Armstrong — Stone Cltaliccis, called. 



321 



There was a British Couucil, called the Council of Clialcuth, in tlie 

 reign of Egbert, 785 a.d., which forbade chalices of horn — " Quod de 

 sanguine sunt."^ 



As a rule, chalices might not be made of materials containing 

 blood, such as horn, absorbent materials like stone or wood, or metals 

 which might affect the wine. Crystal seems to have been allowed. 



The only stone chalice of which there is any record is the chalice 

 of St. Edward the Confessor, used at the coronation of the English 

 Kings. The cup of this chalice appears, however, to have been of 

 agate, which is akin to crystal, and non-absorbent. Even in this 

 case it is not clear that this chalice was used for the consecration 

 of the Eucharist ; for in a marginal note to one of the coronation 

 orders of the fifteenth century, it is said that the Archbisliop did not 

 celebrate Mass with it, but with a chalice of gold.^ Communion in 

 two kinds was not abolislied until the thu'teenth century ; and before 

 the abolition two chalices were commonly used : one, called the 

 ordinary chalice, was small ; the other, called a minstral chalice, was 

 larger, generally with two handles, and was used in gi'sdng the cup 

 to the laity. ^ Therefore, in the times we are speaking of, the weight 

 of a chalice would be of some importance. 



Now to turn to the objects themselves. Plate XXI., fig. 1, is the 

 vessel described by Sir William Wilde as a chalice, and referred to at 

 the commencement of this paper. It is made of sandstone, and is 

 7i inches high, 4f inches in diameter at the top, stands on a base 

 3f inches long, and weighs 3 lb. 12^ oz. It was found on the lands 

 of Humphrey stown, Talbotstown, Co. Wicklow. The shaft is carved 

 with a Komanesque rope-like ornament. 



The architecture and mouldings of this vessel are of a Romanesque 

 type, w^hich cannot have been in Ireland before, say, the tenth 

 century ; that is, considerably later than the decree forbidding chalices 

 to be made of wood — sandstone being, like wood, a very absorbent 

 material. I would also point out that the advanced architectural 

 character of the vessel presumes that more precious materials were in 

 use, and that stone would not have been carved for such purposes at 

 that time. Moreover, this vessel was not found in a primitive part of 

 the country, but in the east of the country, on the borders of Kildare, 

 where the organization of the Church was well established at the 

 time indicated by the ornament. Compare fig. 1 with fig. 2, plate. 



' Wilkins, Ancient Laws and Institutions, vol. i., p. 147. 

 - Wickbam Legg, Coronation Records. 



^ Le Chanoine Reusens, Manuel d'Archeologie Chretienne, pp. 105 and 106. 



