Cramp Rings.
These rings were supposed to cure cramp and the "falling sickness." They are said to have originated as far back as the middle of the eleventh century, in a ring presented by a pilgrim to Edward the Confessor, which, after that ruler's death, was preserved as a relic in Westminster Abbey, and was applied for the cure of epilepsy and cramp. Hence appears to have arisen the belief that rings blessed by English sovereigns were efficacious in such cases, and the custom of blessing for distribution large numbers of cramp rings on Good Friday, which continued in existence down to the time of Queen Mary. The accomplished Lord Berners, ambassador to Spain in the time of Henry VIII., wrote from Saragossa to Cardinal Wolsey: "If your grace remember me with some cramp rings ye shall doo a thing muche looked for; and I trust to bestow thaym with Goddes grace."