146.]

[Illustration: Fig. 147.]

Inscriptions on rings became at this time very common, nor were they
confined to mystic or sacred words. Mottoes of love and gallantry were
frequent, as well as moral sentences, and those strictly heraldic. In
the curious inventory of the plate and jewels of the Duke of Anjou,
compiled about 1360, mention is made of a ring with a large square
emerald, surrounded by letters in black enamel. In "Archaeologia," vol.
xxxi., is a fine example of such an engraved ring. The representation is
copied in Fig. 146. It is a weighty ring of fine gold, and was found in
1823 at Thetford, in Suffolk. The device which appears upon this ring is
an eagle displayed; on the inner side is engraved a bird, with the wings
closed, apparently a falcon, with a crown upon its head. The following
poesy, or motto, commencing on the outer side, is continued on the
interior of the ring:--=deus me ouroge de bous senir a gree--com moun
couer desire=--"God work for me to make suit acceptably to you, as my
heart desires." The devices appear to be heraldic, and the motto that of
a lover, or a suitor to one in power. The eagle is the bearing of
several ancient Suffolk families; it was also a badge of the House of
Lancaster, and Thetford was one portion of the Duchy of Lancaster.

These mottoes, or "reasons," as they were sometimes termed, were
occasionally engraved in relief. Fig. 147 represents a specimen from the
Londesborough collection. It is of gold, and was found in the Thames.
The inscription upon it is--=sans bilinie=--"without baseness,"--a motto
that may have been adopted by some Bayard of the Middle Ages.

[Illustration: Fig. 148.]

[Illustration: Figs. 149 and 150.]

A very early ring, with an unusual pretty poesy, is in the collection of
J. Evans, Esq., F.S.A., and is engraved (Fig. 148). It is of gold, set
with a small sapphire, and is inscribed--IE. SVI ICI EN LI'V D'AMI--["I
am here in place of a friend]." It was probably made at the beginning of
the fourteenth century. Fig. 149 is chased with the Nortons' motto, "God
us ayde;" and Fig. 150 is inscribed withinside with the sentence,
"Mulier, viro subjecta esto." Both are works of the fifteenth century.

In Bromsgrove Church, Staffordshire, are the fine monumental effigies of
Sir Humphrey Stafford and his wife (1450), remarkable alike for the rich
armour of the knight and the courtly costume of the lady. She wears a
profusion of rings, every finger, e