306 Theory as to the Origin of the Crosses 



I. THE POWER WHICH ENABLED AND SUGGESTED 

 THE PRODUCTION 



1. A POWER EXTENDING OVER THE REGION INCLUDING 

 BOTH CROSSES 



David became prince of Scottish Cumbria in 1107, and ruled over 

 it until he became king of Scotland in 1124. According to the best 

 authorities, his rule as prince extended over the whole of Dumfries- 

 shire, and would therefore have included Ruthwell ; while the fact 

 that Gilles, son of Boed, or Bueth, from whom Bewcastle derives 

 its name, appears among the witnesses to David's inquest of 1120 

 or 1121, leads one to suppose that this region, at least, was under 

 his jurisdiction, though so clearly, according to our notions, on the 

 English side of the Border. 



Upon the 8th of January 1107, Edgar sunk into an early grave, with 

 his latest breath bequeathing the appanage of Scottish Cumbria to 

 his youngest brother David ; not only as a testimony of personal regard 

 for his favorite brother, but as an acknowledgment of the valuable 

 assistance which he had derived, during his contest for the crown, from 

 the intelhgence and sagacity of that able and pohtic prince.^ 



had it put on glass, and shewn by Ume hght on a screen, the full size of Ufe. 

 It never fails to impress deeply an audience of whatever class. Nothing that 

 I have seen of early sculpture in foreign museums has produced the same 

 kind of effect upon myself ; and the effort to conceive its being produced 

 in Cumberland 1225 years ago, whether by native, or by GaUican, or by 

 Roman masons, is merely bewildering.' Prior and Gardner (' Enghsh 

 Mediaeval Figure- Sculpture,' Architectural Review 12. 8) : ' The draperies 

 have the fuU foldings and massive modeUing of late classic design, and gener- 

 ally the technique shows a practised chisel, as well as the assured methods 

 of a finished school in figure and decorative design. We do not reach such 

 technical attainment again in Enghsh work until close upon the thirteenth 

 century.' 



On the various elements which enter into the English sculpture of this 

 period, see Allen, Mon. Hist. Brit. Church, pp. 159, 230; Calverley, Early 

 Sculpt. Crosses, p. 41 ; Nanson, ' Bewcastle,' Trans. Cumh. and Westm. Antiq. 

 and Arch. Soc. 3. 223; Prior and Gardner, ' Enghsh Mediaeval Figure-Sculp- 

 ture,' Architectural Review 12. 8. For similar phenomena in the Isle of 

 Man, see Kermode, Manx Crosses, p. 89. For the composite character of 

 Romanesque sculpture and architecture, see Michel, Hist, de I'Art 1^. 943 ; 

 Male, UArt Religieux du XIII'' Siecle en France 1. 68 ff. 



^ Robertson, Scotland under her Early Kings 1. 170. 



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