184 ON THE PRE NORMAN SCULPTURED STONES OF DERBYSHIRE. 



stone crosses ?wbilite?- insculpttz. In fact there is much more 

 evidence in history of elaborate workmanship bestowed upon 

 crosses in that period of the Heptarchy, and chiefly in Anglia, 

 than there is of elaborate pains being bestowed upon the illumina- 

 tion of manuscripts at the same period. The art of the best 

 stones will bear comparison with the art of the best manuscripts 

 of the " Hibernian " type, and the better the sculpture the more 

 nearly it resembles the earliest ornamentation of the MSS. As 

 of the question of geographical distribution referred to above, 

 so of the question of early date it may be said, that each fresh 

 piece of evidence strengthens the argument. 



