298 General Discussion of the Crosses 



find on any buildings of ascertained date before 1120. The chisel 

 was used for carving in stone in Italy and the south of France at an 

 earlier period, but not in Normandy or the north of France much 

 earlier than in England. After this usage was introduced, the 

 workmen seem to have gloried in it, and revelled in it, and the pro- 

 fusion of rich Norman sculptured ornament in the latter half of the 

 twelfth century is quite wonderful.' ^ 



Bishop Browne declares the chequers ' perhaps the most difficult 

 thing to explain on the whole cross, whether as to purpose or as to 

 date ' 2 ; but with Viollet-le-Duc's statements in mind, it is easy to 

 see that there is no difficulty if we assume that the cross is of the 12th 

 century, and that the purpose of the chequers was merely to serve 

 as a means of ornamentation. 



3. THE INTERLACINGS OR KNOTWORK^ 

 The interlacings found on the Bewcastle Cross are a characteristi- 

 cally Celtic development of designs which must have been brought 

 to Britain soon after the introduction of Christianity, and which 

 gave birth here to a great variety of intricate and beautiful patterns. 

 These patterns are first found in such manuscripts as the Lindisfarne 

 Gospels and the Book of Kells, and afterwards in metal-work and 

 stone-work. 



The intricate and in some cases involved pattern of interlacing or 

 knot-work occurs not only on the Anghan crosses and grave-covers, 

 but is also found on the memorial stones of Ireland, Scotland, and other 

 parts of the United Kingdom outside Northumbria. It is sometimes 

 formed by a simple riband, at other times by lacertine or serpentine 

 creatures (zoomorphic), or by beasts, more or less naturalistically 

 represented, whose tails, Umbs, or tongues are prolonged into ribands. 

 This riband intertwines after the most varied fashion, progressing from 

 a mere overlapping or twisting cord into the most elaborate convolu- 

 tions, forming designs which, when executed by a well-skilled and 

 deft-handed workman, are marvels of intelligent intricacy, and produce 

 a very charming effect through the gracefulness and accuracy of their 

 curvature and interlacement. The use of the interlacing riband pattern 

 appears to have been introduced into this country, though not alto- 

 gether directly, from Ireland, where it almost certainly had arrived with 

 the introduction of Christianity. Sufficient proof of this seems to be 



^ Cf. also p. 52 ; Edith A. Browne, Norman Architecture (London, 1907), 

 p. 31 ; and especially Rivoira 2. 202, 229, 247. 



2 Conv. of Heft., p. 194. 



3 See pp. 26-28. 



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