206 
safely, the Bingley and Irton casts were broken on the way. 
Here was another disappointment. Still I was convinced 
that the Bingley inscription could be read, and looked for- 
ward to a time when I might be able to take another 
cast. During the last winter, the zeal of the Rev. J. T. 
Fowler placed in my hands a cast, a photograph of the cast, 
and a photograph of a rubbing from the stone. With these 
materials I returned to the charge, and succeeded in de- 
ciphering the whole inscription, as follows; and Mr. Fowler, 
who had independently made out some of the letters, tells 
me that in less than half an hour from the receipt of my 
reading he succeeded in verifying nearly every character ; 
in fact, I believe the only character in which he was unable 
to follow me was the fourth from the end, which I had 
thought was JE (cescj, but which I now think may be as 
he reads it EA (ear), 
+ EADBERHTEATTINGCY 
+ Eadberht Eatting cy- 
NINGREHTEGEBANCESTENYS 
ning rehte geban ceste nys- 
ODEONGENBINGALEAHES + v 
ode ongen Bingaleahes + 
" Eadberht, son of Eatta, King, uttered a gracious ban, 
visited again Bingley.'' 
I do not think that this inscription is complete. I think 
I can see traces of another line ; and the imperfect character 
of the scrolls or knots on the other three sides convinces me 
that this stone has been split from its bed, which possibly 
may be still in existence ; for the depth of the trough, 
scarcely ten inches, and its length and breadth, averaging 
about fifteen inches, are inconsistent with the idea that it 
can have been a font, in the eighth century, when baptism 
was administered by immersion. It has been originally the 
