39 2 [Proc B.N.F.C, 



condition of these, considering the coarse nature of the stone, 

 and the many centuries that it has been exposed to the weather, 

 is wonderfully clear and sharp. For seven inches from the 

 base the shaft is one inch wider than in the main portion, 

 and it is not sunk, there being simply an interlaced pattern 

 cut on it. 



The west face of the shaft is entirely filled with figures 

 representing events in early Bible History. Commencing from 

 the bottom, there are Adam and Eve under the tree of know- 

 ledge of good and evil, Noah in the Ark on the waves of the 

 flood, and the angel with the sword expelling Adam from the 

 garden of Eden. 



The north face of the shaft is divided into four panels, each 

 with a narrow bead framing round it ; the bottom one is of 

 interlaced work, the next above of two figures, which have not 

 yet been identified ; and two more panels above of interlaced 

 work. 



The east face of the shaft is — like that of the west — not 

 divided into panels ; it is occupied by five tiers of figures all 

 much the same in character. At the bottom are four small 

 squarish brackets, or pedestals, on which stand the first group of 

 three figures. These are clothed to the knees like all the other 

 figures that are distinguishable on the cross, and they are of 

 unequal height, the smallest figure being that on the south or 

 left hand, and the largest that on the north. Above them is 

 another precisely similar group. 



The position occupied by the third row of these figures is 

 where I have come to the conclusion that the blow was struck 

 that broke the stone in two. These figures are much injured, 

 but I think they are the wise men from the East, because the 

 fourth row is of two figures with one much smaller between 

 them, this I take to be a representation of the Nativity — the 

 Blessed Virgin Mary, with the Holy Child Jesus, and Joseph. 

 One of these figures bears in its right hand a palm branch. 



The top or fifth row on this face is of three figures with the 

 central one the tallest. 



