S O N D
J M A M F J

[the letters in the lower row inverted]

_Inside_ the ring, opposite to these letters, are the following figures for
the hours:--

9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
12
3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

[the figures in the upper row inverted, the 12 sideways]

The small brass band was made movable that the ring-click might be properly
_set by the sun_ at stated periods, perhaps once a month.

The second sun-ring, which I bought in Stockholm in 1847, also "out of a
deal of old iron," is {53} smaller and much broader than the first, and is
perhaps a hundred years older; it is also more ornamented. Otherwise its
fashion is the same, the only difference being in the arrangement of the
inside figures, which are as follows:--

6 7 8 9 10 11
12
8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

[the figures in the lower row inverted]

The ring recovered by Mr. Knight evidently agrees with the above. I hope
Mr. K. will, sooner or later, present the curiosity to our national
museum,--which will be driven at last, if not by higher motives, by the
mere force of public opinion and public indignation, to form a regularly
arranged and grand collection of our own British antiquities in every
branch, secular and religious, from the earliest times, down through the
middle ages, to nearly our own days. Such an archaeological department could
count not only upon the assistance of the state, but upon rich and generous
contributions from British sources, individuals and private societies, at
home and abroad, as well as foreign help, at least in the way of exchange.
But any such plan must be _speedily_ and _well_ organised and _well
announced_!

I give the above details, not only because they relate to a passage in our
immortal bard, who has ennobled and perpetuated every word and fact in his
writings, but because they illustrate the astronomical antiquities of our
own country and our kindred tribes during many centuries. These sun-dials
are now very scarce, even in the high Scandinavian North, driven out as
they have been by the watch, in the same manner as the ancient clog[1] or
Rune-staff (the carved wooden perpetual almanac) has been extirpated by the
printed calendar, and now only exists in the cabinets of the curious. In
fifty years more sun-rings will probably be quite extinct throughout
Europe. I hope t