42 THE RUTHWELL CROSS. 
possible after about 750 (Prof. A. S. Cook, Date of the R. and 
B. Crosses, pp. 63-64). The sun-dial was known, though not 
so common as it became on church doors in the 11th century ; 
there was one at Housesteads Roman fort (now in Chesters 
Museum) which might even have been visible to people of the 
time. The chequers are unusual, in ornament of this age, 
but not without some parallels; panels divided up into squares: 
are seen in the Gospels of MacRegol, Durrow, and Treves 
(Westwood, Min. and Ornts., pl. 4, 16, 20), and the Book of 
Durrow has a panel of crosslets, set in lines coloured alter- 
nately (ibid., pl. 6), recalling the crosslets at Irton (Fig. 24), 
alternately raised and sunk. The draught-board (A.-S., Tefl, 
from tabula) was known; part of one was found in a hoard of 
about 200 A.D. at Vimose in Denmark, and is now in the 
Copenhagen Museum. Moreover, true chequers like those of 
Bewcastle are actually seen on a stone, formerly a monument 
or ornament at Hexham Church, now taken to Durham 
(Stuart, Sc. Stones of Scotland, i1., pl. xciv., 1; Durham Cath. 
Lib. Cat., No. x., p. 65); ard this, whether of Roman or 
Anglian origin, must have been known to the Bewcastle 
designer. 
These considerations suggest that an experiment in design 
was made at Bewcastle; and, considering the variety and fer- 
tility of Anglian art, this would not be surprising. We have 
already seen the chevron in Figs. 13 and 14, notwithstanding 
the common belief that it was much later; but we find no 
acanthus at Bewcastle and Ruthwell, and the names in the 
inscriptions show no Danish and Norman forms. The whole 
design is in the spirit and style of other Anglian crosses. The 
figure-drawing is fine in its way, but not finer than that of 
Otley or Easby (Fig. 17) on a stone which bears also scrolls 
and plaits, and perhaps could be built up with other stones 
still in the walls of the church to make a fairly complete cross 
(Fig. 18), sharply contrasting in its grace and refinement with 
the very different style of the 1oth century as seen in the 
example from Ellerburn given along with it. 
If there is any reason in the rule about pluits which we 
have discussed, these symmetrical, two-member plaits are of 
the second half of the 8th century. The scrolls are not the 
