236 RECENT ARCHAEOLOGICAL DISCOVERIES IN CORNWALL. 



intelligible to the civilized world, but names of Roman character 

 had come into use among them. All this must have proceeded 

 from" subjection, fraternization, and the relationships which arose 

 from close alliances, combined with education. 



Lysons,*' who states that he accidentally discovered this 

 stone, when it was used as a prop at Eialton, has given its 

 lettering incorrectly. The cutting is perfectly clear. Professor 

 Bhysf agrees with my reading of it, published by the Society 

 of Antiquaries,^ as well as others who also have examined it 

 of late years. 



If Roman tribunes, &c, had been unknown to the Cornish, 

 such a name as Tribunus would not have been conferred upon, 

 or adopted by, the father of this deceased Briton, nor would the 

 compound Latin name of the latter have been obtained. § 



With regard to an investigation into the correct forms of 

 these names, we must not omit to notice Professor Hubner's 

 remark : — 



"Lysons tribunum aliquem agnoscit ; crediderim subesse 

 nomen Bonememorius barbare scriptum. Tribuni pro Trebonii 

 fortasse positum esse Bhys observat." 



* Magna Brit., Vol. 3, Cornwall, p. ccxxiii, and fig. 2, in plate. 



f Hubner's Inscrip. Brit. Christianse (1876), p. 5, No. 13. 



J Proceedings, 2nd Ser., Vol. 5, 1870-3, p. 485. 



§ As names of persons and places in their original application were descrip- 

 tive, those of the former were what we should now call nick-names. To some of 

 these no objection was made by the persons to whom they were applied. There 

 are instances of this even in later times. William the Norman was willing to be 

 styled the Conqueror, and he used that descriptive title in some of his charters. 



In the bestowal of the names Tribunus and Bonemimorus significance may 

 have been intended. 



The former of these terms did not simply and exclusively indicate a principal 

 officer of the army. It originally meant head of a " Tribe " or clan ; and in the 

 Eoman Constitution ' ( Tribunus plebis " was a representative of popular rights. 

 Thus in Romano-British times a Cornish Chieftain might properly have been 

 styled Tribunus ; and in these days a member of the Imperial or of the Local 

 Parliament may be regarded as a Tribune of the people. One English represent- 

 ative statesmen, recently deceased, was commonly known by that very title. 



Bonemimorus or Bonimemorius, the man of good memory, the right- 

 thoughtful, the nobly-mindful, recals to us the fact that Memor, mindful, was in 

 use as a Eoman proper name. Its compound form resembles some others : — 



