510 
church, of several sculptured fragments, which there 
is reason to conclude are remains of this famous cross. 
For the subjects of the carving seem to be, on one 
fragment, our Blessed Lord; and on another, His 
Apostles ; and above the head of Our Blessed Lord, on the 
former, are the words IHS XRVS, " Jesus Christus ;" and 
on the other are two lines of an inscription, which, though 
imperfect, is, like that recorded by Leland, in Latin, 
and in the narrative form. The upper line is inscribed 
— VMFECITEPA, and the lower— BETDVOPIS. It 
is, of course, very difficult to interpret inscriptions so 
fragmentary as these are; yet VM is evidently the termi- 
nation of the accusative case of a word, governed by 
" FECIT," and " EPA" is a proper name, still preserved in 
the names of villages in the West Riding, Hepworth and 
Heptonstall ; BET can only be the ending of some such 
word as ££ habet ;" and " DUO WIS," (the fourth letter 
being the Anglo-Saxon W,) is the beginning of the name 
of Dewsbury. Supposing then these stones to be fragments 
of the celebrated cross of St. Paulinus, I would suggest 
that this inscription may be a continuation of that which 
Leland mentions, and that it may be a record of the con- 
version by St. Paulinus of the lord of Dewsbury ; and I 
would supply five letters at the beginning of each line of the 
inscription as we have it, which is about the number that the 
loss of a figure at the left hand of each group of carving indi- 
cates are wanting, and taking the inscription mentioned by 
Leland in connection with it, would suppose that the whole 
may originally have stood thus, in six lines : 
IHS XEVS 
SCSPAYLINVS 
HICPRAEDICAVIT 
ETCELEBEAVITET 
XRAN VMFE C ITE P A 
QYIHABETDYOWIS 
