EARLY CHRISTIAN MONUMENTS 



' The Manx chain-of-rings patterns, which is peculiarly Scandinavian, occurs on the side 

 of the Cardinham l cross, being the only instance in the south or west of England. It is 

 combined with a key-pattern composed of T's, as on the cross at Penmon, in Anglesey, which 

 also has the ring-pattern. The ornament on the Penmon cross is akin partly to that found in 

 North Wales and Cheshire, partly to that in the Isle of Man, and partly to that in Ireland, 

 showing a very mixed style. It is not easy to account for the resemblance between the 

 patterns on the Cardinham cross and those of North Wales, Cheshire, and the Isle of Man, 

 especially as the rude scrolls of foliage on the Cardinham cross faces are purely Cornish. 



' Of the key-patterns . . . there is little to be said, except that those on the 

 Lanivet 2 coped stone are interesting as being identical with those on the cross-shaft at Penally 

 in Pembrokeshire. 



' As regards zoomorphic designs, the only one which occurs on the Cornish crosses is a 

 dragon, whose body forms a series of undulations, each filled in with a Stafford knot made by 

 the tail. 3 The same creature is to be seen on the beautiful little coped stone at Bexhill, 

 Sussex, and on one of the crosses at Aycliffe, co. Durham, 4 thus showing that there must have 

 been a considerable amount of intercourse between the Cornish and Saxon Christians in pre- 

 Norman times. The coped stone at Lanivet 5 has a zoomorphic termination in this respect 

 resembling those in the north of England and Scotland. I can detect no Irish influence upon 

 the art of the Cornish crosses.' 



MISCELLANEOUS MONUMENTS 



COPED STONES 6 



Up to the present only four coped stones have been found in Cornwall, viz. : Burian, 

 St. In churchyard ; Lanivet In churchyard ; Phillack In churchyard ; Tudy St. In 

 churchyard. 



Those at St. Burian and Phillack are only portions of the stones ; the former appears to 

 consist of the middle third, and the latter of about half of its original length, showing one end. 



The Lanivet stone, shown on Plate XVIII, is by far the best example. It is of the boat- 

 shaped type. The top and sides are filled with key-patterns, and on what may be termed the 

 hips of the stone are four animals resembling dogs, while on each end are two double beaded 

 rings interlaced, and on each of the slopes above a triquetra knot. The key-patterns upon it are 

 found in two other instances, at Penally, Pembrokeshire, where they both occur on the same 

 panel of the cross-shaft, the lower portion of which contains the pattern found on the top of 

 the Lanivet stone, and the upper portion bears that found on its sides, and also on the bronze 

 sword-hilt of Leofric in the British Museum, dug up in 1883 under the foundation of a house 

 in South Street, Exeter. Mr. Romilly Allen noticed this last instance, and embodied all three 

 with illustrations in a short paper. 7 



The St. Tudy coped stone is similar in shape to that at Lanivet, but is wider at one end 

 than the other. The sides are arcaded, and the top has on one side scroll-work, and on the other 

 a four-cord plait ending in a twist. On the slope of the wider end is a triquetra knot, and or 

 the ends wide bead-work. 



EARLY CROSS SLABS 8 



There are only five of these, viz. : Lanivet In churchyard ; Temple In churchyard (2); 

 Towednack In churchyard ; Wendron, St. In church ; and all are different from each 

 other. 



1 See PI. XVI. * See PL XVIII. 



* The two examples in Cornwall are on the sides of the Lanherne and Sancreed No. 2 crosses, a 

 third instance of the pattern being on the Waterpit Down cross-shaft (PI. VI, No. 43), but the head is 

 either omitted or has been broken off. 



4 A somewhat similar design, but with two dragons, is carved on a sepulchral slab at Barningham, 

 Yorkshire. See Cutts, Sepulchral Slabs, PI. XXXV. 



6 See PL XVIII. 6 Old Cornish Crosses, 411. 



7 See Reliquary and Illustrated Archaeologist, vol. v (1899), 189. 8 Old Cornish Crosses, 419. 



443 



