Chapter FIVE: Rings of Love, Affection and Friendship (2)

“O find a messenger true to me,
To bear me a letter across the sea.
A messenger true they brought him there,
And the young knight warned him thus with care:
Lay now that dress of thine aside,
And in beggar’s weeds thy service hide,
And take my ring, my ring of gold,
And wrap it safe in some secret fold,
But, once at my mother’s castle gate,
That ring will gain admittance straight.
And O! if she comes to ransom me,
Then high let the white flag hoisted be;
But if she comes not--ah, well-a-day!
The night-black flag at the mast display.[374]
When the messenger true to Leon came,
At supper sat the high-born dame:
With cups of gold and royal fare,
And the harpers merrily harping there.
I kneel to thee, right noble dame;
This ring will show from whom I came.
And he who gave me that same ring,
Bade me in haste this letter bring.
Oh! harpers, harpers, cease your song;
The grief at my heart is sharp and strong.
Why did they this from his mother hide?
In a dungeon lies my only pride!
O quick make ready a ship for me,
This night I’ll cross the stormy sea.”

The ballad goes on to show how young Bran, from his bed, at morn, at noon, at vesper, asked the warder whether he saw a ship; and when, at last, the warder says he observes one, he couples it with the falsehood that the color of its flag is black.

“When the downcast knight that answer heard,
He asked no more, he spake no word.
He turned to the wall his face so wan,
And shook in the breath of the Mighty One!”

The mother touches the strand; hears a death-bell; asks of a gray-haired man; speeds wildly to the tower:

“At the foot of the tower, to the gaoler grim,
She sobbed aloud and she called to him:
O! open the gates (my son! my son!)
O open the gates (my only son!)
They opened the gates; no word they said:
Before her there her son lay dead.
In her arms she took him so tenderly,
And laid her down--never more rose she!”

The ballad then describes an oak, with lofty head, whereon the birds gather at night:

“And amidst them comes ever croaking low,
With a young dark raven, an aged crow.
Wearily onward they flap their way
With drooping wings, soaked through with spray,
As they had come from a far countrye;
As they had flown o’er a stormy sea.
And the birds they sing so sweet and clear
That the waves keep very still to hear.
They all sing out in a merry tone,
They all sing together--save two alone.
With mournful voice ever croaking low,
Sing, happy birds! says the aged crow,
Blest little birds! sing, for you may,
_You did not die from home far away_!”

How this noble ballad would have stirred the hearts of the authors of “The Lay of the Last Minstrel” and of “Christabel”!

§ 24. Authors of fiction, from early times, have made use of rings for their scenes. Shakspeare not unfrequently introduces them; indeed the most interesting portion of _Cymbeline_ is worked up through the wager of a ring as to the honor of the heroine. Imogen, in taking leave of Posthumus, says:

“------ Look here, love;
This diamond was my mother’s; take it, heart;
But keep it till you woo another wife,
When Imogen is dead.
_Posthumus_. How! how! another?
You gentle gods, give me but this I have,
And sear up my embracements from a next
With bonds of death! Remain thou here,
(_Putting on the ring_,)
While sense can keep it on.”

And he, then, exchanges for it, “a manacle of love,” a bracelet, placing it upon her arm, that “fairest prisoner.” Iachimo induced Posthumus to wager this ring, which he esteemed “more than the world enjoys”--but it is unnecessary to go further: for who has not read Shakspeare?

§ 25. Roman iron rings, wrought with much care and having precious stones, but minute enough for a child, have been found. One or two of them are mentioned and illustrated in Caylus,[375] who, no doubt rightly, considers they were intended for the finger of a domestic deity or household god.

The Romans clung to their home deities; and this is the best part of their character. One of the most beautiful of the antique draped figures, cut upon a signet, represents a woman contemplating a household god,[376] “a symbol of that domestic affection which the ancients, exalted almost blamelessly, into an object of divine homage.”[377]

It was on this particular gem that Croly wrote these charming lines:

“Domestic love! not in proud palace halls
Is often seen thy beauty to abide;
Thy dwelling is in lowly cottage walls,
That in the thickets of the woodbine hide;
With hum of bees around, and from the spring,
Shining along thro’ banks with harebells dyed;
And many a bird to warble on the wing,
When morn her saffron robe o’er heaven and earth doth fling.

O! love of loves!--to thy white hand is given
Of earthly happiness the golden key!
“Thine are the joyous hours of winter’s even,
When the babes cling around their father’s knee;
And thine the voice that, on the midnight sea,
Melts the rude mariner with thoughts of home,
Peopling the gloom with all he longs to see.
Spirit! I’ve built a shrine; and thou hast come;
And on its altar closed--for ever closed thy plume!”

Gifts of rings by lovers have always been common; but the intimate relation between husband and wife brings toils, duties and sacrifices which generally charm off ordinary love tokens. It is comforting, however, when the husband can look to the past, to the present, to the future with sentiments like those embraced in the following beautiful lines in connection with the gift of a ring:

“TO MRS. ----, WITH A RING.

“‘Thee, Mary, with this ring I wed,’--
So, sixteen years ago, I said--
Behold another ring--for what?
To wed thee o’er again? Why not?
With that first ring I married youth,
Grace, beauty, innocence and truth,
Taste long admir’d, sense long rever’d
And all my Mary then appeared.
If she, by merit since disclosed,
Prove twice the woman I supposed:
I plead that double merit now
To justify a double vow.
Here then to-day (with faith as sure,
With ardor as intense and pure,
As when amidst the rites divine
I took thy troth and plighted mine)
To thee, sweet girl, my second ring,
A token and a pledge I bring,
With this I wed till death us part
Thy riper virtues to my heart;
Those virtues which, before untried,
The wife has added to the bride;
Those virtues, whose progressive claim,
Endearing wedlock’s very name,
My soul enjoys, my song approves,
For conscience’ sake, as well as love’s.
For why?--They show me hour by hour
Honor’s high thought, affection’s power,
Discretion’s deed, sound judgment’s sentence,
And teach me all things--but repentance.”[378]

And there is a charm and gentleness about the following lines which Dr. Drennan addressed to his wife, with a gift of a ring:

“Emblem of happiness! not bought nor sold;
Accept this modest ring of virgin gold.
Love, in this small, but perfect, circle trace;
And duty, in its soft but strict embrace.
Plain, precious, pure, as best becomes the wife;
Yet firm to bear the frequent rubs of life.
Connubial life disdains a fragile toy,
Which rust can tarnish and a touch destroy;
Nor much admires what courts the general gaze,
The dazzling diamond’s meretricious blaze,
That hides, with glare, the anguish of a heart,
By nature hard, but polished bright by art.
More to thy taste the ornament that shows
Domestic bliss and, without glaring, glows,
Whose gentle pressure serves to keep the mind
To _all_ correct; to _one_ discreetly kind--
Of simple elegance the unconscious charm;
The holy amulet to keep from harm.
To guard, at once and consecrate, the shrine--
Take this dear pledge:--it makes and keeps thee mine.

§ 26. There is an interesting story in the _Gesta Romanorum_[379] (indeed the whole work is full of pleasing matter) entitled the judgment of Solomon. It is often represented in that illumination which in the ancient manuscripts of the French translation of the Bible by Guiars des Moulins is prefixed to the Proverbs of Solomon, although the story itself does not occur in that Bible. It appears to have been a great favorite in the middle ages; and was often related from the pulpit. A king, in some domestic difference with his wife, had been told by her that one only of her three sons was a true offspring, but which of them was so she refused to discover. This gave him much uneasiness; and his death soon afterwards approaching, he called his children together; and declared, in the presence of witnesses, that he left a ring, which had very singular properties, to him that should be found to be his lawful son. On his death a dispute arose about the ring between the youths--and it was at length agreed to refer its decision to the King of Jerusalem. He immediately ordered that the dead body of the father should be taken up and tied to a tree; that each of the sons should shoot an arrow at it and that he who penetrated the deepest should have the ring. The eldest shot first and the arrow went far into the body; the second shot also and deeper than the other. The youngest son stood at a distance and wept bitterly; but the king said to him: “Young man, take your arrow and shoot as your brothers have done.” He answered, “Far be it from me to commit so great a crime. I would not for the whole world disfigure the body of my own father.” The king said: “Without doubt you are his son, and the others are changelings: to you, therefore, I adjudge the ring.”

* * * * *

Here the author closes his “Dactylotheca” or casket of rings.

Metaphorically speaking, he fears it has been discovered that he does not wear a _ring of power_; and that no _talismanic ring_ is in his possession. And it may be that some constrained position in which the writer has kept his readers, will allow them to desire the use of _cramp rings_ for relief. If so, he would willingly “creep to cross” to succor them: provided the ending of this essay did not answer that purpose.

One thing the author will hope; and it is this: that his readers and he have fashioned the interesting token of friendship a _gimmal ring_; and if it be so, then they will pass from this work with the idea that they have one part of such ring, while the writer may proudly hold to the other, until some future essay shall bring author and friends and the twin hoops of the _gimmal_ together again. With such a token upon his hand, he can waive a farewell.

INDEX.

A.

Abraxas stones, 95.

Ackmetchet, marriage at, 199.

Agate, its supposed magical and medical powers, 104.

Agnes, St., priest placing ring on finger of statue, 141.

Ahlstan, ring of, 39.

Aix-la-Chapelle, ring connected with the founding of, 138.

Alderman’s thumb-ring, 90.

Alexander’s ring, 20, 66, 156.

Amethyst, its supposed magical and medical powers, 100.

Amulet-rings found at Eltham, 120;
at Coventry, 121;
in antique urns, 121;
worn by physicians, 122;
Dano-Saxon amulet, 136;
amulet against storms, 136.

Andrea of Sicily and Jerusalem, 118.

Anglo-Saxon rings and workmen, 25.

Anne, Countess Dowager of Pembroke, 91.

Anne of Brittany sends ring to James IV. of Scotland, 158.

_Annulus pronubus_, 201.

Anselm, investiture by ring, 81;
and his miracles, 81.

Antiochus Epiphanes, ring of, 66.

Apis, sacred Egyptian bull, 32.

Arabian princesses, wearing rings with little bells attached, 90.

Archbishop’s investiture by ring, 80.

Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso, 126.

Arnulph’s dream about a ring, 81.

Artery, supposed, in the fourth finger, 47, 206.

Augustus, ring of, 67, 156.

B.

Bagaley’s account of Stanley, seventh Earl of Derby, 181.

Baker, Sir Richard, 141.

Balassius, (Ruby,) 102.

Belt, ring in the form of, 37.

Bertie, Richard, receives diamond ring from King of France, 159.

Betrothal rings: Grecian, 196;
in Esthonia, 197;
among the Copts, 198;
ceremony attendant on betrothal, 199, 201;
betrothal rings in Germany, 200.

Bishops, investiture by ring, 80, 83;
sealed with rings in early times, 85.

“Blood-stone” of Jeffreys, 184.

Bloody Baker, 141.

“Blue Ring,” 174.

Borgia, Cæsar, his poisoned ring. 144.

“Bot,” 137.

Boyle, Richard, (Great Earl of Cork,) 160.

Brand, Miss v., her vision, 125.

Bran of Brittany, 226.

Brian Borholme, 147.

Britons, rings worn by, 24, 25.

British Museum, rings in, 34.

Bronze rings, seldom used by Egyptians, 26.

Bronze ring, widening by pressure, 37.

Bucentaur, the galley used on the Doge marrying the sea, 73.

Bull (Apis) on a ring, 32.

Byron, his mothers wedding-ring, 189.

C.

Cæsar’s ring, 156.

Caius Marius, 26.

California ring presented to President Pierce, 43.

Cameo, its origin, 156.

Canute, King, discovery of his tomb, body and ring, 70.

Carbuncle, 29.

Cardinal’s ring, 83.

Carey, Robert, Earl of Monmouth, takes the “Blue Ring” to James on
Queen Elizabeth’s decease, 174.

Catacombs of Rome, 89.

Cats cut upon Egyptian rings, 38.

Cecil, Earl of Salisbury. 49.

Chains of criminals made into rings to cure diseases, 136.

Chalcedony, its supposed magical power, 106.

Charlemagne, story connected with founding Aix-la-Chapelle, 138.

Charles I., supposed ring of this monarch given to a boy, 177;
his ring used by Sir Philip Warwick, 178;
mourning rings of this king, 179;
his hair used for rings, 180.

Charles II., Duchess of Portsmouth takes diamond rings from his hand
when on his death-bed, 183.

Charles VIII. of France, 145.

Charm rings, 93.

Cheops, ring of, 149.

Childeric, his tomb, body, ring, 71.

Christians, rings of early Christians, 39, 40.

Christians wearing talismanic rings, 119;
symbolical figures on the rings of early Christians, 203;
Christian marriage-ring copied from Romans, 205.

Coffin-nails or screws made into rings to cure king’s evil, 132.

Collar, pliable ring in the form of, 37.

College of Navarre, gives ring to Crichton, 188.

Commonwealth of England, inclined to abolish the ring in marriages,
208.

Convulsions cured by silver rings, 132.

Copts, betrothal ring used by them, 198.

Coral, its supposed magical power, 107.

Cork, Earl of, 160.

Cornelian rings found near the Pyramids, 26.

Cornelian, its magical and medical powers, 100, 105.

Coronation rings, 67.

Council of Trent, in relation to marriage, 195, 204.

Cramp rings, 128.

Cranmer using the ring of Henry VIII. before the Council, 72.

Creeping to cross, 130.

Crichton (the Admirable), ring given to him by the College of
Navarre, 188.

Criminals, chains of, made into rings to cure diseases, 136.

Croly’s lines on a gem representing a woman contemplating a
household god, 230.

Cupid and Psyche, on a Roman signet, 214.

Cupid with butterflies, on a ring, 144.

D.

Dactylomancy, or divination by rings, 111.

Dactylotheca, Roman name for cases containing rings, 22, 155.

Dano-Saxon amulet, 136.

Darnley’s ring, 173.

Death’s-head rings, 30.

Devereux, Earl of, ring given by Queen Elizabeth to, 162.

De Vesci, King John’s bad conduct towards the wife of, 157.

Diamond, 41;
on swivel in ring, 49;
its magical and medical powers, 100, 101.

Divination by rings, 111, 112.

Doge marrying the sea, 73; his ring of office, 75.

“Dolzbote;” 138.

Domestic deities of the Romans, small iron rings used for, 229.

Drennan, Dr., his lines to his wife with a ring, 232.

Dschemid, said to have introduced the ring, 16.

Dundee, ring in memory of the great Dundee, 187.

E.

Edward, St., ring of, 128.

Edward the Confessor’s ring, 157.

Egyptians, their rings, 17, 21, 26, 27, 34, 35;
on what fingers worn, 47, 48;
no evidence that they used a marriage-ring, 196.

Eldon, Lord, desired his ring to be buried with him, 225.

Eleusinian mysteries, rings given to the initiated, 96.

Elizabeth of Poland, talismanic ring given by her to her son
Andrea, 118.

Elizabeth, Queen, medicinal ring sent to her by Lord Chancellor
Hatton, 124;
ring given by her to Essex, 162;
her death, 164;
ring given by her to Mary of Scotland, 168.

Elk’s horn, piece of, worn in ring to cure epilepsy, 135.

Emerald, its supposed medical and magical powers, 100, 103.

Epilepsy cured by wearing ring, 133, 135.

Essex-ring, 162, _et seq._

Esthonia, betrothal rings in, 197.

Eternity, ring an emblem of, 21.

Ethelwoulf, ring of, 156.

Etruscan rings, 35, 36.

Evil eye, charm-rings to act against it, 93.

Execustus, his two enchanted rings, 112.

F.

Fingers on which rings are worn, 45, 46, 67, 86, 202;
finger for betrothal ring, 201, 202;
finger for wedding ring, 206.

Fish, rings found in, 59.

“Fisherman’s Ring,” 77.

Fits, cured by ring, 132, 133.

G.

Gallienus frightening a dishonest jeweller, 57.

Galvanic rings, 135.

Gambler’s rings, 145.

Gauls, rings used by, 24.

German betrothal ring, 200.

_Gesta Romanorum_, story from, 233.

Gibbet, iron from it made into rings to cure diseases, 136.

Gimmal ring, 192.

Gimmow (or Gimmal) ring, 192.

Godwin, Earl, 11, 12.

Gold rings, generally used by the Egyptians, 26;
Roman gold rings, 27.

Gray bequeaths his rings, 220.

Greeks, inscriptions on their rings, 36;
had the wedding and betrothal ring, 195, 196.

Greek urns, rings in, 18.

Gresham, Sir Thomas, his gimmal ring, 194.

Gyges, ring of, 126.

H.

Hand, on which hand rings are worn, 45, 47;
with thumb and two forefingers extended, 83.

Hannibal’s ring, 154.

Hathaway, Anne, lines to, (note,) 11.

Hatton, Chancellor, sending medicinal ring to Queen Elizabeth, 124.

Hebrews, wore a number of rings, 49;
as to their using a marriage-ring, 196-7.

Heliogabalus, never wore the same ring twice, 46.

Henry II. of England, his tomb, body, ring, 71.

Heraldry, ring in, 58.

Herbert’s enigma, 62.

Household gods of the Romans, small iron rings for, 229;
Croly’s lines on a gem representing a woman contemplating a
household deity, 230.

Hyacinth, its supposed medical and magical powers, 102.

Hynd Horn, ballad of, 115.

I. J.

Indian Brahmins, 95.

Innocent III. ordered the celebration of marriage through the
church, 195.

Inscriptions on Greek and Roman rings, 36.

Investiture by ring and staff, 80, 81, 82.

Ireland, diamond found in, 41.

Iron, rings of, 26, 27, 94, 229;
iron from gibbets made into rings to cure diseases, 136;
iron rings containing the Prussian maiden’s hair, 191.

Ivory rings worn by the Egyptians, 27.

Jacinth, its supposed medical and magical powers, 102.

James IV. of Scotland, receiving a turquoise ring from Anne of
Brittany, 158.

Jasper, its supposed superior healing and magical powers, 99, 105.

Jeffreys and his “Blood-stone,” 184.

Jewish marriage, and use of ring at it, 208.

Joan of Naples, 118.

John, King of England, his bad conduct in relation to the wife of
De Vesci, 157.

Johnson, Dr., his care of his wife’s wedding-ring, 222.

Joseph, ring given by Pharaoh to, 66, 151.

Judah and Tamar, 20.

K.

Kean the elder, his ring, 189.

Kerouaille, Duchess of Portsmouth, takes two diamond rings from the
hand of Charles II. when in his death-throes, 183.

Key, ring with a key attached, 196.

King’s evil cured by ring made from coffin-nails or screws, 132.

Kings of Scotland, ring used at their coronation, bequeathed by
Cardinal York to Prince Regent, 188.

L.

Lacedemonians, as to their inventing seal-rings, 17.

Lambert Linkin, ballad of, 114.

Law of rings, 50.

Lawyers in Rome, clients presenting them with rings, 23.

Lines with a ring, 232.

L’Isle, Lord, 158.

Lituus, 23.

Louis IX. of France, 58.

Love’s Telegraph, 54.

M.

Mad-stone, (note,) 109.

Madoc’s ring, 157.

Magnet in a ring, 31.

Marriage, its ceremony through the Church, ordained by Innocent
III., 195;
marriage at Ackmetchet, 199.

Marriage-ring, Grecian and Roman, 195, 196, 216;
used at Ackmetchet, 199;
marriage-rings had inscriptions, others a sealing part, 215, 220,
221;
ancient one of silver with inscription, 220.

Mary, Queen of Scots, talismanic ring offered to her by Lord
Ruthven, 119;
her nuptial ring, 168, 170;
portrait of Mary in a ring at Bolsover Castle, 171;
a ring (one portion) sent to her by Queen Elizabeth, 171.

Matilda, wife of the Conqueror, her tomb, body, ring, 71.

Matrons of Warsaw, part with their rings to coin into ducats for
Polish struggle, 190.

Medicinal rings, 122, 123, 124, 136.

_Mei Amores_, upon a ring, 144.

Mexican officers’ rings, 154.

Michaelis, (physician,) had medical ring made of tooth of sea-horse,
136.

Mithridates, ring of, 155.

Money in the form of rings, 13.

Months, Polish idea of their being under the influence of precious
stones, 56.

Moore, his mother’s gift of her wedding-ring, 223.

N.

Name-rings, 55.

Navarre, College of, gives ring to Crichton, 188.

Nelson, memorial rings of, 188.

Nero’s ring, 156.

Nottingham, Countess of, and her connection with the Essex ring,
163.

Newton, Sir Isaac, his magnet-ring, 31;
his tooth set in a ring, 189.

O.

O’Neils of Ulster, and Turlough Lynnoch, 190.

Opal, its supposed medical and magical powers, 105.

Ordeal of touch, 137.

Order of the Ring, 51.

Orpine plant, inserted in rings, 215.

P.

Palatius, (Ruby,) 102.

Pallas, freed-man of Claudius, ring of, 19.

Papal ring, 76, 78.

Pearls, 28.

Pelican and young upon a ring, 225.

Pembroke, Anne, Countess Dowager of, 91.

Persians, their seal-rings, 52, 67;
bridegroom makes a present of a ring, 198.

Pharaoh’s ring given to Joseph, 66, 151.

Physicians’ rings, 49, 122.

Pierce, Franklin, ring from California presented to, 43.

Pio, Albert, anecdote of, 49.

Pius II., ring of, 79.

Plague-rings, 136.

Poison carried in rings, 38, 154.

Pompeii, marriage-ring found at, 196.

Pompey’s ring, 155.

Pope’s ring, 17, 78.

Pope the poet, bequeathed rings, 222.

Porcelain rings worn by the Egyptians, 27.

Portsmouth, Duchess of, her taking diamond rings from the hand of
Charles II. in the death throes, 183.

Power, rings connected with, 65.

Powhattan, (ship,) 224.

Prometheus, and his wearing the first ring, 15, 16.

Prussian maiden and the sacrifice of her hair, 190.

Puritans set against the wedding-ring, 208.

R.

Richard II., directions in his will, 71.

Riddle on a ring, 62.

Ring-dropping, 145.

Ring-money, 13.

Roman Catholic marriages, 208.

Roman flute players, rings worn by, 23.

Roman lawyers, rings given to, by clients, 23.

Roman urns, rings in, 19.

Roman rings, 36;
marriage-rings, 195.

Roman senators and their rings, 66.

Roman slave, 146.

Roman knights, 24, 66, 90.

Ruby, its supposed medical and magical powers, 102.

Rubric, marriage in the Episcopal Church governed by, 204, 205.

Ruthven, Lord, offers talismanic ring to Mary, Queen of Scots, 119.

Rush-rings, 215.

S.

Sackvil, Duke of Dorset, ring given to him by King James, 175.

St. Anne, ring of, 214.

Samothracian talismanic ring, 94.

Sapphire; its supposed medical and magical powers, 104.

Scarabæus, form of seal, 17.

Sea-horse’s tooth, Michaelis’s medical ring made of, 136.

Seal-rings, when first used by ladies, 26.

Sebert, his tomb, body, ring, 70.

Serjeants at law, their rings and the ceremony relating to their
presentation, 86.

Sessa, ring found at, 216.

Shakspeare’s signet-ring, 10, 161;
bequeathed rings to his brother players, 222.

Shoes, rings with shape of soles of shoes, 24.

Signets with Sanscrit inscriptions, 17;
importance given to signets in England, 53.

Size of rings, Egyptian, 31, 32, 33.

Slave, Roman, 146.

Solomon’s magic ring, 113.

Sonnet, by Davison, 195.

Sore cured by touch of ring-finger, 132, 133.

Spain, the power of a girl to compel marriage when a ring has been
given, 198.

Stanley, seventh Earl of Derby, his character and last gift of
rings, 181.

Statues, rings on, 22, 23, 24.

Sterling’s story of the “Onyx Ring,” 116.

Storms, amulet against, 136.

“Sty” on the eye cured by rubbing with wedding-ring, 132.

_Subarrhation_, the delivering of ring and other gifts, 203.

Substances from which rings are formed, 26.

Suphis, ring of, 149.

Suffolk, Duchess of, 159.

_Symbolum_, a term used for a ring, 13.

Syrian legend, 115.

T.

Talismanic rings, 93;
their form, 96.

“Thee, Mary, with this ring I wed,” 231.

Theseus, 14.

Thieves’ rings, 145.

Thumb-rings, 90, 91, 92.

Toad-stone. 107.

Topaz, its supposed medical and magical powers, 104.

_Trau_ (betrothal) ring in Germany, 200.

Trent, Council of, 195, 204.

Tristram, had a mystical ring, 127.

Trophy, emblem on rings, 155.

Turlough Lynnoch, his ring, 190.

Turquoise, its supposed medical and magical powers, 106;
turquoise ring sent by the Queen of Louis XII. to James IV. of
Scotland, 158.

U. V.

_Ungulus_, Oscan word for ring, 13.

Urns, rings in Greek urns, 18.

Urns, rings in Roman urns, 19.

Value of some ring, 54.

Venus, story of placing ring on brazen, statue of this goddess, 139.

Virgin, the, story of placing ring on finger of statue, 141.

W.

Walpole’s poesy upon a ring, 63.

Warsaw, matrons of, give their wedding-rings to be coined in aid of
the Polish struggle, 190.

Warts, taken away by ring touching them, 132.

Warwick, Sir Philip, intrusted with use of the ring of Charles I.,
178.

Washington bequeathed rings, 229.

Wedding-ring touching wart to take it away, 132;
rubbing on “sty” to cure it, _ib._;
Grecian and Roman wedding-rings, 195, 196;
gold-wire rings given away at weddings, 213, 215;
ancient silver ring, 220.

Whistle connected with a ring, 38.

Wire rings of gold given away at weddings, 213.

Wound cured by touch of ring, 133.

Y.

York, Cardinal, his bequest of the ring used by kings of Scotland on
their coronation, 188.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] The poem from which this stanza is taken has now become so scarce, and is so pleasing, that we are induced to insert it in this note:

TO THE IDOL OF MINE EYES AND THE DELIGHT OF MINE HEART, ANNE HATHAWAY.

Would ye be taught, ye feathered throng,
With love’s sweet notes to grace your song,
To pierce the heart with thrilling lay,
Listen to mine Anne Hathaway!
She _hath a way_ to sing so clear,
Phœbus might wond’ring stop to hear;
To melt the sad, make blithe the gay,
And nature charm, Anne _hath a way_:
She _hath a way_,
Anne Hathaway,
To breathe delight Anne _hath a way_.

When envy’s breath and rancorous tooth
Do soil and bite fair worth and truth,
And merit to distress betray,
To soothe the heart Anne _hath a way_;
She _hath a way_ to chase despair,
To heal all grief, to cure all care,
Turn foulest night to fairest day:
Thou know’st, fond heart, Anne _hath a way_,
She _hath a way_,
Anne Hathaway,
To make grief bliss Anne _hath a way_.

Talk not of gems, the orient list,
The diamond, topaz, amethyst,
The emerald mild, the ruby gay:
Talk of my gem, Anne Hathaway!

She _hath a way_, with her bright eye,
Their various lustre to defy,
The jewel she and the foil they,
So sweet to look Anne _hath a way_.
She _hath a way_,
Anne Hathaway,
To shame bright gems, Anne _hath a way_.

But were it to my fancy given
To rate her charms, I’d call them Heaven;
For though a mortal made of clay,
Angels must love Anne Hathaway.
She _hath a way_ so to control
To rapture the imprisoned soul,
And sweetest Heaven on earth display,
That to be Heaven Anne _hath a way_!
She _hath a way_,
Anne Hathaway,
To be Heaven’s self Anne _hath a way_.

[2] Chambers’s Miscellany, vol. xv., No. 132.

[3] Layard’s Nineveh, ii. 318.

[4] Papers read before the Irish Academy, 1836.

[5] Babylon and Nineveh, 513.

[6] Pliny, lib. ix.; Pausanias in Attic. Poet., c. vi.; Ovid. Fast., 1. v. Bannier, ii. 497.

[7] Lib. i. c. 1.

[8] Plin. lib. xiii.; Montfaucon.

[9] Book of Costume, by a Lady of Rank, 21.

[10] Archæologia Biblica.

[11] P. 246.

[12] Fuss’s Roman Antiquities.

[13] Pictorial Bible, (Knight’s Ed.,) Note to 1 Kings, ch. xxi.

[14] Curiosities of Burial, (Chambers’s Repository.)

[15] Dagley’s Gems, _Preface_.

[16] Hottzappfel’s Turning and Mechanical Manipulations, p. 1362.

[17] Chambers’s Repository, (Curiosities of Burial.)

[18] Gemma Antiche, iii. 182.

[19] Genesis, ch. xli. _et seq._

[20] Goldsmith.

[21] Caylus, vol. iii. p. 157.

[22] And see Layard’s Nineveh, 339, 340.

[23] Montfaucon.

[24] Gentleman’s Magazine, vol. xx., N. S., 55.

[25] Fuss’s Roman Antiquities, sec. 435.

[26] Juvenal, Sat. VII.

[27] Adams’s Roman Antiquities, 366, (Boyd’s edit.)

[28] Montfaucon.

[29] Plutarch’s Numa.

[30] Fuss, § 318.

[31] Fosbroke, 247; Fuss, § 150.

[32] Gentleman’s Magazine, vol. xviii., N. S., 527.

[33] 4. vol. i. pl. lxxxix.

[34] Fosbroke’s Encyclopædia of Antiquities, 247.

[35] Dugdale’s History of St. Paul’s; and Archæologla, xvii. 316.

[36] Eccleston’s Introduction to English Antiquities, 60,61; and see Manufactures of Metal, 376; Hone’s Every-Day Book, 671; Archæologia, iv. 54.

[37] Ingoldsby Legends, 223.

[38] Fosbroke, 251.

[39] Montfaucon.

[40] Fosbroke’s Encyclopædia of Antiquities, 246.

[41] Wilkinson’s Manners of the Ancient Egyptians, 371.

[42] Rees’s Encyclopædia--Title, _Rings_.

[43] Lib. i. i. cap. 5.

[44] Life of Caius Marius.

[45] Fosbroke’s Encyclopædia of Antiquities, 246.

[46] Wilson’s Archæological Dictionary, Art. _Rings_.

[47] Chambers’s Miscellany.

[48] Cardanus, lib. vii. _de Lapidibus_.

[49] Dumas’ Celebrated Crimes--_The Borgias_.

[50] Notes to Tallis’s Edit. of Shakspeare.

[51] Act IV. Scene 2.

[52] Nichols’s Lapidary, 54, 57; Kobell, 274.

[53] Hill’s Theophrastus, p. 75, notes _n. y._

[54] Chances, Act 1, Sc. 3.

[55] Collins’s Peerage.

[56] Harris’s Rudimentary Magnetism, 6.

[57] Recueil d’Antiquités.

[58] Remarks on Italy.

[59] Curiosities of Burial--Chambers’s Repository.

[60] Recueil d’Antiquités, Tom. ii. p. 310.

[61] Lib. iv., p. 172, Pl. LVII.

[62] Lib. v. p. 161.

[63] Caylus, ii. 311.

[64] Gentleman’s Magazine, Vol. xviii., N. S., 527.

[65] Archæologia, v. 71.

[66] Ib. viii. 430.

[67] Heb. xi. 37, 38.

[68] Fosbroke, 247; Archæologia, iv. 54.

[69] Vol. iv. N. S., p. 224.

[70] (Published by Redfield,) p. 110.

[71] Lond. Gent.’s Mag., Vol. xxiv. p. 285.

[72] Archæologia, (London,) ii. 35.

[73] Memorials of Affairs of State, iii. 368.

[74] Nugæ Antiquæ, ii. 263.

[75] Jer, xxii. 24.

[76] Moutfaucon.

[77] Lib. x.

[78] Martial, Lib. xi., epiq. 60.

[79] Aristophanes, _in Nub._, &c.

[80] Wilkinson.

[81] P. 185, Edit. of 1646.

[82] P. 185.

[83] Chap. ii., v. 2.

[84] Archæologia Biblica, § 128-9; Wilkinson.

[85] Godolphin’s Orphan’s Leg., 413.

[86] Williams on Executors, 739.

[87] _Apreece_ v. _Apreece_, 1 V. and B. 364.

[88] _Vowles_ v. _Young_, 13 Ves. J. 144.

[89] Montfaucon.

[90] London, for 1760, p. 243.

[91] Roscoe’s Leo X., i. 338, (8vo.)

[92] Library of Entertaining Knowledge, Pompeii, vol. ii. p. 324.

[93] And see Layard’s Nineveh and Babylon, (Putnam’s Edit.,) 529.

[94] Vol. i. p. 345, 4to.

[95] Adam’s Roman Antiquities, 366, (Boyd’s edit.)

[96] Household Words, ix. 462.

[97] Family Friend, vol. ii. p. 132.

[98] Furnished to the author through the attention of Messrs. Marchand Aé. Gaime, Guillemot & Co., Jewellers, of New-York.

[99] Mineral Kingdom, p. 269.

[100] New-York Albion newspaper, 8th October, 1853.

[101] When the tomb of Childeric, father of Clovis, was opened, there were found, besides the skeletons of his horse and page, his arms, a crystal orb and more than three hundred little ornaments resembling bees of the purest gold, their wing part being inlaid with a red stone like cornelian. It has, however, been asserted that they were what are called _fleurons_, supposed to have been attached to the harness of the monarch’s war-horse. Napoleon, wishing to have some regal emblem more ancient than the _fleur-de-lis_, adopted the _fleurons_ or bees, and the green ground as the original Merovingian color, (Notes and Queries, viii. 30.)

[102] London Gent.’s Mag. for January, 1765, p. 210.

[103] Gentleman’s Magazine, vol. xxxv. old series, p. 141.

[104] Article in the N. Y. Albion for 31st Dec. 1853, on Cod and Cod Fishing, 627.

[105] Lady Morgan’s Italy, vol. ii. p. 419.

[106] Correspondence, vol. iii. p. 107.

[107] Genesis, chap. lxi. _et seq._

[108] 1 Mac. vi. 15.

[109] Encyc. Brit., Article _Ring_.

[110] Chap. viii. 8.

[111] Daniel vi. 17.

[112] Egypt under the Ptolemies, by Sharp, 118.

[113] Lib. ii. Sat. 7.

[114] Notes and Queries, iv. 261.

[115] An Historical and Critical Enquiry into the nature of the Kingly Offices, etc., by T. C. Banks, p. 7. See also a complete account of the Ceremonies observed in the Coronation of the Kings and Queens of England, 4th edition, published by J. Roberts. Also, the entire Ceremonies of the Coronation of King Charles II., and of Queen Mary, consort of James II., as published by the Learned Heralds, Ashmole and Sandford.

[116] Archæologia, (London,) iii. 390.

[117] Biographia Britannica, Art. _Devereux_.

[118] Archæologia, vol. xxvi. (London.) Account of the Jerusalem Chamber, by A. J. Kempe, Esquire.

[119] Ib. vol. xxix. pl. 2. Particulars of the Regalia of England, made for the Coronation of Charles II., by Robert Cole, Esquire.

[120] Archæologia, iii. 390.

[121] Ib. 385.

[122] Correspondence, vol. vi. p. 67.

[123] Archæologia, iii. 392.

[124] Ib. 389.

[125] King Henry VIII., Act 5, Scenes 1, 2.

[126] See also Antiquitat. Britannicæ, 334, 336; Burnet, 327, _et seq._

[127] Encyc. Am., Art. _Venice_. And see Scott’s Discovery of Witchcraft (1665,) p. 152.

[128] In the Gentleman’s Magazine for March, 1798, p. 184, is a minute account of this ceremony, which somewhat varies from the above: “On Ascension Day, the Doge, in a splendid barge, attended by a thousand barks and gondolas, proceeds to a particular place in the Adriatic. In order to compose the angry gulf and procure a calm, the patriarch pours into her bosom a quantity of holy water. As soon as this charm has had its effect, the Doge, with great solemnity, through an aperture near his seat, drops into her lap a gold ring, repeating these words, ‘_Desponsamus te, Mare, in signum veri perpetuique dominii._’ ‘We espouse thee, O sea! in token of real and perpetual dominion over thee.’”

[129] Dictionary of Dates, Adriatic.

[130] See Smedley’s Sketches of Venetian History, referred to in note [A] to Byron’s Works.

[131] He is under obligations to the Reverend Thomas S. Preston for this.

[132] Gavazzi’s Lectures, (New-York ed.,) 185.

[133] London Gent.’s Mag. for 1848, p. 599.

[134] Eadmer, Histor. Nov., l. i. p. 16.

[135] John of Salisbury’s Life of Anselm.

[136] Rapin.

[137] William of Malmesbury.

[138] Burn’s Ecclesiastical Law, 209.

[139] Encyc. Brit., Title, _Ring_.

[140] London Gent’s Mag., vol. lxxi. p. 1082.

[141] Notes and Queries, viii. 387.

[142] Ib. 2d vol. 4th S., 300.

[143] Notes and Queries, v. 114.

[144] Ib. 492.

[145] Metamorph. ii. 34.

[146] Ennemoser, i. 258, _et seq._

[147] Caylus, vi. 295, Pl. xciii.

[148] Addison, (Tickell’s edit.,) v. 178.

[149] Since writing the above, we have come across _Ennemoser’s History of Magic_, who refers to these hands; and while he takes up with the notion of their being votive offerings, he refers to the extended fingers to show that a cure had been effected by magnetic manipulation. In reference to one particular specimen, the author considers the hand itself to be an appropriate emblem from having performed the cure. (Vol. i. p. 255.) This, then, does away with the idea that a cure in the hand itself was effected; and if we take away the hand, the remarkable figures with which it was studded do not seem to be connected with or emblematical of any kind of disease. All this brings us nearer to our notion, that these hands were used as amulets.

[150] Wilkinson’s Ancient Egyptians, ii. 354.

[151] Fosbroke’s Encyc. of Antiquities, 246.

[152] Notes and Queries, v. 492.

[153] Whitlock’s Memoirs, p. 356.

[154] Fortescue de Laud. Legum Angl., cap. 50.

[155] 3 Cooke’s Reports, 3.

[156] Calmet’s Dictionary, Art. _Bells_.

[157] Roman Antiquities, by Foss, § 62.

[158] Ib. § 456.

[159] Brande’s Popular Antiquities, (by Ellis,) 264.

[160] Household Words: _I Give and Bequeath_.

[161] London Gentleman’s Magazine, vol. lxxxiii. p. 17.

[162] Act 2, scene 1; and see Douce’s Illustrations, 383.

[163] Knight’s Bible.

[164] Spaniards and their Country, 66.

[165] Fosbroke’s Ency. of Antiquities, 247-8.

[166] Ency. Brit., Ency. Amer.

[167] P. 6.

[168] Oliver on Masonry, 168.

[169] P. 249.

[170] Bingham’s Origines Ecclesiasticæ, p. 943, (Bohn’s edit.)

[171] Maffei, vol. ii. pl. 20, p. 42.

[172] “The first author of it (_general shout_) was Pan, Bacchus’s Lieutenant-General in his Indian expedition, where, being encompassed in a valley with an army of enemies, far superior to them in number, he advised the god to order his men in the night to give a general shout, which so surprised the opposite army that they immediately fled from their camp; whence it came to pass that all sudden fears impressed upon men’s spirits without any just reason were called by the Greeks and Romans pannick terrors.”--_Potter’s Greece_, iii. c. 8.

[173] Maffei, vol. ii. pl. 21, p. 45.

[174] Archæologia, xxi. 127.

[175] Fosbroke’s Encyclopædia of Antiquities, p. 246.

[176] A Lapidary, or the History of Pretious Stones, with cautions for the undeceiving of all those that deal with pretious stones, (1652,) p. 51.

[177] This name occurs among the ancients, because it is the mother-dwelling or the _palace_, as it was said, in which the carbuncle or true ruby is produced and dwells.--_Kobell_, 274.

[178] Lib. viii. _de Hist. Animal_.

[179] Kobell.

[180] Nicols’ Lapidary, 56-7.

[181] Paus. viii, c. 14.

[182] The Imperial Treasury at Vienna possesses an emerald valued at £50,000.

[183] Nicols’ Lapidary, 85.

[184] And see Kobell’s Mineral Kingdom, 274.

[185] P. 86.

[186] Nicols.

[187] Nicols, 130.

[188] 1569, p. 51.

[189] Ib. 164.

[190] _As You Like It_, Act 2, Sc. 1.

[191] First Book of Notable Things, 4to, vol. i.

[192] P. 158.

[193] This subject may allow us to mention what is called the “mad-stone,” a supposed antidote to hydrophobia. The following is from the New-York Tribune newspaper for July 4, 1854:

THE MAD-STONE.--The reference of _The Washington Union_ to the
mad-stone (one of which is now in the possession of the family
of the late Mr. John King Churchill, in Richmond, Va.) has drawn
articles upon the subject from several of our cotemporaries. _The
Petersburg Intelligencer_ has been shown one, in the possession
of Mr. Oliver, who resides in Petersburg, and, it is said, has
several certificates of cases in which it has been successfully
used for the bite of a mad dog. It is rectangular in shape, with
parallel sides and polished surfaces, traversed by dark-gray and
brown streaks, and about a size larger than half a Tonquay bean,
except that it is not near so thick. Upon being applied to the
wound of the patient, says _The Intelligencer_, it soon extracts
the virus, which, it is said, may be distinctly seen in the
water, into which it is repeatedly dipped during the operation.
_The Portsmouth Globe_ says: “We were raised--‘brought up’ is,
perhaps, the word--in Petersburg, Va., and among our very earliest
recollections is one concerning a cure from hydrophobia, made
through the agency of a mad-stone. The person, whoever it was that
was bit by a rabid dog, went to Williamsburg, in this State, where
it was said that a mad-stone was located, and came back well, and
was never troubled either with madness or its symptoms. Our next
notice of the subject was when two individuals in Petersburg were
bitten by mad dogs. One, we think, lived in Halifax street, and his
father believing the mad-stone a humbug, refused to let his son go
and try it. He was seized with the fits, after the usual medicinal
agents had failed, and died in great agony. The other visited the
mad-stone--still then at Williamsburg--and entirely recovered. The
next case was this: We were travelling from Paineville, Amelia
County, to Farmville, Prince Edward County, Va., and stopped at a
blacksmith’s house to get dinner. In the course of conversation, he
said he had been bit by a mad dog, that had destroyed by its bite
a number of cattle, sheep and hogs, and that he hastened at once
to Williamsburg; that, on the way, he had suffered much from the
bite, but after the application of the stone, he had got relief and
suffered none since. ‘That bite,’ said he, laying much emphasis on
the cost, ‘_cost_ me nearly a _hundred_ dollars.’

“Such is all that we remember concerning the mad-stone.”

As a pendant, we give a “slip” from the Richmond (Virginia) _Penny Post_ for August 12, 1854. The description, if it may be so called, of the stone referred to is remarkable: “as large as a piece of chalk,” and “almost indescribable:”

“An article which we inserted in the _Penny Post_ some two months
ago, has elicited remarks from the press in every quarter. We know
from facts in our possession, that we were ‘_rectus in curia_.’
Mr. W. Bradly, who resides some half mile from the city, has left
at our office the genuine Simon Pure mad-stone, which can be
examined by the curious. We understand from Mr. Bradly that this
stone has been in the Bradly family for more than one hundred
years; and we are informed by gentlemen of intelligence from the
counties of Orange, Green, Culpepper and Madison that they are
cognizant of more than fifty cures of mad-dog bites, snake and
spider bites. This is a most valuable discovery, and one which
ought to be generally known. We mentioned facts some time since,
with regard to Sale’s mad-stone, located in Caroline County, which
excited only a sneer from the press; none are so blind as those
who will not see. We who write this happen to know facts connected
with this matter, and we have faithfully given them. This stone is
rather a curious-looking affair; it is about as large as a piece of
chalk, perfectly porous, and truth to say, almost indescribable.
When applied to the wound either of a snake or mad-dog bite, it
will draw until all its pores are saturated, then drop off, and
if placed in warm water will soon disgorge and then be ready for
action again. We shall keep this stone in our office for several
days for the inspection of the curious. It ought to be purchased by
the city for the use of the public. We understand that Mr. Bradly
will sell it for $5,000; if it saves one valuable life, it will be
cheap at double that price.”

In connection with this, we add a letter from the _Macon Journal and Messenger_, (August, 1854:)

A TALE FOR THE CURIOUS.--We received the following communication
from Major J. D. Wilkes, of Dooly County. He is a highly
respectable citizen, well known to us, and we feel no hesitation in
assuring the public that he would make no statements which were not
fully reliable.

“_Editors of the Journal and Messenger_:

“Permit me to lay before your readers a few facts which may furnish
matter of speculation for the curious, but may be doubted by some
or ridiculed by others. They are, nevertheless, strictly true. Some
twelve years ago I went out with a party on a deer hunt, and shot
down a fine buck. While dressing him, I cut up the haslet for my
hounds, and in doing so, I cut out a stone of dark greenish color,
about where the windpipe joins the lights. It was from an inch and
a half to two inches long, and quite heavy for its size, although
it appears to be porous. I have heard of such stones from old
hunters, and that they possessed the faculty of extracting poison,
and other medical virtues, but they were seldom found. They were
called beasle or bezoar stones. I have been a frontier man and
killed many a deer, but have never found another of the same kind.
I laid it by more as a matter of curiosity than having any faith in
its virtues.

“On the 12th ult. I had a favorite dog bitten on the nose by a
large rattlesnake. The dog at once commenced reeling and fell down.
I was within a few feet of him, and immediately (as the only remedy
at hand) forced a chew of tobacco down his throat. I got him home
very soon and dissolved some alum, but found his jaws nearly set.
I forced open his mouth, and poured it down his throat. I then
recollected seeing in your paper of the 5th ult. the description of
a stone and its virtue in extracting poison, in possession of some
family in Virginia, which stone, I presume, was similar to the one
I had taken from the deer. I got a bowl of warm water and applied
the stone to the place bitten, and then dropped it into the water,
when I could see a dirty, dark green substance shooting out of
it. This I repeated three times with a similar result. The fourth
time it seemed to show that all the poison had been extracted. In
less than a minute the dog got up, vomited up the tobacco, and
the swelling subsided immediately. In less than two hours he was
perfectly well, and eating any thing that was offered him.

“Now I will not decide which of the three remedies--the tobacco,
the alum or the stone--cured the dog; but from the fact that he
was immediately cured on the application of the stone, should
reasonably weigh in favor of that remedy. In the article published
in your paper it is remarked that ‘We are not aware that the
existence of such is known to the scientific world at all,’ and it
is spoken of as its origin being a mystery, and wholly unknown.
Now, will not the above facts reveal the mystery of their origin? I
have now several highly respectable neighbors who were with me when
I obtained the stone. I live about nine miles east of Montezuma, in
Dooly County, where it may be seen or the use of it obtained, by
any one who may need it.

“J. D. WILKES.”

[194] Popular Delusions, ii. 298, 301; Harwood.

[195] Brande, iii. 329.

[196] P. 295.

[197] Ennemoser’s History of Magic, ii. 456, referring to the 29th book of Ammianus Marcellinus.

[198] Archæologia, xxi. 124.

[199] Solomon’s wisdom and happiness have become proverbial; and the fable of the rabbins and the heroic and erotic poems of the Persians and Arabians speak of him, as the romantic traditions of the Normans and Britons do of King Arthur, as a fabulous monarch, whose natural science, (mentioned even in the Bible,) whose wise sayings and dark riddles, whose power and magnificence are attributed to magic. According to these fictions Solomon’s ring was the talisman of his wisdom and power.--Ency. Amer., Art. _Solomon_.

[200] Johnston’s Josephus, Book viii. ch. 2.

[201] Motherwell’s Minstrelsy, vol. ii. p. 164, (Ticknor’s edit.) In Chambers’s Collection of Scotch Ballads, this story goes under the name of _Lammilsin_.

[202] Vol. ix. p. 233.

[203] Motherwell’s Minstrelsy, vol. i. p. 187.

[204] _Causes Célèbres_ (Dumas).

[205] Strickland’s Queens of Scotland, iii, 319.

[206] Archæologia, xix. 411.

[207] Archæologia, xviii. 306.

[208] Egyptian rings in the form of a shell are not uncommon.

[209] Milligen’s Curiosities of Medical Experience, ii. 137.

[210] Archæologia, xxi. 25.

[211] Archæologla, xxi. 121.

[212] Plut., Act 4, § 3.

[213] Archæologia, xxi. 122.

[214] Vol. i. p. 76.

[215] Canto xi. v. 6, (Rose’s translation;) and see Hunt’s Stories from the Italian Poets.

[216] No. 243.

[217] See, however, Hospinian, referred to by Brande, vol. i. p. 151. As to Edward the Confessor’s curing the _struma_, see Archæologia, i. 162.

[218] London Gent.’s Magazine, vol. i., N. S., p. 49, referring to MS. Arundel, 275, fol. 23 _b_.

[219] Ib. 50, referring to MS. Harl. 295, fol. 119 _b_, cited by Ellis, i. 129.

[220] Ib. referring to MS. Cott. Calig. B. II. fol. 112.

[221] London Gent.’s Magazine.

[222] Brande’s Pop. Ant. iii. 300, referring to Gent. Mag. for 1794, p. 433, 648. Ib. 598, 889.

[223] Notes and Queries, i. 349.

[224] Ennemoser’s History of Magic, ii. 488.

[225] Notes and Queries, vii. 153.

[226] Archæologia, xxi. 25.

[227] Notes and Queries, vii. 146.

[228] Ib. 216.

[229] Vol. iii. p. 280, (Ellis’s edit.)

[230] Lupton, quoted by Brande, says: “A piece of a child’s navell string, borne in a ring, is good against the falling sickness, the pain of the head and the collick.”

“_Annulus frigatorius._ A ring made of glass (_salt_) of antimony, formerly supposed to have the power of purging.” Gardiner’s Medical Dictionary.

[231] Beckmann’s History of Inventions, i. 46, (Bohn’s edit.)

[232] See also Burton’s Anat. of Melancholy, (1621,) p. 476; Browne, ch. xviii.

[233] Archæologia, xxi. 122; Illustrated Magazine of Art, i. 11.

[234] Archæologia, (London,) xxi. 25.

[235] Ib. 117.

[236] London Gent.’s Mag. vol. lxxv. p. 801.

[237] Vol. xiv. of State Trials, case of Mary Norkott and John Okeman.

[238] Ancient Laws and Institutes of England, 8vo. vol. i. p. 13.

[239] Ib. p. 79.

[240] Mem. de Petrarque, i. 210.

[241] Notes and Queries, i. 140.

[242] See Douce’s Illust. of Shakspeare, p. 69.

[243] Hone’s Every Day Book, i. 141.

[244] Notes and Queries, vol. ii. p. 67.

[245] Crimes Célèbres.

[246] Crimes Célèbres, (Dumas.)

[247] Roman Antiquities, by Fuss, § 62.

[248] Blair’s Roman Slavery, 97; and see note 50, p. 241.

[249] Pliny, xxxiii.

[250] Lacrim. Etrus., (Sylv. iii. 3,) “_lævæque ignobile ferrum_.”

[251] Vol. i. book x.

[252] We write at a time when a subscription is going among the inhabitants of New-York for the purchase of this collection; and already have private citizens subscribed to the amount of $25,000. This tells well for republican individual enterprise and taste.

The author has to acknowledge the prompt kindness of Dr. Abbott, in allowing him to take impressions as well from the Suphis-ring as from many others in the Doctor’s collection.

[253] Genesis, ch. 1. v. 26.

[254] Pote’s Inquiry into the Phonetic Reading of the Ashburnham Signet. (Pickering, 1841.)

[255] See Wilkinson’s Manners of the Egyptians, iii. 374.

[256] On the tomb is the sculptured figure of a man bound hand and foot, with a huge lion in the act of springing upon him to devour him. No history could speak more graphically the story of Daniel in the Lion’s Den.--_The (American) Family Christian Almanac for 1855._

[257] Fuss’s Roman Antiquities, § 435.

[258] Adams’ Roman Antiquities, 366, (Boyd’s edit.)

[259] Plutarch’s _Timoleon_.

[260] Introduction to English Antiquities, by Eccleston, 60, 61.

[261] Dugdale.

[262] Burke’s Extinct Peerage, “Plantagenet Viscount L’Isle,” 432.

[263] Hollingshed; Dugdale.

[264] Echard, 363.

[265] Biographia Britannica, art. Boyle.

[266] 1814; and see Notes and Queries, v. 589.

[267] Halliwell’s Life of Shakspeare, 334.

[268] Part i. p. 346, (Harper’s edit.)

[269] P. 92. And see Johnson’s Life of Coke, p. 147; Hume, Horace Walpole. The ring is said to be retained in the family of the Countess of Nottingham.

[270] Pictorial History of England, ii. 693.

[271] Histoire de Hollande, 215, 216; and also see the Biographia Britannica, vol. 5, art. Devereux.

[272] Biographia Britannica, art. Devereux.

[273] Lives and Letters of the Devereux Earls of Essex, by the Honorable W. B. Devereux.

[274] Strickland’s Queens of Scotland, vol. iii. p. 181.

[275] Gent’s Mag. vol. xxxv. p. 390; Archæologia, vol. xxxiii.

[276] Willis’s Current Notes for February and March, 1852.

[277] P. 184, (note.)

[278] Gent.’s Mag. for 1852, p. 407.

[279] Anecdotes and Traditions, published by the Camden Society, (London, 1839.)

[280] Strickland’s Queens of Scotland, iii. 279.

[281] Mackenzie’s Lives and Characters.

[282] Father Garvasse.

[283] Burke’s Extinct Peerages, “Carey,” 111.

[284] Collins’s Baronage, 421, (4to.)

[285] Hillier’s Narrative of the attempted escape of Charles the First, etc., p. 79. And see Gentleman’s Magazine, N. S., p. 28.

[286] Gent.’s Mag., vol. xli. p. 450, and ib. for June.

[287] Notes and Queries, vii. 184.

[288] See Gent.’s Mag., vol. xli. p. 512.

[289] Collins’s Peerage, v. 68, 5th edit.

[290] Household Words, ix. 277.

[291] Burnet; and see note to Life of Lord Keeper North, vol. ii. p. 13.

[292] Knight.

[293] P. 33, _et seq._

[294] North, 100.

[295] Lord Halifax, who is described by Dryden under the character of “Jotham” in _Absalom and Achitophel_, was at the head of the party called Trimmers; and in his “Preface to the _Character of a Trimmer_,” thus explains the term: “This innocent word _Trimmer_ signifies no more than this: that if men are together in a boat and one part of the company would weigh it down on one side, another would make it lean as much to the contrary, it happens that there is a third opinion, of those who conceive it would be as well if the boat went even, without endangering the passengers. Now, ’tis hard to imagine by what figure in language or by what rule in sense this comes to be a fault; and it is much more a wonder it should be thought a heresy.”

[296] Miss Mitford’s Recollections, 425, (Am. edit.)

[297] Notes and Queries, ii. 70.

[298] Hone’s Year Book, 1022.

[299] Biographia Britannica, Art. _Crichton_.

[300] London Gent.’s Mag., N. S., ii. p. 195.

[301] Moore’s Life of Byron, vol. i. p. 458.

[302] Beattie’s Life of Campbell, ii. 287.

[303] Dublin Penny Journal, 208.

[304] The Death Warrant, or Guide to Life, 1844. (London.)

[305] Hone’s Every Day Book.

[306] 1690, p. 122.

[307] Gent.’s Mag. for 1852, p. 640.

[308] Ib. vol. xxxv. N. S. 390; Burgon’s Life and Times of Sir Thomas Gresham, i. 51.

[309] Poetical Rhapsody.

[310] Polyglot Dictionary, by John Minshew, (1625,) art. _Ring-Finger_.

[311] Reflections on the Causes of Unhappy Marriages, etc., by Lewis, p. 84.

[312] Shelford on Marriage, 17, 31.

[313] Sat. VI. verse 27.

[314] Macrob. Sat. VII. 15.