318 [Proc. B.N.F.C., 



cermony the man places the gold ring on his wife's finger, when he 

 says, " With all my worldly goods I thee endow." During the 

 seventeenth and the early part of the eighteenth centuries, it was 

 the custom to engrave the inner surface of the wedding ring with 

 the date of the marriage and the initials of the bride, or of both 

 the bride and the bridegroom. The marriage ring could thus be 

 identified, and handed down from father to son as a family me- 

 morial. This custom, though gone out of fashion, might well be 

 revived, as it would enable the ring to tell its own wedding story. 

 Gem rings were considered to possess certain virtues, which were 

 contained in the various stones with which they were set. Thus. 

 for instance, the bloodstone had much power superstitiously 

 attached to it — among other things, that of checking bleeding at 

 the nose. The same influence was attributed to the lovely sapphire, 

 which, says Reginald Scott in his ' Discovery of Witchcraft," "hath 

 virtue against venome, staieth bleeding at the nose, being often 

 put thereto." The turquoise was said to have the property of 

 looking pale or bright, as the wearer was ill or well in health. 



As a compassionate turquoise, which doth tell 

 By looking pale, the wearer is not well. 



Religious rings are not uncommon in this so-called Island of 

 Saints, and have come down to us from mediaeval times. They 

 are met with in brass, silver, and gold ; and may be easily recog- 

 nized by the cog-like projections upon their circumference. These 

 knobs usually number ten, hence the name decade rings, by which 

 they are known to collectors. These ten projections stand for 

 as many avcs, while the round or oval central head, which is gene- 

 rally engraved with the letters I.H.S, and the ancient and mystic 

 symbol of the three nails, represents the Pater Noster. 



At the conclusion of the paper some of the Members present 

 took part in an interesting conversation regarding the subject ; 

 and, after the election of several new Members, and an examina- 

 tion of Mr. Day's very valuable collection, the meeting separated. 



