Works of Art, Mr. Wilde says, "In rail-case H (of the Museum) may be seen three decorated bones, the precise use or object of which being as yet conjectural, they have been placed in this species. Few objects in the Academy can compare with them in interest, and, so far as published records are available, they are unique. The first is a leg-bone, probably of a deer, 8 inches long, covered with carving, and highly polished, which was procured from one of the Strokestown crannoges. The second is also a leg-bone, but stained of a dark-brown colour, apparently from lying in peat, and is in the natural state in all respects, with the exception of the carvings on its sides. It was found in the Lagore crannoge, county of Meath, and was procured through Mr. Wakeman. Its polished surface shows how much it had been handled. In addition to the well-cut illustrations here represented the natural size, hereafter to be alluded to, there are various devices traced upon the under concave surface of this bone with a graver or other sharp tool-the original sketches or unfinished drawings of the artist at the time this article was lost. The first has also carvings on the convex side, similar to the foregoing; but the designs are somewhat different, although not inferior in workmanship; the surface of the bone is not, however, in such a good state of preservation as in the next. The third is a fragment of the scapula of a sheep or deer, carved on the inferior surface; it is 7 inches long. The engravings upon it, although well drawn, are not so carefully executed as on either of the foregoing, and are of a totally different character. They are shallower-the texture and thinness of the bone not permitting of deeper cutting. In addition to the carvings shown on the engraving, there are several others upon the lower side of the crest of this bone. To those engaged in the study of Irish decorative art, these articles are of very great interest. From the carvings on the second, may be printed very clear, sharp, and accurate impressions, in the same way that proofs are taken from a woodcut. "While the foregoing illustrations afford us good ideas of these bones themselves, and of the situation, relative position, and comparative size of the carvings, which are all deeply cut in with a graver, the following fac-similes present us with the details, as well as the differences in artistic style, in each variety of ornament. These illustrations are fac-similes of those embossed patterns on the first bone. They are included within straight lines, forming portions of squares or triangles. "A few of the engravings on the second bone are somewhat of the same class of ornament, as shown in the four following cuts, which, with those already described, afford the modern artist good specimens of that peculiar scroll-work, and interlacement, for which Ireland was distinguished in the middle ages. But others, shown below, are included within deeply indented curved lines, and represent animals, and that special form of spiral ornamentation and twisted strap-work, believed to be of Celtic origin-examples of which are to be found in the initial letters and emblazonry of some of our illuminated manuscripts, and of which the Books of Kells and Durrow, as well as some of the Irish manuscripts on the Continent, afford many beautiful specimens. "Upon the blade bone (the third), there are thirteen devices in a more or less finished state, but differing in character and style of engraving from any of the foregoing. The nature of this bone would not permit of as deep cutting as that employed in the two others already described. Three of these, figured above, are triangular, and two of them show that form of knotted interlacement seen in such variety and abundance, not only in our manuscripts, but upon several of our sculptured crosses and metal shrines, or worked into the tracery of early Irish ecclesiastical architecture. The other carvings chiefly represent animals, of which the two annexed cuts are highly characteristic. "The artists do not appear to have followed any order or plan in thè arrangement of these carvings, but simply chose the hardest and smoothest portions of the bone, and the thickest also when it was necessary to cut in deeply. "In considering the object or uses of these decorated bones, we must fall back on conjecture, that earliest resource in many antiquarian investigations; and the most probable one is, that they were intended merely as specimens of the designer's and engraver's art; although it is possible that these patterns may have been transferred to parchment by some process with which we are not now acquainted. Impressions in relief may also have been taken from them by some plastic or soft putty-like substance, although melted metal could not have been used for that purpose without injury to the bone." A careful examination of these engravings of carvings on bone, will show an absolute identity of design and of execution, with the patterns exhibited on the penannular brooch under notice, and on the other analogous examples of Irish art which I have brought forward, and enables me in "falling back on conjecture," to suggest that these were the original carvings from which moulds were formed for personal ornaments of this description. The artist would carve his patterns of the requisite shape and size on bone, the "kindest" and best material he could procure, and by impressions taken and retaken in clay, or other plastic substance, would be able to impress them in the mould of sand (for some of the ornaments which I have examined, leave little doubt that they were cast from sand), in which the brooch was intended to be cast. After casting, the metal was, undoubtedly, "touched" before gilding and filling in with enamel, in those parts which required "sharpening" and cutting afresh. It is possible that a careful examination of different examples, might lead to the discovery of portions of ornamentation produced from the very carvings exhibited on these bones, and it is to be hoped that those who have the opportunity will do so. * Of the mode of wearing penannular brooches, my friend Mr. Fairholt, in an excellent paper read before the British Archæological Association, says, "By the sumptuary laws of the Ancient Irish, the size of these brooches, or fibulæ, were regulated according to the rank of the wearer. The highest price of a silver bodkin for a king or an ollamh, according to Vallancy, was thirty heifers, when made of refined silver; the lowest value attached to them being the worth of three heifers. From this it may be inferred, that the rank of the wearer might always be guessed at from the fibula he wore." The rank of the wearers of the "Tara Brooch," and of the Derbyshire example, must, judging from their large size and truly exquisite workmanship, have been high. With regard to date, I should be disposed to place the Derbyshire fibula at a period long anterior to that to which the "Tara" may be assigned. Derby. * Proceedings of the Gloucester Congress, p. 86, et seq. RECOLLECTIONS OF BENJAMIN SELLERS OF ASHFORDIN-THE-WATER. BY THOMAS BRUSHFIELD, J. P. THERE is a beautiful truth in the lines of one of our living poets, that "Lives of Great men but remind us, We may make our lives sublime; If, however, I thought that the word "great" used by the poet, was only applicable to men in high places, who were basking in the sunshine of prosperity in the world—or who had lived in the full enjoyment of all the blandishments and luxuries of this state of being-or was only intended to apply to deeds of magnitude that might have won a world-wide notoriety, I would not have ventured to intrude on the columns of the "RELIQUARY" these few fragmental jottings and remembrances of the life and history of the man whose name stands at the head of this paper. But, believing as I do, that the largehearted man who composed the lines I have quoted, intended the sentiment for the truly great men, in the widest sense of the wordfor men of deep thought, integrity of purpose, and true majesty of mind-they, who through industry and application, devotion and sacrifice, had elicited some new truth, solved some difficulty, and done some deed, however apparently trivial, which had contributed something to the world's stock of useful knowledge-yea, although such men possessed but little indeed of this world's goods, lived with poverty for a companion during life, occupying a cottage, wearing fustian, and passing through this sphere of existence unnoticed, unappreciated, and almost unknown, I have presumed to venture on my task, and communicate what I know of the character, life and history of Benjamin Sellers. He was born at Bakewell-his parents being in tolerably comfortable circumstances for working people. His father was in the employ of the celebrated White Watson, of Bakewell, and worked in marble. After a short attendance at the Bakewell Grammar School, Benjamin was removed to Ashford, on the death of his parents, to the house of Benjamin Mason; and as soon as he was old enough was bound apprentice to Andrew Longden, who lived on the Arrack (qy. Hardrock), at Ashford, and there learned the art and mystery of stocking-weaving. After he had served his time of apprenticeship, he was tempted, by a large bounty, to enter into the Derby Militia, his having been a Serjeant in the Chatsworth Volunteers having probably given him a taste for military matters. During the period that he was attached to the Militia, he was engaged principally in the adjutant's office, and was so much respected, that, when the Militia was disbanded, he was offered a good situation in the small staff which continued to hold office; he declined to accept the offer, returned to Ashford, and again took up his old trade of stocking-weaving, and con tinued in the same employment during the whole of his after life, up to the 12th of January, 1848, when he departed from among the living, in his 62nd year, and was buried in Ashford churchyard, near to the east window of the church. Pope wrote ; A rude The latter part of the written wish of the poet is realized in the case of Benjamin Sellers; the grass turf and the daisy are the only record of him where his remains lie. During almost the entire period after his return to Ashford, he lived in a small cottage, containing but two rooms, under a covering of thatch; he was the sole occupant of the house. He had not been married, but the household affairs of this humble dwelling were so well managed by himself, that a visitor would be led to the conclusion, by the comfortable and cleanly appearance of the interior, that one of the gentler sex must necessarily have had some hand in producing so agreeable and comfortable a state of things. On entering this poor man's house, it would at once be seen by a visitor what the peculiar taste and pursuit of the occupier must be a corner cupboard, made to hold crockery-ware, would be seen filled with spars, fossils, tufa, &c., products of the immediate locality, while drawers intended for linen, wearing apparel, &c., were filled with smaller specimens of the same materials, arranged in perfect order. All the contents of drawers, cupboards, &c., were of his own gathering, and the products of the immediate neighbourhood, and not only cupboards and drawers, but every available space, nook, shelf or corner, bore their weight of evidence as to the pursuits of the man. weather-glass of his own construction hung in one corner, and on a piece of wainscot hung various engravings, principally portraits of some of his favourite politicians. In his little window might generally be seen wild flowers of the season, the beauty or peculiarity of which had attracted his notice. His stock of books, a very small one, consisted chiefly of works on geology. But beside the things enumerated, and a solitary table and four chairs, another article filled a corner of his room-a stocking-frame. It appeared quite out of place there, a perfect interloper; but on this stocking-frame he sat and worked occasionally, and it was from the produce of such working that the wolf was kept from his door. I have many times observed his movements as he worked in that frame, and it was always very evident to me that his mind was not in his work; and if at the time he was there, his head was not wool-gathering, it was intent on fossil finding, or his mind was absorbed by that subject, which in his later years was his chief study-the stone-book on the surrounding hills, and the nature, peculiarity, and position, of that most interesting volcanic formation-the toadstone of the limestone district. Such was the residence of this worthy man. From the time of his return to Ashford, his attention was directed to geological inquiries, and his mind entirely devoted to the investigation of the geological peculiarities, and the fossil productions of the district. To become the perfect |