If the owner of a garnet ring who was not an expert in precious stones wished to assure himself of the genuineness of his garnet, the following rather troublesome experiment was at his disposal. He was to disrobe, still wearing his ring, and then to have his body smeared with honey. This done, he was to lie down where flies or wasps were about. If in spite of the sweet temptation they failed to light on his body, this was a proof that the garnet was genuine, an added proof being that when he took off the garnet ring the insects would hasten to make up for lost time and suck up the honey.[558]
Jacinth as a ring-setting was said to preserve a traveller from all perils on his journey and to make him well received everywhere. Another merit was that he was protected against plague and pestilence, and would enjoy good sleep.[559] Certainly if this were true, the traveller could ask for no better amulet to bear about with him on his trip.
A toadstone set in an open ring, so that the stone could touch the skin, was thought to give notice of the presence of poison by producing a sensation of heat in the skin at the point of contact. A ring made out of narwhal tusk was believed to be an effective antidote to poisons. Apart from these materials, several precious or semi-precious stones, such as emeralds, agates, and also amber and coral, were assumed to be especially sensitive to the approach of poison, so much so that when worn suspended from the neck or set in rings, they would lose their natural color, thus giving timely warning to their wearers.[560]
The earliest notices of cramp rings are from entries made in the reign of Edward II (1307–1327), recording the Good Friday gifts of coins by the sovereign to the altar, the metal of which, or else an equivalent quantity of metal, was to be made up into rings. Although no cramp ring has been preserved—at least none concerning which there is any good evidence—it has been considered probable that it was a simple gold hoop. Its curative power was not connected with any image or inscription, but solely due to the magic effect of the royal blessing. Some old wills contain bequests of cramp rings, or what we may assume to have been such rings. Thus John Baret of Bury St. Edmunds, in his will dated in 1463, left a “rowund ryng of the Kynges silver,” that is of the silver coins of the royal offering; another bequest in the same will is that of a “crampe ryng with blak innamel, and a part of silver and gilt.” A few years later, in the reign of Henry VIII, Edmund Zee wills to his niece a “gold ryng with a turkes (turquoise) and a crampe ryng of gold.”[561]
At his coronation, Edward II of England offered at the high altar of Westminster Abbey a pound weight of gold, fashioned with “the likeness of a king holding a ring in his hand, to this was added a golden image weighing eight ounces (⅔ pound), representing a pilgrim stretching forth his hand to take the proffered ring.” The offering of a pound of gold has persisted down to modern times, although the later offerings have been in the form of plain ingots, while in medieval times the sovereign would have it formed into the saintly figure or figures to which he paid particular devotion, as Edward II did to St. Edward the Confessor.[562]
Massive gold ring engraved with the Wounds of Christ. A healing talisman; English; Fifteenth Century. Found at Coventry, 1802
British Museum
Edward the Confessor bestowing his ring upon the beggar. From a tile in the Chapter House at Westminster. Thirteenth Century