Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 4.djvu/67

Rh tainous districts at that time usually were; the rudeness of design in some, and the difference of size in others, would lead us to conclude that such monuments must have been used, more or less, for persons of nearly every condition. This remark, however, ought perhaps to be restricted in some measure to the inhabitants of the hilly parts of the country, especially in the northern counties, where abundance of stone might be procured at little cost. And this last consideration will also suggest a reason why these incised stone crosses should have been retained to a much later period in some parts of the country than in others, after the use of brass or latten had been generally introduced.

This collection also presents a great variety of marks, or symbols, indicative of the profession or trade of the deceased, several of which have been already referred to in the previous description. Some of these are well known, such as the sword and chalice, the shears and bugle-horn; examples of which may be seen in Gough's Sepulchral Monuments, and Lysons' History of Cumberland: others are rare, such as the key, and some which were too imperfect to be satisfactorily made out. It is well known that shields with armorial bearings were not introduced upon tombs till a later period. The use of such symbols is of very high antiquity: for examples are by no means uncommon on Roman tombs combined with inscriptions: and it seems to be admitted, that many of the devices on the monuments of the early Christians, in the catacombs at Rome, which have been considered by some as emblems of their martyrdom, refer rather to their occupation than to the instruments by which their tortures were inflicted; (see Maitland's Church in the Catacombs.) May it not have been the case, that in an unlettered age such symbols supplied in a great measure the place of inscriptions, which at that period would have been unintelligible to the majority of the survivors of the deceased. Indeed, it deserves notice, that examples of sepulchral crosses of the eleventh and twelfth centuries marked with inscriptions, are seldom met with in England. A few have been found in Yorkshire and the northwest counties, but they are rare: and this does not seem to be always affected by considerations of the rank of the individual, as it applies to the tombs of the ecclesiastic, and the knight, as well as of others. When inscriptions were added, they were more frequently cut by the side of the stem or shaft of