185 
On a supposed Iuseription upow the sont 
at dite. 
By THE Rey. G. F. Browne, B.D. 
very far back ; its parochial rights were transferred to 
Pig) Sawley as early as the year 822. ‘The font is 
=e the only relic of great antiquity to be found in the 
church. Mr. Cox, in his interesting and valuable work, Z%e 
Churches of Derbyshire, Vol. IV., p. 399, called special attention 
to a supposed inscription round the base of the font, which 
the artist imagined to be in runes, In the Journal of the 
Archeological Association for 1879, p. 224, Mr. Cox’s engraving is 
reproduced, and the font is described as having “ unconventional 
patterns of lacertine foliage, round the base of which is a mutilated 
inscription in a character which has been compared with the 
Runic and the Palmyrene.” This relic, it is added, “ deserves the 
attention of palzographers, as well as antiquarians and archzo- 
logists.” The reason assigned for its possible Palmyrene origin 
is stated to be the practical identity of two of its characters with a 
Palmyrene inscription at South Shields. 
The font is shown on Plate XIII., fig. 1, where my outlined rub- 
bing is reproduced by photography. It will be seen that some de- 
tails are left unfinished, though in most cases it would have been 
easy to restore them. A magnifying glass may be applied to 
the plate with good effect. It is very probable that further 
study of the font would clear up some of the doubts, and if it were 
