44 ORNAMENT ON THE EARLY CROSSES OF CORNWALL. 



as it were, to dissect the structure of these beautiful designs 

 (many of which are of a very intricate character), Mr. Allen's 

 explanation appears to me to be the most probable, proceeding 

 as it does from the simple to the complex, and showing how the 

 earlier forms have, propably from accident in many instances, 

 suggested the further elaboration. 



This will be best illustrated in the following diagrams, Plate 

 3 by which I shall show how No. 4 (an example taken from the 

 shaft in St. Neot's churchyard) was developed from No. 1. 



A panel' to be decorated was first divided into squares set 

 diagonally, or into diamonds, 1 this depending of course upon the 

 nature of the ornament to be introduced. Of the former class 

 some good examples are given by him, in a paper showing the 

 construction of the interlaced work on the cylindrical pillar at 

 Llantwit Major (Glamorganshire). This paper appeared in the 

 October (1889) number of the " Archseologia Cambrensis," 

 pp. 317-26. We must, however, take one of the latter as an 

 instance, in which the diamond scheme is adopted. Having 

 divided the panel into diamonds, as shewn in the upper part of 

 No. 1, the next stage is to emphasise the crossings alternately 

 by stronger lines, as shewn in the lower portion of the same 

 diagram ; then by joining up the ends of the cords at regular 

 intervals, as at the bottom of No. 2, we get a regular eight-cord 

 plait. Now it is in the joining up of these cords, or " breaking" 

 the plait as it is termed, at various points, according to the 

 design required, that the whole secret of interlaced work lies. 

 At the top of No. 2 is a very simple illustration of this, which 

 occurs on the " Other Half Stone," at St. Cleer. Had the ends 

 been joined up as shewn by the dotted lines, the whole panel 

 would then have been composed of a regular eight-cord plait ; 

 but owing to the change caused by this departure from the 

 regular plait, by "breaking" it, it now becomes a piece of 

 broken plaitwork. 



Passing on to No. 3 a still further development is shewn, 

 caused by increasing the number of breaks in the plait. By 

 strictly adhering to the diagonal lines, an uncomfortable angular 



1 The Japanese set out their key patterns and geometrical designs on the 

 same principle. 



