428 



vent of the foreigner, satirized his performance by likening it to the squall- 

 ing of two cats tied together by the hind legs and tails ; while the lower 

 notes of the flageolet resembled such unheard-of tones as might be pro- 

 duced by a learned animal of the canine species, if he could convert his 

 own body into a bagpipe, and make his tail the chanter. The dress of 

 the musician is quite unlike any costume I have seen on any of our 

 sculptured crosses ; it consists of a simple long robe, reaching to the feet 

 which are bare ; the sleeves very wide at the elbow, but closely confined 

 at the wrists; the hair is divided at the forehead, and falls long and 

 straight down the back from one shoulder to the other. 



No. 19. It would appear that at this time the court of King Eland 

 was graced by the presence of a female harpist of much grace and 

 beauty ; she is here represented as seated with her harp on her knee ; 

 she is clothed in a long flowing dress, reaching to the ankles, and a short 

 cloak, the hood of which is modestly brought round the face, and hangs 

 in a graceful curve down her back. Her performance must have been 

 of the highest order, and the whole expression of the figure conveys the 

 idea that the last chord of some thrilling melody has just been struck, 

 and the performer looks round for the accustomed applause. So effec- 

 tive were the melodies of the harpist, that the spirit of ennui and discord, 

 typified by a crouching big-headed, horned monster, with its tail abjectly 

 rolled up along its flanks, is placed beneath this figure which tramples 

 upon it. 



No. 20. In the compartment over the harpist we have another effigy 

 of St. Colman, but seated, as forming one of the audience at the court 

 concert ; his right hand grasps a short cambutta, or pastoral staff, with a 

 crooked head ; a short scolloped mantle envelopes his shoulders, and di- 

 rectly over his head is a cherubim with expanded wings. 



In this sculpturing, I think, we have expressed the delight of St. 

 Colman at the performances of the female minstrel, which to his po- 

 etic imagination resembled the voices of an angelic choir. 



Here I must pause for a moment, to remark that till I saw this 

 sculpturing I had but little respect for a cherubim, as I classed it with 

 the cinque cento and Rococo ornaments of the Elizabethan era : here, 

 however, we can trace its pedigree back to the ninth or tenth century, 

 and we find it associated at that time with the saints and magnates of 

 the land. 



No. 21. In this sculpturing we have St. Colman seated in an arm 

 chair : in his right hand he holds his large cross, and with the end of it 

 he strikes the face of a prostrate figure, apparently clothed in no other 

 garment than a short mantle. Can this represent the punishment or ex- 

 pulsion of some offender from the court of King Eland ? for the scene is 

 too circumstantial to be merely allegorical. 



No. 22. Here we again see King Eland and his companion (as illus- 

 trated in Fig. 17), each being identified, the one by his plaited beard, and 

 the other by his heavy curled-up moustache. St. Colman is seated 

 between them in conclave, as if urging them on to some joint mode of I 

 action ; in his right hand the saint holds the short cambutta with the J 



