ILLUSTRATIONS.

PAGE
Egyptian gold signet-ring[2]
Egyptian bronze rings[4]
Egyptian signet-rings[6]
Egyptian porcelain ring[9]
Egyptian mummy, rings on the fingers of an[10]
Egyptian gold ring from Ghizeh[11]
Etruscan ring with chimeræ[15]
Roman-Egyptian ring[15]
Modern Egyptian rings[17]
Modern Egyptian ring with double keepers[17]
Etruscan ring representing the car of Admētus[19]
Etruscan rings with serpents and beetle[19]
Etruscan ring with scarabæus[20]
Etruscan ring with representation of two spirits in combat[20]
Etruscan ring with intaglio[21]
Greek and Roman rings[22]
Late Roman rings[23]
Ring found at Silchester[24]
Ring of a group pattern[24]
Ancient plain rings[24]
Iron ring of a Roman knight[25]
Roman ring, crescent-shaped[26]
Roman ring of coloured paste[28]
Gallo-Roman ring representing a cow or bull[29]
Roman thumb-ring[29]
Roman ring, with a representation of Janus[32]
Roman ring, with figures of Egyptian deities[32]
Roman ring, with busts; from the Musée du Louvre[33]
Roman ring, with head of Regulus[34]
Roman rings from Montfaucon[36], [37], [38]
Roman ring in the Florentine Cabinet[39]
Roman ‘memorial’ gift-rings[41]
Anglo-Roman[41]
Anglo-Roman and Roman rings[42]
Roman rings found at Lyons[43]
Roman bronze ring of a curious shape[44]
Roman key-rings[45]
Roman rings, with inscription and monogram[47]
Roman ‘legionary’ ring[47]
Roman ‘legionary’ ring[48]
Roman amber and glass rings[48]
Byzantine ring, from Montfaucon[49]
Byzantine ring, found at Constantinople[49]
Rings from Herculaneum and Pompeii[49]
Roman bronze ring[50]
Roman ‘trophy’ ring[50]
Roman ring, from the Museum at Mayence[50]
Roman key-rings[51]
Roman, late, from the Waterton Collection[52]
Anglo-Saxon rings[53]
Early British (?) ring found at Malton[54]
Ring of King Ethelwulf[54]
Anglo-Saxon rings[58]
Early Saxon rings found near Salisbury[59]
South Saxon ring found in the Thames[60]
Ancient Irish rings found near Drogheda[61]
Early Irish gold ring[62]
The ‘Alhstan’ ring[62]
Anglo-Saxon ring found near Bosington[63]
Rings found at Cuerdale, near Preston[64]
Rings in the Royal Irish Academy[65]
Spiral silver ring, found at Lago[66]
Ring found at Flodden Field[66]
Figured ring supposed to represent St. Louis[67]
Rings found in Pagan graves[68]
Rings of the Frankish and Merovingian periods[69], [70]
Gold ‘Middle Age’ ring, from the Louvre[71]
Rings on the effigy of Lady Stafford[72]
Enamelled floral ring[75]
‘Merchant’s Mark’ rings[75], [87]
Ring of the sixteenth century[76]
Ring of Frederic the Great[76]
Venetian ring[76]
Italian diamond-pointed ring[76]
Italian symbolical ring[77]
Venetian ring[78]
East Indian ring, with drops of silver[78]
Indian rings[79]
Spanish ring[79]
‘Giardinetti’ or guard rings[79]
French rings of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries[80]
‘Escutcheon’ ring, French[81]
French rings[81], [82], [83]
Moorish rings[82]
Bavarian peasant’s ring[84]
Thumb-rings[89], [90], [139]
Divination-rings[101], [102]
Roman amulet-rings[104], [105], [107]
Astrological ring[108]
Zodiacal ring[110]
Amulet rings[126], [138], [141], [151], [152]
Charm-rings[133], [153]
Talismanic rings[134], [135], [136]
Cabalistic rings[139], [147]
Mystical rings[140]
Rings of the Magi[143]
Rings with mottoes, worn as medicaments[148]
Rings, Runic[150]
Toadstone rings[157], [158]
Cramp rings[163], [165]
Serjeant’s ring[190]
Ring of the ‘Beef Steak’ Club[193]
The Fisherman’s Ring[199]
Ring of Thierry, Bishop of Verdun[204]
Ring of Pope Pius II.[206]
Papal rings[208]
Episcopal rings[217], [226], [230], [231]
Episcopal thumb-ring[219]
Ring of Archbishop Sewall[225]
Ring of Archbishop Greenfield[225]
Ring of Bishop Stanbery[226]
Decade ring with figure of St. Catherine (?)[249]
Decade thumb-ring[249]
Silver decade ring[250]
Decade ring found near Croydon[250]
Decade signet-ring[251]
Decade rings[251], [252]
Decade ring of Delhi work[253]
Trinity ring[254]
Religious rings[254], [255], [256], [260], [261], [262], [263]
‘Paradise’ rings[257]
Reliquary ring[257]
Early Christian rings[258], [259], [268], [269], [270], [271], [272], [273]
Ecclesiastical ring[264]
Pilgrim ring[264]
Roman key-rings[294]
Hebrew marriage and betrothal rings[299], [300], [302]
Byzantine ring[304]
Betrothal ring[307]
Half of broken betrothal ring[309]
Jointed betrothal ring[314]
Gemmel ring, found at Horselydown[316]
Ring with representation of Lucretia[318]
Wedding-ring of Sir Thomas Gresham[319]
Gemmel ring[319]
‘Claddugh’ ring[320]
Betrothal ring with sacred inscription[321]
Devices on wedding rings[322]
The ‘Devereux’ ring[338]
The ‘Essex’ ring[342]
Old mourning ring[360]
Memorial rings, Charles I.[366], [367], [370]
Royalist memorial ring[370]
Memorial and mortuary rings[373]
Squared-work diamond ring found in Ireland[380]
Mortuary rings at Mayence[381], [382]
Gold rings from Etruscan sepulchres[383]
Ring found at Amiens[383]
Ring found in the tomb of William Rufus, Winchester Cathedral[385]
Ring discovered in Winchester Cathedral[385]
Ring of Childeric[386]
Motto and device rings[390], [406]
Posy-ring[391], [417]
Inscription rings[410], [411], [412], [417]
New Year’s gift ring[421], [422]
Poison-rings[433]
Dial-rings[452], [453]
Signet-ring of Mary, Queen of Scots, and the Darnley ring[460]
Supposed ring of Roger, King of Sicily[465]
The Worsley seal-ring[467]
Ring of Saint Louis[469]
Ring-devices of the Medici family[472], [473]
Ring found at Kenilworth Castle[474]
Heraldic ring[481]
Martin Luther’s betrothal and marriage rings[481], [482], [483]
Shakspeare’s ring (?)[484]
Initials of Sir Thomas Lucy, at Charlecote Hall[486]
Ivory-turned rings[488]
Squirt ring[494]

FINGER-RING LORE.

CHAPTER I.

RINGS FROM THE EARLIEST PERIOD.

The use of signet-rings as symbols of great respect and authority is mentioned in several parts of the Holy Scriptures, from which it would seem that they were then common among persons of rank. They were sometimes wholly of metal, but frequently the inscription was borne on a stone, set in gold or silver. The impression from the signet-ring of a monarch gave the force of a royal decree to any instrument to which it was attached. Hence the delivery or transfer of it gave the power of using the royal name, and created the highest office in the State. In Genesis (xli. 42) we find that Joseph had conferred upon him the royal signet as an insignia of authority.[1] Thus Ahasuerus transferred his authority to Haman (Esther iii. 12). The ring was also used as a pledge for the performance of a promise: Judah promised to send Tamar, his daughter-in-law, a kid from his flock, and for fulfilment left with her (at her desire) his signet, his bracelet, and his staff (Genesis xxxviii. 17, 18).

Darius sealed with his ring the mouth of the den of lions (Daniel vi. 17). Queen Jezebel, to destroy Naboth, made use of the ring of Ahab, King of the Israelites, her husband, to seal the counterfeit letters ordering the death of that unfortunate man.