of Sorsef. 



The labours of our friends having resulted in the completion 

 of the record of inscriptions on the Dorset bells, some attempt 

 at classification must be made. The earliest bells are generally 

 without inscription, mark, or ornament. The converse, however, 

 does not hold good, as uninscribed bells, especially smaller 

 ones, were made quite in later times. Of some twenty-five bells 

 in Dorset which are of this unadorned type, and presumably of 

 older date, the smaller of the two which hang in the double cote 

 at Stock Gaylard is most notable. Long and narrow it is, the 

 diameter only n inches, whereas the height is 12^ inches, the 

 former being thus only '88 of the latter. The dimensions of the 

 mediagval tenor at Nether Cerne give rather more than 1-28, and 

 at Powerstock and Silton the diameters of tenors mount to 

 nearly one and a-half of the heights. These instances have 

 been taken at random. The dates of the two bells are 1772 and 

 1702 respectively. ' 



We are in the misty land of conjecture, and the presentation 

 of new problems, rather than the solution of old ones, is our lot 

 as we examine the large group in Longobardic lettering. 



Comparing Dorset with other counties, there are three points 

 to be remarked with regard to these bells the variety in the 

 crosses, stops and lettering, the frequent appearance of graceful 

 and elegant decoration, and the late survival of the lettering. 

 Everywhere, indeed, it exists for a while side by side with its 

 successor, the black letter, the same foundry stamps standing in 

 line with either type ; but here the later form seems to have 

 supplanted its predecessor by unusually slow degrees. 



Simplicity of lettering and ornamentation gives a hint, but 

 only a hint, of comparative antiquity. Thus, Alton Pancras 

 third, with its plain cross and lettering, seems to demand early 

 notice, but we cannot identify either in other counties. But 

 this is not the case with the Osmington treble and the smaller 

 bell at Milton Abbas. In this pair under the initial cross is R 

 (Fig. 55), which appears in a similar position on five Sussex 



