62 I^otes on the Ornamentation of the Eariij 



four-footed beast into a mythical creature is to give it wings. If, 

 in addition to this, it has the beaked head of a bird substituted for 

 its own it becomes a grifiiu ; or, if the hind-quarters are changed 

 into the looped or knotted tail of a serpent, it may be looked upon 

 as a dragon. The term dragonesque ornament is often quite mis- 

 ajsplied to designs entirely composed of quadrupeds or birds. 



The chief peculiarity of the zoomorphie decoration of the Irish 

 MS8. is the great attenuation and extension of the bodies of the 

 beasts or the necks of the birds, and the wonderfully complicated 

 way in which every part of the design is interlaced. Were it not 

 for the heads and claws of the animals peeping out here and there, 

 the general appearance is that of interlaced work composed of broad 

 and narrow bands; the former being the bodies of the beasts^ and 

 the latter their long drawn out limbs^ tails^ and ears,' making a 

 kind of background to the rest. If the design consists of a single 

 beast standing in a natural attitude, the interlacements are generally 

 confined to the tail, which is looped and knotted in various ways.^ 

 This is the most usual way of treating the beasts on the early 

 Christian monuments in England, but in the Irish MSS. further 

 complications are produced by bending the body of a single beast 

 into all sorts of unnatural attitudes, or by arranging several beasts 

 symmetrically in pairs so that their bodies cross over each other. 



The Wiltshire stones with zoomorphie ornament upon them are 

 Ramsbury (A), (B), (C), (E), and (F), Colerne (I) and (J), and 

 Somerford Keynes. 



The designs on the cross-shaft (B) at Ramsbury and the fragment 

 of a coped stone (E) are almost identical, and consist of little beasts 

 enclosed within circular medallions. They are evidently intended 

 for quadrupeds, although only one foreleg and one hind leg are 

 shown. In three cases, on Ramsbury (B) and in two cases on 

 Ramsbury (E) the beasts have their heads bent backwards and are 



' The ears are proloDged to a most extraordinary extent, looking like a crest 

 coming out of the top of the head. 



^ For good examples of this see the " Commentary on the Psalms by Cassio- 

 dorus," at Durham, illustrated in Prof. Westwood's Miniatures of the Anglo- 

 Saxon and Irish MSS.," pi. 18. 



_U. 



