A DECADE RING FOUND NEAR THE SITE OF STRATA MARCELLA (YSTRAD THIS interesting relic, almost the only one of the sort relating to this Abbey which is known to be extant, has been lately presented to the Powys-land Museum and Library, by T. B. Barrett, Esq., of Welshpool, who has possessed it for the last twenty years. It was given him by Mrs. Richard Goolden, who was the youngest daughter of Mr. Edward Bryan, who formerly lived at the Wern, near Pool Quay. The ring was found on part of the farm which Mr. Bryan rented from the Earl of Powis, and which was called the Byetack. Upon it stands a barn which is reputed to be the site of the barn of the Abbey of Strata Marcella, and is called the Abbey Barn. The Abbey was situated on the banks of the river Severn, about one and a half miles from Welshpool, and near to and on the south side of the road from that town to Oswestry. The site, although all vestiges of the Abbey buildings have disappeared, is marked by being called the Abbey Bank. The Abbey barn is situate on the northern side of the turnpike-road and of the canal (both of which meet at this spot), and a few hundred yards distant from the site of the Abbey. No further particulars of the finding of the ring have been preserved. The ring, of which we give an illustration, is of brass, and belongs to the class of religious trinketry of which there are not wanting examples in gold, silver, white metal, and brass. The use of Decade-rings, as substitutes for the rosary, and hence frequently denominated "Rosary Rings," can, it is said, be traced back to the close of the fifteenth century, and some have attributed them to even an earlier period; and they continue to be made up to the present day. Some of the earliest examples of these rings have the tens marked by little straight bars projecting from the hoops like the cogs of a wheel. In the Gentleman's Magazine, vol. lxii, (1792), p. 612, plate 3, fig. 7, is engraved a Decade-ring of circa 1500, found near Croyland Abbey, which has the exterior of the hoops fashioned into ten bosses, and the octagon bezel displaying the Crucifixion with attendant figures. Decade-rings of a little later date have the tens distinguished by bosses set some distance apart, and which gradually decreased in size and prominence as time went on. The bezels of the Decade-rings served the purpose of Gaudes for the Paternoster, and are variously decorated. Among other devices met with is the sacred monogram, sometimes composed of the Greek letters, X P, at others of the Latin I.H.S. The Crucifixion, and the emblems of the Crucifixion, seem to have been favourite subjects, and a goodly number of Decade-rings are embellished with a simple cross,' as shown on the bezel of the Strata Marcella specimen. This seems a good example, but they are usually of silver. They would be inconvenient to wear on the finger, and were probably carried in the jacket, as some are quite flat and of a very large size. A similar Decade-ring was exhibited by Mr. Baker of Stamford, at a meeting of the Archæological Institute in 1850 (Archæological Journal, vol. vii, p. 196). It was of silver and found at Exton, in Rutlandshire. It is described as a Decade-ring, with ten knobs, and a central projection engraved with a cross, which seems to exactly coincide with the ring found at Strata Marcella. 1 Ex. inf. H. Syer Cuming, Esq., F.S.A. Scot. It may be appropriate and not uninteresting to refer to what has been said about other rings of the sort. In 1845,' Mr. Hoare of Cork sent to the meeting of the Archæological Institute a lithograph of a silver ring in his possession, described as "a decade signet-ring," discovered in Cork, in 1844. The hoop was composed of nine knobs or bosses, which may have served instead of beads in numbering prayers, whilst the central portion, which forms the signet, supplied the place of the gaude. Some persons, Mr. Hoare remarks, had regarded this ring as very ancient; Mr. Lindsay supposed it to be of an earlier date than the ninth century, regarding the device as representing an arm issuing out of the clouds, holding a crown or an ecclesiastical cap beneath it. Sir William Betham expressed the following opinion respecting this relic: "There can be little doubt but your ring is a decadering, as there are ten knobs or balls round it. The globe surmounted by a cross is a christian emblem of sovereignty, the ring and the cross of a bishop. The cap looks like a crown, and only that the ring is too old, it might be considered the cinlid, or barred crown of a sovereign prince. It certainly is of considerable antiquity, and Mr. Lindsay is not far out of his estimation. Mr. Hoare was disposed to conclude from these statements, that this relic had the signet of an Irish ecclesiastic at an early period; the device appears, however, (the Editor of the Archæological Journal remarks) to bear resemblance to those which were used in England during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries as marks or personal devices by merchants. In these marks the initial of the name is usually surmounted by a cross, with a sort of vane appended to it; and in this instance it might be conjectured that the letter B was intended to indicate the name of the individual, whilst the shamrocks evidently denoted his Irish extraction. In the Archæological Journal, vol. v, 1848, pp. 63-4, 1 "Archæological Journal," vol. ii (1845), pp. 197-8. VOL. VIII. F there is a woodcut of a silver decade-ring, also from the collection of Mr. Edward Hoare, of Cork. Mr. Hoare remarks, "These decade-rings are by no means common, though from time to time I have seen a very small number. I never met with them in any other metal than silver. It appears, so far as I have been able to obtain information as to their particular use, that they were worn by some classes of religious during the hours of repose, so that on awakening during the night they might repeat a certain number of prayers, marking them by the beads or knobs of the rings. I have also been told that they were used for the same purpose on passing by any 'haunted spot', or supposed resort of evil spirits. If worn on any finger except the thumb, at other periods of time than those of repose, it must have been as a sort of penance; and perhaps these rings were sometimes so used. The ring of which I send a representation is plain, of rude workmanship, and has been much worn. It was dug up on the site of an ancient monastery in the vicinity of the city of Cork, on the 29th October, 1847." It is not unusual in England to find rings of this description formed of base metal or brass, as well as silver; several are preserved in Mr. Fitch's collection, and were exhibited in the temporary Museum, formed during the Archæological Institute Meeting, at Norwich. Of one of these rings, formed of mixed yellow metal, with eleven bosses and an oval facet, upon which appears a figure of St. Catherine (?), a representation is given in the Archæological Journal, of the same size as the original. It was found in Norfolk; the engraved device does not appear to have served as a signet, but had probably been enamelled. Its date may be assigned to the time of Henry VI. Another example of this class, given by Mr. Jesse, in his "Gleanings of Natural History," was discovered in the bed of the Thames, near Kingston; it had likewise eleven bosses, and was of brass; it lay near the weapons of bronze and iron celts, etc., regarded as evidences that Cæsar and the Roman invaders passed the Thames at the ford near that spot, after a sharp conflict with the Britons, according to the curious details communicated by Dr. Roots of Surbiton at the Winchester Meeting of the Archæological Institute. The interesting remains alluded to were exhibited by that gentleman in the temporary Museum formed on that occasion. This curious ring had been considered to be of Roman times, but comparison with the specimen in Mr. Fitch's collection appears to justify the notion that it might be regarded as of medieval date, although found in the immediate vicinity of vestiges of an earlier age, thus accidentally thrown together in the alluvial deposit. Mr. Hoare, in a subsequent communication to the Archæological Journal on this subject, states that the following explanation of the use of these rings had been given; that the ten bosses indicated ten aves; by the eleven, ten aves and a paternoster were numbered, the last being marked by a boss of larger size ; and the addition of a twelfth marked the repetition of a creed. It has been stated by French Antiquaries that metal rings formed with ten bosses, and one of as early date as the reign of St. Lewis, have been found in France. It was at that period that the use of the chapelet, in honour of the Blessed Virgin, is supposed to have been devised by Peter the Hermit. ; A gold ring, with ten knobs and a circular ornament of larger size, bearing a plain cross, was found in 1846 in pulling down an old house in Henllan-street, Denbigh, and was in the possession of S. Edwards, Esq., of that town. Its weight was a quarter of an ounce; it would be interesting to know what has become of that ring. A similar ring, of base metal, discovered in a tomb in York Minster, is preserved in the treasury of that church, and another example of silver, precisely similar in form, was found in Whitby Abbey, Yorkshire, as communicated to Mr. Hoare by Dr. Proctor, of York. |