161 
On the western side of each of these the most conspicuous 
object is the image of St. John the Baptist pointing to the 
Lamb of God. That a prince so devout as Alhfrith was, and 
inspired as we may beKeve with this particular devotion, 
should have chosen this device and legend for his ring is by 
no means improbable ; and so from him it may have passed 
to his brothers Ecgfrith and Aldfrith, for the appearance of 
the ring shows that it had been long in wear before it was 
lost. This is merely conjecture, and, however pleasing it 
may be to indulge herein, it must pass for no more than it 
is worth. 
"We have already referred to the very similar ring bearing 
the name Alhstan, on which account it may be attributed to 
Alhstan, Bishop of Sherborne, a.d. 817-867. Its character, 
however, which we have described above, is quite different 
from that of episcopal rings generally, which have a plain 
circlet and a precious stone in the bezel, and it would be 
difficult to account for the ring of a West Saxon bishop 
having been lost in Caernarvonshire. 
May we not rather suppose it to have been part of the 
spoils carried away by the British king Cadwallo from 
Northumbria, during the wars of the seventh century ? Such 
a supposition is confirmed by the fact that in design and 
workmanship it so closely resembles the Driffield ring that 
they might well be the work of the same hand, and there 
may be some connection between them. 
We know that it was the custom in Anglo-Saxon families 
to give to the children names resembKng each other in their 
initial or final elements. Thus we have — 
(1.) ^thelstan, ^thelwulf, ^thelbald, ^thelberht, 
^thelred, brothers of Alfred the Great. 
(2.) Eormenbeorh, Eormenburh, Eormengyth, ^thel- 
thryth, ^thelred, ^thelberht, the children 
of Eormenred of Kent. 
