‘Everything is left far behind by a ruby not larger than a man’s thumb-nail, which is set to the right of the altar. The church is rather dark, and particularly so where the shrine is placed, and when we went to see it the sun was nearly gone down, and the weather was cloudy, yet I saw the ruby as well as if it had been in my hand. They say it was a gift of the King of France.’
[55] See Appendix.
[56] The gilding and silvering of locks, rings (firmalx anelx), and other articles of a similar nature made of copper or latten (faitz de cupre ou laton) having been prohibited by the statute 5th Henry IV. c. 13, under what was then a heavy penalty, the ‘disloyal artificers,’ against whom this enactment was made, appear to have taken refuge in the sanctuary of St. Martin’s-le-Grand, where they were able to labour in their vocation unmolested by the marshal or the sheriff. This may be inferred from 3 Edw. IV. c. 4, by which it was declared unlawful to import various articles of foreign manufacture, including rings of gilded copper or laten, but with an express declaration that the Act was not to extend to or be prejudicial or hurtful to Robert Styllington, clerk, dean of the King’s Free Chapel of ‘St. Martin’s le Graunt, de Londres,’ nor to his successors.
[57] English ladies at one time wore the wedding-ring on the thumb. At Stanford Court, Worcestershire, may be seen the portraits of five ladies of the Salway family, in the days of Queen Elizabeth, all of whom have their wedding-rings on their thumbs. According to the ‘British Apollo,’ the brides of George the First’s time used to remove the ring from its proper abiding-place to the thumb as soon as the ceremony was over.
In Southerne’s ‘Maid’s Last Prayer’ (Act iv. vol. i. p. 67) we find:—‘Marry him I must, and wear my wedding-ring upon my thumb, too, that I’m resolved.’
An instance of several wedding-rings being used at the bridal ceremony is related by Burcard, master of the ceremonies to the Pope’s Chapel from Sixtus IV. to Julius II. At the marriage of a daughter of Pope Innocent VIII. to Lewis of Arragon, Marquis of Geracio (January 3, 1492), the pair approached the Pope, and, both being on their knees, the husband put the ring on the proper finger of the left hand of his spouse, then several rings on the other fingers of both hands.
[58] In the Waterton Collection, at the South Kensington Museum, a forefinger, from a bronze statue of late Roman work, wears a large ring upon the second joint. In Germany it is still customary to wear the ring in this fashion, a custom borrowed from their Roman subjugators.
[59] A correspondent to ‘Notes and Queries’ (vol. viii. series i. p. 575) observes, with regard to the ring being placed on the third finger of the right hand of the Blessed Virgin in Raffaelle’s ‘Sponsalizio,’ at Milan, and in Ghirlandais’s fresco of the same subject in the Santa Croce, at Florence, ‘that it has been customary among artists to represent the Virgin with the ring on the right hand, to signify her superiority over St. Joseph, from her surpassing dignity of Mother of God. Still, she is not always represented so.’
[60] A bishop, in the thirteenth century, gives the following reasons why the ring should be of gold. He says that ‘one Protheus made a ring of iron with an adamant enclosed therein, as a pledge of love, because as iron subdueth all things, so doth love conquer all things, since nothing is more violent than its ardour, and, as an adamant cannot be broken, so love cannot be overcome, for love is strong as death. In course of time gold rings set with gems were substituted for the adamantine ones of baser metal, because, as gold excelleth all other metals, so doth love excel all other blessings, and as gold is set off with gems, so is conjugal love set off by other virtues.’
[61] In the reign of George the Fourth, a limited number of plain gold rings were made, having a well-executed miniature medallion of that King set beneath a large diamond. One of these was in the possession of the late Lady Fellows.
[62] It was formerly the custom in Brittany that, on the night after the marriage, the husband presented his wife with a ring and act of dowry.
[63] Latour St. Ybars, in his tragedy of ‘Virginius,’ alludes to the iron ring:—
Alors qu’ Icilius ne m’a jamais offert
Pour gage de sa foi que cet anneau de fer,
Claudius, sans respect pour l’amour qui m’anime
Par cet appas grossier croit m’entraÎner au crime,
Et ces ornaments vils qu’il m’ose prÉsenter
Sont fait de ce mÉtal qui sert pour acheter!
Va rendre À Claudius tous ces dons, et sur l’heure
Les prÉsents de cet homme ont souillÉs ma dÉmeure,
Et ce seroit blesser notre honneur et nos dieux
Que d’y porter la main, que d’y jeter les yeux.
[64] The ‘betrothing penny’ given at the ceremony of marriage was in olden times a common usage both in England and in France, representing either earnest-money, or the actual purchase of the bride. In the pontifical of Amiens, the bridegroom is to say: ‘De cet anneau t’espouse, et de cet argent te hounoure, et de mon corps te doue.’ In an ancient manuscript of the Salisbury Missal, in the Harleian Collection, the bridegroom says: ‘Wyth thys rynge y the wedde, and thys golde and selvir the geve, and with my bodi y the worshippe, and with all my worldith catel y the honoure.’
[65] Pitscottie says ‘the Queen of France wrote a love-letter to the King of Scotland, calling him her love, showing him that she had suffered much rebuke in France for defending his honour. She believed surely that he would recompense her with some of his kingly support in her necessity; that is to say, that he would raise her an army and come three foot of ground on English ground for her sake. To that effect she sent him a ring off her finger, with 14,000 French crowns to pay his expenses.’
[66] Appendix.
[67] Lady Moray, the wife of the Scottish Regent, had appropriated, during the Queen’s troubles, many of her most valuable jewels. She wrote to her from Tutbury, March 28th, 1570:—
‘We are informed that ye have tane in possession certain of our jewels, such as our Henry of dyamant and ruby, with a number of other dyamant, ruby, perles, and gold worke, whereof we have the memoir to lay to your charge, which jewels incontinent, after the sight hereof, ye sall deliver to our right trusty cousins and counsellors, the Earl of Huntley, our lieutenant, and my Lord Setoun, who will, on so doing, give you discharge of the same.’
Lady Moray paid no attention to Queen Mary’s request for the return of her jewels, well knowing that she was in no condition for enforcing her demands.
[68] ‘The skull and skeleton decorations for rings’ (remarks Mr. Fairholt) ‘first came into favour and fashion at the obsequious court of France, when Diana, of Poictiers, became the mistress of Henry the Second. At that time she was a widow, and in mourning, so black and white became fashionable colours; jewels were formed like funeral memorials; golden ornaments, shaped like coffins, holding enamelled skeletons, hung from the neck; watches, made to fit in little silver skulls, were attached to the waists of the denizens of a court that alternately indulged in profanity or piety, but who mourned show.’
[69] Biblical Monuments, by William Harris Rule, D.D., and J. Corbet Anderson; 1871, 1873.
[70] This great founder of the Merovingian dynasty, the father of Clovis, died in 482, and was buried with his treasures, weapons, and robes. Nearly twelve hundred years afterwards, a labourer, a poor deaf and dumb man, accidentally discovered the royal grave, and was astonished, and almost terrified, at the sight of the treasures it contained. Among them was the signet-ring alluded to, which, with a considerable number of the other treasures of the tomb, were deposited in the BibliothÈque, then ‘Royale,’ at Paris, which was broken into by burglars in 183-. An alarm being given, in their hasty flight they threw the objects into the Seine; the ring was not recovered.
In the tomb were found, besides the skeletons of his horse and page, his arms; a cornelian Etruscan scarab, doubtless deposited therein as an amulet of wondrous virtue; also a crystal divining-ball, two inches in diameter, and more than three hundred little bees, of the purest gold, their wings being inlaid with a red stone like cornelian.
On the authority of the historian Augustin Thierry, it is stated that these ornaments resembling bees were only what in French are called fleurons (supposed to have been attached to the harness of his war-horse). Montfaucon is of the same opinion.
[71] I am greatly indebted to this gentleman for the loan of a manuscript catalogue of ring mottos and inscriptions on wedding-rings, of which—besides those exhibited at the Kensington Museum—I have availed myself in the following pages of this chapter. Mr. Singer has, I believe, the finest collection of inscribed wedding-rings known, numbering two hundred and forty-five specimens of every kind, in gold and silver, each weighing from three dwts. and upwards, and none less than a hundred years old, some dating from five hundred years.
Mr. Singer’s collection is also enriched with some interesting betrothal rings, and there are fourteen double-line motto-rings which are matchless. This collection has been accumulated during the last quarter of a century, at a very considerable cost.
[72]This play upon words has been applied in a political sense. ‘So,’ as the late Mr. Crofton Croker observed, ‘when the Repeal question was agitated in Ireland, rings and brooches, set in precious stones, made to represent the word “Repeal” were popular:—
R uby
E merald
P earl
E merald
A methyst
L apis lazuli.
One of these was given to a gentleman as a relic of this memorable agitation, but the bit of lapis lazuli had dropped out, and he took it to a working jeweller in Cork to have the defect supplied. When it was returned, he found that a topaz had been substituted for the missing bit of lapis lazuli. “How is this?” he inquired, “you have made a mistake.” “No mistake, sir,” said the witty workman, whom he afterwards discovered to be an ardent Repealer, “It is all right: it was repeal, but let us repeat that we may have it yet.”’
[73] Appendix.
[74] In Knight’s ‘Pictorial Shakspeare’ is the following note on the dial which Touchstone drew ‘from his “poke:”’ ‘“There’s no clock in the forest,” says Orlando; and it was not very likely that the fool would have a pocket-clock. What then was the dial that he took from his poke? We have lately become possessed of a rude instrument kindly presented to us by a friend, which, as the Maid of Orleans found her sword, he picked “out of a deal of old iron.” It is a brass circle of about two inches in diameter. On the outer side are engraved letters, indicating the names of the months, with gradual divisions; and on the inner side, the hours of the day. The brass circle itself is to be held in one position by a ring; but there is an inner slide in which there is a small orifice. This slide being moved, so that the hole stands opposite the division of the month when the day falls of which we desire to know the time, the circle is held up opposite the sun. The inner side is then, of course in shade, but the sunbeam shines through the little orifice and forms a point of light upon the hour marked on the inner side. We have tried this dial and found it give the hour with great exactness.’
A correspondent of ‘Notes and Queries’ (vol. xii. 3rd series, p. 79) mentions that rings to ascertain the time are regularly sold at the Swiss fairs. They are called cadrans. The price of one is twenty centimes.
[75] This magnificent collection was sold, in one lot (June 28th, 1875), to Mr. Bromilow, of Battlesden Park, for 35,000l.
[76] In Montfaucon’s ‘L’AntiquitÉ ExpliquÉe’ there is a fine illustration of this beautiful seal. My edition of the work is in English (1721), and the engraving is in vol. i. page 145. It is thus described: the child Bacchus is in the arms of his nurse. She is generally thought to have been Ino, called also Leucothea, or the daughters of Ino (according to others) brought him up. A nymph, or perhaps another nurse, is sitting by. The old man is either Silenus, or it may be Athamas, Ino’s husband. Several other nymphs have on their heads baskets full of flowers and fruits. Two Cupids, or Genii, stretch a canopy over Bacchus and the company that are about him. A nymph presents a cup to one of the Cupids. On the side of the figure is an old satyr leaning against a tree. He is playing on a kind of crooked hautboy. At the end, behind the tree, is a young boy, holding with both hands a bason, in which a goat seems to be going to drink. It is not easy to say who a naked man is with the crown on, and holding a cup in one hand, and in the other the bridle of a horse that is prancing. Some have taken it for Apollo.
[77] A curious story of a squirt-ring is mentioned in Thiebault’s ‘Original Anecdotes of Frederick II.’ M. de Guines, ambassador of France at Berlin, had greatly mortified the Prussian nobles, and especially the other foreign ministers, by the ostentatious pomp which he displayed. Those whose limited means he thus eclipsed longed for some opportunity to wound the vanity of the proud man who daily humbled theirs, and excited their envy. At this crisis a Russian ambassador, who was returning home to present at his own court his newly-married bride, stopped on his way at Berlin. Prince Dolgorouki, the Russian ambassador there, did the honours of the Russian court to his countryman, and gave him and his wife a dinner, to which were invited all the corps diplomatique. M. de Guines was seated next to the bride. The lady, who had been initiated into all the court gossips, had enlisted under the banner of the malcontents, and taken upon herself the task of vexing the magnificent Frenchman. She had placed upon her finger a ring of very exquisite and curious workmanship, to which she called the attention of her neighbour during the course of the dinner. As he stooped to examine the jewel, the wearer pressed a spring concealed in the side of the ring within her hand, and jerked a small quantity of water into the eyes of the ambassador. The ring contained a syringe. The minister wiped his face, jested good-humouredly on the diminutive little instrument, and thought no more of it. But his fair enemy had not yet accomplished her purpose of mortifying the ambassador. Having refilled the squirt unperceived by him, she called his attention to herself, and again discharged the water in his face. M. de Guines looked neither angry nor abashed, but, in a serious tone of friendly advice, said to his foolish aggressor: ‘Madame, this kind of jest excites laughter the first time; when repeated it may be excused, especially if proceeding from a lady, as an act of youthful levity; but the third time it would be looked upon as an insult, and you would instantly receive in exchange the glass of water you see before me: of this, madame, I have the honour to give you notice.’ Thinking he would not dare to execute his threat, the lady once more filled and emptied the little water-spout at the expense of M. de Guines, who instantly acknowledged and repaid it with the contents of his glass, calmly adding, ‘I warned you, madame.’ The husband took the wisest course, declaring that the ambassador was perfectly justified in thus punishing his wife’s unjustifiable rudeness. The lady changed her dress, and the guests were requested to keep silence on the affair. [Madame de Barrera.]
