206 THE SHALL-CROSS. 



would have become old-fashioned and obsolete when, after the 

 death of Penda in 655, Christianity was finally established in 

 Mercia proper. Hence a type which had been introduced by 

 the first great missionary north of the Trent would be venerated 

 in his memory for ages there ; whilst south of the Trent another 

 form of cross would remain the symbol of another preacher and 

 of another period. 



That it was customary where there was no church, to set up 

 a cross upon such occasions, is well authenticated by our early 

 historians. Beda tells us that in the year following the death 

 of Edwin, King Oswald, marching against Penda, and finding 

 there was neither church nor altar at a place called Havenfield, 

 erected the sign of the Holy Cross, and the hole being dug the 

 King himself held it with both hands whilst the earth was thrown 

 in, ordering the people to kneel and pray for the safety of the 

 nation. This cross, however, was "made in haste," and was 

 of wood, but others of the same or the following century are 

 recorded as being of carved stone. 



It seems probable that the original crosses, which I have 

 suggested were erected by Paulinus, were also of wood, for they 

 would be set up in haste as occasion required. This is im- 

 portant in view of the peculiar form of this type. The usual 

 and natural Saxon stone cross shafts have a rectangular cross 

 section, but I think that these pillar cross shafts bear a close 

 resemblance to a felled and lopped tree trunk, especially to 

 that of the pine, which would be the common and most con- 

 venient tree of the district. They are rounded at the base 

 where the tree would be felled, and their curious tapering square 

 at the top, with its oval faces, exactly reproduces the effect 

 of lopping off the rest of the trunk with an axe, for saws were 

 not then used by woodmen. To demonstrate this a pencil has 

 only to be sharpened with four cuts of the knife. The cross 

 before us and its colleagues are, I believe, reproductions in 

 stone of these early wooden prototypes, and if we imagine that 

 the single and double roll mouldings are representations of 

 the ropes which originally bound the cross pieces to the 



