and 



Edited by the HON. EDITOR. 



1. 



INCISED SLAB FOUND AT SHILLINGSTON. 



CXOME remarks on this relic will be found on Page 

 Ixxiii., Vol. XXIV., of the Transactions ; and 

 !" Dr. Colley March has illustrated the subject 

 as follows : 



" In Pagan times the Latins used the sun 

 as a symbol both of Jupiter (especially in 

 association with his Eagle) and of Apollo ; 



" And the moon as a symbol both of Juno 

 and of Diana. 



" In Christian times this symbolism was transferred to Christ 

 and Mary. 



" In late mediaeval times the various Celestial bodies were 

 assigned as abodes to the members of the Angelic host as the 

 planet Venus to Anael, the sun to Michael, the moon to Gabriel, 

 and so forth. 



" In the Shillingston slab, assuming the human figure to be 

 that of the deceased person buried beneath, then certainly, in 

 my opinion, the girandole, or solar wheel, represents the Sun of 

 Righteousness and the crescent His saintly mother. I send you 

 some tracings. B is interesting as representing a triad father, 

 mother, and child Jupiter, his wife Juno, and his daughter 

 Minerva. In Italian churches the sun everywhere stands for 

 Christ and the moon for the Blessed Virgin." 



