EARLY CHRISTIAN MONUMENTS 



the first edition having only a curious print of the Redgate stone, while 

 the editions of 1772, 1789, and 1 806 contain a plate illustrating the stones 

 at Bleu Bridge, Mawgan Cross, Biscovey (now at Par), Castle Dor (now 

 at Four Turnings), and St. Cleer (Redgate). 



It was not until William Borlase in 1754 brought out his 

 Observations on the Antiquities of Cornwall that any considerable number of 

 monuments was illustrated. His twelfth chapter is devoted to ' The 

 Inscribed Monuments before the Conquest,' in connexion with which 

 he gives two plates 1 illustrating ten of the stones. In the Magna 

 Britannia of Samuel Lysons, 1814, three of the rude pillar stones already 

 published by Borlase are given on one plate, while on another is a 

 drawing of the inscribed cross at Lanherne. 



Borlase and most subsequent authors on the subject are indebted to 

 Edward Lhwyd, a writer of the seventeenth century, for having given 

 the first satisfactory readings and translations of the inscriptions, and for 

 having assigned a correct date to the monuments. 



The labours of Edward Lhwyd in this direction have been ably 

 carried on by Professors Rhys and Westwood, H. Longueville Jones, 

 the Rev. W. Jago, Dr. Emil Hiibner, and others. The most complete 

 work on the subject is A Catalogue of the Early Christian Monuments in 

 Cornwall? compiled in 1895 by J. Romilly Allen and the writer. Even 

 since then three other stones have been added to the list, one having 

 been found at Cardinham" on 3 September, 1901, by the writer. The 

 six plates in this article illustrate all the ancient inscribed stones at 

 present known to us in Cornwall. 



It is probable that all the rude pillar stones with inscriptions found 

 in the Celtic portion of Great Britain are of Christian origin, and they 

 are classed as such by Hiibner. The chief grounds for this opinion are 

 (i) that they are entirely different from the pagan sepulchral stones, and 

 in a very large majority of cases are found in or near churches ; (2) that 

 some of the stones are marked with the Chi-Rho monogram, and others 

 have early forms of the cross, there being no evidence to show that these 

 symbols were added after the inscriptions ; (3) that several of the names 

 mentioned are distinctly Christian, such as Paulinus and Martinus ; 

 (4) that the persons commemorated are in some cases specified in the 

 inscription as being officers of the church, such as bishops or priests ; 

 and (5) that the form of the inscription is often of a distinctly Christian 

 character, such as Requiescat in pace. The most common is, of course, 

 Hicjacef, while one instance of Hie in tumulo occurs at Hayle. 



The geographical distribution of rude pillar stones with ogams and 

 debased Roman capitals shows that they are of Celtic origin, as they 

 have only been found in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Devon, Cornwall, 

 Somerset, Dorset, Hants, and Northumberland, and not in the Saxon or 

 Danish parts of England. 



1 The later edition of 1769 contains the same plates. 



' Arch. Camb. 5th ser. vol. xii (1895), 50. 



3 Re&quary and Illustrated Arcbaeokgst, viii (1902), 50. 



I 409 52 



