Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 7.djvu/274

192 192 PROCEEDINGS AT MEETINGS OF stone, analogous perhaps to the annulus bigemmeus of a more I'emote age. — Another gold ring, discovered in January 1840, in a field called Col- chester, about a mile west of the Roman station of Corbridge, Northumber- land, on the north side of the Tyne, on the estates of the Duke. The site is supposed to be that anciently occupied by a Roman town, the ruins still remaining about 18 inches beneath the surface, and numerous coins of gold and other metals have been found at various times. It has been regarded by Horsley and other writers as the Corstopitzim of the first Iter, and known by the name Corburgh or Corbow, Corcester, Carchester, &c. This relic is not, however, of the Roman age. Its date is probably about 1500. It is ornamented with curiously pierced work, forming an inscription, the meaning of which remains unexplained. The ring has unfortunately suf- fered much injury, being of so delicate a fabric. The accompanying representations show the arrangement of the letters, and the size of the ring in its damaged condition : weight, 75 grains. — A small ring of base metal, found in a mountain called Benroi{?), on the county Mayo : weight, 21 grains. It bears an inscription in rudely-traced characters, supposed to be of talismanic import, and accurately shown in the amiexed woodcuts, amongst the representations of these curious relics submitted to our readers with the kind permission of his Grace. The learned Irish archaeologist, Dr. Todd, on examination of the inscription on the ring last described, states that the characters are not Irish ; and cites several inscribed ornaments in the rich Museum of the Royal Irish Academy, discovered in Ireland ; but the legends are not intelligible to scholars in that country. They may be connected with the class of talismanic rings [anmdi vertuosi), of which various examples have been given in this Journal (Vol. iii., pp. 267, 358). — Talismanic King, Benroi. A flattened bead of beautiful hyaline glass, ornamented with spots of opaque blue and white paste, each forming a small spiral on its surface. It was found near Corbridge, Northumberland : diameter, about 1 inch. Glass beads of this kind have frequently been ascribed to the Early British period, and may possibly have been first brought to these Islands by traders, for the purposes of barter : similar ornaments have been found frequently in Italy, and it is probable that they are to be met with amongst the relics of Anglo-Roman, as they certainly are amongst those of Saxon, times. — The Duke of Northumberland sent likewise a sketch, representing the gold armlets found near Bowes, during the autumn of 1849, They are six in number, varying in weight, and in the extremities, which arc more or less dilated ; they were found in digging in a garden, in the occupation of Mr. Joseph Tunstall, of Bowes, Barnard Castle, and remain in his