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upper compartment, foliage and fruit, in the next a knot, in a large space next succeeds the chequy, then a knot, beneath which, is the fillet with the inscription, treated of by the Prelate and Mr. Smith. The west front is the most ornamented, having the following sculptures: in the lowest compartment, well relieved, is the effigies1 of a person of some dignity, in a long robe to the feet, but without any dress or ornament on the head: it is greatly similar to the chief figure on the north front of Bridekirk font, as to the fashion of the garment; on a pedestal, against which this figure leans, is a bird, which, we conceive, is the raffen, or raven, the ensignia of the Danish standard. This figure seems designed to represent the personage for whom the monument was erected; and though accompanied with the raffen, bears no other marks of royal dignity. Above this figure is a long inscription, which has consisted of nine lines; Mr. Smith delineates the first three letters thus; IHN. The S, in many old inscriptions, is formed like an inverted Z, and sometimes that letter, in its proper form, is substituted. Late visitors, as well as we, have great doubt whether any such characters were ever legible. Great care was taken to copy the inscription, as it now appears; which may perhaps afford a new construction. Immediately above this inscription is the figure of a religious person, the garments descending to the feet, the head encircled with a nymbus, not now appearing radiated, but merely a circular rise of the stone; the right hand is elevated in a teaching posture, and the other hand holds a roll; a fold of the garment was mistaken by Mr. Armstrong, (who drew the monument, and had it engraved, through regard to the parish where he was born,) for a string of beads. We conceive this figure

[that of Christ] to represent St. Cuthbert, to whom the church, as Nicolson and Burn set forth, is dedicated. The upper figures Mr. Armstrong represented like a mitred ecclesiastic; but in that he was manifestly mistaken, the effigies being that of the holy virgin with the babe.1 There is no doubt that this was a place of sepulture, for on opening the ground on the east and west sides, above the depth of six feet, human bones were found of a large size, but much broken [87] and disturbed, together with several pieces of rusty iron. The ground had been broken up before, by persons who either searched for treasure, or, like us, laboured with curiosity.

Whether the chequers were designed or not for the arms of the family of Vaux, or de Vallibus, must be a matter of mere conjecture; we are inclined to think that armorial bearings were not in use at the same time with the Runic characters.... The reason given in bishop Nicholson's letter, is applicable to our conjectures on this monument, That the Danes were most numerous here, and least disturbed,' 2 which reconciles the mixture of Runic character in an inscription of the eleventh century, as in such desert and little frequented tracks, that the character might remain familiar both to the founder and the sculptor: where the Danes continued longest and least disturbed, their importations would also continue unaffected by other modes, which were gaining acceptation and progress, in more frequented and better peopled situations.

IX. HENRY HOWARD'S ACCOUNT, 1801.

[The volume of Archæologia containing this (Vol. 14) was published in 1803, but the paper, 'Observations on Bridekirk Font and on the Runic Column at Bewcastle, in Cumberland, by Henry Howard, Esq. in a Letter to George Nayler, Esq. York Herald, F. A. S.,' was read

May 14, 1801. The paper itself occupies pages 113-118 (our portion pp. 117-18), and the plate (considerably reduced) follows immediately.

Henry Howard (1757-1842), of Corby Castle, 4 miles southeast of Carlisle, spent the most of his life as a country gentleman and antiquary. The monument to the memory of his first wife (d. 1789), in Wetheral church, is the theme of two of Wordsworth's sonnets, Nos. 39 and 40 of the Itinerary Poems of 1833.]

Runic Column at Bewcastle.-Of this celebrated monument I have seen several engravings, none of them accurate; but I understand that Mr. de Cardonnel has published a faithful delineation; which, however, I have not had an opportunity of seeing. I send you the vestiges of the inscriptions, the result of two days employment on the spot.

The Runic Column, or Obelisk, stands a few feet from the church, within the precincts of an extensive Roman station, guarded by a double vallum. In one angle of this enclosure, a strong oblong building called Bueth Castle was raised at a later period, probably, from the form of the stones, out of the ruins of the Roman fort. The builder availed himself of the ancient foss for two sides of his castle, and cut off the connexion with the remainder by a new foss. There is no account of this castle, which is situated in the wildest part of the borders, having been inhabited since the reign of Henry the second. The Obelisk is from the hand of a better artist than the Font at Bridekirk. It is quadrangular, of one entire grey free stone, inserted in a larger blue stone, which serves

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