,the ,alfred ,jewel ,j4 ,,earle ,henry ,frowde1 ,m4,a4 ,publisher to the ,university of ,oxford ,london1 ,edinburgh1 and ,new ,york ,illustration3 ,,front ,,back ,,enamel ,,right ,,left ,,the ,,jewel ,,in ,,four ,,aspects ,,with ,,separate ,,figure ,,of ,,enamel ,the ,alfred ,jewel3 ,an ,historical ,essay ,by ,john ,earle1 ,m4,a41 ,,ll4,d4 ,rector of ,swanswick1 ,prebendary of ,wells ,rawlinsonian ,professor of ,anglo-,saxon in the ,university of ,oxford ,with ,illustrations and ,map ,oxford ,at the ,clarendon ,press mdcccci ,oxford ,printed at the ,clarendon ,press ,by ,horace ,hart1 ,m4,a4 ,printer to the ,university ,,preface ,it is full fifty years since ,i began to contemplate the ,alfred ,jewel with a wonder and curiosity which became a habit4 ,at length1 in the latter half of that period1 the vague attitude of enquiry began to point in a definite direction1 and to exhibit susceptibility of development suggesting promise of possible discovery4 ,prompted by such anticipations1 ,i one day ventured to express a wish to the ,principal of ,hertford ,college that he would exercise his well-known graphic talent upon the ,alfred ,jewel1 and make some enlarged drawings of it suitable for a ,public ,lecture4 ,the result was that he gave me a beautiful set of coloured drawings of the ,jewel in various aspects admirably calculated for exhibition in the ,lecture ,room4 ,thus equipped1 ,i was able to make the subject more intelligible and more attractive1 and ,i lectured upon it the oftener4 ,as it has not been my wont to write my lectures out in full1 it was all the more necessary for me on every new occasion to make a fresh study of the ,jewel4 ,in this recurring process new lights rose at wide intervals of time1 and drew me on to devote more thought to the object and to the times associated with it2 and ,i found more than ,i had looked for in the design1 and more 7,i think7 than ,i should have found1 but for the generous aid so readily extended to me by ,dr4 ,boyd4 ,it was after such a lecture delivered in ,may1 #ahii1 that ,i had the great and unexpected pleasure of a proposal from the ,delegates of the ,press to make a book of it4 ,i was able to accept this proposal without misgiving1 because ,i was satisfied that ,i had a solid interpretation to offer--one which had been slowly matured and scrupulously tested by every means in my power4 ,all the old theories had come to nothing3 there was not one of them that could be seriously advocated as resting upon evidence either in history or in common sense and the natural reason of things4 ,in saying so much as this1 ,i am only accounting for my readiness to accept the task1 and not by any means prejudging the general verdict upon the validity of my argument4 ,in this argument ,i seek to establish the intimate relation of the ,jewel with the history and the mind and the person of ,alfred of ,wessex1 not indeed as a scientifically demonstrated fact1 but as a well-founded and abundantly supported probability4 ,i have no desire that this conclusion should be admitted without a complete and rigid scrutiny4 ,in the carrying out of this undertaking ,i have received welcome and much-needed help from many quarters4 ,the subject is one that calls for illustration by maps and drawings and ,i desire to express my sincere acknowledgements to ,mr4 ,alfred ,a4 ,clarke of ,wells for his four drawings1 among which ,i will particularly mention his characteristic landscape of the ,isle of ,athelney4 ,the map of ,athelney and the lands adjacent is very ingeniously devised for exhibiting the contrast between the low level of the moorland and the contours of the rising country around2 it is expressive and intelligible at a glance3 and for this excellent illustration my acknowledgements are due to ,mr4 ,bernhard ,v4 ,darbishire4 ,my hearty thanks are due to ,mr4 ,charles ,h4 ,read of the ,british ,museum for the ample information he kindly afforded me concerning the gold rings of the ,saxon period which are in his department4 ,also for the permission which he gave 7as ,secretary of the ,society of ,antiquaries7 to transfer to these pages their engraving from the ,book of ,kells1 and also their three figures of the gold ring of queen thelswith4 ,to those gentlemen of ,somerset who have aided me with local information and hospitality and personal guidance1 ,i have good cause to be always grateful4 ,major ,barrett1 junior1 of ,moredon1 the owner of the ,isle of ,athelney1 took me over the ground in a manner that is very agreeable to remember1 and caused me to see the historical sites of his country with every advantage4 ,it was under his auspices that ,i first realized the full import of ,alfred's fort at ,borough ,bridge1 and what a speaking object-lesson it certainly is4 ,i had seen it in #ahef1 but ,i had not adequately appreciated it4 ,from ,mr4 ,cely ,trevelian of ,midelney ,place ,i learnt much that was useful to me concerning the history and present conditions of the moorlands of ,somerset4 ,he was my hospitable friend and companion over the country on either side of the ,parrett in the circle of ,langport1 and from that to ,borough ,bridge4 ,under his guidance ,i revisited ,aller 7pronounced ,oller71 and renewed acquaintance with its sacred associations1 after an interval of forty-four years4 ,in #ahef ,i was conducted by an old ,oriel friend who was my host1 the ,rev4 ,james ,coleman1 then ,curate of the parish in which ,athelney is situated2 he subsequently became ,vicar of ,cheddar and ,prebendary of ,wells4 ,when ,i entered upon the present work1 after so long an interval1 it was with ,mr4 ,coleman that ,i began to make enquiries for local information4 ,to ,sir ,alexander ,acland ,hood ,i am indebted for genealogical and topographical information1 and particularly for some new light on the history of the ,jewel1 now for the first time made public4 ,the statement in the manuscript of ,mr4 ,thomas ,palmer1 which is preserved at ,fairfield1 that the ,jewel was #8dug up1' is a new item in the circumstances of the discovery1 to which ,i attach important evidential weight4 ,i have also to thank ,sir ,cuthbert ,slade of ,maunsel1 for his courtesy in answering my enquiries1 genealogical and territorial1 concerning the ,slade family4 ,on ,mr4 ,c4 ,f4 ,bell1 the ,assistant ,keeper of the ,ashmolean ,museum1 ,i chiefly depended for help in that part of my subject where ,i was most wanting1 namely in the technicalities of ancient art1 and especially concerning enamels4 ,to my friend ,dr4 ,shadwell my obligations are not the less but the greater for that they are somewhat indefinable4 ,he has read through the proofs1 and has given me valuable suggestions1 and he has always been ready to help when ,i needed advice4 ,for me this trinket has assumed the proportions of a serious historical problem1 and its investigation has been rewarded with new light in many directions1 and ,i do not think ,i shall regret the time spent upon it1 even though my conclusions should hereafter be modified or even refuted4 ,i hold that1 apart from the conclusions1 the investigation itself was worth the while1 but when ,i say this ,i am not to be understood as admitting that ,i have little confidence in my conclusions4 ,in putting forth this ,essay1 ,i desire to convince the reader only as fully as ,i am convinced myself1 that is to say1 with a conviction which makes no claim to finality1 but lies open to correction in case of new light or better use of old data2 yet which nevertheless1 in the mean time and for the main issues of the enquiry1 reaches a degree of probability whereby all doubt and uncertainty is practically excluded4 ,j4 ,e4 ,,table ,,of ,,contents ,,chapter ,i ,,page ,,description ,,of ,,the ,,alfred ,,jewel #a-i ,the place of its deposit #a ,structural details of the ,jewel #b ,the name of ,alfred upon it #d ,question what this name imports id4 ,other persons bearing this name #e ,the perfection of the ,jewel suggested doubt #g ,the firm judgement of ,dr4 ,george ,hickes #h ,nevertheless1 the question must be kept in view throughout this ,essay #i ,,chapter ,,ii ,,the ,,epigraph ,,or ,,legend #aj-ba ,the forms of the lettering #aj ,the ,syntax of the ,sentence3 #ab 7#a7 as to collocation #ac 7#b7 usage of words id4 7#c7 flexional construction #ae 7#d7 active and passive structure #af ,other time-indications in the ,epigraph #ag ,quotation from ,alfred's ,prologue to his ,pastoralis #ai ,similarity between the ,prologue and the ,epigraph #ba ,,chapter ,,iii ,,early ,,speculations ,,about ,,its ,,design ,,and ,,manner ,,of ,,use #bb-cj ,the ,epoch of the ,discovery--,the ,royal ,society #bb ,the persons who first were conversant with the new-found object--,colonel ,nathaniel ,palmer #bc ,dr4 ,hans ,sloane--,the ,british ,museum #bd ,robert ,harley1 first ,earl of ,oxford id4 ,first published notice of the ,jewel--,dr4 ,william ,musgrave #be ,hickes's ,thesaurus id4 ,variety of opinions about the ,jewel id4 ,francis ,wise--,samuel ,pegge #bg ,mr4 ,philip ,duncan #bh ,st4 ,neot and ,st4 ,cuthbert #bi ,abortiveness of these attempts #cj ,,chapter ,,iv ,,bishop ,,clifford',s ,,theory #ca-dc ,bishop ,clifford #ca ,the handle of a choirmaster's wand #cb ,identical with the #8stel'8 #cd ,given by ,alfred to ,athelney ,abbey and there kept to ,henry ,,viii's time #ce ,this theory inapplicable to the ,jewel #cg ,but perhaps applicable to the #8stel' #da ,theory of sceptre-tip #db ,,chapter ,v ,a ,,jewel ,,in ,,the ,,crown #dd-ej ,form convenient for erection in the helmet #dd ,transforms the helmet into a ,coronet #de ,the minor jewel from ,minster ,lovel #df ,dr4 ,wilson and ,dr4 ,griffiths #dh ,quotations from ,beowulf and ,laamon #di ,the ,crown of ,queen ,victoria #ej ,,chapter ,,vi ,,the ,,boar',s ,,head #ea-fj ,diversity of opinion about the animal's head #ea ,testimony undesigned #eb ,the wild boar in the helmet id4 ,quotations from the ,beowulf #ec ff4 ,the ,boar's ,head at ,queen's ,college1 ,oxford #eg ,religious origin of the ,boar's ,head as a ,crest #ei ,,chapter ,,vii ,,the ,,figure ,,in ,,enamel ,,and ,,the ,,engraved ,,plate ,,at ,,the ,,back ,,of ,,it #fa-ia ,our ,chief ,problem is #8,a figure hard to characterize' #fa ,division of this ,chapter #fb ,enamelling as an artistic industry id4 ,enamel cloisonne #fc ,chief extant specimens according to ,m4 ,labarte #fd ff4 ,the ,enamelled ,ouche of ,mr4 ,roach ,smith #fh ,enamel champleve id4 ,obscurity of the history of enamelling #fi ,philostratus #gj ,enamelled horse-gear #ga ,the ,symbolism of the icuncula and its ,source #gd ,the ,book of ,kells #gf f4 ,relations of ,alfred with ,irish travellers #gh ,the ,tufa #gi ,evidence for the ,enamel's being an insular product #hj ,allegorical engraving on the back-plate #ha ,dualistic theory of ,sir ,francis ,palgrave #hc ,the brothers ,john and ,philip ,duncan #hd ,unity of thought in the ,jewel #hf ,alfred's ,epilogue to his ,pastoralis #hg ff4 ,summary of this ,chapter #ij ,,chapter ,,viii ,,alfred ,,in ,,somerset ,,beyond ,,pedrida #ib-acb ,the central episode of ,alfred's career #ib ,suddenness of the surprize at ,chippenham #id ,apprehension of attack on north coast of ,wealcyn #ie ,alhstan1 bishop of ,sherborne #if ,meditations of king ,alfred id4 ,danish invasion of ,wessex #ig ,placable temper of the ,west ,welsh #ih ,hostility of the #8,north ,welsh' id4 ,alfred's disguise #ii f4 ,the ,jewel must be buried #ajj ,selwood #aja ,story of ,denewulf id4 ,hingston ,down #ajb ,the ,danes in ,exeter id4 ,the ,danes at ,cynwit #ajc ,the political import of ,pedrida #ajd f4 ,selwoodshire #aje ,the ,transpedridan dialect #ajf ,the ,devonian #8u' #ajg ,the ,pixies #ajh ,somerset in ,alfred's day #aji ,subsidence of the land #aaj f4 ,elm-trees #aab ,red ,deer #aac ,leland's ,itinerary #aae ,etymology of #8,pedrida' #aag ,british policy of ,wessex id4 f4 ,aldhelm's letter to ,gerontius #aai ,his little church at ,bradford-on-,avon #abj ,associations of ,glastonbury id4 ff4 ,asser's ,life of ,alfred #abd ,the ,fort at ,athelney #abh ,brixton ,deveril #abi ,the buried ,jewel not recovered #acj ,the ,peiwar ,kotal 7#ahgh7 #aca #8,what follows is like a dream' #acb ,,chapter ,,ix ,,newton ,,park ,,and ,,fairfield ,,house #acc-ade #8,newton ,park' #acc lfric1 archbishop of ,canterbury #acd ,the ,forest of ,north ,petherton id4 ,three co-heiresses #ace ,the ,perambulation of the ,forests id4 ,gefferey ,chaucer #acf ,the improvements of ,sir ,thomas ,wrothe #acg ,a surmise about the ,manor of ,newton #ach ,petherton ,park #aci ,the parish of ,stogursey id4 ,fairfield ,house #adj #8,always a ,vernai at ,fairfield' #adb ,the ,palmer family id4 ,nathaniel ,palmer #add ,thomas ,palmer id4 ,two co-heiresses #ade ,,chapter ,x ,,gold ,,rings ,,contemporaneous #adf-aef ,the ,enamelled ,ouche of ,mr4 ,roach ,smith #adf ,the ,ring of ,alhstan #adg ,the place of its discovery #adh ,the ,ring of ,alfred's father #adi ,the place and manner of its discovery #aej ,the ,ring of ,alfred's sister #aea ,the manner of its discovery #aec ,the ,ring of thred #aed ,runes intermixed with ,roman lettering #aee ,the artist bears a ,saxon name #aef ,,chapter ,,xi ,,some ,,closing ,,reflections #aeg-agd ,fine workmanship no longer an objection #aeg ,early cumulation of evidence #aeh ,evidence added since id4 ,rejected theories #aei ,the ,cynehelm theory id4 ,the unity of the work makes for ,alfred of ,wessex #afj ,outline of the ,symbolism id4 ,my surprize at the latent meanings #afa ,the fondness of king ,alfred for imagery id4 ff4 ,the ,simile of the ,waggon #afc ,the ,jewel illustrated by the ,writings of king ,alfred #afe ,the ,jewel probably records a ,crisis #aff ,at what ,epoch designed8 id4 ,double process of investigation #afg ,date of ,alfred's return from ,rome #agj f4 ,the nature of ,probable ,evidence #agb ff4 ,conclusions from the above data #agd ,,appendices ,,appendix ,a4 ,the ,first published ,notice of the ,alfred ,jewel 7to pp4 #be and #add7 #age ,,appendix ,b4 ,st4 ,neot and ,st4 ,cuthbert 7to pp4 #bi and #gd7 #agg ,,appendix ,c4 ,the ,two-sceptered ,figure in the ,book of ,kells 7to p4 #gh7 #aha ,,appendix ,d4 ,the ,british ,origin of the ,enamelled ,figure 7to p4 #ia7 #ahd ,,appendix ,e4 ,athelney ,abbey 7to p4 #aae7 #ahi ,,appendix ,f4 ,north ,newton ,church 7to p4 #aci7 #aib ,,appendix ,g4 ,the ,presentation of the ,alfred ,jewel to the ,university of ,oxford 7to pp4 #adj and #ade7 #aid ,,list ,,of ,,illustrations ,,page ,the ,alfred ,jewel in four aspects1 with separate ,figure of ,enamel ,frontispiece ,the ,inscription on the ,jewel #a ,the ,minster ,lovel ,jewel to face #dg ,illumination from the ,book of ,kells 0 #gg ,the ,isle of ,athelney 0 #ib ,fairfield ,house #ada ,inscription on the ,ring of thelwulf #adi ,the ,ring of thelwulf #aej ,the ,ring of ,queen thelswith1 the bezil #aea ,inscription within the ,ring of ,queen thelswith #aeb ,the ,ring of ,queen thelswith showing niello #aec ,inscription on red's ,ring #aed ,the ,jewel1 ,front and ,back to face #agd ,sculptured ,bosses found at ,athelney ,abbey #ahi1 #aia ,tower of ,north ,newton ,church to face #aib ,map of the ,isle of ,athelney ,at end ,,the ,,alfred ,,jewel ,,chapter ,i ,,description ,,of ,,the ,,alfred ,,jewel ,the subject of this ,essay is preserved in the ,ashmolean ,museum1 which has been its home for a period of time now approaching two hundred years4 ,it is there installed under glass in such a manner that every side of it is plainly exhibited to the eye of the visitor4 ,it bears an inscription in conspicuous lettering which sets forth that by ,alfred's order it was made1 and this is the ground upon which it is known as ,,the ,,alfred ,,jewel4 ,illustration ,the ,alfred ,jewel has been compared to a battledore1 not untruly for the matter of shape2 but the wide diversity of size makes the comparison seem incongruous4 ,the extreme length of the ,jewel is a very small fraction under two inches and a half2 its greatest width is just one inch and a fifth2 its thickness barely half an inch4 ,it contains a sitting ,figure enamelled on a plate of gold which is protected in front by a slab of rock crystal1 and at the back by a gold plate engraved2 the whole enshrined in a golden frame of delicately executed filigree work4 ,the picture is visible through the rock crystal1 making the obverse of the ,jewel2 while the reverse is formed by the gold plate which is at the back of the enamelled plate4 ,upon this gold plate is engraved an allegorical design4 ,both these surfaces 7obverse and reverse7 are flat1 but in every other part of the ,jewel the surface is rounded4 ,the rounded contours may be likened to those of a pigeon's egg4 ,if we imagine a longitudinal section of a pigeon's egg1 the engraved plate at the back of the picture will correspond to the plane of the egg's diameter4 ,from this plane1 if we measure three-quarters of an inch in the girth of the egg1 and then take another section parallel to the gold plate at the back1 we obtain the front surface of the crystal1 through which the ,enamel is visible4 ,the effect of this arrangement is1 that the sides all round the ,jewel are curved and sloping1 and that the obverse is of more contracted area than the reverse1 and also that the measurement of the sloping side exceeds that of the thickness4 ,the head of the sitting ,figure occupies the broad end of the oval section2 the smaller end is prolonged1 and is fashioned like the head of a wild boar on the obverse1 but the reverse of this head is flat and covered with fish-like scales4 ,the snout is projected in the form of a socket adapted to receive a peg or stem2 athwart this socket is a cross-pin1 having a head at one of its ends1 while the other end is riveted4 ,this indicates that the ,jewel was furnished with a stem which has perished1 and which1 therefore1 was not metallic1 but of some organic material1 perhaps walrus ivory4 ,around the sloping sides runs a legend3 ,,aelfred ,,mec ,,heht ,,gewyrcan ,alfred me ordered make and this legend starts from the narrowest point of the oval1 beginning on the right-hand side and running round to the corresponding point on the left1 so that it encircles the oval completely1 running in the contrary direction to that with which we are familiar in our coins1 which are read from left to right1 as indeed were also the coins of the ninth century4 ,some have doubted whether the owner of the ,jewel was the famous ,alfred of ,wessex4 ,it has been urged that the name of ,,lfred in the ,epigraph is not of itself adequate proof of the fact1 and it must be admitted that this is literally true4 ,and it is not superfluous to point out the inconsequence of such reasoning1 for it has actually been advanced in serious argument4 ,samuel ,pegge1 an antiquary of repute1 wrote in ,archologia ii as if there had been but one eminent person of the name of ,alfred3--#8,there is no doubt but this was once the property of the great ,king lfred1 notwithstanding the goodness of the work which has been an objection to its authenticity2 for the king's name is expressly mentioned in the inscription4' ,there were many persons of that name in the course of the ,saxon period1 and the name was not confined to men born after his time1 for there were persons of this name who were men of mark among his contemporaries1 one of whom 7to say the least7 was certainly his senior4 ,when ,swithun died1 in #hfb 7in ,alfred's fourteenth year71 his successor in the ,see of ,winchester was named ,,lfred4 ,a contemporary of position and intelligence and of great wealth was that ,,lfred who redeemed from heathen hands a noble volume of the ,gospels1 and conveyed it by a solemn deed of gift in his own name and that of his wife to the brotherhood of ,christ ,church1 ,canterbury#a4 ,that volume is the ,codex ,aureus1 which is now in the ,royal ,library at ,stockholm4 ,the ,will of this ,alfred1 who in the course of that document styles himself #8,elfred dux1' is one of the most precious relics of ,saxon antiquity#b4 ,a few years after the king's death1 the ,chronicle records1 in #ijf1 the death of an ,alfred1 who was ,reeve of ,bath4 ,it has been argued that with such facts before us the ownership of the ,alfred ,jewel must be a matter of uncertainty1 for we only know that it was ordered by a person of the name of ,alfred4 ,such arguments may sometimes be heard from persons whose opinions are entitled to respect1 but ,i am not aware that any one has undertaken to reason out and maintain this view in a published writing4 ,and perhaps if we attend well to the whole of the evidence1 we shall see no cause to marvel at the unanimity of authors in accepting this ,jewel as a personal possession of king ,alfred's1 and 7in some measure1 diversely estimated7 as a product of his own artistic design4 ,it is not the name by itself1 but this name taken in connexion with the richness and costliness of the work1 with the thoughtful ingenuity of its device and composition1 and with the symbolic meanings which must be assigned to certain parts of the structure2--such evidences as these1 again combined with certain external evidences1 namely1 the locality in which the ,jewel was found1 and any affinities apparent in the above data with the career or exploits of the king1 or with his character and tastes1--when the ownership is questioned1 we find ourselves face to face with an accumulation of evidence varying in quality and requiring to be judged by the delicate and sensitive standard of probability4 ,in presence of such a problem we should not neglect the impressions and expressed opinions of persons whose instincts have been cultivated in the sphere of such probabilities4 ,george ,hickes1 in #agje1 mentions some doubting critics1 whose difficulty lay in the beauty and perfection of the work4 ,they could not understand how such artistic work could proceed from ,anglo-,saxon artists in the ninth century4 ,but for himself1 he added1 the mere sight of the ,jewel had been enough1 and that from his first view of it he had never doubted that it was a personal possession of the great king ,alfred#c4 ,when an elaborate piece of workmanship like the ,alfred ,jewel is presented to the experienced mind and practised eye of a man like ,hickes1 the evidence is rapidly1 almost unconsciously1 sifted1 and the probabilities converge to a focus1 so as to produce a conviction which seems like a simple apprehension of the senses4 ,i welcome ,hickes's expression of confidence as a confirmation of that which ,i have experienced myself4 ,but while ,i am entirely free from uncertainty ,i quite recognize the reasonableness of the doubt1 and ,i know that 7logically speaking7 the uncertainty is there4 ,and ,i know also that many of my readers will entertain it and will look more or less dubiously upon the assumption of certainty in this matter4 ,and1 indeed1 there is a certain advantage in having to reckon with this sceptical attitude of mind1 insomuch as the presence of doubt has a stimulating effect in furnishing the discourse with a determinate aim and direction4 ,it will set me on the alert1 that ,i may not miss any incidental chance of a reflection tending to assure those who would be gratified to think that we do indeed possess a relic intimately associated with the person1 and with the mind1 of ,,alfred1 ,,king ,,of ,,wessex4 #a ,this remarkable document begins thus3-- ,in nomine domini nostri ,ihesu ,christi4 ,ic ,,lfred aldormon and ,werburg min gefera begetan as bc t hnum herge mid uncre clne fe t oune ws mid clne golde1 and t wit deodan for ,godes lufan and for uncre saule earf ond foron e wit noldan t as halgan beoc lencg in re henesse wunaden4 #8 ,in the name of our ,lord ,jesu ,christ4 ,i ,alfred alderman and ,werburg my consort purchased these books at a heathen host with our clean money1 that is to say with clean gold2 and that we two did for ,god's love and for the benefit of our souls1 and for that we would not that these holy books should longer lie in hethenesse4' ,birch1 ,cartularium ,saxonicum1 ,no4 #fcd4 #b ,kemble1 ,codex ,diplomaticus1 ,no4 #cag2 ,birch1 ,cartularium ,saxonicum1 ,no4 #eeh2 ,earle1 ,land ,charters1 p4 #aeb4 #c #8,quoad opificium autem1 tam elegans quidem id est et perfectum1 ut eius antiquitatem in dubium vocandi doctis nonnullis occasionem dederit1 etsi lfredi regis hoc olim fuisse peculium1 ex quo primum vidi1 nunquam dubitavi4' ,linguarum ,veterum ,septentrionalium ,thesaurus1 vol4 i1 p4 #add4 ,,chapter ,,ii ,,the ,,epigraph ,,or ,,legend ,we must now consider and see what we can learn from the ,epigraph4 ,this was the cue whereby ,hickes introduced the ,jewel into the argument of his ,dissertatio ,epistolaris1 and there gave us the cream of the discussions which had been developed in the space of twelve years from the discovery4 ,observing that in a ,saxon inscription which ,dr4 ,hans ,sloane had communicated to the ,philosophical ,transactions 7,no4 #bdg7 only two letters of ,anglo-,saxon form occurred1 the ,c and the ,g1 he proceeded to describe and discuss the ,jewel in all the points of view which up to that time had occupied the attention of the curious4 ,the forms to which he adverted were the angular ,c and ,g1 which however are rather ,epigraphic than ,saxonic forms4 ,these square letters occur 7as ,mr4 ,falconer ,madan informs me7 in the inscriptions of the sixth and seventh centuries in ,gaul1 ,spain1 and ,britain4 ,hickes added that all the other letters of the ,epigraph were in ordinary ,roman characters#d3 ,,aelfred ,,mec ,,heht ,,gewyrcan ,in fact there was only one place where a distinctly ,saxon character might have come in1 namely in the place of the ,w1 which instead of the ,runic ,wn 77 is composed of two ,roman ,v's4 ,there is no place for the ,runic ,thorn 774 ,he had been pursuing an argument1 of which the aim was to show that from the time of ,alfred the characteristic features of ,anglo-,saxon writing were less used1 being superseded by ,gallic or ,italic forms4 ,he attributes the change to the teachers which the king had drawn from ,gaul4 ,that such a change was taking place in ,alfred's time is quite manifest1 but its beginnings were further back2 the taste for ,frankish fashions having been introduced by his grandfather ,ecgberht1 who had passed years of exile at the ,court of ,charlemagne4 ,doubtless the movement grew under the influence of ,alfred1 who not only had visited ,rome1 but in all probability had resided there for some years4 ,if now passing from the alphabetic characters we consider the syntax of this sentence1 we shall find that it varies so widely from our habits of speech at the present time as to furnish something like a measure of the intervening period1 and as it were to render some account of the lapse of a thousand years4 ,let us begin by translating the sentence verbally with the minimum of change1 retaining the selfsame words in their modern guise4 ,on this plan the sentence will run thus3 #8,alfred me hight work2' where the baldness of the diction exhibits roughly the gulf there is between this ,epigraph and our present usage4 ,each word is ,english1 but the sentence is far from being so4 ,this great contrast is the result of a combination of causes1 and it may be resolved into four chief movements which have slowly operated during the long interval4 7#a7 ,a change has taken place in the collocation of words in forming a sentence4 ,the governed pronoun stands in a place where it is now inadmissible3 the present habit of the language requires that the pronoun #8me' should come in after its governing verb4 ,if we make this change1 we shall see that the sentence will become a trifle more like ,english1 thus3 #8,alfred hight work me4' 7#b7 ,another movement is that which in process of time takes place in the usage of words4 ,there is a fashion in the choice of words for the clothing of our ideas1 and that fashion changes sometimes capriciously and fitfully1 but for the most part so slowly and gradually that it takes an era of time to make the change conspicuous4 ,words are liable to this kind of alteration in various degrees1 and this inequality of change is observable even in a sentence of four words4 ,the verb ,,heht1 hight1 has undergone so great a change of sense that to the general reader it is apt to be unintelligible#e4 ,but while this verb has altered greatly1 the verb #8work' has altered little4 ,still1 it has altered1 and it is no longer the right word for its place4 ,the remaining two words have in usage undergone no change at all4 ,the pronoun ,,mec has suffered alteration in form by dropping a consonant1 but it is absolutely unchanged in its application4 ,indeed1 it may be stated as a general law1 that pronouns as a class are among the slowest of words to admit semantic change4 ,nevertheless there is a group of words which are still more unchangeable in signification1 and these are the ,proper ,nouns4 ,external changes of form they do admit1 but not the internal change of sense4 ,the name ,,lfred is the form prevalent on the coinage of his reign1 but there are variations1 thus3 ,,lfred1 ,,lbred1 ,,elfred1 ,,elfered2 and there is the form ,,alfred1 which has become established in modern ,english in consequence of the fact that our earliest popular histories of the king were derived from ,latin books1 in which language his name was commonly spelt ,,alfredus4 ,but whatever changes may pass over the visible representation of the word1 there is no alteration possible in the relation between this word and the memory of that royal person whose proper name it was4 ,if now we remove the words that have suffered a semantic change1 and substitute those which at the present time seem most natural1 the sentence will take this form3 #8,alfred ordered make me2' and thus it approaches another step towards the present manner of our speech4 7#c7 ,the third movement to be noticed is that from the flexional to the phrasal method of syntax4 ,the word ,,gewyrcan is a flexional verb1 the last syllable1 -,,an1 being the sign of the infinitive mood1 and indicating the syntactical function of that word in the sentence4 ,by slow degrees this method of syntax fell out of use1 and another way came up of expressing the same function4 ,instead of the syllable -,,an at the end of the verb1 a little word1 #8to1' was set before the verb1 with the same effect of expressing the infinitive mood4 ,if now we add this change to the other modifications of our sentence1 we shall bring it considerably nearer to current speech1 thus3 #8,alfred ordered to make me4' ,but still it wants something to reduce it into the shape which we can recognize as modern ,english4 7#d7 ,the fourth and last change which we must note in the habits of our speech is the great extension of the passive verb1 and particularly in the infinitive mood4 ,many infinitive phrases which were once cast in the ,active have been changed to the ,passive1 and a lingering survival of the active formula may be observed to have a peculiar and exceptional air4 ,we feel this in the phrase1 #8,the reason is not far to seek4' ,a more familiar example may be seen on the boards of the house agents4 ,some of these boards say #8,house to let1' while others prefer #8,house to be let1'--the one is homely and native ,english1 the other is modish and reminds us of the schoolmaster4 ,the same authority will guide us to bring our ,legend up to date1 and stamp our version with the mint of the nineteenth century1 thus3 #8,alfred ordered me to be made4' ,in the above analysis it has been necessary to depart in some measure from the course of nature by exhibiting in succession a group of changes which are due to processes more or less simultaneous4 ,this accumulation of gradual changes furnishes a measure1 partly scientific1 partly sentimental1 of the wide interval that separates us from the time when this ,epigraph was curiously woven in golden filigree by the lucky artist who executed the design of the ingenious prince4 ,but the ,epigraph has time-indications which are closer and more definite4 ,there are features which1 besides telling of the lapse of time1 do also in some sense indicate the point of time2 features in virtue of which this ,legend may be said to suggest proximately its own date4 ,the two words #8,,mec ,,heht' are archaic forms1 the one of which is never1 and the other rarely1 found in the prose of the tenth century2 indeed they were both archaic in the ninth4 ,,mec had given place to ,,me1 and 7though less absolutely7 ,,heht to ,h,t2 but the older forms were still at the service of the poet1 and ,epigraphy has some share in poetic privilege4 ,indeed it would seem that in the time of ,alfred ,,mec was consciously used as an archaic curiosity4 ,there is a gold ring which ,i take to be contemporaneous with our ,jewel1 and it bears an ,english inscription in which ,,mec occurs twice4 ,it will be described below#f4 ,it would be too much to say that the forms ,,mec ,,heht convey a definite date1 but they certainly fit well with the time of ,alfred1 and 7but for that vague licence of ,epigraphy7 they might even be said to suggest the ninth century as the latest probable date of a work with which they are identified4 ,it is worthy of notice that ,,heht occurs in another piece of ,alfred's inditing1 which ,i will introduce here not only for the sake of the old reduplicative verb1 but also because the passage is germane to the argument1 and imports an illustration of a comprehensive kind4 ,the king prefixed to his version of ,gregory's ,pastoral ,care a preface in prose and a prologue in verse4 ,the prose preface was about the main purpose of his work2 the poetical prologue dealt with literary matters1 the authority of his text1 the history of his copy1 the manner of his own literary operation4 ,it is this poetical and literary ,prologue which ,i here quote3 is rendgewrit ,this ,epistle ,agustinus ,augustine ofer sealtne s over salt sea suan brohte brought from the south ieg-buendum1 to us island-dwellers1 swa hit r fore just as it erst adihtode indited had been drihtnes cempa by ,christ's doughty champion ,rome papa4 the pontiff of ,rome4 ,ryhtspell monig ,much rightful discourse ,gregorius gleawmd did ,gregory's glowing wit gind wd give forth apace urh sefan snyttro1 with skilful soul1 searoonca hord4 a hoard of studious thought4 ,form he monncynnes ,wherefore he of mankind mst gestriende converted the most rodra wearde3 to the ,ruler of heaven3 ,romwara betest1 he of ,romans the best1 monna mdwelegost1 of men the most mind-rich1 mrum gefrgost4 and widest admired4 ,sian min on ,englisc ,at length into ,english lfred kyning ,alfred the king awende worda gehwelc1 every word of me wended1 and me his writerum and me to his writers sende su and nor2 south and north he did send2 heht him swelcra ma more ordered of such brengan bi re bisene1 by the copy to bring1 t he his biscepum that he to his bishops sendan meahte3 might be able to send3 form hi his sume orften1 for some of them needed it1 a e ,ldensprce such as of ,latin lste con4 very little did know4 ,in the last six lines of this little poem a new attitude is taken up2 the book itself becomes the speaker1 and sets forth how ,,lfred was the translator1 how he ordered 7,,heht7 more copies of his translation to be made1 and for what purpose4 ,in mentioning purpose1 the prologue communicates something beyond the ,legend1 which leaves the purpose and signification of the design shrouded in symbolism4 ,but for the rest1 if we analyze these six lines1 we shall find the heart and core of them to be essentially identical with the ,legend on the ,jewel-- ,,aelfred ,,mec ,,heht ,,gewyrcan #d #8,saxonici ductus duas tantum literas habet1 ,c et ,g4' ,thesaurus1 vol4 i1 p4 #adb4 #e ,this is briefly explained in my ,english ,philology1 #bgj4 #f ,chapter x4 ,,chapter ,,iii ,,early ,,speculations ,,about ,,its ,,design ,,and ,,manner ,,of ,,use ,the finding of the ,alfred ,jewel chanced upon a remarkable time in the intellectual life of the ,english nation4 ,it was the time of ,dryden1 ,defoe1 ,swift1 ,christopher ,wren1 ,bentley1 ,lord ,somers1 ,sir ,isaac ,newton1 ,addison4 ,in literature the coming man was ,alexander ,pope4 ,the cardinal event of that period was the institution of the ,royal ,society in #affj1 the year of the ,restoration4 ,the most conspicuous bent of the intellectual world was in the direction of physical science1 and #8the great work of interpreting nature was performed by the ,english of that age as it had never before been performed in any age by any nation#g4' ,this was the period in which a national ,observatory was established at ,greenwich 7#afgf74 ,to this period belong the chemical discoveries of ,boyle1 the botanical researches of ,sloane1 and the classifications of ,ray4 ,in every department of knowledge enquiry was roused1 and with it the genius of theory1 whose movements were sometimes hasty and erratic4 ,but this tendency was gradually counteracted by the deepening conviction that sound knowledge must be based on careful observation1 and the need of museums began to be recognized4 ,the ,ashmolean ,museum was built by the ,university of ,oxford1 in #afhc1 to receive ,elias ,ashmole's collection of curiosities1 the formation of which had originated with the ,tradescants4 ,the architect was ,sir ,christopher ,wren4 ,altogether it was a time of new ideas and new institutions4 ,when the ,jewel was found1 in #afic1 it fell into the hands of persons who belonged both socially and intellectually to the foremost ranks4 ,the first recorded owner was ,colonel ,nathaniel ,palmer1 of ,fairfield ,house1 in the region of the ,quantocks4 ,of this house and this family some particulars will be related in the ninth chapter4 ,the first notice of the ,jewel was published by ,dr4 ,hans ,sloane1 a ,fellow of the ,royal ,society1 eminent as physician1 natural philosopher1 and antiquarian4 ,he was elected ,secretary of that ,society in #afic1 the year in which the ,jewel was found4 ,whether by reason of the new cloud of political and religious trouble which brooded over the land in the latter years of ,james ,,ii1 or from whatever cause1 so it was that the ,philosophical ,transactions had been suspended for the past six years1 and they were resuscitated by the new ,secretary1 who was himself an active contributor4 ,this remarkable man lived to a great age1 and when he died1 in #ageb1 in his ninety-second year1 his museum was bought by the ,government1 and this purchase was the origin of the ,british ,museum2 for until the middle of the eighteenth century the idea of a national library and museum had never been entertained in ,england4 ,the same ,act of ,parliament 7#bf ,geo4 ,,ii7 which directed the purchase of the ,sloane museum also directed the purchase of the ,harleian collection of manuscripts which had been made by ,robert ,harley1 first ,earl of ,oxford1 whose name is also memorable in the study of the ,alfred ,jewel2 for it was from an engraving furnished by ,robert ,harley1 and made from a drawing of his own1 that the first of the three figures in ,hickes's ,dissertatio ,epistolaris was printed4 ,the first published notice of the ,jewel appeared in the ,philosophical ,transactions 7,no4 #bdg in #afih71 and it was contributed by ,dr4 ,william ,musgrave1 ,fellow of ,new ,college1 physician in ,london1 and an active member of the ,royal ,society1 and author 7#agji7 of ,antiquitates ,britanno-,belgic4 ,he also contributed to ,hickes's ,thesaurus the second and third figures of the ,jewel which are there engraved#h4 ,these were the eminent persons who prepared the material for the elaborate account which ,hickes 7#agje7 gave of the ,alfred ,jewel in the first volume of his ,thesaurus4 ,for the minuti of the description he was particularly indebted to ,harley and ,musgrave1 who appear to have been occasional visitors at ,fairfield ,house4 ,the first impression which prevailed as to its design and use was that it might be an amulet4 ,this was ,dr4 ,musgrave's first opinion4 ,but afterwards he followed ,hickes in supposing it was a pendant to a chain or collar of state1 and ,hickes even says 7but here he must be simply repeating the expressions of his informants7 that the cross-pin in the socket seems adapted to such a use4 ,the boar's snout is developed into a tubular ending which furnishes a socket with a cross-pin1 manifestly asking a peg or 7as artisans speak7 a stert2 and when this observation was maturely appreciated1 it generated two inferences3 7#a7 that there was no provision for attachment answering to the above theory2 and 7#b7 that in the position imagined1 the picture would hang upside down4 ,these criticisms opened the way for new observations and new conjectures4 ,the antiquary ,hearne interpreted the ,jewel as if it were designed to be fixed at the extremity of a roller on which a manuscript was rolled1 as a suitable ornament for some ceremonious presentation4 ,but this hypothesis neglected the fact that the ,jewel is made with an obverse and a reverse1 a front and a back1 which renders it quite unfit for such a position as ,hearne had assigned to it4 ,by ,francis ,wise and ,samuel ,pegge1 chief antiquarians of the eighteenth century1 it was imagined that our ,jewel might have adorned the top of a stilus or ancient pen for writing upon a waxen tablet4 ,in refutation of this theory it sufficed to observe how awkward and unwieldy an ornament it would prove to the penman4 ,nevertheless1 this idea had a career1 winning a momentary plausibility from the assumption that ,alfred's #8stel' was a stylus4 ,in ,archologia ii there is a letter signed #8,s4 ,pegge1' from which ,i extract the following3-- #8,it is not certainly known to what use this valuable curiosity 444 might be put3 but among other conjectures ,mr4 ,wise imagines1 and very probably1 it might have been the handle of a stylus4 ,and if one should say it was one of those styli which the king sent along with his translation of ,gregory's ,pastoral1 it would be no great absurdity4444 ,it may here be alleged that the king sent his present to the cathedral churches3 but1 with submission1 this does not imply that he might not also send the like to the two monasteries of his own foundation1 this of ,athelney and the other at ,shaftesbury2 it is most probable he would send a book and a stylus to both those places1 and if he did1 this jewel in my opinion bids fair to be the handle or upper part of the stylus which was presented by him to the ,house of ,athelney where it was found4' ,collinson1 the historian of ,somersetshire 7#agia71 in a passage to be quoted below 7chapter ix71 designates it an amulet1 and this was probably the way in which it was usually regarded in the eighteenth century4 ,to this ,pegge 7in the article cited above7 objected as follows3 #8,dr4 ,musgrave once thought it might be an ,amulet1 but ,alfred never ran 7that we know of7 into such vanities4' ,passing now to the nineteenth century1 ,mr4 ,philip ,duncan1 in his ,catalogue of the ,ashmolean ,museum1 advanced the theory that it might have been mounted on the top of a staff 7after the manner of a ,roman eagle71 and that it was carried into battle as a standard to animate the courage of warriors4 ,this exquisite bijou1 of materials so brittle as enamel and crystal1 cased in a delicate web of golden filigree1 looks strangely inappropriate for the fury of battle and the interchange of hard knocks4 ,and indeed this theory was never suggested to its author by the reason or probability of the thing1 but by certain texts which at that time were in better esteem than they are now1 especially the hagiography of ,st4 ,neot1 wherein it was said of this saint that he went before the king in war1 carrying a palm and guiding him to victory1 to all which the palm-bearing figure in the ,enamel seemed to correspond4 ,and this also explains why that figure was supposed to represent ,st4 ,neot4 ,in like manner1 ,hickes was carried away by a passage in pseudo-,ingulph to abandon his first and best interpretation of the enamelled ,figure1 and to adopt the idea that it may have been intended to represent ,st4 ,cuthbert#i4 ,all these speculations on the design and use of the ,jewel are unsatisfactory and1 considering the eminence and ability of the propounders1 strangely poor in the craft of interpretation4 ,if this surprizes us in an age when the minds of men were so much awakened1 we should remember that the new movement was chiefly in the direction of physical science1 and that little progress had as yet been made in the analysis of human history and the science of historical criticism4 ,from these abortive attempts at interpretation1 we gather that this singularly elaborate phenomenon of a ,jewel had the effect of setting curiosity and imagination awork in the minds of those who contemplated it1 and that some theory1 however precipitate1 became a sort of necessity4 ,to this category must be added a more recent conjecture1 which1 as it proceeded from a highly honoured source1 as it was persistently and circumstantially argued out1 and as it has been widely accepted1 demands a chapter by itself4 #g ,macaulay1 ,history1 c4 iii4 #h ,appendix ,a4 #i ,appendix ,b4 ,,chapter ,,iv ,,bishop ,,clifford',s ,,theory#aj ,the theories about the ,alfred ,jewel which have been noticed hitherto1 belong to the crude attempts at interpretation which were evoked by the surprize of the strange discovery in the last decade of the seventeenth century4 ,we come now to a new theory which was broached in our own time by ,bishop ,clifford1 in his ,inaugural ,address as ,president of the ,somersetshire ,archological ,society in #ahgg1 when the ,annual ,meeting of that ,society was held at ,bridgwater4 ,this theory demands a fuller attention than any of the foregoing1 first1 because it bears manifest tokens of maturer thought1 but further1 because there is much curious material woven into its fabric1 which gives it independent value4 ,if only for the single fact that it introduces a new explanation of the problematic #8stel1' it ought to quicken the interest of every reader4 ,it will be better on all accounts that the ideas of the author be presented in his own words3 ,amongst the articles of church furniture used in the middle ages1 frequent mention is made of #8,baculi ,cantorum1' or choir staves4 ,in the year #abbb there were eight such staves in the treasury of ,salisbury ,cathedral4 #8,the staves at ,canterbury ,cathedral 7writes ,dr4 ,rock1 ,church of our ,fathers1 vol4 ii7 were as rich as they were curious1 in the year #acae4' ,he gives a list of them1 and among them are #8,,iv baculi de cornu1 cum capitibus eburneis'--four staves of horn with ivory handles2 others were adorned with gold and silver and precious stones4 ,the use of these staves was to enable the ,cantor or master of the choir to point out to the singers and to the readers their places in the book1 and so prevent the manuscripts and their illuminations being soiled by the touch of fingers4 ,when the lessons were read1 the choirmaster not only pointed out the spot where the lesson commenced1 but handed1 if necessary1 the staff to the lector1 that he might use it to guide his eye along the lines in reading4 ,this precaution was not only observed with regard to those beautifully illuminated volumes used for the church services1 but was equally1 if not more so1 required in the case of books which were intended for the use of the general public4 ,most readers required to use their fingers to assist their eyes in following the lines1 a practice which1 if allowed1 would not only soil the manuscripts1 but in course of time obliterate them4 ,therefore when books were intended for public use it was customary to place by them a small staff or pointer for the use of the reader1 even as in modern days a paper-knife forms one of the ordinary articles of furniture on a library table4 ,in many instances these little staves or pointers were inserted in the binding of the books themselves1 something after the fashion in which pencils are inserted in modern pocket-books4 ,i may seem to be widely departing from ,alfred and from ,athelney1 but you will soon perceive the pertinency of these remarks4 ,alfred1 as you know1 did much to encourage learning amongst his subjects1 and he was especially anxious that useful works should be translated into ,english1 and copies of them be arranged in public places1 where all might gain access to them and read them4 ,to encourage this good and noble work by his example he became himself an author4 ,and he thus describes1 in the preface which he wrote to the book he translated1 the steps he took to start what ,i may call the first public reading in ,england3--#8,when ,i reflected1' he says1 #8how the knowledge of the ,latin tongue had fallen away throughout ,england1 though many still knew how to read ,english writing1 ,i began in the midst of divers and manifold affairs of this kingdom to turn into ,english this book 7of ,st4 ,gregory the ,great7 which in ,latin is named ,pastoralis1 and in ,english1 ,the ,herdsman's ,book2 sometimes word for word1 and sometimes sense for sense1 even as ,i had been taught by ,plegmund my ,archbishop1 and ,asser my ,bishop1 and ,grimbald my ,mass-,priest1 and ,john my ,mass-,priest4 ,after ,i had learned of them how ,i might best understand it1 ,i turned it into ,english4 ,and ,i will send a copy to every bishop's see in my kingdom1 and in each book there is an aestel 7i4e4 a staff7 of 7the value of7 #ej mancusses2 and ,i command1 in ,god's name1 that no man take the staff from the book1 nor the book from the minster1 seeing that we know not how long there shall be such learned bishops1 as now1 thank ,god1 there be4 ,therefore ,i command that these remain always in their places1 unless the bishop have them with him either to lend somewhere1 or to have other copies made from them4' ,here1 then1 we have the explanation of ,alfred's gem4 ,it is the handle of a book-staff or pointer which1 like those at ,canterbury1 and elsewhere1 was made of horn 7which has perished71 the handle itself being of precious and durable materials4 ,the inscription on it bears witness that it was made by ,alfred's order1 #8,aelfred had me worked2' and this circumstance1 taken in conjunction with the costliness of its material and the beauty of its execution1 makes it in the highest degree probable that it is one of those aestels which ,alfred says were worked by his order1 and inserted in the presentation copies of his translation of ,the ,herdsman's ,book1 and which were valued at #ej mancusses1 or 7taking the value of the mancus at #gs4 #f;d47 #ah #aes41 a large sum for those days4 ,but if so1 how came this gem to be found in this neighbourhood8 ,alfred presented one to each bishop's see in his kingdom1 and there was no bishop's see in those days in these parts nearer than ,sherborne1 in ,dorsetshire4 ,you will have remarked that ,alfred in his preface mentions four persons who assisted him in translating the book3 ,plegmund1 ,archbishop of ,canterbury2 ,asser1 ,bishop of ,sherborne2 the ,priest ,grimbald1 who presided over the school which ,alfred had founded for the training of the ,english youth2 and the ,priest ,john1 who was placed by ,alfred as abbot over the monastery which he founded at ,athelney4 ,copies of the book1 each having a book-staff1 were sent to ,plegmund and ,asser1 for they both were bishops4 ,can there be any reasonable doubt that this mark of attention was equally observed in the case of the other two collaborators8 ,more especially as ,grimbald was at the head of ,alfred's school1 and it was in order to promote ,english reading that ,alfred had undertaken the translation of the book1 and ,john1 though not a bishop1 was abbot over the monastery which ,alfred himself had built in gratitude to ,god for the victory he had gained4 ,a copy of the book1 with the costly aestel in it1 was no doubt sent by ,alfred to his friend ,john1 at ,athelney1 as well as to the other three collaborators4 ,the book and the staff were1 agreeably to ,alfred's order1 preserved in the minster1 till1 in the days of trouble1 7probably at the dissolution of the monastery17 both were hidden out of sight1 and for that purpose buried in the grounds of some neighbouring friend at ,newton ,park1 in the hopes of recovering them in better days4 ,as time passed on1 the secret of the place where they were hidden died with the man who had hidden them2 and when after many years chance revealed the place of the deposit1 the book itself and the perishable portion of the staff had rotted away1 leaving only the gold and crystal handle1 with the words1 #8,aelfred had me worked1' to tell the tale4 ,this ,i believe to be the true history of ,alfred's gem4 ,when ,i visited the ,ashmolean ,museum at ,oxford1 in the month of ,july1 ,i was shown by the courteous ,curator1 by the side of ,alfred's jewel1 a smaller specimen of ancient goldsmith's work which was dug up a few years ago at ,minster ,lovel1 in ,oxfordshire1 on the site of an ancient abbey4 ,it is smaller than ,alfred's gem1 but1 like the latter1 it is evidently the handle of a reading-staff4 ,the handle of ,alfred's staff was made of a size that might be conveniently grasped in the hand2 the one from ,minster ,lovel was intended to be held between the finger and thumb4 ,it is smaller and less costly1 but the workmanship of the gold is so like the larger one of ,alfred as almost to suggest its being the work of the same man4 ,thus ,bp4 ,clifford would fain persuade us to see in our ,jewel the costly handle of a pointing stave4 ,this satisfies the requirement of the socket and rivet1 which is a fit provision for the insertion of a fine stave4 ,the only question at this point that could be raised in opposition is1 whether the socket is not too small to admit a stave of useful thickness for the purpose contemplated4 ,and as the author of this theory has applied it equally to the ,minster ,lovel jewel1 this objection gains in force1 as the rod that could be inserted in that little jewel would be of very doubtful service as a pointer4 ,but when we consider the common elements in the design and workmanship of these two jewels1 we are compelled to reject the theory that they were intended as handles to pointers4 ,and first of the design4 ,both of these jewels have an obverse and a reverse1 which in such an instrument would not only be unnecessary and unmeaning1 but absolutely inconvenient and detrimental4 ,both of them are obviously designed to gratify the eye2 as objects to be displayed in positions which they are to adorn and beautify4 ,the ,alfred ,jewel contains the picture of a man in enamel1 framed in golden filigree1 glazed with crystal1 and backed with a plate of gold curiously engraved2 the whole composition plainly dictates which side is to be foremost and which end is to be uppermost when it is fixed in the position for which it is intended4 ,bp4 ,clifford's theory cannot be accommodated to these conditions4 ,so much for the design3 now as to the materials and workmanship4 ,in both of these jewels the outer surface is filigree work of very fine texture2 can it be imagined that this agrees with the suggested use of a handle to a choirmaster's wand1 whether we consider the implied defacement of the finest goldsmith's work1 or the galling friction to the musician's hand8 ,but besides appropriateness of design and workmanship1 there is yet another condition to be satisfied1 and one which this theory can only meet by means of a roundabout and arbitrary hypothesis4 ,any interpretation of the ,jewel1 to be satisfactory1 must harmonize naturally and spontaneously with the ,alfredian associations of the spot on which it was found4 ,bp4 ,clifford has felt this1 and he has employed an elaborate machinery to meet it4 ,the place of the find is one that naturally suggests direct and immediate connexion with the goings and comings of the king himself1 for it lies near the centre of that region in which he spent some months of acute effort in the most critical juncture of his diversified and adventurous life4 ,if our interpretation harmonize with the associations which are linked to the spot1 and through the spot to the ,jewel1 probability is strengthened while the interest is heightened2 but what possibility is there of bringing these associations to bear upon a costly book-pointer8 ,if anything so extravagant existed1 it might be preserved in the treasury of the minster or in the book-room of the cloister2 but it could have no place about the person of a fugitive king and a struggling warrior4 ,accordingly the author of this theory is compelled to detach the interpretation from the personal history of the king1 and to rest his solution of the problem upon a highly speculative assumption combined with the chances and vicissitudes of a later age4 ,the author of this theory has to face the inevitable question--,on the supposition that the ,alfred ,jewel is the handle of a book-pointer1 how do you account for its being found in the neighbourhood of ,athelney8 ,in preparing to answer this question1 he fetches a wide compass1 enclosing in his sweep the literary achievements of the king1 and seven centuries of the after-time4 ,he begins by recalling ,alfred's acknowledgements to ,plegmund1 ,asser1 ,grimbald1 and ,john1 for their help in his translation of ,gregory's ,pastoral ,care1 and he recites the king's statement that he would send a copy of the translation to each bishop's see1 and with each book an #8stel' worth #ej mancusses4 ,it is an essential part of his theory that the #8stel' was a book-pointer with a costly handle1 and moreover that the ,alfred ,jewel was one of these handles4 ,but there was no bishop's see at or near ,athelney1 the nearest being at ,sherborne3 how then did this relic find its way to ,newton ,park by ,athelney8 ,the answer is that ,john the ,priest became abbot of ,alfred's foundation at ,athelney1 and that there can be no reasonable doubt that ,alfred gave the book and #8stel' not only to ,plegmund and ,asser1 but that he also extended his bounty to ,grimbald and ,john1 his two other collaborators#aa4 ,so the ,alfred ,jewel having thus arrived at ,athelney as the handle of a book-pointer1 was religiously preserved there until the time of ,henry ,,viii1 when it was buried to await better times1 and in the course of nature forgotten4 ,my objection to this is not that it is imaginative1 but that it is ill suited to its purpose1 because it is needlessly cumbrous1 and because the ,jewel can be traced to ,athelney by a much simpler and more obvious process4 ,but while ,i find it impossible to admit ,bp4 ,clifford's theory as an interpretation of the ,alfred ,jewel1 seeing that this relic absolutely refuses to be classed with the decorated handles of the baculi cantorum1 ,i must add that the question of the #8stel' stands apart4 ,i am by no means prepared to maintain that the explanation of that problem which ,i have recently offered in ,alfred the ,great is preferable to ,bp4 ,clifford's4 ,there is a close affinity between the two explanations2 they both rest upon a common basis in the ancient gloss3 #8,indicatorium1 stel4' ,i interpreted the indicatorium to be a light slab1 much like a flat ruler1 which was to be brought to bear across the page so as to guide the reader's eye1 and perhaps furnish a rest for his fingers4 ,the ,latin term would fit a pointer as well as a flat ruler1 and perhaps better4 ,it may therefore well be that in the endeavour to interpret the ,jewel1 ,bp4 ,clifford has incidentally explained that problematical object which king ,alfred sent as a fitting accompaniment with each of the presentation copies of his version of ,gregory's ,pastoral ,care4 ,the remark that the pointer might be fitted to the volume by an arrangement like that now in common use for attaching a pencil to a notebook must1 ,i think1 be felt to add a certain persuasive concreteness to his suggestion4 ,only then1 if the #8stel' was a book-pointer with a costly handle1 that handle was certainly not fashioned after the manner of the ,alfred ,jewel1 or of its natural associate the minor jewel of ,minster ,lovel--it was not fashioned with obverse and reverse4 ,a subsequent interpretation by ,llewellynn ,jewitt1 ,f4,s4,a41 appeared in the ,reliquary for ,october1 #ahgi1 vol4 xx1 p4 #ff3--#8,many1 and very curious as well as various1 have been the conjectures as to the use or origin of this remarkable jewel1 and of the figure intended to be represented upon it1 but it is not worth while to here repeat them4 ,the probability1 to my mind1 is that it simply formed the head of a sceptre1 and that just possibly it might have been ultimately given by ,alfred to the head of the monastery founded by himself1 to be used as a pastoral staff or staff of office1 as was the crosier in later days4 ,the design and the workmanship are of exquisite beauty1 and in all respects the jewel is unsurpassed by any other existing example of ,anglo-,saxon art4' ,again1 this interpretation1 like that of ,hearne and others1 appears to be excluded by the formation of the ,jewel with a front and a back4 ,by the rejection of so many hypotheses the field of choice is narrowed1 and our path should be so much the clearer to find the true design and use of the ,alfred ,jewel4 #aj ,william ,joseph ,hugh ,clifford1 second son of the seventh ,baron ,clifford of ,chudleigh1 was the ,roman ,catholic bishop of ,clifton from #aheg to #ahhh4 ,he was a member of the ,somerset ,archological and ,natural ,history ,society1 and for many years a constant attendant at the yearly meetings4 ,in #ahgg he was ,president of the ,society4 ,his obituary1 by ,canon ,holmes1 is in vol4 xxxix of the ,society's ,proceedings4 #aa ,this machinery for bringing the baculus cantoris to ,athelney was first employed in the interest of the stylus theory4 ,see ,s4 ,pegge in ,archologia ii1 quoted above in chapter iii4 ,,chapter ,v ,a ,,jewel ,,in ,,the ,,crown ,the ,alfred ,jewel is so made as to require a small stem or #8stert' for its fixture when in use4 ,it tapers off to a socket1 which is adapted to receive a small stem1 and it is only when erected on such a stem that the ,figure in enamel will appear in a natural position4 ,how can we accommodate it with such a function as will correspond to these indications of design8 ,evidently not on the top of a standard-bearer's pole1 nor on the top of a stilus1 nor at the butt-end of a music-master's wand4 ,it is moreover evident that the stem was a permanent fixture in the socket1 for although the socket is now empty1 this is due to the perishing of the stem1 as appears from the fact that the cross-pin is riveted4 ,the stem was therefore not metallic1 but of some hard organic substance1 perhaps walrus ivory4 ,our problem then is to discover a place in which this ,jewel1 permanently furnished with such a stem1 could be so erected as to discharge some appropriate function4 ,that function can hardly be other than personal decoration1 and the place in which it might be erected is the helmet of the warrior4 ,i imagine then that a hollow bead ran round the king's helmet1 along the rim next the forehead1 and that over the very centre of the brow there was a round orifice in the upper slope of the bead1 fitted to receive the ivory stem of the ,jewel1 and that when fixed in this position it would have minor jewels similarly fixed on either side1 but that this one would be the central piece and the richest jewel in the crown or coronet4 ,for this magnificent ,jewel would have the effect of converting the helmet into a crown1 transforming the most vital piece of defensive armour into the chief of royal insignia for public occasions of state4 ,that the rudiment of the crown was derived from the helmet1 at least among our people1 seems to be indicated by the ,anglo-,saxon word that preceded #8crown1' namely1 ,,cyne-,,helm1 which means ,regal ,helmet4 ,this word is the only ,english representative of the idea before the ,romanic word was domesticated among us4 ,the term #8crown' made its entrance after the ,norman ,conquest1 at first in its original ,latin form ,,corona1 as may be seen in the contemporary ,chronicle of ,peterborough4 ,thus we read under the date #ajhe3 ,her se cyng br his ,,corona and heold his hired on ,winceastre to am ,eastran1 #8,this year the king wore his ,crown and held his ,court at ,winchester for the ,eastertide4' ,but the native word was not quickly superseded4 ,in the next annal1 #ajhf1 we are informed that the king wore his ,crown three times every year3--#8riwa he br his ,,cyne-,,helm lce geare4' ,illustration3 ,,the ,,minster ,,lovel ,,jewel ,the explanation now offered of the use and function of the ,alfred ,jewel is confirmed by comparison with a minor jewel in the same glass case1 which for its illustrative value has been placed by the ,keeper of the ,ashmolean ,museum near the ,alfred ,jewel4 ,in workmanship it is so similar that it might well be 7as ,bp4 ,clifford said7 from the hand of the same maker4 ,in design it is as much alike as it is possible for a simple and rudimentary pattern to resemble one that is highly elaborate and developed4 ,no one can doubt that these two objects are fully analogous to each other1 and that the service for which they were intended was of the same nature4 ,this minor jewel has1 like the ,alfred ,jewel1 an obverse and a reverse2 the obverse presents a ,cross in opaque enamel cloisonne2 the reverse has a gold plate1 not engraved--as in the greater work--but equally with it suggestive of the back of a framed picture which is to lean against a vertical surface of some kind4 ,as in the other1 the area of the obverse is more contracted than the reverse1 and the sloping sides are covered with a delicate filigree of gold4 ,lastly1 this also has its projecting socket1 with a cross-pin in its place riveted4 ,it is in all respects adapted to be either the front and central jewel of a minor coronet1 or else a lateral and subordinate jewel in the circlet whose front place was filled by a superior piece such as the ,alfred ,jewel4 ,this minor jewel was found at ,minster ,lovel in ,oxfordshire about the middle of the present century4 ,the finder brought it to a jeweller in ,oxford1 who1 apprehending that the object was one of more than ordinary curiosity1 carried it to ,dr4 ,wilson1 then ,president of ,trinity ,college1 an eminent archologist1 and the man who of all men in ,oxford at that time was the most capable of estimating a find of this nature#ab4 ,the interest which he took in it was shared with ,dr4 ,griffiths1 who was afterwards ,warden of ,wadham ,college1 and 7whether by one or both7 it was presented to the ,ashmolean ,museum4 ,the date of this event does not appear to be recorded1 but ,i suppose it must have happened in the fifties4 ,that gold ornaments were proper for the helmet1 we gather from a passage in the ,beowulf1 a poem which is now1 ,i think1 among critics of proved competency1 allowed to belong to the eighth century4 ,when ,beowulf1 after slaying the ,dragon1 lies fatally wounded1 he puts off the chief pieces of his armour with the insignia of royalty1 and bestows them upon ,wiglaf1 his faithful ,thane and the natural heir to his throne4 ,in the poetic description we perceive that the insignia are largely blended with the body-armour1 and that the helmet is characterized by its golden decoration3 #bhaj #bhaj ,dyde him of healse ,ungearing his neck hring gyldenne of the golden ring iden rst-hdig the courageous ,captain egne gesealde1 on his ,thane conferred it1 geongum gr-wigan2 on the gallant youth2 gold-fhne helm1 the gold-prankt helm also1 beh ond byrnan2 the collar and the byrnie2 ht hine brcan well4 saying3 #8,brook them well6' ,it would be easy to collect examples from later romances1 but ,i will add only one1 taken from ,laamon's description 7,a4,d4 #abjj7 of king ,arthur putting his armour on3 ,helm he set on hafde ,helm he set on head1 hh of stele3 high of steel3 r on wes moni imston1 thereon was many a gem-stone al mid golde bigon4 all encircled with gold#ac4 ,the position which ,i have imagined for the ,alfred ,jewel would represent the cumulative effect of the two chief and central gems in the ,crown of ,queen ,,victoria1 namely1 the great ,sapphire of ,charles ,,ii and the great ,ruby of ,edward the ,black ,prince#ad4 #ab ,speaking of the archologists in ,oxford fifty years ago1 ,i am not forgetting1 indeed ,i could not forget1 ,john ,henry ,parker1 ,c4,b41 the guide and teacher of his time in much antiquarian knowledge of great value to the historian2 more especially in whatever concerned ecclesiastical or domestic architecture4 ,he was for many years ,keeper of the ,ashmolean ,museum4 #ac ,laamon's ,brut1 ed4 ,madden1 vol4 ii1 p4 #dfd4 #ad ,the ,english ,regalia1 by ,cyril ,davenport1 p4 #ea4 ,,chapter ,,vi ,,the ,,boar',s ,,head ,there is a feature in the ,alfred ,jewel which appears to support the theory propounded in the last chapter4 ,i mean the ,boar's ,head1 which is so wrought into the composition of the piece as to represent a subordinate1 or even a servile1 relation to the saintly ,figure which is seen through the window of crystal4 ,about the creature indicated by this head there has been some diversity of opinion4 ,it has been spoken of as the head of a serpent1 of a fish1 of a dolphin1 and strangest of all1 it has been called the head of a griffin4 ,of these notions the last is the one that has been oftenest repeated1 and yet it is the most absurd4 ,no doubt the griffin has been variously described1 nevertheless it is generally agreed that the head of this fabulous animal is either that of an eagle or that of a lion4 ,many years ago1 as ,i happened1 in company with ,dr4 ,liddon1 to be passing the entrance of the ,ashmolean ,museum--the old original building by the ,sheldonian ,theatre--,i asked him whether he had ever seen the ,alfred ,jewel4 ,he had not1 and he manifested some alacrity and we went in4 ,it was naturally my part to act the showman1 and ,i did it with a will1 which was quickened by an interested motive4 ,i set forth all my best exegesis of every part1 except one--,i left the animal's head unnoticed4 ,the old doubt about the nature of this head had been recently revived1 and ,i lay in wait for testimony undesigned4 ,i had the satisfaction of hearing my companion remark interrogatively1 #8,that appears to be a boar's head8' ,between the wild boar and the helmet there existed a close and recognized association1 as is well attested by the ,beowulf1 which is our chief voice from the heroic age of ,teutonic antiquity4 ,in the course of that poem there are no less than five passages in which this habitual association of ideas stands out prominently4 ,the first passage is where ,beowulf and his companions have reached the ,danish coast and stepped ashore and parleyed with the coast-warden1 and obtained his approval of their visit and his offer of guidance to ,hrothgar's ,court4 ,as they set forth on their march inland1 the poet notices the play of the sunlight glancing from the boar-figures on their helmets3 #cja #cja ,gewiton him fran ,forth on the march they fared --flota stille bd1 --the floater reposing1 seomode on sle1 wearing on her cable1 sd-fmed scip1 the wide-bosomed ship1 on ancre fst4 at anchor fast4 ,eoferlic scionon ,boar-figures shone ofer hleor-bergan2 over the cheek-plates2 gehroden golde as chequered with gold fh and fr-heard defiant and fire-hard ferh wearde heold4 the farrow kept ward4 ,the second passage occurs in the course of the ,lay of ,hnf1 which is inserted among the festivities that follow ,beowulf's success against ,grendel1 as being sung by the minstrel in ,hrothgar's hall4 ,in the story of the ,lay there is a fight1 and that is followed by the burning of the dead1 and here the poet notices the arms which are consumed with their owners4 ,in the short quotation which follows1 the coat of mail is called a sark1 and the helmet is indicated by its crest1 which was a boar of hard iron plated with gold3 #aaaa #aaaa t m de ws ,at the place of the pile -gesne was plain to behold swt-fh syrce1 the sark blood-stained1 swn eal-gylden1 the gilded swine-crest1 eofer ren-heard4 the boar of hard iron4 ,the third passage presents us with an incidental description of the terrors of a hand-to-hand fight between armed champions1 and it pictures a trial of strength between the tough steel of the flashing sword and the hard iron of the boar on the helmet3 #abhf #abhf onne heoru bunden ,when the hafted halberd hamere geuren1 hammer-toughened1 sweord swte fh1 the sword battle-spotted1 swn ofer helme at the swine on the helmet ecgum dyhtig with urgent edge andweard scre4 smites importunate4 ,the first success of ,beowulf having left an avenger alive1 it becomes necessary for the hero1 in pursuance of his pledged war against the monster brood1 to dive all-armed to the bottom of an awful mere4 ,in our fourth quotation he is seen arming himself and preparing to plunge into the abyss2 the main pieces of his armour are described1 and of his helmet it is said as follows3-- #addi #addi ac se hwta helm ,but the burnished helmet hafelan werede1 his head to protect1 se e mere-grundas in the murky mere mengan scolde1 was now to be merged1 scan sund-gebland in the swirl of the swimmer since geweorad1 all its sumptuous array1 befangen frea-wrasnum fringed with lordly filigree swa hine fyrn-dagum as in far-away days worhte wpna-smi1 by weapon-smith 'twas wrought1 wundrum teode and wondrously dight1 besette swn-lcum beset with figures swine-like t hine sian n that on it ever since brond n beado-mcas no brand or blade of war btan ne meahton4 had any power to bite4 ,these closing lines recall the remarkable passage of ,tacitus1 where he says that the stii 7,esthonians7 venerate the mother of the gods1 and that they wear figures of the wild boar as the emblem of her cult1 and that this observance alone suffices without arms offensive or defensive to make her votary feel secure even in the midst of enemies#ae4 ,the mother of the gods may be identified1 or at least proximately equated1 with ,,frige1 the consort of ,woden1 whose name survives in the sixth day of the week1 ,friday2 ,,frige-,d,g4 ,a survival of her cult is seen in the festive ceremony of the ,boar's ,head1 which is kept up in ,queen's ,college1 ,oxford1 adding a mystic incident to the mirth of ,christmas4 ,caput apri defero1 ,reddens laudes ,domino4 ,the boar's head in hand bring ,i1 ,with garlands gay and rosemary4 ,our fifth example occurs in a passage eminently characteristic of the heroic age1 when the institutions of monarchy rested upon the personal devotion of the thane to the king4 ,this relation is one of great historical consequence2 it was to grow into the later institution of knighthood2 it had been matured by that immemorial tradition of sacred confidence and fidelity between the war-chief and his companion in arms1 which is signalized by ,tacitus in words familiar to the modern historian4 ,the passage which ,i am about to quote exhibits this devotion in concrete act4 ,beowulf1 the hero of the poem1 has returned successful from his adventure1 and he is fulfilling his first duty by rendering a report to ,hygelac his king4 ,his speech is closing with mention of rich guerdon he had received from the king whom he had delivered1 namely1 ,hrothgar1 son of ,halfdan2 and then he produces the noblest of these prizes as a dutiful offering to his lord4 ,this scene constitutes a frame to our last instance of the boar-figure as the most signal feature in a warrior's headgear3 #bade #bade 8,swa se eod kyning 8,so in fair customs lived eawum lyfde2 the imperial king2 nealles ic am leanum nor of fitting guerdon ,i forloren hfde1 was aught forlorn1 mgnes mde-- of meed for service-- ac he me mdmas geaf1 yea1 mighty things he gave1 sunu ,healfdenes1 did ,halfdan's son1 on minne sylfes dm2 myself withal to please2 ic 1 beorn-cyning1 which ,i to thee1 brave prince1 bringan wylle1 by choice do bring1 stum gewan4 in willing homage4 ,gn is eall t ,all my wealth proceeds lissa gelong3 of thy good lordship3 ic lt hafo nor is my lot to have heafod-mga1 kinsman of chief account1 nefne ,hygelc ec60 king ,hygelac1 but thee60 ,ht a in beran ,then bade he in to bear eafor heafod-segn1 the wild-boar crest1 heao-steapne helm1 the helm in fight so high1 hre byrnan1 the hoary mail-coat gray1 g-sweord geatolic-- the sword seigneurial-- gyd fter wrc3 and he said withal3 8,m is hilde-sceorp 8,to me this battle-harness ,hrgr sealde1 ,hrothgar gave1 snotra fengel4440 the sapient monarch0 c4 ,in the evidence above given we see indications that this traditional choice of the wild boar for a crest was of high antiquity1 and had its origin in a religious sentiment1 and our fourth passage 7#addi ff47 certainly conveys the idea that the armourer who wrought at the furniture of the helmet did so with a mind still under the spell of the old persuasion that a mystic sanction clung to the figure of the wild boar1 and qualified it for its time-honoured post as guardian of the warrior's head4 ,in the ,alfred ,jewel the ,boar's ,head appears to discharge a double function3 one subservient1 as affording a base or pedestal to the frame of the sacred effigy2 the other servile1 as a socket for the shaft whereby the elaborate and composite design is to be fixed in its destined place4 #ae #8,matrem dem venerantur4 ,insigne superstitionis formas aprorum gestant3 id pro armis omnique tutel securum de cultorem etiam inter hostes prstat4' ,germania1 #de4 ,,chapter ,,vii ,,the ,,figure ,,in ,,enamel ,,and ,,the ,,engraved ,,plate ,,at ,,the ,,back ,,of ,,it ,but the vital problem of the ,alfred ,jewel is in the enamelled ,figure4 ,of its meaning there have been guesses and suggestions1 some reasonable1 some wild2 ,m4 ,labarte could only say1 #8it represents a figure hard to characterize4' ,this ,figure is manifestly of a religious character1 and it is the centre and focus of the whole4 ,all the other parts are relative and subordinate to this1 and the entire ,jewel is in fact a setting and a shrine for this sacred object4 ,we must endeavour to ascertain its intention and significance1 but before attempting this interpretation we must consider the ,enamel as a work of art4 ,for this venerable relic1 even if regarded only in its material aspect as an ingenious mechanical product1 and as a specimen of a once flourishing art1 is rare and curious to so high a degree as to confer rank upon any ,museum 7however otherwise rich7 that is so fortunate as to possess it4 ,behind the ,enamel1 in the position of a backboard to a picture-frame1 is a separate gold plate bearing a significant device which is certainly intended as a counterpart to the ,figure of the obverse4 ,from the relation observable between these two representations we may gather a constructive inference4 ,thus we have three subjects for our consideration in the present chapter1 and it will be convenient to give to each of them a separate section by itself4 ,accordingly1 the plan of this chapter will be as follows3--,i4 ,the ,enamel as an artistic product2 ,,ii4 ,the inward signification of the enamelled ,figure1 and of the ,engraving at the back of it2 ,,iii4 ,a ,constructive ,inference4 ,i ,,the ,,enamel ,,as ,,an ,,artistic ,,product ,of enamels we may say that they are a sort of paintings or embroideries2--only not made with liquid pigments nor with variegated threads1 but with molten glass diversely tinted by means of metallic oxides#af4 ,on the one hand they are the precursors of our painted windows1 and on the other they are the parents of the famous works of the artists of ,limoges4 ,of this artistic industry the ,alfred ,jewel preserves a specimen of the rarest kind4 ,it belongs to the type which is designated cloisonne1 because the outlines of the design have first been made by little slender barriers of gold which serve as fences between the colours4 ,into the compartments so enclosed the material of the enamel is deposited in the form of a vitreous paste1 that is1 glass ground to a fine powder1 and mixed with the colouring material and moistened4 ,so prepared1 the work is passed into an oven1 with a heat to melt the glass1 but not the metal plate upon which the design has been laid4 ,if the process is successful1 the work is substantially achieved when it comes out of the oven1 and nothing remains to be done but the dressing and finishing of the surface4 ,of this cloisonne type ,m4 ,labarte1 in enumerating nine examples1 as being the chief works of this kind now extant1 gives to all of them the title #8,byzantine4' ,the chief extant ,monuments in ,byzantine ,enamel ,cloisonne1 according to ,labarte4 #a4 ,the celebrated crown of gold1 which goes by the name of the ,iron ,crown1 is the oldest extant jewel that is enriched with enamel4 ,it was given to the cathedral at ,monza by ,theodelinda1 the ,lombard queen1 who died in #fbeag4 #b4 ,the enamels in the altar of ,st4 ,ambrose of ,milan1 executed in #hce1 must have been executed by ,greek artists1 who were numerous in ,italy at that time4 ,it is to be noted that the flesh tints are rendered by opaque white4 #c4 ,the enamels in the cross called the ,cross of ,lothaire in the treasury of the cathedral at ,aix-la-,chapelle1 which we hold to be ,byzantine work4 #d4 8,a jewel preserved in the ,ashmolean ,museum at ,oxford4 ,it was discovered in #afif 7sic71 near the ,abbey of ,athelney1 in which ,alfred the ,great took refuge when he was defeated by the ,danes in #hgh4 ,mr4 ,albert ,way has given a description of it1 with engravings of front and back1 and in section 7,the ,archological ,journal1 vol4 ii1 p4 #afd74 ,the inscription ,,aelfred ,,mec ,,heht ,,gevyrcan 7,alfred ordonna que je fusse fait7 which stands in the thickness of the piece1 is thought to leave small room for doubt as to the origin which is attributed to it4 ,the enamel of the obverse is executed by the process of cloisonnage2 it represents a figure hard to characterize 7il reproduit une figure dont il est difficile de dterminer le caractre74 ,the flesh portions are in whitish enamel2 the colours employed in the drapery are pale green and ruddy brown semi-transparent2 the ground is blue4 ,the jewel terminates in the head of an animal1 in golden filigree1 with all the characteristics of the oriental style4 8,admitting that the inscription may apply to ,alfred the ,great1 this jewel would not by itself be sufficient to prove that the art of enamelling was practised in ,england in the ninth century4 ,the inscription might have been engraved after the king had purchased it 7possibly7 of a merchant from the ,east40 #e4 ,the enamels which environ the gold crown preserved in the treasury of ,st4 ,mark's1 at ,venice4 ,we see there a bust of the ,emperor ,leo the ,philosopher 7#hhf-iaa71 who was probably the donor of this votive crown1 which was made to be suspended over an altar4 #f4 ,the enamels on a chalice in the same treasury2 it appears by the inscription to have been executed for an emperor who died in #idd4 #g4 ,the enamels on the reliquary of ,limburg4 ,this magnificent piece was executed before #igf4 #h4 ,the enamels upon eight gold plates which were found at ,nyitra1 in ,hungary4 ,seven of them are in the ,museum at ,pesth4 ,these eight plates unite to form a crown1 one in front and one at back1 and three on either side4 ,each has its enamelled picture4 ,the front piece has a portrait of ,constantinus ,monomachus 7#ajdb74 ,the pieces to right and left of this represent the ,empresses ,theodora and ,zoe2 the next two on either side represent actresses2 the third on either side contains an allegorical figure of a woman1 the one being ,humility1 with hands crossed in front1 the other ,truth1 bearing a cross4 ,the eighth1 which is the hindmost1 is circular1 and represents ,st4 ,andrew#ah4 #i4 ,the enamels which decorate the royal crown of ,hungary1 which was sent as a present to ,geysa ,i1 king of ,hungary1 who died in #ajgg4 ,in this list the famous #8iron' crown of ,monza holds the first place1 being1 in fact1 an ample golden fillet richly decorated with enamels1 and containing within it a narrow hoop of iron1 which is reputed to have been made of a nail from the ,cross4 ,the fourth place in this catalogue is assigned by ,m4 ,labarte to the ,alfred ,jewel1 and by this classification it is referred to a ,byzantine source4 ,but as it is plain from the matter as well as the manner of his description that his acquaintance with the ,jewel is second-hand1 we pass over this local element1 while we accept his classification so far as it refers to structural affinities4 ,in the spring of #ahci1 during some excavations in ,thames ,street1 was discovered a fibula which happily passed straightway into the hands of ,mr4 ,roach ,smith1 and he wrote a memoir upon it which may be seen in the ,archologia for #ahdj1 accompanied with a splendid illustration in colour and gold4 ,it contains a bust in cloison-work enamel1 and invites comparison with our ,jewel more than any of those in the above list1 probably more than any other extant specimen4 ,it is now in the ,british ,museum4 ,both the figure and the filigree are of superior workmanship to the ,alfred ,jewel1 as if it were a later and more refined product of the same school4 ,a ,french critic calls it ,byzantine1 and assigns it to the eleventh century#ai4 ,so far about other extant specimens of enamel cloisonne4 ,this species of enamel rises like an island out of the broad level of the enamel champleve1 in which the plate was prepared for the vitreous deposit by scooping the pattern upon it4 ,to this common method belong the older and more rudimentary enamels of the ,british horse-gear1 correctly described by ,philostratus1 who will be quoted below4 ,to this belong also the late enamels1 for which during the thirteenth century ,limoges was famous4 ,the history of the art of enamelling is very imperfectly known1 and the paucity of extant specimens makes the investigation the more difficult4 ,the canvas upon which these pictures were laid consisted of plates of the precious metals1 the smaller works being laid upon gold or silver1 the larger on copper4 ,as a natural consequence it happened that as soon as they were antiquated or had served their turn1 they were lightly cast into the melting-pot1 save where they were protected by some peculiar veneration4 ,hence it has come to pass that a favourite art of the ,dark and ,middle ,ages1 which we have reason to believe was for centuries very prolific 7until it was superseded by the increased vigour of painting and sculpture in the fourteenth century71 is now represented by a few specimens only1 and its history is hard to retrace4 ,i shall make no attempt to supply this want1 and shall only rehearse a few interesting facts which the present investigation has brought to my knowledge4 ,origins ,i leave to specialists3 but this ,i may say1 that such evidence as the present enquiry has brought within the circle of my observation seems to suggest a ,keltic source for the ,enamel in our ,jewel4 ,the earliest mention of enamel to which we can confidently point is found in the book of ,philostratus entitled ,pictures 7,icones1 74 ,this author was a ,greek rhetorician and connoisseur in ,art1 who came to ,rome 7,a4,d4 #bjj7 in the reign of ,severus1 attracted by the ,court of ,julia ,domna1 who 7in the words of ,gibbon7 was the patroness of every art and the friend of every man of genius4 ,in his ,icones he makes pictures the text of his elegant and fashionable discourse4 ,whether his pictures were real or imaginary is a matter of no consequence to our present purpose4 ,the picture in which we are interested is one that represents a ,meet for a ,boar-hunt4 ,the writer comments upon the well-equipped company1 the horses and their riders1 in the splendour of their get-up for the sport1 drawing special attention to the curiosity and costliness of their horse-trappings4 ,their bits are silvern1 and their head-stalls are decorated with gold and enamelled colours4 ,for the production of these colours it is said that #8the barbarians who dwell in the ocean do smelt them upon heated copper1 and that in cooling they do set and harden and keep the design#bj4' ,it has been questioned who are meant by the barbarians in the ocean4 ,modern ,french writers have generally applied it to the ,gauls2 but ,olearius1 the editor of ,philostratus 7#agji71 understood the ,keltic peoples2 and certainly the expression appears more applicable to the ,british ,isles than to ,gaul4 ,moreover1 it is in ,britain1 and not in ,gaul1 that enamelled horse-trappings have been found4 ,some of these may be seen in the ,ashmolean1 and more in the ,british ,museum4 #8,the antiquities discovered at ,stanwick in ,yorkshire1 ,polden ,hill in ,somersetshire1 ,saham ,toney in ,norfolk1 ,westhall in ,suffolk1 and at ,middleby in ,annandale1 ,scotland1 which are all of ,celtic workmanship1 consist principally of bits and portions of horse-furniture of various kinds which have preserved1 in many cases1 the enamel with which they were decorated#ba4' ,the ,romans or ,romanized populations continued the practice of this art1 and from the evidence of the finds that occur from time to time it appears probable that some of the finest specimens were made in ,britain4 ,a large flat plate1 representing an altar1 which was found in ,london and is now in the ,british ,museum1 has all the appearance of being unfinished4 ,a curious cup1 which was found at ,rudge in ,wiltshire1 has round it the names of five of the towns on the ,roman ,wall4 ,and this specimen appears1 by peculiarities of workmanship1 to be nearly related to the beautiful vase which was found in a tumulus on the ,bartlow ,hills1 in ,essex1 where it seems to have been deposited after the time of ,hadrian4 ,and if the ,saxon invasions of the fifth and sixth centuries did1 as it is thought1 obliterate all traces of this art in the other parts of the west1 this could only have had the effect of making the practice of it peculiar to ,ireland2 and the ,irish were not a stay-at-home race1 neither did they hide their gifts from other people4 ,there is a ,keltic aspect in the enamelled designs which was remarked by ,franks1 and which may have accompanied the tradition of this art even when it passed out of ,keltic hands#bb4 ,in short1 all the indications which this enquiry has brought to my notice concerning the technical history of our ,enamel do seem to localize it in the ,british ,isles4 ,at a later stage of this chapter we shall be met by evidence of a different kind1 tending in the same direction4 ,,ii ,,the ,,inward ,,signification ,,of ,,the ,,figure1 ,,and ,,of ,,the ,,engraving ,,at ,,the ,,back ,,of ,,it ,about the signification of this ,figure the conjectures have been diverse1 but they have all agreed in recognizing the two sceptres as the characterizing attribute4 ,hickes1 in his first interpretation1 thought that the icuncula represented the glorified ,saviour with a lily sceptre in either hand1 denoting his twofold realm of heaven and earth3 or else the pontiff of ,rome as his vicegerent wielding both the temporal and the spiritual power4 ,afterwards1 however1 when he had read in pseudo-,ingulph the story of ,st4 ,cuthbert's appearance to ,alfred1 and had contemplated in the ,lichfield ,book the figure of ,st4 ,luke 7seemingly1 but not really two-sceptered71 he was moved to think that the icuncula represented a saint1 and was1 perhaps1 meant for ,st4 ,cuthbert#bc4 ,i think ,hickes was right in his first interpretation1 and especially in the second member of his alternative1 wherein he referred it to the pope4 ,in the ninth century the thought of ,christ was easily blended with that of his vicegerent upon earth3 and it is plain that the ,figure is arrayed in precisely those insignia which best represent the dominant thought of the papacy at that epoch4 ,the two sceptres aptly symbolize the claim and aspiration of the ,western hierarchy during those very years which ,alfred spent in ,rome4 ,leo ,,iv1 the pontiff who welcomed the princely boy to ,rome1 had already1 as the organizer of victory over the ,saracens1 done much to prepare the exaltation of the ,roman ,see4 ,many causes conspired to the same result4 ,this was just the moment when the famous ,decretals were ready to start upon their triumphant career4 ,a first display of their working was seen in #heh1 when the novel solemnity of coronation was added to the consecration of ,nicholas ,i4 ,and1 as ,i apprehend the course of events1 this falls within the period of ,alfred's sojourn at ,rome4 ,not long after this the surprizing spectacle was seen of the pope on horseback1 and the emperor on foot walking by his side and holding his bridle as he rode4 ,this pontiff gave commands to kings and ruled over them as lord of the whole world2 and he actually realized his ambition of making all secular power subject to the papacy4 ,he claimed the subjection of all national churches to the bishop of ,rome4 ,he decreed1 in #hff1 that no archbishop might be enthroned or might consecrate the eucharist1 until he had received the pallium from the ,roman pontiff4 ,there was much in the conditions of the time and in his own experience to cause ,alfred to view these things wholly on their favourable side4 ,the enamelled head is probably not meant for a portrait of ,leo ,,iv or any particular pope1 but we can hardly be mistaken if we interpret it as a symbolical figure to represent the papal authority as the vicar and vicegerent of ,christ4 ,and if this be a true solution of the problematical icuncula1 there is yet something more which we naturally desire to know4 ,we naturally inquire about the composition of the symbol1 of what elements is it made up1 and from what source did the suggestion come8 ,illustration3 ,,illumination ,,from ,,the #8,,book ,,of ,,kells4' ,in the ,library of ,trinity ,college1 ,dublin1 is preserved a very famous book1 known as the ,book of ,kells1 a monument of ,irish learning and art in that period when ,ireland most justly earned the glorious title of #8,insula ,sanctorum4' ,one of the full-page illuminations which adorn that book represents a scene of the ,temptation1 in which ,jesus is on the pinnacle and ,satan is near4 ,such is the action represented3 but besides the action the same picture conveys also a reflection or comment upon the action4 ,lower down1 and more in the body of the building1 there is a window at which is seen a majestic personage holding a sceptre in either hand1 which leans and rests on either shoulder4 ,at first sight the effect is quaint1 bizarre1 and puzzling2 but a little attention makes all plain4 ,it becomes clear that a contrast is intended between the humiliation and the triumph of the ,christ2 and perhaps also1 by the association of ideas which the last two verses of ,st4 ,matthew's ,gospel have made familiar1 to suggest the duty 7zealously discharged by the early ,irish ,church7 of missionary devotion4 ,no one who has given time and thought to this picture can doubt that the two-sceptered figure is ,christ4 ,here is no question of the pontiff of ,rome4 ,in the seventh century1 to which the ,book of ,kells is assigned1 the papal claims were not admitted1 much less glorified1 by those of the ,scotian rite4 ,therefore the interpretation of that ,irish picture is quite simple1 and it represents the glorified ,christ inhabiting his temple and looking out over his ,church as ,lord of heaven and earth#bd4 ,though we know only of a single extant copy of this picture1 we may confidently assume that among the manifold activities of the monks and hermits and missionaries and pilgrims from ,ireland it was multiplied and disseminated4 ,it is 7,i think7 impossible to compare our ,figure of the ninth century with that of the seventh1 without coming to the conclusion that the one is a descendant of the other4 ,we need not be incredulous about the chance of ,alfred's being acquainted with ,irish iconography4 ,the narrative in the ,chronicle 74 #hia7 of three ,irish exiles who found their way to king ,alfred1 reflects a valuable light on his kindly relations with the learned and pious from the sister island4 ,this connexion was neither new nor immature4 ,when they found themselves ashore on the coast of ,cornwall they set out #8at once'--such is the effect of ,,sona--for king ,alfred#be4 ,moreover1 the ,irish picture furnishes a welcome light upon an obscure detail of our enamelled ,figure4 ,how are the heads of the sceptres to be explained8 ,some have taken them for palms1 and others for lilies1 but the ,irish drawing shows them rather as plumes4 ,and this finds support in a singular passage of ,bede's ,ecclesiastical ,history4 ,speaking of ,oswald the ,bretwalda1 ,bede describes him as a prince who carefully upheld his imperial dignity1 insomuch that1 not only when he rode through his provinces did his standard go before him1 but even when he walked forth in the streets he was always preceded by an apparitor bearing the ,tufa1 which 7he adds7 was in the vernacular called ,tuuf4 ,we learn from ,du ,cange that the ,tufa was a wand with a head of plumes1 and this is what we see in the sceptres of the ,irish drawing4 ,sir ,francis ,palgrave divined that the ,saxon ,bretwaldadom had inherited this emblem of authority from the provincial dignitaries of the empire4 ,from these data the natural conclusion is that the ,figure in this ,jewel was derived from an ,irish1 and not from an ,oriental1 nor from any continental source4 ,it was taken from an ,irish symbolical drawing of ,christ triumphant and reigning over his ,church1 and it was adapted by the king in a sense which his experience had made real and concrete and practical4 ,as ,chaucer was called #8grand translateur1' so we may call ,alfred a grand adapter4 ,whoever has been drawn in to study both ,alfred and ,dante may have observed this in common to the two1 that what they borrow they transfigure1 their touch imparts to it the colour of their mind4 ,king ,alfred in early youth was tied by every thread of religious conviction and political interest and personal sentiment to the ,see of ,rome1 and he meant this ,jewel to enshrine the frontispiece of his profession and the ensign of his creed ecclesiastical1 political1 and personal4 ,at the close of the former section ,i said that the conclusion there arrived at would be confirmed by another kind of evidence in the sequel4 ,up to that point the argument had run upon the technical aspects of our enamelled ,figure1 and these had seemed to indicate the ,british ,isles as its native region4 ,since that stage our argument has turned upon the conception and pedigree of the device2 and here again we find that an insular rather than a foreign source is indicated4 ,further evidence1 pointing in the same direction1 will be advanced before the close of the present chapter#bf4 99 99 99 99 99 ,at the back of this ,enamel there is a gold plate which serves the same purpose as a backboard to a picture1 and it is secured by an overlapping undulating border of gold4 ,in the ,minster ,lovel jewel this member consists of a blank gold plate1 but in the ,alfred ,jewel this surface is occupied with an engraving which is certainly allegorical4 ,at first sight it seems to be no more than a decorated pattern made upon the idea of a tree with branches and blossoms and fruit#bg4 ,but upon closer inspection this tree appears to be a sword with its point buried in a human heart1 and when this is discovered it becomes plain that the branches and blossoms must be allegorical4 ,a sword with its point planted in a human heart may mean compunction for sin and mortification of the natural man2 it may also mean resignation in adversity to the overruling providence of ,god4 ,such a disposition of mind is productive of flowers and fruit1 that is1 of conduct which is beautiful and profitable1 and 7on great occasions7 of action which is heroic4 ,this mode of symbolical expression may be seen in the figure of ,st4 ,luke in ,st4 ,chad's ,book at ,lichfield4 ,the ,evangelist holds in his right hand a pen1 the feathery part of which branches out into flowers and fruit1 to signify the fruitful nature of the writings of ,st4 ,luke#bh4 ,these are the obvious meanings of such a symbolical device1 and this being so1 it plainly results that the ,figure and its back-plate are united by correlation of thought4 ,the enamelled ,figure is the symbol of religion in its ecclesiastical and political aspect2 the engraved plate represents the inward disposition of the heart1 the root and fount of personal religion4 ,the former is of the nature of a public profession1 and as such is openly displayed to view2 the latter is reserved1 out of sight1 facing the wall4 ,,iii ,a ,,constructive ,,inference ,and this raises a consideration to which ,i invite careful attention4 ,these two pictures1 the one enamelled1 the other engraved1 are complementary the one to the other2 they are two parts of one design1 and as such they combine to declare the unity of thought which locks together the composition and fabric of this ,jewel into one constructive whole4 ,and this observation1 once verified and clearly apprehended1 must henceforth exclude the theory of ,sir ,francis ,palgrave which explained this ,jewel as being derived from two diverse sources in the following manner3-- #8,alfred's ,jewel1 in the mechanical workmanship of the metallic portion1 offers a close resemblance to the ,icelandic ornaments1 now made in the island1 where the mode has probably continued by usage from the most remote periods4 ,the enamel within1 on the other hand1 resembles some ornaments of the ,carlovingian era now existing on the continent1 which have been generally considered as ,oriental4 ,the head at the extremity of the ornament is extremely like what is found in those architectural ornaments usually called ,saxon1 e4 g4 the porch of ,st4 ,margaret's at ,york4 ,whether ,st4 ,neot be the personage represented in the enamel ,i rather doubt2 and ,i think it possible that the enamel itself was brought from the continent1 and that the setting only was made in ,england4 ,this would reconcile the two styles of workmanship2 the metallic portion is unquestionably ,anglo-,saxon1 the enamel may be supposed to be from another country4 ,but altogether it is one of the most curious relics of the kind2 and no one1 taking all the points of evidence together1 can reasonably doubt but that it did belong to king ,alfred4' ,this is copied from the ,ashmolean ,catalogue1 #ahcf 7p4 #ach71 the work of ,mr4 ,philip ,duncan1 or rather perhaps of the two brothers1 ,john and ,philip ,duncan1 both ,fellows of ,new ,college1 and successively ,keepers of the ,ashmolean ,museum1 men famous in their generation for their zeal in promoting all that was good and generous and beautiful2 and graced1 both of them1 with a strong and manly beauty worthy to support the nobility of their character and set it forth to the best advantage4 ,i take the above to be an extract from a letter to one of the brothers in answer to enquiries addressed to ,sir ,francis ,palgrave1 asking his opinion about the ,jewel1 and especially whether he thought the evidence warranted the conclusion that it had really belonged to the great king of ,wessex4 ,the answer has a peculiar value1 because of the firm judgement it supplies upon the main problem4 ,the deliberate opinion of the most competent authority of the time upon this point is of permanent value4 ,of a different nature is the other part of his answer1 in which he embarked upon a bold antiquarian diagnosis1 and broached his dualistic theory4 ,this solution was accepted at the time as furnishing a solid basis for the interpretation of the ,jewel1 and it has held its ground ever since4 ,this new hypothesis gave satisfaction on three grounds3 first1 in that it accounted for the quaintness of the ,figure as being probably ,byzantine or ,oriental2 secondly1 in that it lightened the burden of credit demanded for our insular jewellers of the ninth century2 and thirdly1 because it squared so well with the accredited fact that ,alfred did receive presents from foreign potentates4 ,on all these grounds the dual hypothesis of ,sir ,francis ,palgrave gave general satisfaction and seemed to be absolutely final4 ,for myself1 ,i adopted it as the pivot of my interpretation1 and as such ,i used it in the last lecture ,i gave on the subject1 which was in ,may1 #ahii4 ,but now at length1 by the wider and more searching investigation which has been required in the preparation of this ,essay1 ,i have satisfied myself that all the parts of this composite work are bound together by a unity of thought which manifests the effort of a single mind4 ,all available testimony indicates that this was none other than the mind of king ,alfred4 ,in support of this broad assertion ,i will here bring forward a new illustration from the original writings of the king4 ,when he had translated the ,pastoral ,care he furnished it with a prologue and an epilogue1 both in verse3 the prologue is given above1 in the second of these chapters2 the epilogue is quoted here4 ,it illustrates his love of figure and symbol1 and his aptness for the development of a train of allegorical thought3 is is nu se wterscipe ,this is now the watering e us wereda ,god which the world's ,creator to frofre geht for refreshment promised fold buendum4 us who till the field4 ,he cw t he wolde ,he said it was his will t on worulde for that in the world thenceforth of m innoum out of the inward soul libbendu wtru fleowen waters aye enduring flow e wel n hine gelifden under of loyal believers under heaven4 lyfte4 ,is hit lytel tweo ,there is little doubt t s wterscipes that of this watering welsprynge is the well-spring is on hefonrice2 in the heavenly kingdom2 t is ,halig ,gast4 for it is the ,holy ,ghost4 onan hine hlodan ,from that fountain fetched it halge and gecorene1 faithful men elect1 sian hine gierdon and at length 'twas guided a e ,gode herdon by hearers of ,god urh halgan bc through holy books hider on eoran hither on earth geond manna md men's minds to pervade missenlice4 in manners diverse4 ,sume hine weria on gewitlocan ,some warily keep in memory's ward wisdomes stream welerum wisdom's stream with closed gehfta lips t he on unnyt so that it fruitlessly t ne to fleowe3 flows not away3 ac se wl wuna but the brooklet bideth n weres breostum in the man's breast urh ,dryhtnes giefe through divine grace diop and stille4 deep and still4 ,sume hine lta ,some let it at large ofer landscare over the land rium torinnan4 in rillets wide-running4 ,nis t rdlic ing1 ,good rede is it not gif swa hlutor wter if water so lucid hlud and undiop run shallow and loud toflowe fter foldum flowing free over fields o hit to fenne wer4 and turning to fen4 ,ac hlada iow nu drincan ,but draw now for your drinking nu iow ,dryhten now that your ,lord geaf t iow ,gregorius ,gregorius to you gave1 gegiered hafa and he hath guided to durum iowrum to your doors ,dryhtnes welle4 the spring divine4 ,fylle nu his ftels1 ,fill each man now his vessel1 se e fstne heder if sound it be1 kylle brohte3 the pail he brought3 cume eft hre4 come back for more anon4 ,gif her egna hwelc ,if any lording here yrelne kylle a leaky pail brohte to ys burnan1 brought to this burn1 bte hine georne1 make boot with zealous fear1 yls he forsceade lest he should spill scirost wtra1 the sparkling water1 oe him lifes drync or of life's drink forloren weore4 depart forlorn4 ,the diction of alliterative poetry has fallen out of use1 and consequently this illustration must labour under the disadvantage of being in a form unfamiliar to the general reader4 ,nevertheless1 with a little attention1 the essential point will become plain4 ,the royal translator had been refreshed and invigorated with the lucid stream of ,gregory's discourse1 and at the moment of parting with a beloved task he sought to relieve his full-fraught soul with a grateful burst of eulogy4 ,out of all the topics that were appropriate to the occasion he chose the perennial water of life promised at the well of ,samaria1 and upon this noble theme he expatiated with a fertility of invention which makes it the easier for us to attribute to him the rich symbolism of the ,alfred ,jewel4 99 99 99 99 99 ,and now to gather up the results of this chapter4 ,we have found more than one reason to think that our ,enamel was an insular1 and not a continental product4 ,this conclusion was reached by two different paths1 first when we were tracing the technical history of the fabrication1 and again when we were seeking the spiritual meaning of the design2 by these two widely different lines of evidence we were led severally and independently to infer a ,british rather than a foreign origin for the ,figure#bi4 ,this inference was further confirmed by a third evidential process1 arising out of the sympathy of meaning which appears to unite the enamelled ,figure with the engraved device upon its back-plate4 ,this led us to question the long-established doctrine of duality of origin which rested upon the authority of ,sir ,francis ,palgrave1 and to infer that the whole composition of the ,jewel had been projected and devised by a single mind4 ,finally1 we found reason to think that all these features harmonized well with the mind and character of a person with whose name the ,jewel is already connected by the ,epigraph2 and if anything was yet wanting to complete the identification of that person1 it seems to be supplied by certain traces of inward affinity between the symbolism of the ,jewel and that of the epilogue to the translation of the ,pastoral ,care1 one of the surest monuments of the mind of king ,,alfred4 #af ,for the etymology3 enamel is a compound of the simple amel1 which is now obsolete4 ,this was an anglicized form of ,french mail1 which in ,old ,french was esmal1 whose cognates were ,provenal esmalt1 ,spanish and ,portuguese esmalte1 ,italian smalto 7used by ,dante71 which1 in medieval ,latin1 was smaltum4 ,the source is ,old ,high ,german 99smaltjan1 our verb to smelt1 i4e4 to fuse by heat 7,new ,english ,dictionary1 v4 ,,amel74 #ag ,it is figured in the ,dictionary of ,christian ,antiquities1 v4 ,crown4 #ah ,these eight plates have been reproduced by ,m4 de ,linas in his ,histoire du ,travail l',exposition universelle de #ahfg1 p4 #abe4 #ai ,notice des maux1 c41 du ,muse du ,louvre1 par ,m4 de ,laborde1 #aheg1 p4 #ii4 #bj ,philostratus1 ,icones1 i4 #bh3--the horsemen are described as-- 4 1 1 4 #ba ,augustus ,w4 ,franks1 #8,vitreous ,art1' p4 #ad in ,art ,treasures of the ,united ,kingdom1 a book which was brought out in connexion with the ,manchester ,exhibition of #aheg4 #bb ,mr4 ,arthur ,evans recognizes a ,keltic physiognomy in the eyes of the icuncula2 but for me the eyes are as if they were not1 being so much sunk out of their place1 that through infirmity of sight ,i am unable to verify them4 #bc ,appendix ,b4 #bd ,appendix ,c4 #be ,and a comon hi ymb vii niht to londe on ,cornwalum1 and foron a sona to lfrede cyninge4 #bf ,for the ,irish illumination above referred to ,i have relied upon ,facsimiles of ,miniatures and ,ornaments of ,anglo-,saxon and ,irish ,manuscripts4 ,by ,j4 ,o4 ,westwood4 ,london1 #ahfh4 ,plate ,,xi4 #bg #8,the back1 or reverse1 is a plate of gold lying immediately upon the back of the miniature1 and this is beautifully worked in foliage4' ,llewellynn ,jewitt1 ,f4,s4,a41 in the ,reliquary for ,october1 #ahgh3 vol4 xx1 p4 #ff4 #bh ,here ,i follow the old copy of this drawing in ,hickes's ,thesaurus 7#agje7 facing p4 viij4 #bi ,appendix ,d4 ,,chapter ,,viii ,,alfred ,,in ,,somerset ,,beyond ,,pedrida ,when we have described the form and symbolism of the ,alfred ,jewel1 and reviewed the various interpretations which it has evoked1 and when we have moreover analyzed its design and considered each several feature1 we have not as yet exhausted the matter of our theme4 ,an important part of the problem remains to be discussed1 and that is the place of its discovery1 the how and the why of its deposit there1 and the possibility of light to be derived from the historical associations of the locality4 ,it was found near the ,isle of ,athelney4 ,this looks like a piece of circumstantial evidence tending to identify the ,alfred named in the ,epigraph1 and to associate the ,jewel with the chief and central episode in the career of our national hero4 ,the momentous crisis which is thus reflected in the ,jewel seems to open a wider view1 and to demand some enlargement of this ,essay1 so as to embrace a glimpse of that eventful story4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,isle ,,of ,,athelney4 ,of all this we now1 after the lapse of a thousand years1 speak as men who know the sequel1 and 7because we do know the sequel7 it is the harder for us to appreciate the intensity of that crisis4 ,we are helped by the occurrence of an opportune discovery4 ,just when our nation was beginning to be ripe for historical reflection and capable of entering into the struggles of our remote forefathers1 there was #8dug up' in the locality where ,alfred took refuge in the year #hgh1 a personal ornament bearing his name in impressive characters4 ,it is to us now as if the king himself had but recently passed that way under such stress of circumstances as constrained him to hide his royal insignia1 and as if we somehow by this chance were brought nearer to the burden of his lot1 and were made sharers not only in the fruits of his triumph1 but also in the toil and the joy of his achievement4 99 99 99 99 99 ,by the sudden surprize with which the ,danes had broken the peace and come upon him at ,chippenham in the dead of winter1 they had almost fulfilled their design and taken him captive4 ,but he had fled1 and they had ,wessex at will1 and were proceeding to divide and occupy the land4 ,the king1 with a few companions1 had escaped into ,selwood1 and thence by wood and by fen1 like hunted creatures1 they eluded pursuit1 but were never secure until they had passed beyond ,pedrida4 ,what were his reflections on finding himself suddenly an outcast in the winter1 a fugitive in the wild8 ,he had experienced hair-breadth escapes1 but none like this6 ,he had trusted ,guthrum's oath1 had thought him in earnest this time6 ,and even now he was loth to charge this last perfidy upon him4 ,no6 this trick was not his1 it came from those buccaneers in the ,severn ,sea4 ,mad at the defeat of last summer's combined scheme1 which they had come from far north to support1 they had forced ,guthrum's hand1 and compelled him to join them in this winter raid4 ,and they would not stop there6 ,finding that he had given them the slip1 they would certainly be down upon some part of the coast of ,somerset or of ,devon1 and preparations must be made to receive them4 ,odda will surely be stirring3 he is safe to be on the alert6 ,i must find out what he is doing1 and we must work on a plan2 he in ,devon1 and ,i in ,somerset6 ,it was now twelve years since he had come to the front1 and had taken his stand by the side of his brother thered4 ,the moment when he had begun to share in public affairs had coincided with a great change in the situation4 ,that was the time when the invaders acquired a footing in ,east ,anglia3 they made there a centre of operations from which they went out and to which they came in--it had become the head quarters of an invading host which manifested a settled design of conquest4 ,previously the incursions of the ,northmen had been desultory1 but from that time they had become methodical4 ,this change had coincided with the death of thelbriht in #hff1 and the accession of thered4 ,in the following year had died ,alhstan1 that vigilant patriot1 the old warlike bishop of ,sherborne4 thered and ,i were the two youngest of the family1 and our relations had been peculiarly close4 ,before we were united by public cares1 we had been partners in our private concerns4 ,our several estates had been kept in one and worked in common1 under agreed conditions1 so that they had remained undivided4 ,our names had been coupled together by the common voice of the nation4 ,the style was ever thus3--,,ered ,,cyning ,,and ,,lfred ,,his ,,bro,,ur4 ,oh what a fearful time it was for ,,angelcynn1 that five years of thered's reign6 ,northumbria1 that old imperial kingdom1 was crushed2 ,mercia reduced to make a peace with the heathen1 which was the best we could effect by marching in force to ,nottingham to support ,burgred and thelswith6 ,and1 worst of all1 the ,east ,angles defeated in battle1 the good king ,edmund slain 7he fought like a hero1 and died like a martyr72 the land conquered1 possessed1 and turned from an ,anglian into a ,danish kingdom6 ,it was our turn next4 ,all was at length ripe for the subjugation of ,wessex1 and on this aim they brought all their strength to bear4 ,we made a gallant stand at ,ashdown against overwhelming odds2 we slew their kings and jarls1 and made their practised braves fly before the rustic militia of ,ecgberht4 ,eight pitched battles in that year1 besides smaller fights without number4 ,but thered died at ,easter4 ,rightly the people revere him as a saint4 ,so ,i was left to continue the struggle single-handed4 ,since then they have established themselves in the possession of ,london1 and they have banished ,burgred and set up for king in ,mercia a tool of their own2 also ,halfdan has abolished the kingdom of ,northumbria and partitioned the land4 ,and amidst all this1 what a destruction of religious houses1 seats of piety and learning and education--,lindisfarne1 ,wearmouth1 ,jarrow1 ,york1 ,ripon1 ,bardney1 ,ely1 ,crowland1 ,medeshamstead1 and many others4 ,they have destroyed the powers of ,northumbria and ,mercia2 but there they had a point in their favour which is against them here4 ,the ,welsh at the back of those nations were always ready to co-operate with the invader1 but that is not so here in the west4 ,the ,cornish have never made common cause with the heathen since the battle of ,hingston ,down1 in which that coalition was quashed by ,ecgberht4 ,and we have a still better guarantee in the constant policy of ,wessex ever since the days of ,ina and ,aldhelm4 ,the territorial quarrel was then appeased1 and the religious difference too4 ,the ,west ,welsh were conquered1 but they were never wantonly humiliated1 no man was ejected from his own4 ,they appreciated the respect and even honour that was shown to their favourite church of ,glastonbury4 ,therefore ,i have good hope of the support of the men of ,somerset4 ,true1 we have to count upon the hostility of the ,welsh on the opposite shore of the ,severn ,sea1 where the ,danish fleets find harbour and all friendly countenance4 ,still1 that is not quite the same thing as having an active enemy behind your back upon the same stretch of territory4 ,here in this west country the people differ only in degrees of allegiance1 none are actively hostile4 ,this is the weak point in the position of the invaders4 ,this is the one little bit of advantage that still remains to us4 ,i must improve it to the utmost6 ,but first of all we must provide against a sudden descent on the coast4 ,for the last two years events have succeeded one another at a quickened pace3 surprize on surprize6 ,there1 under the opposite coast1 lies a heathen fleet1 ready to be down upon us without notice6 ,the coast-wardens must be kept up to the mark1 and ,i not to be seen in it6 ,the mobility of these troopers defies calculation6 ,how unexpected and startling was that occupation of ,wareham last autumn6 ,how daringly defiant of gods and men that breach of their most sacred oath6 ,when by that perjury they had lulled our mistrust1 they made a sudden rush for ,exeter6 ,perfidy is part of their tactics4 ,how wonderful1 how divinely providential1 that storm off ,swanage1 which wrecked the perfidious plan6 ,and now1 not to be baulked1 they pounce upon ,chippenham in time of truce and in mid-winter1 thinking to capture me6 ,how great in war is the unexpected6 ,without perfidy1 ,i too must learn to meditate surprize2 ,i must contrive how to distract their calculations1 and strike where least expected4 ,with some such a strain of thought as this 7if ,i have followed him aright7 now ruminated the undaunted king1 in whom thought was the spring of action4 ,moreover1 he reasoned thus with himself3 #8,so long as winter lasts1 they cannot follow me with the host by the way that ,i have come1 but if they learn my whereabouts1 they may easily find adventurers who would undertake to kill me4 ,wherefore ,i must not make myself too freely known1 but proceed cautiously1 and make proof of men before ,i trust myself to them4 ,to most ,i must appear like some mounted yeoman hunter who follows the high deer that abound in the forests about these hills4 ,and as for this sacred toy1 this personal enigma1 this ,jewel of ceremony1 which many eyes have beheld1 ,i must no longer carry it about me1 lest peradventure it make me known unawares4 ,i will bury it in some convenient spot6' 99 99 99 99 99 ,the western boundary of ,wessex had for centuries been the ,great ,wood of which the ancient name still survives as a specific element in the historic designation of ,frome ,selwood4 ,this great wood was also called ,wealwudu1 a very natural and appropriate name1 because it had long been the barrier between the ,saxon and the ,welsh populations4 ,here lies the most fitting scene for the story of ,denewulf4 ,in the time when the king was a fugitive1 he found this man keeping swine in the forest1 and he discovered in him a great natural capacity and aptness for good1 and after his return to power he educated ,denewulf1 and made him bishop of ,winchester4 ,this story does not run on all fours1 because according to the best authorities ,denewulf became bishop of ,winchester in #hgi1 and if he was keeping swine in #hgh1 being already of mature age1 it smacks rather of hagiology than of history4 ,but it may be that the marvel has been enhanced in transmission2 or if we choose the lowest estimate and call it mere fiction1 still it is worth while observing what manner of stories were invented about king ,alfred4 ,behind this barrier the ,danes had never been able to get a footing4 ,as if aware how greatly this was needed for the success of their designs upon ,wessex1 they had made several attempts4 ,two great efforts which imply this aim were made at the end of the reign of ,ecgberht4 ,the force of thirty-five ships which that king repelled at ,charmouth1 on the coast of ,dorset1 seems to indicate something more than merely a plundering incursion4 ,in #hce1 a great naval armament 7micel sciphere7 came to the ,cornish coast and were joined by the ,west ,welsh1 and they gathered in force at ,hingston ,down1 where they probably intended to fortify themselves2 when ,ecgberht appeared with an army1 and dispersed them4 ,the next recorded attempt of the kind was in the year #hde1 in the reign of thelwulf1 when the ,wicengas entered the mouth of the ,parret1 and were met by the posse comitatus of the two shires1 ,somerset and ,dorset1 under their two ealdormen1 and ,alhstan the warlike bishop of ,sherborne4 ,only in the very last year 7#hgg7 their land-force had1 by a perfidious surprize1 seized ,exeter1 acting in concert with a fleet of one hundred and twenty ships1 which were to sail up the ,exe and co-operate with them--but they were wrecked in a storm off ,swanage#cj4 ,this disaster1 combined with the promptitude of the king in assault1 had compelled them to capitulate1 and had dislodged them from ,exeter4 ,of the same nature and motive was the attempt of this spring on the coast of ,devon at a place which ,asser calls ,cynwit1 with a force of twenty-three ships1 which were wintering on the opposite coast of the ,severn ,sea4 ,the repulse was complete and the blow decisive1 but the name of the ,english leader is not given by the contemporary annalist4 ,a hundred and twenty years later1 ,ethelwerd calls him ,odda the ealdorman of ,devonshire4 ,the reticence of the ,chronicle suggests that this achievement was conducted by ,alfred while he was keeping in the background1 lest the place of his retreat should become known4 99 99 99 99 99 ,gradually and by the spontaneous action of natural causes1 the western barrier of the ,saxon was moved from the line of ,selwood to the fenland of ,pedrida4 ,this barrier was deeper bedded in the soil1 was harder to pass1 and has left behind it memories more indelible4 ,the first explicit notice of this virtual transfer of the western boundary meets us seventeen years later than the epoch with which we are now engaged1 and it may be worth while to go so far out of our way in order the better to realize the import of ,pedrida4 ,in the last decade of ,alfred's reign1 when he was in the agony of that supreme crisis which tested the value of his institutions1 a great muster of force was called for1 and the extent of the contributing area is sketched by the annalist as matter of amazement4 #8,there gathered thered aldorman and thelm aldorman and thelnoth aldorman1 and the king's ,thanes who were then at home in the fortifications1 from every garrison east of ,pedrida 7whether west of ,selwood or east71 likewise also north of ,thames and west of ,severn3--moreover some part of the ,welsh nation#ca4' ,here we mark the startling novelty that the ,welsh in #hid are seen aiding the ,saxon against the ,dane2 and we can hardly forgo a passing cry of wonder and pleasure at this signal token of the imperial success of ,alfred's policy4 ,but our present concern is with the recognition of ,pedrida as the westernmost limit of ,wessex proper instead of ,selwood1 and the implication that the change was recent4 ,we see that ,selwoodshire 7as the intervening district was popularly called7 was by #hid quite assimilated and included in the military administration of ,wessex1 but that beyond ,pedrida some other rule was operative at that time4 ,such a fact reflects back an illustrative light upon the year #hgh1 and helps us to estimate the situation of ,alfred when he was in ,somerset beyond ,pedrida4 ,the political division here indicated has left traces which may still be recognized1 particularly in the dialect and in folk-lore4 ,of the dialect we have a remarkable monument in ,mr4 ,elworthy's works1 ,the ,dialect of ,west ,somerset1 and his ,west ,somerset ,word-,book4 ,especially to be noted is the #8u' of the ,west ,country1 which is radically one with the ,welsh #8u' and with the ,french #8u1' while at the same time it has a very distinct local character of its own4 ,every ,englishman who is conversant with the ,french language knows how hard it is to acquire the utterance of the ,french #8u' after the age of infancy4 ,a like strangeness is experienced by ,english people born east of ,pedrida1 when they attempt to reproduce the western #8u4' ,in fact1 this vowel-sound is ,keltic2 it is a legacy from our ,british predecessors4 ,not that this ,british #8u' is absolutely confined to the western promontory3 it may be occasionally heard in other parts of the country by a cultivated and observant ear4 ,mr4 ,mayhew once told me that he had heard it in the ,corn ,market at ,oxford4 ,but though not confined to the lands west of ,pedrida1 it is in a peculiar manner concentrated there4 ,it is chiefly in ,devonshire that this peculiar vowel has wakened wider attention1 but this is simply because that county has been the most frequented as a place of holiday resort4 ,the so-called ,devonian #8u' and its contiguous sounds have been described many times from first to last1 but it has been mostly in that perfunctory vein which contents the summer tourist4 ,it is rare to catch such a plain and solid illustration as the following1 which is quoted from the preface to ,mr4 ,elworthy's ,west ,somerset ,word-,book3--#8,i was a passive listener at ,brandon's while a bonnet was being discussed1 and when making the payment ventured to remark to the young lady1 8,you must have been a long time in ,london40 8,oh yes1 ten years2 but why do you ask80 8,only for information10 said ,i4 8,and did you come straight from ,teignmouth80 ,with much surprise at my supposing she came from ,devonshire1 she said at length that she was a native of ,newton ,abbott4 ,i could not pretend to define the precise quality of her two1 but it was only in that one word that ,i recognized her locality4' ,if the vocabulary of this dialect were minutely examined by a competent ,welsh scholar1 some ,british words might be detected4 ,among those which would deserve early attention are plum 7soft1 as a bed71 pilm or pillum 7dust71 welt 7to beat1 thrash74 ,another local characteristic of the ,west ,welsh promontory is this1 that it is the peculiar haunt of a race of whimsical or mischievous sprites called ,piskies or ,pixies4 ,in ,south ,devon and ,cornwall any one whose conduct is strange and unaccountable is said to be pisky-led4 ,this is a branch of the numerous kindred of that versatile ,puck1 whose memory is kept fresh by the ,midsummer ,night's ,dream4 ,in an ,anglo-,saxon perambulation of land at ,weston by ,bath1 we meet with a ,pucan ,wyl1 ,puck's ,well#cb4 ,the ,english ,dialect ,dictionary preserves the name of ,aw-,puck for ,will-o'-the-,wisp or ignis fatuus1 a compound which imports that he is the most dangerous of the species4 ,this name was current in ,worcestershire1 but is now obsolete#cc4 ,these are the more obvious extant traces of the long isolation of the trans-,pedridan world3 others there are which have attracted inquiry1 such as peculiar customs1 implements1 songs and song-tunes1 which latter have been investigated by ,dr4 ,bussell and the ,rev4 ,s4 ,baring-,gould4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the ,somerset to which ,alfred retired was widely unlike the ,somerset of to-day4 ,in this respect three points may be taken3 7#a7 ,differences in the distribution of land and water2 7#b7 differences in the trees and woods and game2 7#c7 differences in the political aspect of the population4 #a4 ,west ,somerset was separated from ,east ,somerset by wide inland waters3 the beds of the ,brue and ,parret were lakes in the winter1 and only passable in summer to those who knew the ground4 ,pedrida was regarded as a natural limit1 like the sea itself1 dividing nations2 it was spoken of in like phraseology4 ,thus we read in #feh how ,cenwalh warred against the ,welsh and drave them even unto ,pedrida#cd2 and1 in #fhb1 how ,centwine drave the ,bret-,welsh even unto the sea#ce4 ,the cause of that expanse of water and large area of fenland happened far back beyond historical chronology1 and we can only date it by using the geological method of reckoning time4 ,far back in the sub-glacial era a subsidence of the land took place which affected the coast of ,somerset and ,north ,devon4 ,proof of this is found in a submarine forest extending along the south coast of the ,severn ,sea1 which has long been known4 #8,that portion of it visible at ,porlock was described in #ahci by ,sir ,henry de la ,beche1 and more recently by ,mr4 ,godwin ,austen in an essay read before the ,geological ,society in #ahfecf4' ,subsequently the ,rev4 ,h4 ,h4 ,winwood and ,professor ,boyd ,dawkins verified the discovery by a thorough examination of the forest-bed4 ,near ,minehead the forest consists of oak1 ash1 alder1 and hazel1 which grew on a blue clay4 ,an ancient growth of oak1 ash1 and yew is found everywhere underneath the peat or alluvium in the ,somersetshire levels4 ,throughout this wide area the trees were destroyed by the growth of peat1 or by the deposits of the floods1 except at a few isolated spots1 which stand at a higher level than usual1 in the great flat extending between the ,polden ,hills and the ,quantocks4 ,one of these oases1 a little distance to the west of ,middlezoy1 is termed the ,oaks1 because those trees form a marked contrast to the prevailing elms and willows of the district4 ,in the neighbouring ditches1 that gradually cut into peat1 and then into silt1 prostrate oaks are very abundant#cg4 ,subsidence of the land at a remote geological period was the cause of the impassable state of these levels in the time of king ,alfred1 and the modern system of drainage which was carried out at a later date has been the cause of the improved condition which we see now1 and which has made the ,vale of ,taunton ,dean proverbial as the ,garden of ,england4 #b4 ,in ,alfred's time the eye was greeted by a variety of trees which are not observable now4 ,the elm predominates all over the plain4 ,i asked the occupier of ,athelney ,farm about the trees on his land1 and he said there was hardly anything but elm4 ,of other kinds he had only two ash-trees and one beech2 #8but 7he added7 we find bog-oak in the moors1 and it makes good gate-posts4' ,the elms have driven out both oak and ash1 and whatever other sorts they touched in their #8wrastling' progress4 ,these sombre grenadiers dress up their lines so close as to leave little room for other trees4 ,they suck the fruitful soil more than any other tree1 and they repay their costly nurture with timber of inferior value4 ,introduced by the ,romans to serve as stakes and props in the culture of the vine1 they have overrun the land like the imported rabbits in some of our colonies4 ,in ,alfred's day these hungry aliens had not yet usurped the field1 and there was still room for the display of the rich variety of nature--oak1 ash1 beech1 fir1 maple1 yew1 sycamore1 hornbeam1 holly1 poplar1 aspen1 alder1 hazel1 wych-elm1 apple1 cherry1 juniper1 elder1 willow1 mountain ash1 spindle-tree1 buckthorn1 hawthorn1 wild plum1 wild pear1 service-tree1 c4 ,but now1 the fair places of the field are encumbered by the tall cousins of the nettle1 and the most diversified of ,english counties is muffled with a monotonous shroud of outlandish and weedy growth4 ,in the animal world1 likewise1 the lapse of a thousand years has brought change4 ,in the pastures the most frequent animal is the cow1 and only on rare occasions1 as we view the moors from some elevated #8tump1' have we the chance to see a little company of antlered deer careering over the open plain1 clearing the rhines with an airy bound4 ,in ,alfred's time too1 cow-keeping was a stock industry1 and we read of the king as entertained incognito by one of his own cowherds 7apud quendam suum vaccarium74 ,but the proportion of wild to domesticated animals was far greater then than it is now4 ,the whole stretch of country from ,pedrida to the end of ,exmoor1 fifty miles long and twenty miles wide1 was then almost a continuous forest1 abounding with game of all kinds1 but especially with red deer1 which still continues1 though in diminished numbers4 ,this noble creature is thus described by ,bewick3-- #8,,the ,,stag ,,or ,,red ,,deer4 ,this is the most beautiful animal of the deer kind4 ,the elegance of his form1 the lightness of his motions1 the flexibility of his limbs1 his bold1 branching horns1 which are annually renewed1 his grandeur1 strength1 and swiftness1 give him a decided pre-eminence over every other inhabitant of the forest#ch4' ,the red deer still lives and breeds along the southern coast of the ,severn ,sea1 and this is ,i believe the only part of ,great ,britain in which this right royal animal still ranges at large in all the freedom of nature4 ,i am informed by my friend ,mr4 ,townshend that in ,ireland they are kept as an ornament in some gentlemen's parks1 but that in a free state of nature they survive only in the mountains of ,killarney4 ,here it will be useful to read ,leland's notes of travel across the lowlands of ,somerset1 especially as they touch some places with which we are concerned4 7,i quote from the ,proceedings of the ,somersetshire ,archological and ,natural ,history ,society1 ,no4 xxxiii1 #8,leland in ,somersetshire1 #aedj-aedb4'7 #8,thens to ,cury-,malet a #c4 ,miles1 wher is a ,parke longging to ,chambernoun of ,devonshire4 ,i left this ,parke a litle on the lift ,hand1 and sone after cam over a great ,brook1 that resith ,west ,south ,west1 and rennith ,east ,north ,east into ,ivel a #b4 ,miles above ,michelborow by ,estimation4 7,here ,i cam from the ,hilly ,ground to the ,low and ,marschy ,ground of ,somerseteshir47 ,thens to ,north ,cury stille by low ,ground aboute a #b4 ,miles or more4 ,the ,chirch of ,welles hath fair ,landes here4 ,and hereabout is ,stoke ,gregory1 wher the ,chirch of ,welles hath ,possessions4 ,thens about a ,mile to the ,ripe of ,thone ,ryver1 by the which ,i passed by the space of half a ,mile1 and then ,i went over ,thone by a ,wood ,bridge4 ,athelney lyith half a ,mile lower on ,thon1 and ther is a ,bridge of ,wood to entre thabbay#ci1 and beneth that almost at the very ,confluence of ,thone and ,ivel is another ,wood ,bridge over ,thone4 ,thonetoun alias ,tawntoun is a #e4 ,miles by ,south ,west from ,athelney4 ,ther is a great ,bridge on ,thone at ,basford a ,mile lower then ,thonetoun4 ,from this ,bridge by ,athelney ,i rode by a low ,marsch ,ground a #b4 ,miles to ,pedertun ,park4 ,here at ,pederton the soyle ,westward and ,south ,west rysith agayn and ys not fenny4 ,there ys a great ,numbre of ,dere longging to this ,park1 yet hath it almost no other ,enclosure but ,dikes to let the ,catelle of the ,commune to cum yn4 ,the ,dere trippe over these ,dikes and feede al about the ,fennes1 and resort to the ,park agayn4 ,there is a praty ,lodge moted yn the ,parke4 ,there cummith a praty ,broke thorough the ,park1 and half a ,mile beneth the ,park it goith ynto ,ivel4 ,this ,brooke is caullid ,peder1 and risith ,west ,south ,west yn the ,hylles aboute a #b4 ,myles of4 ,first it cummith by ,noth ,pedreton1 a praty uplandisch ,toun1 wher is a fair ,chirch1 the ,personage whereof was impropriate to ,mynchin bocland4 ,then it touchith on ,south ,pederton1 in the which ,paroch the ,parke standith1 and so to the ,ryver of ,ivel4 ,from the ,lodge in ,pederton ,parke to ,northpedertun a ,mile4 ,from ,northpedertun to ,bridgewater #b4 ,miles4 ,the way or ,i cam ynto ,bridgwater was caused with ,stone more then half a ,myle4' ,here we may observe that ,leland appears to know of no river ,parret2 to him it was #8,ivel4' ,it would be curious to learn when and how a minor tributary gave its name of ,parret to the lower waters of the ,ivel4 ,it may be surmised that ,pedrida was never the name of a river1 but of a belt of country1 and that it may have meant #8the passage or ford of the ,peder1' ,leland's #8praty broke4' ,the name seems to contain the ,welsh rhyd1 a ford4 ,at first it may have denoted the ford of the ,peder1 and then by natural extension it may have come to designate the whole fenland of the lower ,ivel4 #c4 ,racial differences were still seen and felt4 ,the ,west ,welsh had been conquered1 and were now living in peaceful subjection1 and forming an outlying part of the kingdom of ,wessex2 but still they were imperfectly assimilated4 ,the old internecine quarrel between the races had in this western land been hushed and calmed2 and on no other border were the ,british living and mingling with their conquerors on such amicable terms4 ,there was a very great difference between the disposition of the ,west ,welsh towards the ,saxon and that of the #8,north ,welsh' on the opposite coast of the ,severn ,sea4 ,these pacific relations were not of recent date2 they appear as a deliberate policy in the reign of ,ina before the end of the seventh century1 and even earlier indications of this tendency may be gleaned which carry us back two hundred years behind the reign of ,alfred4 ,when in #ffe1 ,wina#dj1 bishop of ,winchester1 consecrated ,ceadda 7,st4 ,chad71 he had with him two ,british bishops as his assistants4 ,these two bishops must have belonged to the ,west ,welsh4 ,further1 there is reason to believe that ,ceadwalla1 though descended from ,cerdic1 and king of ,wessex1 was half a ,briton4 ,again3 the legendary tales about ,ina's legislation which are embodied in the so-called ,laws of ,edward the ,confessor1 however unhistorical1 have possibly a traditional value as characterizing the attitude of ,wessex towards her ,british subjects in the seventh and eighth centuries4 ,in this apocryphal text it is said that by ,ina's enactment #8the ,british were declared politically equal with the ,english1 and that as he himself had set the example of a ,welsh marriage1 so he would that connubium between the two races should be legally recognized4' ,these are distorted reminiscences of the historical fact that ,ina maintained a conciliatory policy towards the conquered ,british1 and in this course he was well supported or perhaps guided by ,aldhelm1 abbot of ,malmesbury1 who in #gjd was requested by a synod to write a letter to ,gerontius 7,geraint71 king of ,damnonia1 and exhort him and his people to conformity with ,catholic usage in the time of keeping the ,easter festival4 ,the letter was sent1 and it is still extant4 ,it is addressed1 in respectful and courteous language--#8,to the most glorious prince1 swaying the sceptre of the ,western realm1 whom ,i1 the searcher of the heart is my witness1 do embrace with brotherly charity--to king ,geraint and to all ,god's priests dwelling in ,damnonia1 ,aldhelm1 c4#da' ,and when1 shortly afterwards1 ,hdde1 bishop of ,winchester1 died1 and the moment had arrived for the long-contemplated division of the vast diocese of ,wessex1 ,aldhelm became bishop #8to the west of the wood1' over a province which 7as ,ethelwerd tells us7 was commonly called ,selwoodshire4 ,aldhelm died in #gji upon one of his episcopal journeys1 at the village of ,doulting on the western brow of ,mendip1 between ,wells and ,frome4 ,his memory has been locally revived in the present century by the discovery of a small ,saxon church in ,bradford-on-,avon1 which has been identified by competent judges with the ecclesiola which ,william of ,malmesbury says that ,aldhelm built in that place4 ,to him was probably due the preservation of the ,british monastery at ,glastonbury and its endowment by king ,ina4 ,that spot was dear to the ,british patriot as the mysterious sojourn of their hero1 who in due time was to return and revive the ancient glory of the ,british name4 ,the extant books in which this legend is recorded are later than the time of ,alfred1 but the romance itself is of the sixth century4 ,our oldest ,english form of it is of about ,a4,d4 #abjj4 ,,the ,,passing ,,of ,,arthur 7,from ,laamon's ,brut1 line #bh1ehb47 ,arthur wes forwunded ,arthur was wounded wunderliche swithe4 very dangerously4 ,ther to him com a cnaue1 ,there to him came a youth the wes of his cunne2 who was of his kin2 he wes ,cadores sune1 he was son of ,cador1 the eorles of ,cornwaile4 the earl of ,cornwall4 ,constantin hehte the cnaue2 ,constantine hight the youth2 he wes than kinge deore4 to the king he was dear4 ,arthur him lokede on1 ,arthur looked upon him1 ther he lai on folden1 where he lay on the ground1 and thas word seide1 and these words said1 mid sorhfulle heorte3 with sorrowful heart3 ,constantin thu art wilcume1 ,constantine thou art welcome1 thu weore ,cadores sune2 thou wert ,cador's son2 ich the bitache here1 ,i here commit to thee1 mine kineriche3 my kingdom3 99 99 99 99 99 99 ,and ich wulle uaren to ,aualun1 ,and ,i will fare to ,avalon1 to uairest alre maidene2 to the fairest of all maidens2 to ,argante there quene1 to ,argante the queen1 aluen swithe sceone3 elf exceeding sheen2 and heo scal mine wunden and she shall my wounds makien alle isunde2 make all sound2 al hal me makien1 all whole me make1 mid haleweie drenchen4 with healing drinks4 ,and seothe ich cumen wulle ,and sith return ,i will to mine kineriche3 to my kingdom3 and wunien mid ,brutten1 and dwell with ,britons1 mid muchelere wunne4 with much delight4 fne than worden1 ,even with these words1 ther com of se wenden1 lo came from sea wending1 that wes an sceort bat lithen1 that was a short boat sailing1 sceouen mid vthen3 driving with the waves3 and twa wimmen therinne1 and two women therein1 wunderliche idihte3 of wondrous aspect3 and heo nomen ,arthur anan1 and they took ,arthur anon1 and aneouste hine uereden1 and straight him bore away1 and softe hine adun leiden1 and softly down him laid1 and forth gunnen hine lithen4 and forth with him to sea they gan to move away4 ,tha wes hit iwurthen1 ,then was it come to pass1 that ,merlin seide whilen3 what ,merlin said whilome3 that weore unimete care1 that there should be much curious care of ,arthures forth fare4 when ,arthur out of life should fare4 ,bruttes ileueth ete1 ,britons believe yet1 that he beo on liue1 that he be alive1 and wunnie in ,aualun1 and dwelling in ,avalon1 mid fairest alre aluen3 with the fairest of all elves2 and lokieth euere ,bruttes ete1 still look the ,britons for the day whan ,arthur cume lithen4 of ,arthur's coming o'er the sea4 ,all this history was known to ,alfred and went to swell the stream of his meditations1 which tended to assure him that he had a fresh and promising field before him1 and to mature in him the purpose of exerting himself to win the hearty attachment of this well-affected but still half alien population4 99 99 99 99 99 ,between ,twelfth ,day and ,easter ,day of the year #hgh there were barely eleven weeks1 for ,easter fell early that year1 namely on ,march #bc4 ,of ,alfred's doings in that interval we have no information1 except in so far as it seems to be indicated that the affair of ,cynwit was not conducted without his intervention4 ,and we may add the traditional story of the cakes1 a story which probably dates from ,alfred's day1 as we have reasonably good evidence that it was current in the tenth century4 ,nor may we omit his espial of the ,danish camp in minstrel guise1 a legend which1 though not found in early authorities1 yet does claim some credit from the book in which it is narrated1 namely the ,book of ,hyde--a book in which we might expect to find some early traditions of ,new ,minster1 one of king ,alfred's foundations4 ,but while we desire to make the most of these items1 it must be admitted that they constitute an inadequate furniture for eleven weeks of ,alfred's time in the most intense crisis of his life4 ,at any other point in ,alfred's career1 the silence of so many weeks might not provoke remark1 but at this moment it makes a sensible void4 ,if1 however1 we rightly apprehend the situation of the fugitive king1 his hopes and his fears1 his aims and his resources1 we may 7in the light of the great result7 indulge a sober imagination without fear of considerable error4 ,among the pieces of genuine tradition which seem to greet the explorer in ,asser's ,life1 there is perhaps none on which we may more confidently lean than a certain fragment in the paragraph beginning #8,interea tamen rex#db4' ,the drift of this context is that with all his wars and frequent interruptions1 ,alfred ruled his kingdom1 and #8practised every branch of the craft of venery2 directed his goldsmiths and all his artificers2 did moreover instruct the falconers and hawk-catchers and dog-trainers2 and by his own novel engineering constructed buildings beyond all former wont1 statelier and more costly2 had ,saxon books read to him1 and commanded others to learn ,saxon poems by heart1 c4' ,in this passage ,i seem to recognize a true historic note2 and ,i think that in this picture of the range of his powers1 and the roll of his accomplishments1 his vast activity and versatility1 we have some genuine reminiscences of the personality of ,alfred4 ,in the emphasis here laid on hunting1 we may recognize the king who1 some years later1 sent a present of wolfhounds to the archbishop of ,rheims1 and such dogs1 too1 that their quality and breed was accentuated by the receiver in his grateful acknowledgement#dc4 ,and when to this we add that he could make and sing a song1 could tell a good tale1 could make choice of men and win their confidence1 we need little aid from imagination to perceive how this mysterious visitor might captivate the ,british hearts of all ,somerset like one man1 and perhaps set them wondering whether it could be their own ideal king ,arthur come back to them again4 ,during nearly three months of that eventful year his aim was to cultivate closer relations with the people of that outlying territory1 desiring that they might become attached to him with sentiments of loyalty and friendship4 ,to devote himself to this undertaking was at once his duty1 his interest1 and his delight4 ,for such an achievement as this he had advantages both natural and acquired4 ,apart from war1 there is nothing like hunting for making comrades1 if a man have a genial soul and be himself a mighty hunter4 ,alfred was a mighty hunter and a genial soul1 and close at hand there was one of the finest hunting-grounds in the world4 ,immediately from the ,pedridan swamp the ground began to rise to north and north-west towards a run of hilly and woodland country forty miles long1 and from ten to twenty miles broad2 a country which remains singular to this day for its natural breed of red deer and its chase of the great game4 ,this royal sport survives on ,exmoor and in the ,quantocks1 and there are ,minehead people who can tell you that they have seen the stag-hunt scamper through their main street in full cry4 ,at the entrance of this country1 at a point which is conveniently situated for uniting activity inland with a constant observation of the line of ,pedrida1 is a village which is now called ,north ,newton1 with which ,petherton ,park had been so long and closely linked that it went by the popular name of ,newton ,park4 ,i am led by a number of small indications to infer that this is the place where ,alfred had his chief residence during those early months of the year #hgh4 ,when ,easter came1 his action began to be overt2 he dropped personal disguise1 and stood forth as ,,lfred ,,cyning4 #8,when ,easter came1 king ,alfred1 with a small force1 constructed a fort at ,athelney1 and out of that fort was warring against the invading host1 he and the men of ,somerset1 that portion of them which was nighest#dd4' ,this is the action of a commander who has made sure of his following1 and is now beginning his operations against the enemy4 ,he fortifies himself on the east side of the bridge1 where a conical hill offers an opportune position2 and from that basis he opens a guerilla warfare with the invaders4 ,he does not show his hand3 he rather wants to be thought weak4 ,this naturally draws away from head quarters more and more of the hostile force1 who think that they shall presently deal a last blow to the ,saxon resistance4 ,and so with a petty and apparently futile display of military force1 he continues to amuse and distract the enemy for the next six weeks4 ,the impression made on the mind of the people by these events is traceable in two names3 ,athelney1 which now represents thelinga ,eig1 the island of princes2 and ,borough ,bridge1 which means the bridge at the fortification4 ,the fort which ,alfred made in #hgh is well preserved1 the entrenchments occupying the summit of a conical hill near the east end of the bridge which spans the ,parret1 after its junction with the ,tone4 ,how the king had employed the unrecorded months is manifest in the result4 ,his muster-roll at ,brixton ,deveril1 in the words of a contemporary1 is brief yet eloquent3 #8,then in the seventh week after ,easter he rode to ,ecgbrihtes ,stn1 on the eastern side of ,selwood1 and to meet him at that place came the men of ,somerset1 all of them1 and the ,wiltshire men1 and of ,hampshire the part that was on the hither side of the sea2 and of him fain they were4' ,this passage of the ,saxon ,chronicle seems to render a satisfactory account of the manner in which the king had employed his time from ,epiphany to ,easter in the year #hgh4 ,absorbed in this supreme effort1 where his all was at stake1 he may well have found no time for recovering his buried ,jewel1 and he may never have revisited the spot until his marks were all obliterated4 ,from the land beyond ,pedrida1 which had hitherto counted to the crown of ,wessex only as a recent territorial acquisition1 now started up around the fugitive king an army of devoted warriors1 who resolutely threw their weight into the scale1 and rescued the dynasty of their conquerors4 ,such was the nature of the force which ,alfred now with a swelling heart perceived to be entirely at his disposal1 and he buckled to the task of employing them to the best advantage4 ,from the entrenched hill by ,borough ,bridge he prosecuted the war against the ,danes1 whose basis was at ,chippenham1 and this he continued for six weeks4 ,this he could do with a small force1 as he had great advantages of position4 ,between him and the foe lay the fenny channel of the ,brue1 which he and his people were expert in crossing4 ,so it was comparatively easy for him to harass them and retire to his fort4 ,this kind of warfare1 continued for six weeks1 must have had the designed effect of drawing off from the strength of the foe in ,wiltshire1 and causing them to concentrate their attention upon this feigned line of attack4 ,for all this was only to amuse and distract the enemy1 and so to facilitate the execution of a very different project1 which the king was preparing4 ,what was passing in ,alfred's mind may 7in all essentials7 be read in ,lord ,roberts's narrative of his preparations for attacking the ,afghans1 when they were entrenched on the ,peiwar ,kotal in ,december1 #ahghde4 ,by making display of reconnoitring parties and other preparations as for a front attack1 carrying this on to the extent of raising batteries and mounting guns1 till he had caused the enemy to make counter dispositions accordingly1 he with the utmost secrecy by a circuitous night march made a flank attack1 taking them unprepared1 and promptly dislodged them from an apparently impregnable position4 ,so ,alfred1 while waging the six weeks' war1 had his trusty messengers abroad all through ,wiltshire and ,hampshire1 preparing for the tryst at ,ecgbrihtes ,stn4 ,well may we exclaim with ,sir ,walter ,besant--#8,what follows is like a dream6' ,yea1 verily1 like a dream in its sudden transformation of the whole face and prospect of things1 and equally unaccountable too2 for no attempt to explain it by natural causes will ever match the stupendous result4 ,it is not in order to dispel an illusion that we seek to trace the plan and the process--the illusion cannot be dispelled4 ,no1 rather it is in order to penetrate further into the action of a life that has kindled our admiration4 ,of that life we have a mirror in the enthusiasm with which his presence had fired the ,welsh of ,somerset beyond ,pedrida4 ,it is surely no mere accident that in the memorandum of that resolute force which mustered for his restoration1 the first item should be--,,sumors,,te ,,alle4 #cj ,among promising fields of exercise in exploring the bed of the sea1 there is the coast from ,swanage ,bay round to ,st4 ,aldhelm's ,head1 which might yield some durable relics from the loot of ancient monasteries4 ,and if ,alfred really did purchase the evacuation of ,wareham in #hgg1 #8pecuniam dando1' as ,ethelwerd has it1 the very coins may still be there1 and in a good state of preservation4 #ca a gegaderode ered ealdormon and elm ealdorman and elno ealdorman1 and a cinges egnas e a t ham t m geweorcum wron1 of alcre byrig be eastan ,pedredan1 ge be westan ,sealwuda ge be eastan2 ge eac be noran ,temese1 and be westan ,sfern1 ge eac sum dl s ,nor ,weal cynnes4 ,sax4 ,chron41 4 #hid4 #cb ,kemble1 ,codex ,diplomaticus1 vol4 iii1 p4 #dbc2 ,birch1 ,cartularium ,saxonicum1 ,no4 #had4 #cc ,the ,english ,dialect ,dictionary4 ,edited by ,joseph ,wright1 ,m4,a41 ,ph4,d41 ,deputy ,professor of ,comparative ,philology in the ,university of ,oxford4 #cd #feh4 ,her ,cenwalh gefeaht t ,peonnum wi ,walas and hie gefliemde o ,pedridan4 #ce #fhb4 ,on issum geare ,centwine gefliemde ,bret ,wealas o s4 #cf ,proceedings of the ,somersetshire ,archological and ,natural ,history ,society1 vol4 xviii4 #cg ,from an ,address by ,professor ,boyd ,dawkins in the ,proceedings of the ,somersetshire ,archological and ,natural ,history ,society for the year #ahgb4 #ch ,a ,general ,history of ,quadrupeds4 ,the ,figures engraved on ,wood by ,thomas ,bewick1 #ahbj1 p4 #ace4 ,in ,taunton ,castle1 which is the home and museum of the ,somersetshire ,archological and ,natural ,history ,society1 the form and beauty of the red deer may be contemplated in a fine specimen which is set up in the great hall1 the very hall of the ,bloody ,assize4 #ci ,appendix ,e4 #dj ,the ,west ,saxon form of this name was ,wine1 but ,i write it ,wina1 as also ,i adopt the ,latin form ,ina1 in place of the genuine ,ine1 lest the ,english reader should allow it to pass through his mind in the shape of a monosyllable4 ,the ,anglian forms of these names 7in ,bede7 are ,ini and ,wini4 #da #8,domino gloriosissimo occidentalis regni sceptra gubernanti1 quem ego1 ut mihi scrutator cordis et rerum testis est1 fraterna caritate amplector1 ,gerontio ,regi simulque cunctis ,dei sacerdotibus per ,domnoniam conversantibus1 ,althelmus1 c4' ,haddan and ,stubbs1 ,councils and ,ecclesiastical ,documents relating to ,great ,britain and ,ireland1 vol4 iii1 p4 #bfh4 #db ,in the edition by ,f4 ,wise 7#agbb7 it is on p4 #dh2 in ,monumenta ,historica ,britannica1 p4 #dhf4 #dc ,this letter is printed in the edition of ,asser by ,f4 ,wise1 p4 #abc2 and the most important parts are given in ,english by ,mr4 ,conybeare1 ,alfred in the ,chroniclers1 p4 #bah4 #dd ,and s on ,eastron worhte lfred cyning1 litle werede1 geweorc t elinga eigge1 and of am geweorce was winnende wi one here1 and ,sumurstna se dl se r niehst ws4 ,sax4 ,chron41 4 #hgh4 #de ,forty-one ,years in ,india1 chap4 xlvi4 ,,chapter ,,ix ,,newton ,,park ,,and ,,fairfield ,,house ,from the date of its discovery in #afic down to the present time1 the name of #8,newton ,park' has been associated with the ,alfred ,jewel as designating the property on which it was found4 ,in our day1 however1 this name is no longer recognized in the neighbourhood1 and indeed it is apt to be misleading4 ,for this title is now current in ,somerset in another sense1 namely1 as denoting the seat of ,earl ,temple at ,newton ,st4 ,loe1 near ,bath4 ,still the honorific appellation of #8,newton ,park1' for the estate on which the ,jewel was discovered1 will be found to rest upon historic antecedents1 which are full of interest1 and not devoid of suggestiveness for the purpose of our present investigation4 ,the extant mention of this ,newton carries us back a good space behind the ,norman ,conquest4 ,the ,will of lfric1 archbishop of ,canterbury1 who died in #ajjf1 affords evidence that he was a landowner in ,newton4 ,it is not generally possible to identify a place by a name which became so common1 but the coupling of it in ,abp4 lfric's ,will with the name of ,fiddington1 removes all uncertainty4 ,the passage in the ,will 7which is cast in the third person7 runs thus3 #8,and the land in the ,west ,country at ,fiddington and at ,newton he bequeathed to his sisters and their children#df4' ,in the forest laws1 which grew up after the ,conquest1 we find that the custody of the royal forest of ,north ,petherton was a serjeanty1 which was attached to the ,manor of ,newton and caused it to be distinguished by the name of ,newton ,forester4 ,when this ,manor was granted by ,king ,john to ,william de ,wrotham1 it was declared that he held it by the service of being the king's forester in the counties of ,somerset1 ,dorset1 ,devon1 and ,cornwall4 ,as he does not appear to have exercised his office beyond the county of ,somerset1 this territorial definition suggests that some vague prerogative had attached to ,newton ,manor at an earlier time4 ,in the third generation from the above grant this ,manor passed with an heiress into the hands of ,william de ,placetis4 ,a generation later it was divided between three co-heiresses1 ,sabina1 ,evelina1 and ,emma4 ,then arose a question about the office of ,forester1 and it was found that it appertained to a particular messuage and meadow1 and that these were included within the portion of ,sabina1 so she was declared ,forester in fee of the forests of ,exmoor1 ,neroche1 ,selwood1 and ,mendip1 likewise custodian of the warren of ,somerton2 and these offices she discharged by deputy4 ,in her time 7#bf ,edw4 ,i7 occurred the ,perambulation of the forests of the county1 in pursuance of the ,charter of the ,forests which had been granted by ,henry ,,iii4 ,the forests were to be reduced to their ancient and lawful bounds1 according to their limits at the accession of ,henry ,i4 ,the annual value of the lands then disafforested was more than a hundred times as great as that of the legal forest of ,north ,petherton4 ,in the time of ,edward ,,iii the ,manor of ,newton with its rights and appurtenances belonged to ,roger1 earl of ,mortimer1 in whose descendants and in the dukes of ,york it continued to the time of ,edward ,,iv1 when it came to the ,crown1 and then the ,manor was quoted as ,newton ,regis4 ,during this period the powers of ,forester were delegated1 and some interesting names occur in the list of deputies3 #ad ,ric4 ,,ii4 ,richard ,brettle and ,gefferey ,chaucer1 esqrs41 by the appointment of the earl of ,march4 #ba ,ric4 ,,ii4 ,gefferey ,chaucer1 by ,alienor1 countess of ,march4 #d ,hen4 ,v4 ,thomas ,chaucer1 by ,edward1 earl of ,march4 #h ,hen4 ,,vi4 ,william ,wrothe and ,thomas ,attemore4 #ab ,hen4 ,,vi4 ,william ,wrothe4 #bi ,hen4 ,,vi4 ,sir ,william ,bonville and ,richard ,luttrell1 by the duke of ,york4 #ad ,edw4 ,,iv4 ,sir ,giles ,d',aubeny1 for life4 #bc ,hen4 ,,vii4 ,robert ,wrothe1 for thirty years4 ,soon after the expiration of which term ,sir ,thomas ,wrothe1 son and heir of the last-named ,robert1 purchased of ,edward ,,vi the fee of ,petherton ,park and the ,manor of ,newton ,regis4 ,the office of ,forester had now fallen into decay and the ancient glory had departed1 and the transfer of this property appears to have been governed by the ordinary considerations4 ,in the time of ,queen ,elizabeth the descendants of ,sir ,thomas pulled down the park house1 and carried the materials to a lodge called the ,broad ,lodge1 which 7said ,collinson in #agia7 #8the late ,sir ,thomas ,wrothe improved to a handsome dwelling4 ,the whole park#dg is now converted into farms4' ,the improvements of ,sir ,thomas ,wrothe1 here mentioned1 have a probable connexion with our subject4 ,such is the remarkable history of the ,manor which has been at different times known as ,newton ,forester1 ,newton ,placey1 ,newton ,regis1 and ,newton ,wrothe2 and this history ministers occasion for a surmise that the distinction which attended this ,manor may have had its roots considerably further back1 inasmuch as the extant records do not offer an adequate account of that peculiar prerogative which made it so famous and so dignified4 ,i venture to suggest that the beginnings of this place1 which has been so eminent1 and which is now known by the comparatively obscure name of ,north ,newton1 may have been connected with the retreat of the king to ,athelney1 that this may have been a spot of his own selection4 ,it is reached from ,athelney by simply following the rise of the ground1 it is well placed for keeping an eye on the ,parret1 the side from which a surprize was most to be apprehended1 and it was the approach to the fine hunting-fields of ,quantock and ,exmoor4 ,what more natural than that he should take a liking to the place and judge it convenient for a hunting-lodge8 ,and ,i venture to throw out a surmise for consideration4 ,may it not be that the prefix #8,new' was set by the king himself1 who gave the name of ,new ,minster to his foundation at ,winchester#dh8 ,the name of ,newton properly belonged only to the ,manor1 but as the lordship of this ,manor was long coupled with the custody of ,petherton ,park1 and as the two were habitually associated in men's minds1 the latter came to be spoken of as #8,newton ,park1' and this title is simply a colloquial variation and equivalent for ,petherton ,park4 ,the correct name of ,petherton ,park is constantly used by ,leland in the extract from his ,itinerary which is given in the previous chapter4 ,so that when the ,alfred ,jewel is said to have been found in ,newton ,park1 this is only a popular way of saying that it was found in ,petherton ,park4 ,the discovery occurred in the time of ,sir ,thomas ,wrothe1 who was also the enlarger of the mansion1 and it is a probable inference that it was found in the excavations which were required for this work#di4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the scene now shifts from ,newton to the neighbouring parish of ,stogursey or1 as modern research has taught us to write it1 ,stoke ,courcy4 ,in this parish is ,fairfield ,house1 a handsome ,elizabethan mansion in which the ,alfred ,jewel was preserved for a quarter of a century1 from the time of its discovery in #afic1 until it was given to the ,university of ,oxford in #agahej4 ,about the time of ,henry ,,ii the lands of #8,ferfelle' were severed from those of ,honibere1 and erected into a separate estate4 ,by-and-by the name slid into a new form1 conveying a new idea4 ,the new name into which it merged is one that has been freely propagated both at home and in the colonies1 with pleasing associations of soft and gently undulating landscape suggestive of homely scenery and a sheltered situation4 ,very different is the connotation of the name in its documentary form4 ,in #8,ferfelle' we can see only some outlying #8remoter fell1' such as would be little visited save for uses of summer pasture4 ,in ,collinson's picture of the mansion1 which is here reproduced1 while the foreground seems to justify the modern name1 the hills and hanging woods at the back of the house seem to bear out the more primitive signification of an outlying mountain fell4 ,and probably this was also the idea which originally gave name to the well-known mountain in ,westmoreland over ,grasmere4 ,illustration3 ,,fairfield ,,house4 ,after a succession of owners of various names this new estate came 7#ad ,edw4 ,i7 into the possession of ,william de ,vernai1 who had married the sole daughter and heiress of the previous proprietor4 ,for nearly three hundred years there was always a ,vernai at ,fairfield4 ,in #ab ,edw4 ,,iv the ,vernai of that day 7the fourth of the name of ,william7 had a licence to build a wall and seven round towers about his mansion-house at ,fairfield1 and to enclose two hundred acres of ground for a park4 #8,the tomb in the ,vernais isle in the fine old ,priory church of ,stoke ,courcy1 with an image of an armed man lying thereon1 belongs to this ,william ,vernai' 7,collinson74 ,fairfield had come into the family of ,vernai by an heiress1 and at length it passed in the same manner to the family of ,palmer4 ,hugh de ,vernai left one only daughter1 and she was called ,elizabeth1 after the great queen1 who was her godmother4 ,on the death of her father her wardship was granted to ,sir ,thomas ,palmer1 of ,parham1 in the county of ,sussex1 ,knt42 to whose only son1 ,william1 she was afterwards married4 ,soon after this marriage1 ,sir ,thomas ,palmer pulled down the old house1 and began the present mansion1 which was completed by his grandson 7also ,sir ,thomas ,palmer1 ,knt471 who inherited ,fairfield in #aehg4 ,this proprietor was not a keeper at home4 ,in #aeie he was with ,sir ,francis ,drake and ,sir ,john ,hawkins in the expedition to ,porto ,rico1 and afterwards commanded a ship at the taking of ,cadiz1 where he was knighted4 ,he was one of the most considerable persons in the ,court of ,queen ,elizabeth2 but on the accession of ,king ,james he resolved to spend the remainder of his days beyond the seas1 and accordingly1 in the year #afje1 he went with the earl of ,nottingham into ,spain1 where1 as he was providing a settlement for his family at ,valladolid1 he died of the small-pox1 and was there buried4 ,william ,palmer1 his son and heir1 was a man of learning1 and chose to live in ,london1 and he was1 in the time of ,charles ,i1 fined a thousand pounds by the ,star ,chamber for disobedience to the king's proclamation1 which required all persons of estate to reside and keep hospitality at their country houses4 ,his brother ,peregrine1 who succeeded him1 went as a volunteer to the ,palatinate wars1 and was afterwards an officer in the ,swedish army4 ,as soon as the royal standard was set up he repaired to ,nottingham1 and faithfully served ,king ,charles in the commissions of major1 lieutenant-colonel1 and colonel of horse1 being present at the battles of ,edgehill1 ,marston ,moor1 ,cropredy ,bridge1 and ,naseby4 ,he died in #afhd1 having married ,anne1 the daughter of ,nathaniel ,stevens1 in the county of ,gloucester1 ,esq41 and he was succeeded in the estate by his eldest surviving son1 ,nathaniel1 who is reported in the ,philosophical ,transactions as the possessor of the ,alfred ,jewel in the year #afihea4 ,he served in several parliaments for the boroughs of ,minehead and ,bridgwater1 and for the county of ,somerset4 ,the first recorded possessor of the ,alfred ,jewel died in #agag4 ,he was succeeded by his son ,thomas1 who resided at ,fairfield1 where he lived a studious life1 investigating the antiquities of his country4 ,his manuscript is preserved at ,fairfield1 and it was a valuable source of information to ,collinson1 the historian of ,somerset4 ,it is from this source we learn that the ,jewel was #8dug up1' an expression which seems to justify the inference that it was not accidentally lost1 but purposely buried#eb4 ,it was he who1 in #agah1 gave the ,alfred ,jewel to the ,university of ,oxford4 ,he married a daughter of ,sir ,thomas ,wrothe of ,petherton ,park1 who died in #agba1 leaving two daughters co-heiresses4 ,the elder of these was married to ,sir ,hugh ,acland1 of ,columb-,john in the county of ,devon1 ,bart41 and the younger to ,mr4 ,thomas ,palmer1 who died without issue4 ,he was succeeded by his brother ,peregrine1 who represented the ,university of ,oxford in several parliaments1 and died in #agfb1 the last survivor of his name and family4 ,he left his estate to ,arthur ,acland1 ,esq41 his next of kin1 from whom it has descended to ,sir ,alexander ,acland ,hood1 ,baronet1 the present owner of the ,fairfield estate4 #df ,and e land be westan at ,fittingtne and at ,niwantne he becw his sweostrum and heora bearnum4 ,kemble1 ,codex ,diplomaticus1 p4 #gai2 ,thorpe1 ,diplomatarium1 p4 #edi2 ,earle1 ,land ,charters1 p4 #bbc4 #dg #8,in this park was found the curious amulet of king ,alfred1 mentioned in vol4 i1 p4 #hg4' ,collinson1 ,history of ,somerset1 vol4 iii1 p4 #fb4 #dh ,in ,kemble's ,codex ,diplomaticus1 ,no4 #cbj1 there is a late and meagre abstract of a grant of land by king ,alfred #8in loco qui dicitur ,norniwtune4' ,kemble puts this place in ,wiltshire1 but why may it not be the ,north ,newton by ,athelney8 ,the orthography of the name would be not that of the original grant1 but of the abridger's time4 ,appendix ,f4 #di ,i am indebted for this suggestion to ,sir ,alexander ,acland ,hood4 #ej ,to be quite exact1 its lodging for the first five years is matter of inference from the fact that in #afih it is described as being at ,fairfield1 without any indication of a change of ownership4 ,one transfer however there must have been4 ,the place of discovery made it the property of ,sir ,thomas ,wrothe2 and as ,nathaniel ,palmer was his mother's brother1 it is easy to understand the gift of the nephew to his uncle1 who may have been a man of antiquarian tastes4 ,we can also understand the desire of ,nathaniel ,palmer that this precious relic should go to ,oxford1 as he1 with many others of his family1 had been educated at the ,university1 of which ,alfred was the reputed founder4 ,appendix ,g4 #ea ,appendix ,a4 #eb ,appendix ,g4 ,,chapter ,x ,,gold ,,rings ,,contemporaneous ,the earliest recorded doubt as to the identity of the ,,lfred of the ,jewel with ,alfred of ,wessex was grounded upon the high artistic quality of the work#ec4 ,it may therefore be illustrative if we advert to some other specimens of ,english jewellery belonging to those early times4 ,one such has already been quoted above 7p4 #fh71 namely1 the #8enamelled ouche' of ,mr4 ,roach ,smith1 which is now in the ,british ,museum4 ,this is a piece of great beauty and high technical skill2 and it has every appearance of belonging to these times1 but there is nothing to fix its date more definitely4 ,happily1 there are specimens of ,english jewellery of the ninth century which exclude this doubt4 ,we have no less than three inscribed gold rings which certainly belonged to eminent contemporaries of ,alfred1 and two of them to members of his family circle2 insomuch that we may say1 with some confidence1 that these two must have been familiar objects to his eye4 ,,the ,,ring ,,of ,,alhstan1 ,,who ,,was ,,bishop ,,of ,,sherborne ,,from #hbd ,,to #hfg4 ,in chronological order the first of these three rings is one that bears the name of ,,alhstan4 ,it was found in the year #agec at ,llysfaen1 in the county of ,carnarvon4 ,it was figured and described in the ,archologia1 iv4 #dg1 by ,mr4 ,pegge1 whose letter is dated ,july #f1 #agga4 ,he identified the name with ,ealhstan or ,ealchstan1 the warlike bishop of ,sherborne4 ,it may seem strange that the bishop of ,sherborne's ring should be found in ,carnarvonshire2 but the ,saxon ,chronicle suggests a simple and natural explanation4 ,in the year #hec thelwulf1 king of ,wessex1 was petitioned by the king and ,witan of ,mercia to aid them in the subjugation of the ,welsh1 who were in rebellion4 ,consequently1 thelwulf marched with an army into ,wales1 and restored the imperial authority of ,mercia4 ,this operation 7which was part of the defence of the country against the ,danes1 whom the ,welsh of ,cambria were prone to support7 would naturally have been conducted with the advice and under the management of ,alhstan#ed4 ,the name ,llysfaen 7#8,stone ,court'7 fitly describes the rocky enclosure in which the ring was found1 and in which we may suppose that the final negotiations were conducted4 ,preoccupation of mind in momentous business makes it easy to imagine how the old war-chief of thelwulf might have lost his ring4 ,among the selfsame rocks of ,llysfaen1 and near the spot where the ,alhstan ring was discovered1 another ring was shortly afterwards found1 containing a greater weight of gold1 but of comparatively rude workmanship1 and not inscribed4 ,the ,alhstan ring now belongs to the ,waterton ,collection1 which is preserved in the ,south ,kensington ,museum4 ,it is of that type 7not uncommon in ,roman rings7 which suggests derival from a string of beads4 ,the lettering occupies four circular compartments1 which alternating with four lozenge-shaped compartments1 constitute the hoop of the ring4 ,pegge saw the dragon of ,wessex in the grotesque animals which occupy the lozenge-shaped compartments4 ,the characters are beautiful ,roman capitals of ,anglo-,saxon type1 except the ,n1 which is represented by the ,rune 4 ,besides the ,archologia1 the ring is figured in ,art ,treasures of the ,united ,kingdom1 a monumental book which was published in connexion with the ,manchester ,exhibition of #aheg4 ,,inscribed ,,gold ,,ring ,,of ,,thelwulf1 ,,king ,,of ,,wessex 7#hcf-hee74 ,illustration3 ,e,,helvvlf ,the second of the three rings is inscribed in the above form with the name of ,alfred's father1 king ,ethelwulf1 for whom it was evidently made4 ,it is in the form of a bishop's mitre1 with only one peak4 ,illustration ,in #agha1 ,march #bb1 ,lord ,radnor brought this find before the ,society of ,antiquaries4 ,it had been found in the summer of #aghj in a field in the parish of ,laverstoke1 near ,salisbury4 ,according to the finder's story1 it was brought to the surface by the pressure of a cart-wheel1 and it lay exposed on the edge of the rut4 ,mr4 ,howell1 a silversmith in ,salisbury1 gave the man thirty-four shillings for the value of the gold1 and ,lord ,radnor bought it of ,mr4 ,howell4 ,it still shows the effect of hard pressure1 being almost flattened4 ,it was figured in the ,archologia1 vii4 #dba1 and repeatedly since4 ,it is preserved in the ,british ,museum4 ,a ,,gold ,,ring ,,upon ,,which ,,the ,,name ,,of ,,thelswith1 ,,queen ,,of ,,mercia1 ,,has ,,been ,,incised4 ,illustration ,in the two rings already described1 the names of ,alhstan and thelwulf belong to the fabric of the rings1 as the name of lfred belongs to the fabric of the ,jewel4 ,but it is different in the ring of queen thelswith4 ,this ring swells out into a dilated bezil1 on the cop of which is an ,agnus ,dei1 beautifully engraved in relief1 with a background of niello4 ,the interior of this bezil 7which would be in contact with the wearer's finger7 was a fair gold surface when the ring was finished and put out of hand by the goldsmith4 ,subsequently1 the name of thelswith has been incised upon that surface with the fine point of a graving tool1 somewhat in this form3 ,,ea,,el,symbol3 reversed ,z,,vi ,,reg,symbol3 elongated ,n,a1 where the ,symbol3 elongated ,n is a monogram for ,,in1 so that the inscription reads ,,thelswith ,,regina4 ,the incision is so slight and so fresh that it is manifest the ring had no considerable wear after it was done#ee4 ,illustration thelswith was the daughter of thelwulf and sister of ,alfred1 and consort of ,burgred1 king of ,mercia1 who was driven out by the ,danes in #hgd1 and retired to ,rome1 where he died4 thelswith died in #hhh at ,pavia1 apparently on pilgrimage4 ,the annal recording it runs thus3 #8#hhh4 ,this year the alms of the ,west ,saxons and of king ,alfred were conducted to ,rome by 8,beocca ealdorman40 ,and queen thelswith1 who was king ,alfred's sister1 died1 and was buried at ,pavia#ef4' ,this fine nielloed ring was found near ,aberford in ,yorkshire1 in or about the year #ahgj4 ,it was first observed by a ploughman at the point of his ploughshare4 ,he brought it to his master1 who1 thinking it brass1 attached it to his dog's collar1 where it hung until some one assured him it was gold1 whereupon he carried it to a silversmith at ,york1 and exchanged it for spoons4 ,from this dealer it was purchased by ,canon ,greenwell of ,durham1 from whom it passed into the possession of ,sir ,wollaston ,franks1 and ultimately by his bequest came to the ,british ,museum4 ,illustration ,when we consider how very small is the whole number of extant gold rings 7whether inscribed or not7 that date from the ,saxon period1 it must strike us as a very remarkable circumstance that we are able to produce three such examples1 all within the period of ,alfred's life1 and two of them belonging to such near relations that we may naturally suppose they were familiar objects to his eye4 99 99 99 99 99 ,and there is a fourth ring1 of which we cannot assert that it belongs to this very select group1 but which certainly must be assigned to the same general period1 and claims association with the three4 ,it is a simple hoop of gold1 a good quarter of an inch wide1 having its outer surface covered with the following engraved inscription nielloed#eg3 ,illustration3 ,,red ,,mec ,,ah ,,eanred ,,mec ,,agrof3 that is1 red me owns1 ,eanred me engraved4 ,hickes described this ring in his ,thesaurus 7,preface1 pp4 viij and xiij7 with a good figure3 but in the interpretation he read the last word as ,,agroft1 taking an idle mark like an inverted ,t as part of the word2 whereas it is there only to fill out the space4 ,in the lettering there are five ,runes3 namely1 the in ,,red1 the ,n in ,,eanred1 and the ,a1 ,g1 and ,f in ,,agrof4 ,this is the ring which was alluded to above 7p4 #ag71 in connexion with the archaic pronoun ,,mec1 which occurs twice on it4 ,in #agje1 when this ring was described by ,hickes1 it was in the possession of ,dr4 ,hans ,sloane3 it is now in the ,british ,museum4 ,the forms #8thred' and #8thered' are colloquial abbreviations of #8thelred1' which was the name of that one among the brothers of ,alfred1 with whom his relations were closest4 ,but the frequency of the name forbids us to assert that this ring was made for king thelred4 ,the names #8thelwulf' and #8thelswith' are in themselves exceptional1 and when combined with the royal title are absolutely identifying3 the name #8,alhstan1' combined with the peculiar aspect of the ring and the circumstances of its discovery1 not much less so2 but the name #8,,thred1' though forcibly aided by the noble aspect of the ring1 only enables us to assert a degree of probability which every one must determine for himself4 ,everything in the appearance of these rings declares them to be the work of ,saxon artists1 and on the ,,red ring the artist bears a good ,saxon name4 ,such specimens must finally dissipate any lingering relics of the old prejudice1 that the work of the ,alfred ,jewel is too good to have been produced in the ,england of the ninth century4 ,we may rest assured that the excellence of the workmanship carries with it no presumption against its being ,english work of the time of king ,,alfred4 #ec ,see above1 p4 #g4 #ed ,alhstan had accompanied ,ecgberht on his famous expedition into ,cornwall in #hbe1 and we find him with the forces of ,somerset and ,dorset in #hde to oppose the ,danes at the mouth of ,pedrida4 ,see ,mr4 ,plummer's note to ,sax4 ,chron41 4 #hbc4 #ee ,but the edges of the ring show 7as ,franks pointed out7 traces of long wear4 ,he goes on to say3 #8,the engraving1 moreover1 scarcely looks like the work of a goldsmith4 ,i would therefore suggest1 that the ,queen had probably offered this ring at some shrine1 and the priests connected with the shrine had engraved her name within the ring1 to record the royal giver4' ,proc4 ,soc4 ,antiq41 #bnd ,series1 vol4 vi1 p4 #cjg4 #ef #hhh4 ,her ldde ,beocca ealdorman ,west ,sea na lmessan and lfredes cyninges to ,rome4 elswi cuen1 sio ws lfredes sweostor cyninges1 forferde1 hire lic li t ,pafian4 #eg ,professor ,stephens of ,copenhagen1 ,runic ,monuments1 ,part ,,ii1 p4 #dfc1 dated it #8about ,a4,d4 #gjj-hjj'3 but in this estimate he has been guided 7,i think7 not by anything in the artistic design or execution1 but simply by the large proportion of ,runes in the mixed lettering1 a criterion of very doubtful value4 ,,chapter ,,xi ,,some ,,closing ,,reflections ,among the various criticisms which have been elicited by the ,alfred ,jewel during the two hundred and seven years which have elapsed since its discovery in the year #afic1 the opinion that the name it bears is that of the king has not met with more than one definite and formulated objection4 ,this objection1 if it had prevailed1 would have excluded the production of such a work in king ,alfred's time1 as a thing impossible4 ,but the question thus raised has evoked evidence of so overpowering a nature as not only to neutralize the objection1 but also to increase the balance of probability in favour of the opinion that the person named on the ,jewel is ,alfred of ,wessex4 ,the name1 combined with the costliness and the strongly marked individuality of the work1 draws the mind naturally to think of the most remarkable person who bore that name2 but1 in addition1 we have to consider that it was found in the neighbourhood of the very spot which is most closely associated with the career of the selfsame person4 ,in these obvious prima facie elements of the case1 there is an accumulation of probability1 which fully justified ,hickes in saying that from his first sight of the ,jewel he had never doubted its having been a personal possession of king ,alfred's#eh4 ,to this central and primary body of evidence other instances of probability have been added in the course of the present ,essay4 ,the investigation of the ,epigraph led us to the conclusion that the diction answered well to the time of king ,alfred's life1 and also that it bore some resemblance to an analogous piece of his admitted writing4 ,our examination of theories concerning the design and use of the ,jewel resulted in the conclusion that the suggestions hitherto advanced were inadmissible1 and of no other value than as narrowing the field of conjecture4 ,we at least know a number of things that have appeared plausible in their time1 and are now no more to be thought of2 namely1 an amulet1 a pendant to a collar of state1 a decorated umbilicus1 the head of a stilus1 a military standard1 the handle of a book-pointer1 the tip of a sceptre4 ,our review of the abortiveness of early speculations concerning the design and use of the ,jewel drove us by a process of elimination to seek a place for it in the helmet4 ,in favour of this new theory historical evidence has been adduced1 such as has not been offered in support of any other explanation4 ,unless this theory is approved1 both the ,alfred ,jewel and the minor jewel from ,minster ,lovel remain without explanation4 ,there is not so much as a theory in the field4 ,on the other hand1 if this new theory is judged to be right1 or to have high probability1 then this circumstance makes strongly in favour of the identification of the ,jewel with king ,alfred4 ,for it points to a warrior1 a helmet-wearer1 and to a person of commanding position4 ,one of the effects of the present investigation upon myself has been to convince me 7in the face of what ,i counted a settled opinion7 that the enamelled ,figure is a product of these islands2 and that it is not necessary for us to look abroad towards ,byzantium1 or further east1 for a satisfactory account of it4 ,this unity again is in favour of identification with ,alfred of ,wessex1 whose conspicuous interest in jewellers' work is asserted by a well-sustained tradition4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the symbolism of the ,jewel appears to contain an allegorical representation of the designer's position1 both inherited and chosen1 both national and personal4 ,his religious standing is pictured in the ,figure and its back-plate2 and the ancient religion of his nation in the boar's head1 once dominant1 now under foot1 forming a pedestal for the ,head of the ,church4 ,and to this ,i will add the surmise1 that perhaps the scales or waves on the small triangular space in the reverse signify that his country is an island in the ocean4 ,i am not without apprehension that these explanations may strike some readers as too minute and too far-fetched1 and that ,i may be charged with bringing out of the ,jewel more than is in it4 ,i will therefore endeavour to anticipate this charge with a few apologetic words4 ,and first of all1 ,i think it well to state that ,i did not set out with any idea of discovering latent meanings in the ,jewel4 ,when first ,i discoursed upon it1 ,i contented myself with exhibiting drawings of the object1 narrating the story of the discovery1 explaining the inscription1 and rehearsing the opinions which had been put forward concerning such a remarkable find4 ,this furnished material to fill an hour1 and to satisfy an audience4 ,whatever ,i have added to the traditional exegesis has broken in upon me from time to time at wide intervals1 causing me on such occasions more surprize and pleasure than ,i can hope to impart to my readers4 ,for those who would test the symbolism of the ,jewel1 there is an obvious preliminary question4 ,is there any reason to think that ,alfred had an aptitude and a fondness for allegory8 ,this question has been to me a valuable guide in observations on the extant writings of the king4 ,it would be easy to show1 by examples drawn from his writings1 that he had a marked fondness for imagery and parable1 that his habit of mind inclined to all figures of analogy and similitude4 ,it was not a previous knowledge of these in the writings that led me to look for them in the ,jewel1 but reversely4 ,i am not aware that any one had called attention to this characteristic in the writings3 ,i do not think ,i apprehended it from any other source than the ,jewel itself4 ,in regard to this particular feature1 the ,jewel has 7for me7 thrown light on the writings1 and these again have reflected illustration back upon the ,jewel4 ,i hope this explanation may make it easier for some to think that the imagery of the ,jewel is a strong indication that ,alfred of ,wessex was the designer4 ,it was with this aim that1 in chapter vii1 ,i quoted the poetical ,epilogue to ,alfred's ,pastoralis1 and with the same aim ,i now proceed to quote a long-drawn simile in prose1 which the king inserted into his translation of ,boethius' ,de ,consolatione ,philosophi4 ,it is in the fourth book1 where the discussion is about ,providence and ,fate#ei4 ,in the abstract and implicit manner natural to the sage of a mature and over-blown culture1 ,boethius had illustrated the relation between ,providence and ,fate by the relation between the centre of the circle and its circumference4 ,this analogy is stated in mathematical fashion4 ,a series of concentric circles offer points of external contact more numerous in some and less numerous in others1 according as their circumference is nearer or further from the common centre1 but the centre itself is unaffected by such chances2 it remains always the same1 one and indivisible4 ,the stable centre is ,divine ,providence2 by the various contact of the circumferences with external things is represented the vicissitude of ,fate or ,fortune4 ,this refined similitude was translated by king ,alfred1 out of the diamond-cut succinct ,latin of ,boethius1 into the homely speech of his own people1 by means of a concrete figure that was familiar to every son of the soil4 ,accordingly some things in this world are subject to ,fate1 some are no whit subject thereto3 but ,fate1 and all the things subject to it1 are in subjection to ,divine ,providence4 ,concerning this ,i can rehearse unto thee a similitude1 whereby thou mayest the better understand1 which men be subject to ,fate1 and which be not4 ,all this moving and revolving creation revolves upon ,god1 who is immovable1 unchangeable1 and one3 and he wieldeth all creatures just as he at the first had ordained1 and still doth ordain4 ,as on a waggon's axle the wheels revolve and the axle standeth still and beareth the whole waggon and governs all the motion2 while the wheel turns about1 and the nave next to the axle moves more steadily and more securely than the fellies do3 in such a manner that the axle is the highest good1 which we call ,god1 and the happiest men move nighest to ,god1 even as the nave moveth nighest to the axle1 and the middling sort are just like the spokes2 forasmuch as every spoke hath one end fast in the nave and the other end in the felly4 ,so it is with men of the middling sort2 at one time he thinks in his mind about this earthly life1 at another time about the heavenly2 like a man looking with one eye to heaven and with the other to earth4 ,just as the spokes have one end sticking in the felly and the other in the nave1 while the middle of the spoke is equally near to both1 even so are the middling men in the middle of the spoke1 and the better men nearer to the nave1 and the meaner men nearer to the fellies3 they are1 however1 in connexion with the nave1 and the nave with the axle4 ,so now1 the fellies though they are attached to the spokes1 yet are they altogether rolling upon the earth2 so are the meanest connected with the middling and the middling with the best and the best with ,god4 ,though the meanest men all direct their love to this world1 yet can they not rest thereon1 nor be of any account1 unless they be in some measure associated with ,god1 any more than the wheel's fellies can be in progress1 unless they be attached to the spokes and the spokes to the axle4 ,the fellies are the farthest from the axle2 therefore they move the most unevenly4 ,the nave moves next to the axle2 and that is why it has the surest motion4 ,so do the happiest men3 as they set their love nearer to ,god1 and more resolutely contemn these earthly things1 so are they more free from care1 and less they reck how ,fate may chance to turn1 or what it may bring4 ,in like manner the nave is continually so sure1 jolt the fellies on whatso they may jolt2 and this even though the nave is somewhat apart from the axle4 ,by this figure thou mayest understand that as the waggon is much more durably sound1 the less it is parted from the axle2 so are those men the freest of all from care 7whether about anxieties of this life or of the next7 who are fast in ,god3 but in whatever degree they are asunder from ,god1 in the same degree are they worried and harassed1 both in mind and in body4 ,this prose simile is unquestioned as an original piece of king ,alfred's authorship1 and so is also the poetical epilogue to his ,pastoralis1 which was quoted above in the seventh chapter4 ,can any one doubt that his mind was exuberantly fertile in allegorical thought1 and shall it be judged a thing improbable that in his imaginative youth1 having recently passed through a very grand and rude transition of experience1 he should have strained the plasticity of a favourite craft to body forth the symbolic expression of thoughts too deep for common speech8 ,as the course of investigation into the variety and unity of this composite ,jewel brings it more and more home to the creative mind of ,alfred1 the conviction rises that this work represents no passing freak of artistic fancy1 nor the fond elaboration of some fascinating idea 7as in a sonnet72 but rather that we have before us the thoughtful record of a period of life and a phase of some duration1 containing serious reflections by one who had reached a higher stage of observation1 a stage commanding a wider outlook4 ,of some such a crisis as this the ,alfred ,jewel appears to be the pictorial and symbolic monument4 ,and if this impression is sound1 it ought to help us to some further conclusions4 ,we ought with this help to be able to form some estimate of the period in which this ,jewel was designed4 ,however we may lament the poverty of detailed incident in the life of ,alfred1 we are not ignorant of its main divisions4 ,and we are now in a position to ask--,to which of these divisions does this carefully elaborated design most naturally belong8 ,in seeking materials for the answer to this question1 ,i will first consider the probabilities of the case1 which are suggested by the course of public events3 and then1 secondly1 ,i will come to the indications which are personal to ,alfred himself4 ,this plan may tend to clearness1 though it be not feasible to keep the two aspects quite apart4 ,for a basis to this enquiry1 we must take the year #hgh1 as being that in which the ,jewel disappeared4 ,this is now an established point in our argument4 ,to this we were led both by history and by tradition3 and it is only by keeping as close as possible to these that we can shun the proclivities of arbitrary hypothesis4 #a4 ,taking then the year #hgh as that in which ,alfred saw the ,jewel for the last time1 how far back must we recede to come to the most probable time for his inventing it8 ,our first step must be to skip the seven years since his accession in #hga4 ,a glimpse at the events of that period may suffice to assure us that the constant pressure of sterner duties would have left him in no mood to amuse himself with enamel and filigree4 ,and even if for the sake of winter relaxation he had done so1 ,i think he would not have designated himself as plain lfred1 when he was king4 ,during his reign his constant style was ,,lfred ,,cyning1 and it would have been quite easy to have added the letter ,r to his name1 as his father did when he ordered the fashion of his ring4 ,for these reasons 7among others71 ,i think the ,jewel was made before #hga4 ,we may still recede another long step1 and say that the date we seek was probably before #hff4 ,that is the year in which ,alfred began to share the burden of reigning without the title1 the year in which the common danger entered upon a new and more menacing phase1 as the heathen invasion began to be more systematically conducted4 ,wessex was not indeed attacked until the last of these five years1 but the whole period must have been passed in apprehension and intense preparation4 ,accordingly1 this process of reasoning back from the year #hgh by the light of public events brings us to the result that the design and execution of the ,jewel is probably to be dated before ,a4,d4 #hff1 that is to say1 it must belong to the reign of king thelberht4 #b4 ,coming now to the second process1 we have to consider at what time it appears likely that ,alfred might have been in the mood for such a work as this1 and also in circumstances 7as to his immediate surroundings7 favourable for artistic and allegorical meditation4 ,when does it appear likely that he had leisure for thinking out these details1 while at the same time his mind was exercised with the themes represented in the ,jewel8 ,it was certainly subsequent to his return from ,rome2 not immediately1 but after an interval1 when the first agitation of his mind had subsided1 and he had become reconciled to his lot4 ,for we cannot doubt that when he returned from ,rome to ,england1 and witnessed the state of his country--the danger and the depression--he must have experienced a great revulsion of feeling1 a strong outburst of regret for the long and happy time that he had been enjoying abroad4 ,his passionate yearning for ,rome and his friends there must have amounted to something like a violent fit of home-sickness4 ,all this it was his duty to live down2 and to do so he had to look the facts in the face1 and take their measure and their bearing1 and ascertain their relation to his path of duty1 and interpret his position by the light of a religious conscience4 ,some earnest and ardent minds would find solace and strength in writing poetry1 and perhaps ,alfred did so4 ,if this ,jewel is not the equivalent of such a poem it is nearly akin to it4 ,in constructive art there certainly is a solace of a healing kind1 and the ,jewel before us answers remarkably to the situation4 ,it is in many particulars like the outcome of such a mood4 ,and if such a mood is likely to have followed the return of the young prince to ,england1 it concerns us to form some opinion about the probable date of that event4 ,it is asserted in the bilingual ,chronicle 7,f7 that ,alfred returned to ,england on the occasion of his father's death1 which took place in ,january1 #heh2 but the statement is discredited by considerations which ,mr4 ,plummer has given in his notes to the ,saxon ,chronicle 7vol4 ii1 p4 #hj74 ,two years later1 in #hfj1 his eldest brother1 thelbald1 king of ,wessex1 died2 and this event occasioned a definite call for his return4 ,the three brothers1 thelbald1 thered1 and lfred1 held lands in common which were given by their father to these three sons1 in such a way that the whole was to come to the latest survivor4 ,this property would now pass to the two brothers1 thered and lfred2 and for the sanction of this transfer it was necessary that the parties should appear before the ,witan4 ,this transaction is related in ,alfred's ,will4 ,the two brothers agreed that their joint property should be held in trust by thelbriht1 the new king1 and that he should farm it for the benefit of his younger brothers1 a trust which he fully discharged4 ,at the death of thelbriht and the accession of thered in #hff1 the heathen invasion began to assume a more alarming form2 but the reign of thelbriht had been a quiet time1 at least for ,wessex4 ,this period 7#hfj to #hff71 from ,alfred's thirteenth to his eighteenth year1 would be a time of leisure1 and he would be at the age of youthful reverie1 and his mind would be stimulated by reports that would reach his ear of the savagery of the heathen raids in neighbour and kindred nations contrasted with the humanities of ,christianity1 while his memory would contrast the learned culture of ,rome with the ignorance of his own people4 ,these appear to be apt conditions for exercising the mind of a serious prince with such thoughts as we find symbolized in the ,alfred ,jewel4 99 99 99 99 99 ,in collecting evidence for the argument of this ,essay1 ,i have been solicitous to omit nothing that seemed to make for the credit of a ,jewel1 concerning which ,i am persuaded in my own mind that it bears the authentic signature of ,alfred of ,wessex4 ,i hope that this aim has not betrayed me into the use of any arguments which are of no validity4 ,and if any reader's opinion should be against me on this point1 ,i would ask him to consider that in the region of probability all men do not judge exactly alike3 one may think a particular fact or tradition of no argumentative value1 while another may hesitate to exclude it4 ,and even if any such instance were disallowed and ruled to be of no weight1 still it cannot invalidate the rest4 ,morally1 it may damage the effect of the whole1 because it may prejudice the mind of the reader2 but logically1 it leaves the argumentative effect of the rest where it was before4 ,such being the case1 ,i have leaned toward comprehension as being the more useful course2 and if ,i have erred ,i hope ,i may claim the reader's indulgence1 on the ground of being faithful to the view which ,i had of the task before me4 ,in this scientific age1 there are more persons who can appreciate a train of exact serial reasoning than of those who can do justice to a combination of probabilities4 ,it is not very rare to find disputants capable of testing a mathematical demonstration1 who if they had to examine a probable argument might dismiss it with the proverbial maxim1 which says that no chain is stronger than its weakest link4 ,there are arguments which are like a chain1 and to them the maxim applies3 one weak link vitiates the conclusion4 ,such are the demonstrations in ,euclid4 ,but the argument which runs through this book is not of that kind1 rather it resembles a bundle1 and to such the maxim does not apply4 ,it cannot be said1 for example1 that no faggot is stronger than its weakest stick4 ,and this is the simile which applies to the evidence in probable reasoning4 ,it is not linked1 but massed4 ,when ,gulliver awoke on the shore of ,liliput and found that he was fastened to the ground1 the threads which bound him were severally slight1 but the total effect was irresistible4 ,analogous thereto was the combined effect of many partial and inconclusive arguments on the mind of ,sir ,francis ,palgrave1 when he testified that #8no one1 taking all the points of evidence together1 can reasonably doubt but that it did belong to king ,alfred#fj4' ,this conclusion may now be somewhat amplified4 ,i trust we are now in a position to say with reasonable confidence1 that not only did this ,jewel belong to ,alfred of ,wessex1 having been made by his order2 but further1 that it was his work1 having been made after his design2 and further again1 that the design referred to1 and was based upon1 his own position2 and1 moreover1 that the ,jewel was a production of his youth1 of the period after his return from ,rome1 and before he assumed a share in public affairs by the side of his brother thelred4 #eh ,see above1 p4 #h4 #ei ,the ,anglo-,saxon text may be found in ,cardale's edition 7#ahbi71 p4 #cch1 and in the recent edition by ,mr4 ,sedgefield1 p4 #abi4 #fj ,see above1 p4 #hd4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,jewel1 ,,front ,,and ,,back4 ,,appendix ,a ,,the ,,first ,,published ,,notice ,,of ,,the ,,alfred ,,jewel 7pp4 #be and #add7 ,the following is an ,article in the ,philosophical ,transactions of the ,royal ,society of ,london1 vol4 xx1 ,no4 #bdg1 page #dda3-- ,part of a ,letter from ,dr4 ,musgrave1 ,fellow of the ,college of ,physicians and ,r4 ,s41 to ,dr4 ,sloane2 concerning a ,piece of ,antiquity lately found in ,somersetshire4 ,i enclose1 to you1 the ,figure 7see ,fig4 #d7 of a curious piece of ,antiquity1 lately found near ,ashelney in ,somersetshire2 the ,place where ,king ,alfred built1 as ,milton affirms1 a ,fortress3 ,but according to ,william of ,malmsbury1 a ,monastery2 in ,memory 7as some have thought7 of his ,deliverance1 obscure ,retreat to that ,place1 and ,concealment in it1 from the ,danes4 ,the ,substance is in the ,possession of ,col4 ,p4 of ,fairfield in the same ,county2 by whose ,permission1 ,i had the ,sight of it4 ',tis of the same ,length and ,breadth with the ,figure3 the ,work very fine2 so as to make some ,men question its true ,age3 ,but in all probability1 it did belong to that great ,king1 it is so well represented in the ,figure1 that a short ,description will suffice4 ,the ,edge is thin1 as far as the ,letters4 ,the ,letters are on a ,plane rising obliquely4 ,all within the inner ,pyramidal ,line is on a ,plane equi-distant from the ,reverse4 ,the ,representation 7in that upper ,plane7 seems to be of some ,person in a ,chair4 ,it is in ,enamel1 cover'd over with a ,crystal2 which is secured in its place by the little ,leaves coming over its ,edges4 ,in the ,reverse are ,flowers engraved4 ,the whole piece may be of the ,weight of ,three ,guineas4 ,the ,chrystal and ,enamel excepted1 it is all of pure ,gold4 ,this1 perhaps1 was an ,amulet of ,king ,alfred's4 ,,exon1 ,dec4 #aj1 #afih4 ,,appendix ,b ,,st4 ,,neot ,,and ,,st4 ,,cuthbert 7pp4 #bi and #gd7 ,among the tentative interpretations of the enamelled ,figure both of these saints have at different times been put forward1 as was only natural1 since they both hold a place in the current narratives of king ,alfred's life4 ,but it is well to observe that their several relations to the stream of tradition are neither equal nor alike4 ,the first is found united with that stream in the tenth century1 that is to say1 at the highest point which has been reached in the investigation of these episodes4 ,as to what is told of ,st4 ,neot1 however unlikely1 it cannot be pronounced impossible that it may have had some original right to the place which it holds4 ,the second is a transparent fraud1 introduced in the twelfth century by wrong-headed zeal4 ,a few details will make this clear4 ,the oldest source for the life of ,st4 ,neot is an ,anglo-,saxon homily of that well-known type which sprang out of the monastic revival associated with the names of ,odo and thelwold and ,dunstan4 ,conspicuous examples of this type are the ,lives of ,st4 ,edmund1 ,king and ,martyr1 and of ,st4 ,swithun4 ,at this epoch the relics of ,st4 ,neot 7by a traffic too intricate for us to unravel7 were removed from their natural resting-place at ,st4 ,neots in ,cornwall1 where the man had lived and died1 to enrich a new foundation in ,huntingdonshire1 where influential persons were planting a new monastery1 which became a second ,st4 ,neots4 ,we may pretty safely assume that this event1 which happened about #ihd1 gave rise to the biography1 in which the relations of ,st4 ,neot to ,alfred form the distinguishing feature4 ,of this writing only a late and somewhat interpolated copy has reached our times4 ,the modern historian will not hesitate to say of ,st4 ,cuthbert that his relations to ,alfred are wholly fictitious2 but he cannot undertake to say the same of ,st4 ,neot4 ,nevertheless1 they are equally out of the question so far as regards the icuncula4 ,the idea that the ,figure might be ,st4 ,neot is excluded by the homily1 which places the death of ,st4 ,neot shortly before the troubles of ,alfred1 and the accepted date is #hgg4 ,according to the most probable chronology we have been able to make out for the ,jewel1 it was fabricated before #hff4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the legendary connexion of ,st4 ,cuthbert with ,alfred dates from the twelfth century1 and is apparently due to ,simeon the historian1 who was a monk of the monastery of ,durham1 and who1 when about thirty-five years old1 witnessed the impressive ceremonial of the translation of the great saint of the ,north ,country1 which took place in #aajd4 ,when he compiled his narrative of the reign of king ,alfred1 he sacrificed facts of history to the fame of the saint4 ,omitting genuine details which he had at hand1 he subjected the capital events of ,alfred's life to the patronage of ,st4 ,cuthbert4 ,thus he begins3 #8,in the year #hgg the nefarious host quitted ,exeter and came to ,chippenham and wintered there4 ,king ,alfred in those days endured great tribulations and lived an unsettled life4 ,being encouraged with an explicit oracle by ,st4 ,cuthbert1 king ,alfred fought against the ,danes1 at the time and in the place which the saint had directed1 and gained the victory1 and from that time forward he was terrible and invincible to his enemies4 ,the manner in which he vanquished his foes is related as followeth4' ,in such a manner was this figment introduced into the page of history1 where it long continued in good repute4 ,hickes was so much swayed by it1 that he relinquished his first interpretation of the icuncula in favour of ,st4 ,cuthbert4 ,if the connexion of ,alfred with ,st4 ,neot is 7as it may well be7 of a mythical nature1 or even an invention of the biographer1 he did but use the licence which was then accorded to the panegyrist2 and it is very different from that abuse of the authority of the historian which introduced ,st4 ,cuthbert into the narrative of the deeds of ,alfred4 ,,appendix ,c ,,the ,,two-,,sceptered ,,figure ,,in ,,the ,,book ,,of ,,kells 7p4 #gh7 ,i am indebted to ,miss ,swann for the following extract from ,professor ,westwood's ,miniatures and ,ornaments of ,anglo-,saxon and ,irish ,art 7p4 #bi73 ,the drawing representing 7as ,i apprehend7 the ,temptation of the ,saviour occurs on fol4 #bjb v41 and is copied in my ,plate ,,xi4 ,here the bust of the ,saviour is represented at the summit of an elaborately ornamented conical design1 which ,i suppose represents a #8pinnacle of the temple' rather than the #8exceeding high mountain4' ,the head of the ,saviour is surrounded by a cruciferous nimbus1 like that of the ,virgin in the above-described drawing1 and ,he appears to hold a roll in ,his left hand4 ,two very rudely designed angels hover above ,his head1 and two others occupy the upper angles of the picture1 the interstices of the latter being filled in with foliage and branches springing from vases2 that on the right hand being in an unusual position4 ,the strangely emaciated black figure of the ,tempter 7destitute of tail1 but with hoof-like feet71 and the crowd of heads at the side and bottom of the design1 as also the bust within a frame holding two rosette-bearing rods1 merit particular notice4 ,my interpretation of the ,irish ,figure was made solely from a study of the picture itself1 without suggestion from any quarter4 ,i had great difficulty in making up my mind whether the meaning were a personage at a window in the building1 or whether it were simply a framed picture exhibited in front of the building4 ,i was not then aware of ,professor ,westwood's description1 which takes the latter view4 ,it is obvious that this view gives to the representation the nature of a reflection or comment more pointedly than the view which ,i have taken in the text4 ,i will here add another quotation from ,professor ,westwood1 in which he describes and characterizes the ,book of ,kells3 #8,it is the most astonishing book of the ,four ,gospels which exists in the world1 and it is in ,trinity ,college1 ,dublin1 where it was placed along with the books of ,archbishop ,usher1 after his death in #afef1 where it has since remained1 and where ,i trust it will ever remain1 as the glory of ,ireland' 7,the ,book of ,kells3 a ,lecture1 c41 p4 #f74 ,for a partial illustration of the contents of this ,appendix1 see the illustration facing p4 #gg4 ,,appendix ,d ,,the ,,british ,,origin ,,of ,,the ,,enamelled ,,figure 7p4 #ia7 ,i am greatly indebted to my friend ,mr4 ,c4 ,f4 ,bell1 the ,assistant ,keeper of the ,ashmolean ,museum1 for the following observations upon the technical characteristics of early cloisonne enamels4 ,these observations are very germane to1 and indeed were partly occasioned by1 the questions which surround the ,enamel in the ,alfred ,jewel4 ,setting aside the reliquary at ,poitiers1 which1 if it could really justify its claim to having been a gift of ,justinian ,,ii to ,st4 ,radigund1 would be by far the oldest piece of ,byzantine enamel work in existence1 as well as all such specimens as have no inscriptions or documentary evidence to indicate their age1 there exist1 apparently1 only two enamelled objects of supposed ,byzantine workmanship that can be maintained to be older than the ,alfred ,jewel4 ,these are the iron crown of ,monza and the golden altar of ,saint ,ambrose at ,milan4 ,with regard to the first1 apart from the controversy as to whether it truly was amongst the jewels given to the cathedral by ,theodolinda1 there seems to be some uncertainty as to whether there is any cloisonne enamel about the crown at all4 ,du ,sommerard1 who was allowed to make a drawing of it which is reproduced in his ,arts au ,moyen ,age 7,album1 srie x1 pl4 #ad71 speaks of incrustations of jewels1 but makes no mention of enamel4 ,his carefully coloured illustration shows the plaques described by ,labarte 7,arts ,industriels1 i4 #cab71 but the emerald-green ground that figures in the description is not indicated4 ,du ,sommerard's plate fails in one or two other particulars to tally with ,labarte's description2 and as the latter speaks of his difficulty in obtaining a sight of the crown1 it is possible that he mistook in this instance1 as he appears to have done in the case of the ,limburg reliquary1 what ,m4 ,molinier 7,trsor de ,saint ,marc de ,venise1 p4 #dh7 calls la verroterie cloisonne--that is1 presumably1 glass mosaic inlaid in golden cells--for cloisonne enamel4 ,at any rate1 some fresh opinion is surely needed to establish the iron crown as a monument of this class of enamel work4 ,to turn to the altar of ,saint ,ambrose4 ,it was made in #hch2 and ,labarte admits that the ,latin inscriptions upon it1 and the ,latin name of its artist1 proclaim the ,italian origin of the greater part of the work4 ,but the enamels which form a comparatively unimportant part of the decoration #8doivent1' he says1 #8avoir t excuts par un des artistes grecs qui travaillaient en grand nombre en ,italie cette poque4 ,on remarquera que les carnations des figures sont rendues en mail blanc opaque' 7,histoire des ,arts ,industriels1 iii4 #aj74 ,of these enamels the most striking appear to be eight small1 circular medallions upon the doors at the back of the altar4 ,these medallions do not form an integral portion of the work1 but are affixed1 in the manner of jewels1 to the framework of the silver-gilt bas-reliefs1 and may in fact be amongst those very ,english enamels whose discovery upon the early shrines in continental churches and museums ,mr4 ,starkie ,gardner predicts 7,catalogue of ,european ,enamels exhibited at the ,burlington ,fine ,arts ,club1 #ahig1 p4 ix74 ,each represents a diademed head seen in full face1 a palm branch1 or perhaps a wing1 appearing above each shoulder against a translucent green background4 ,in motive they thus present an extraordinarily close parallel to the ,alfred ,jewel 7,du ,sommerard1 ,arts au ,moyen ,age1 ,album1 srie ix1 planches #ah and #ai74 ,the earliest enamels of incontestably ,byzantine origin1 which can be dated with accuracy by documentary evidence1 seem to go no further back than the beginning of the tenth century4 ,it cannot1 however1 be said that these works1 with those of closely subsequent periods1 have the appearance of being the productions of the school in its infancy and early development4 ,very considerable technical accomplishment is shown in the manipulation of the extremely narrow gold cloisons1 disposed for the most part in straight or slightly curved lines1 and filling even the spaces of the drapery with closely laid chevrons or parallel stripes2 while the innumerable minute cells thus formed are filled with homogeneous1 brilliant1 many-hued enamels4 ,a warm tone of pink is invariably used to represent flesh4 ,an impressive object1 possessing certain characteristics in common with the ,jewel and other supposed ,celtic-,saxon enamels1 is the eagle fibula found at ,mainz1 and now in the museum there4 ,the present setting of the enamelled eagle has been supposed to be ,frankish1 of the latter part of the tenth or earlier years of the eleventh century1 and the eight small enamelled jewels inserted in the border confirm this view1 as they closely resemble the jewels incrusted upon the frame of the ,crucifixion plaque in the ,reiche-,capelle at ,munich1 which has usually been attributed to that age 7,von ,hefner-,alteneck1 ,trachten des christlichen ,mittelalters2 ,schlumberger1 ,nicephorus ,phocas74 ,the figure of the eagle1 presumably1 consisted originally of five plaques1 one representing the head1 another the tail1 two others the outspread wings1 and a fifth the body of the bird4 ,this last is missing1 its place having been supplied1 apparently at the time the setting was made1 by a plaque of engraved gold4 ,this circumstance seems in favour of the idea that the enamels are of foreign workmanship1 and earlier than the setting4 ,the cloisons of neither the eagle nor the ,roach ,smith ouche are as narrow as those employed by the ,byzantine enamellers1 although they are at most only half the width of those made use of in the ,alfred ,jewel4 ,the doubling of the cloisons into loops1 not commonly seen in ,byzantine work but remarkable in the ,jewel1 is also noticeable in the eagle4 ,amongst the five colours employed in the eagle are the dark1 translucent green1 and the yellow1 considered by ,mr4 ,gardner as characteristic of ,celtic-,saxon enamels1 and also the opaque white such as is used for the flesh tint in the ,jewel and the ouche1 and1 as ,labarte particularly remarks1 in the closely analogous heads upon the altar of ,saint ,ambrose4 ,of all these monuments the enamel of the ,alfred ,jewel is at once the coarsest and most primitive in execution4 ,having been protected by the rock-crystal pane1 its surface is presumably in much the same state as when it left the maker's hands4 ,it was1 evidently1 when it came out of the furnace1 extremely uneven and rough1 and had to be subjected to a grinding process1 traces of which are still apparent4 ,the gold cloisons are dull with minute scratches1 and where two ran close together they have become one confused1 ragged line4 ,both the eagle and the ouche1 although exposed for long periods to the direct action of the soil1 preserve a far higher degree of polish4 ,yet the rough workmanship by itself cannot1 it must be remembered1 be held to preclude the ,byzantine origin of this enamel1 since1 as there is not known to exist a single indisputably dated work of the ,byzantine school in its primitive stages1 it is impossible to assert that this school was not1 during the lifetime of king ,alfred1 producing work as rude in execution as the ,jewel4 ,it may be that such a specimen will some day make its appearance1 and determine the ,eastern origin of this enamel and all cognate works4 ,it is also possible that the discovery of an undoubtedly ,irish example may place above all dispute the contention that it is of ,celtic-,saxon origin1 and finally justify the absorption into the same class of the ouche1 the eagle1 the eight medallions upon the altar of ,saint ,ambrose1 nay1 even of the crown of ,theodolinda itself4 ,,appendix ,e ,,athelney ,,abbey 7p4 #aae7 ,illustration ,the ,abbey of ,athelney was founded by king ,alfred1 in pious gratitude for mercies received4 ,there are no remains now visible on its site4 ,the materials have doubtless passed into the neighbouring farm buildings4 ,the spot is marked by a monumental pillar1 which was erected in #ahja by the then proprietor of the land1 with an historical inscription1 which is not too inaccurate for the time in which it was composed4 ,it runs thus3 ,king lfred the ,great1 in the year of our ,lord #hgi1 having been defeated by the ,danes1 fled for refuge to the forest of ,athelney1 where he lay concealed from his enemies for the space of a whole year4 ,he soon after regained possession of the throne2 and in grateful remembrance of the protection he had received1 under the favour of ,heaven1 he erected a monastery on this spot1 and endowed it with all the lands contained in the ,isle of ,athelney4 ,to perpetuate the memory of so remarkable an incident in the life of that illustrious prince1 this edifice was founded by ,john ,slade1 ,esq41 of ,maunsel1 the proprietor of ,athelney1 and lord of the manor of ,north ,petherton1 ,a4,d4 #ahja4 ,the present representative of this gentleman is his great-great-grandson1 ,sir ,cuthbert ,slade of ,maunsel1 ,bart41 lord of the ,manor of ,north ,petherton4 ,the ,abbey of ,athelney never attained to any considerable wealth or importance2 but a sculptured boss1 which was found on the site1 and which is here figured in two aspects1 after drawings by ,mr4 ,alfred ,a4 ,clarke of ,wells1 seems to indicate some costly architecture among the abbey buildings in the fourteenth century4 ,illustration ,,appendix ,f ,,north ,,newton ,,church 7p4 #aci7 ,the church of ,north ,newton has features suggestive of ancient celebrity1 but the dates which are historically known1 do not mount so high as might have been expected4 ,the tower1 which is the oldest part1 and to which the high antiquity of a thousand years has been popularly attributed1 speaks by its architecture1 which is here represented4 ,the earliest known date connected with the fabric is #abib1 in which year the foundation stone of the elder chapel was laid by ,richard de ,barfleur1 called also ,richard de ,plesseto4 ,this being a chantry chapel1 the endowment was taken away in #aedh1 and the fabric decayed4 ,in the time of ,charles ,i1 ,sir ,thomas ,wrothe built a new chapel and provided a stipend for the minister1 which still continues4 ,the ,parable ,door1 the ,oak ,screen1 and the ,pulpit are evidently of the same period1 and were probably given by the same benefactor4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,tower ,,of ,,north ,,newton ,,church4 ,the village of ,north ,newton1 originally a chapelry1 was separated from the mother parish of ,north ,petherton1 and formed into an ecclesiastical parish on the twenty-third day of ,march1 #ahhj4 ,it is situated two miles north of ,durston ,station 7,great ,western ,railway71 four and a half south-west of ,bridgwater1 and seven north-east of ,taunton4 ,these particulars are taken from a little book entitled ,the ,church and ,parish of ,st4 ,peter's1 ,north ,newton1 by the ,rev4 ,l4 ,h4 ,king1 ,m4,a41 ,vicar2 to whom ,i am also personally indebted for some interesting local information4 ,,appendix ,g ,,the ,,presentation ,,of ,,the ,,alfred ,,jewel ,,to ,,the ,,university ,,of ,,oxford 7pp4 #adj and #ade47 ,i have been favoured by ,sir ,alexander ,acland ,hood with the following extract from the ,manuscript of ,mr4 ,thomas ,palmer1 which is preserved in ,fairfield ,house3-- #8,,newenton1 ,,newton1 ,,or ,,petherton ,,park4 #8,the ,park and ,manor of ,newenton belonged to the ,king at the time of the general survey1 and probably this is the ,petherton where king ,john held his court4 ,the ,house was on the north side of the ,park1 where there is now a tenement called ,parker's ,field4 ,at this place a remarkable piece of antiquity was dug up in the year #afic1 which is1 by ,dr4 ,hickes and other antiquaries1 adjudged to have been of the age of ,king ,alfred1 the letters being such as were introduced by this ,king in imitation of the ,roman ,alphabet1 and never used before or since4 #8,doctor ,hickes interprets this inscription to be 8,alfred ordered me to be made02 and supposes the enamelled figure to be the picture of ,st4 ,cuthbert1 the tutelar saint of that ,king4 ,the whole is of gold1 over the enamel is a piece of rock crystal1 half an inch thick3 the gold rim is cut through to form the letters of the inscription4 ,this is now among the antiquities of the ,university of ,oxford4' ,the ,keeper of the ,archives 7,mr4 ,bayne of ,christ ,church7 has kindly made search at my request1 and he writes3 #8,i have gone carefully through the ,convocation ,register for #agah1 and can find no reference to the ,jewel1 nor to ,mr4 ,palmer who died #f ,march1 #agce4' ,the ,register of ,benefactions of the ,ashmolean ,museum has a paragraph in ,latin1 which however gives no information on this point4 ,the most interesting piece ,i have found on this point is in ,collinson's ,history of ,somerset 7#agia71 vol4 i1 p4 #hg1 where he is speaking of ,athelney ,abbey3 it is as follows3-- ,some allusion to the vision of ,st4 ,cuthbert above-mentioned is supposed to have been intended by a little curious amulet of enamel and gold1 richly ornamented1 that was found in #afic in ,newton ,park1 at some distance northward from the abbey4 ,on one side of it is a rude figure of a person sitting crowned1 and holding in each hand a sceptre surmounted by a lily1 which ,dr4 ,hickes and other antiquaries have imagined to be designed for ,st4 ,cuthbert4 ,the other side is filled by a large flower1 and round the edge is the following legend3 ,,aelfred ,,mec ,,heit ,,gevvrcan2 that is1 ,alfred ordered me to be made4 ,this piece of antiquity is now in the museum at ,oxford1 accompanied with the accounts of doctors ,hickes and ,musgrave1 and the following memorandum3 8,nov4 #af1 #agah1 ,tho4 ,palmer1 esq2 of ,fairfield in ,somersetshire1 put this ancient picture of ,st4 ,cuthbert1 made by order of king ,alfred1 into my hands to bee conveyed to yr ,bodlean ,library in ,oxford1 where his father ,nat4 ,palmer1 esq2 lately dead1 desired it might be placed and preserved4 8,geo4 ,clark40 ,illustration3 ,,athelney4 ,transcriber's ,notes3 - ,text enclosed by underscores is in italics 7italics74 - ,blank pages have been removed4 - ,silently corrected typographical errors4 - ,spelling and hyphenation variations made consistent except in quotations4