Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 5.djvu/207

Rh or other unnoticed arrangement may have been made, for the suspension of the sacring-bell apart from the tower."

The long brackets described by Mr. Wilton, if intended as he supposes to receive candles, appear to be unusual. There are, however, certain shelves of stone formed for this purpose having sockets for lights affixed to them, in the collegiate buildings at Winchester, constructed by William of Wykeham. Possibly, the perforations noticed at Charlton may have been for affixing images, rather than to receive tapers of wax.

Another example of the curious class of inscribed rings, supposed to have been regarded in medieval times as endowed with a talismanic virtue, such as were termed annuli virtuosi, has been communicated through the kindness of the Ven. archdeacon of Norfolk. It bears the same mystic words which appear on other rings represented or described in the Archæological Journal, such as that found in Bredicot churchyard, and now in the possession of Mr. Jabez Allies, and another communicated by the Rev. H. H. Knight. The characters upon the ring here represented shew a stronger evidence of oriental origin than any heretofore noticed; the Greek letters theta and gamma twice occur in the legend, which may be seen in the annexed woodcut. The discovery of this relic, which is of gold, weighing 56 grains, was singular. We are indebted to Dr. Jennings for the following particulars. "The ring was found in digging up the roots of an old oak tree, which had been blown down by a violent wind in 1846, on a farm called the Rookery, in the parish of Calne, Wiltshire, belonging to Mr. Thomas Poynder. The farm is distant about a mile from that town, and about the same distance from Bowood. Mr. Poynder thinks that the spot where the ring was found was in the track of the fugitive Royalists, after the battle at Rounday Hill, near Devizes, on their retreat towards Oxford, where the king's head--quarters were stated to be at that time."

This curious ring is divided into eight compartments, with a row of three little rounded points, or studs, between each, apparently in imitation of the ornaments of a girdle or guige for the shield, termed bars, such as are seen on sepulchral effigies of the thirteenth century, and later periods. The hoop is bent irregularly so that the inner circle presents seven straight sides, but the angles thus formed do not correspond precisely with the external divisions, which are eight in number, as before stated. This form is very unusual. Kirchman describes an antique ring, octangular outside, and circular within, probably of Roman date; and another