mask; it is framed by seventeen rubies. When the lid is raised
there appears beneath an oval, enameled with a heart, around
which is the motto: “_Pour vous seule_” (For you alone). The
interior of the lid is hollowed out to serve as a receptacle for
hair. On the ribbon-like hoop is the inscription: “_Sous le
masque la vérité_” (Beneath the mask is truth). About 1800.
Formerly belonged to the great Viennese tragic actress Charlotte
Wolter.]
A type of ring of occasional use, not distantly related to the wedding
ring, comprises the so-called “pacifying,” or teething rings, generally
made of ivory, rubber or celluloid, and large enough for one or two
fingers of a child. Diagonally on the hoop is a flat, circular piece of
the same material as that of which the ring is made, and which prevents
it from slipping into the mouth of the child. Upon this flat piece is
mounted a small bit of rubber or ivory for the child to suck or bite
upon, to develop its teeth, or at least to keep it quiet.
What might be called a “Latitude and Longitude Ring,” would be an
attractive memento of engagement and marriage. There would be a narrow
band showing, around it, a degree of latitude marked with longitudes,
and having a small star at the place where the parties became engaged,
and a double star at the spot where they were married.
A few appropriate inscriptions on modern engagement rings are as
follows: “Our engagement”; “My love to thine”; “To her who merits all
my love”; “To my Pet”; “To my ‘Chiquita’ from Bill,” this last in
Spanish. In a more serious vein we have: “Time-Eternity,” and “Perfect
love casteth out fear.” Occasionally there is a note of sadness, as
appears in the inscription: “Faithful, but unhappy.” A ring bearing the
words “Stick to me, my darling” may show that the fiancé was a trifle
distrustful of his lady love’s constancy; another who sets in his ring
“Firm and True” makes us infer that he had more faith. The three words
“Bessie sweet sixteen” show that early engagements sometimes occur
even in our sophisticated age. On ornaments other than rings, bestowed
in connection with either engagement or marriage, we read: “My heart I
take not back from thee. H. B. L.” and “Thine own wish, wish I thee. A.
B. T. & R. V. P.” A curious inscription runs: “A nasty cold face and
metal eye,” and we have: “For my sake wear this, it is a manacle of
love.” Modern wedding rings are often inscribed with pious sentiments,
such, for instance, as: “All for Jesus”; “Each for the other, both for
God”; “Our unity is Christ”; “Mercifully ordain that we may grow old
together”; “In Christ and in Thee my comfort shall be”; “God gave thee
to me”; “Through weal and through woe, to each other on earth, to God
in Heaven. Always true to Bertha.” A somewhat philosophic sentiment
appears in the words: “Ultimate Good, not present pleasure.” Latin
inscriptions are now quite rare, but here is one: “Si Deus nobiscum,
quis contra nos?” (If God be with us, who can be against us?)
In other cases the legend is more worldly: “Love for Love” and “He that
taketh a wife hath a good thing.” Let us hope that this optimist was
not mistaken in his confidence. Another bridegroom declares that he, at
least, has a “good thing,” for he places in his ring the simple motto:
“Carrie suits.” If she suits him, that is enough. Lastly, we have the
most satisfactory inscription of all, since it testifies to the result
of one fortunate experiment; this reads: “In token of 30 years fidelity
as Wife and Mother.”
The use of a diamond ring for betrothals seems to have been general
toward the end of the fifteenth century, for royal personages at least,
to judge from a letter written from Ghent on July 30, 1477, by Dr.
Wilhelm Moroltinger to Archduke (later Emperor) Maximilian, just before
his betrothal to Mary of Burgundy, daughter of Charles the Bold. This
letter runs: “At the betrothal your Grace must have a ring set with a
diamond and also a gold ring. Moreover, in the morning your Grace must
bestow upon the bride some costly jewels.”[392]
From time immemorial we have had wedding-rings, but it seems that
in view of the great number of divorces now granted we might well
introduce the custom of giving “divorce-rings,” for at no time in the
history of the Christian world have there been more divorces than at
the present day. This divorce-ring might be differentiated from the
old-fashioned wedding-ring by substituting the inscription A B C _from_
D B F for A B C _and_ D E F.
A novel idea in divorce-rings is reported from Chicago, where a
fashionable divorcée had her wedding-ring made smaller so that she
could wear it on the little finger of her left hand as a divorce-ring.
However, we fear that if this idea should be generally adopted, the
little finger would scarcely offer room for the series of rings that
some of our theatrical stars would have to wear. Perhaps in some cases
this wearing of the wedding-ring, even in a modified form, after a
divorce, might be intended to indicate that the old love had not wholly
vanished, and that some day those who had been put asunder could be
rejoined, as occasionally happens now-a-days.
At weddings in Tunis, the Arabs have the custom of placing the
wedding-ring upon the first finger of the left hand, and the finger
and toe-nails of the bride receive an especially rich coloring of
henna on this occasion, staining them a deep red; her eyebrows also are
heavily pencilled and joined across the nose so that they form a single
bar over the eyes. In order to make the home-coming as auspicious as
possible, a gilded pair of horns are set above the portal of the house,
along with the favorite charm known as “the hand of Fatima,” believed
to afford safety from the malign influence of the Evil Eye, so much
dreaded in the East and in some Occidental lands also.[393]
An interesting incident in which a ring plays an important part is
related in connection with the visit of Secretary, afterward President
Taft, accompanied by a number of prominent Americans, to the Sulu
Islands a few years ago. Mrs. Longworth, then Miss Alice Roosevelt, was
one of the party, and the Sultan of Sulu, Jamalul Kiram II, expressed a
great desire to be introduced to her. The favor was readily accorded,
and on the day set for the interview the Sultan and several Sulu
dattos, or chiefs, duly presented themselves. One of the dattos was a
mortal enemy of the Sultan, but naturally on this occasion all personal
or political feuds were forgotten for the time being. After the Sultan
had been presented to Miss Roosevelt, came the turn of the rebellious
datto, who approached the sprightly young American girl, greeted
her, and presented to her a native pearl of great beauty, which was
graciously accepted.
The chagrin of the Sultan may easily be imagined, for he had forgotten
to provide himself with a suitable gift, and now his mortal enemy
was basking in the sunshine of favor, while he himself, the lord
paramount, was neglected. Suddenly his eye fell upon a ring set with
a magnificent pearl which he wore on his left hand. He immediately
took off this ring, and again approaching Miss Roosevelt, gave it to
her. As the Sultan’s pearl far exceeded in beauty and value that given
by the datto, the former’s dignity was cleared of all reproach and
the situation was saved. A curious sequel to this incident was the
circulation of a report in the press to the effect that the Sultan of
Sulu had made an offer of marriage to Miss Roosevelt. This proved how
closely the gift of a ring is associated with the idea of engagement or
marriage.
A Pennsylvania (U. S. A.) court has been called upon to decide whether
the gift of an engagement ring bestowed by a man just prior to a
declaration of bankruptcy, should be looked upon as a transfer of
assets to the prejudice of the creditors. The fact that in this case
the fair recipient of the ring was a jeweller’s daughter might be
thought to render it likely that this particular engagement ring was of
substantial intrinsic value. The court reserved its decision.
A choice of pretty “posies” for rings was offered to seventeenth
century readers in a London publication entitled “Love’s Garland; or
Posies for Rings, Handkerchiefs and Gloves, and Such Pretty Tokens as
Lovers Send Their Loves.” Unyielding constancy found expression in the
couplets:
Where once I choose
I ne’er refuse.
Hearts content
Can ne’er repent.
Another verse makes a very modest claim for an expression of gratitude
on the part of the recipient:
The sight of this
Deserves a kiss.
The warmth of reciprocated love is thus asserted:
In thee a flame
In me the same.
Another lover wishes to proclaim that his love will rise superior to
all offenses:
No bitter smart
Can change my heart.
A more serious and trusting posy runs:
To me till death
As dear as breath.
A ring mentioned in an old English record dating from 1473, offers
apparently an early example of a so-called “posy” ring. It is here
termed a “hope rynge with scrytorio” (inscription); this, together with
a brooch adorned with the figure of a “jyntylle woman,” was pledged
with a certain Richard Walker to secure a small loan of £4 8d.[394]
A good example of a “ring posie” is given by Ben Jonson in his play
“The Magnetic Lady, or Humours Reconciled,” first licensed for
performance in 1632, during the reign of Charles I, and but five years
before Jonson’s death. Here, when bride and groom come before the
parson to be wedded, he asks the bridegroom:
Have you a wedding ring?
To which the latter replies:
Ay, and a posie:
Annulus hic nobis, quod sic uterque, dabit.
This the parson quickly renders as follows:
This ring will give you what you both desire;
I’ll make the whole house shout it, and the parish.
On other pages a number of characteristic and striking
ring-inscriptions are given, but in view of the wide range of these
“posies” (poesies) and mottoes, a fairly full list of them, compiled
from various sources, may be of interest here.[395] The French mottoes
are nearly all in Old French, and the English spellings of those of the
seventeenth century are delightfully irregular.
[Illustration: PORTRAIT OF YOUNG WOMAN. DUTCH SCHOOL
Large rings on little finders of right and left hands; large ring
on third joint of left-hand fourth finger, and smaller one on
second joint of the same finger; plain gold ring (wedding ring?)
on fourth finger of left hand
Kaiserliche Gemälde-Galerie, Vienna]
[Illustration: PORTRAIT OF A MAN, BY THE ARTIST KNOWN AS THE
“MASTER OF THE DEATH OF MARY,” FROM HIS MOST NOTED PICTURE
Rings on index and little fingers of right hand
Königliche Gemälde-Galerie, Cassel]
Till death divide.
_Nemo nisi mors._
(No one but Death).
_Tout pour bein feyre._
(All to do well).
_In bone fay._
(In good faith).
_Sans mal desyr._
(Without evil wish).
_Amor vincit om._
(Love conquers all things).
Till my life’s end.
_Erunt duo in carne una._
(They shall be two in one flesh).
_Semper amemus._
(May we love forever).
In Christ and thee my comfort be.
_Honeur et joye._
(Honor and joy).
Let reason rule affection.
God continue to love us.
_Mon cur avez._
(You have my heart).
_Deux corps ung cuer._
(Two bodies and one heart).
_Amour et constance._
(Love and constancy).
God unite our hearts aright.
Knit in one by Christ alone.
God’s providence is our inheritance.
Our contract was heaven’s act.
In thee, my choice, do I rejoice.
God above increase our love.
My heart and I, until I dye.
Not two, but one, till life be gone.
When this you see, remember me.
Julia is mine own peculiar.
I cannot show the love I O.
We strangely met, and so do many,
But now as true as ever any. 1658.
As we begun, so let’s continue.
My beloved is mine, and I am hers.
True blue will never stain. 1653.
Against thou goest, I will provide another. 1658.
In loving thee, I love myself. 1658.
Let him never take a wife,
That will not love her as his life.
A heart content cannot repent.
I do not repent I gave consent.
No gift can show the love I owe.
What the heart saw the love hath chosen.
Love one little, but love one long.
Love him who gave thee this ring of gold,
’Tis he must kiss thee when thou art old.
This circle, though but small about,
The devil, jealousy, will keep out.
If I think my wife is fair,
What need other people care? 1653.
God’s appointment is my contentment.
Love, I like thee; sweet, requite me.
With heart and hand at your command.
My heart in silence speaks to thee,
Though absence barrs tongue’s liberty.
Faithful ever: deceitful never.
I like, I love as turtle dove.
As gold is pure, so love is sure.
Despise not mee: y^t joyes in thee.
If you deny, then sure I dye.
Your right is my delight.
As true, bee just.
No better smart shall change my heart.
This ring is a token I give to thee,
That thou no tokens do change for me.
My dearest Betty is good and pretty. 1658.
I did commit no act of folly,
When I married my sweet Molly. 1658.
’Tis fit no man should be alone,
Which made Tom to marry Joan. 1658.
Sue is bonny, blythe, and brown;
This ring hath made her now my own. 1658.
Like Phillis there is none:
She truly loves her Choridon. 1658.
My life is done when thou art gone. 1653.
This hath no end, my sweetest friend:
Our loves be so, no ending know.
God send her me my wife to be.
As God decreed so we agreed.
Take hand and heart, I’ll ne’er depart.
Love and dye in constancy.
A virtuous wife that serveth life.
As long as life y^r loving wife.
I will be yours while breath endures.
Love is sure where faith is pure.
A virtuous wife doth banish strife.
God did forsee we should agree.
Love me, and be happy.
None can prevent the Lord’s intent.
Virtue surpasses riches.
Let virtue rest within thy breast.
Time lesseneth not my love.
Joye without end.
Let lykinge last.
This and giver are thine for ever.
Think on mee.
Let love increase.
Thou art my star, be not irregular. 1653.[396]
Without thy love I backward move. 1613.
Thine eyes so bright are my chief delight. 1653.
This intimates true lovers’ states. 1653.
Thou wert not handsome, wise, but rich;
’Twas that which did my eyes bewitch. 1658.[397]
As we begun, so let’s continue. 1658.
What the eye saw the heart hath chosen. 1658.
More faithful than fortunate. 1658.
Constancy and heaven are round,
And in this the emblem’s found.
As God hath knit our hearts in one,
Let nothing part but death alone.
God our love continue ever,
That we in heaven may live together.
Weare me out, love shall not waste,
Love beyond lyvie still is placed.
Weare this text, and when you looke
Uppon your finger, sweare by th’ booke.
There is no other, and I am he,
That loves no other, and thou art she.
Eye doth find, heart doth choose,
Faith doth bind, death doth loose.
As God hath made my chyce in thee,
So move thy heart to comfort me.
God y^t hath kept thy heart for mee,
Grant that our love may faithful bee.
Fear ye the Lord then rest content,
So shall we live and not repent.
Divinely knit by grace are wee,
Late two, now one, ye pledge here see. 1657.
Breake not thy vow to please the eye,
But keepe thy love, so live and dye.
Love thy chast wife beyond thy life. 1601.
I love the rod and thee and God. 1646.
Pray to love; love to pray. 1649.
More weare--more wear. 1652.
Endless as this shall be our bliss. 1719.
Be truly wise lest death surprise.
Live in love and fear the Lord.
Godly love will not remove.
United hearts death only partes.
You and I will lovers die.
We joyn our love in Christ above.
God gives increase to love and peace.
God did decree our unitie.
Heart content cannot repent.
Live, love, and be happie.
Noe heart more true than mine to you.
In thee I find content of mind.
A blessing we do hope to see.
In love divine we love to joine.
Hearts united live contented.
In love and joy I will live and die.
In thy breast my heart shall rest.
The love is true that I.O.U.
My love is fixed I will not range.
I like my choice too well to change.
This is the thing I wish to win.
My promise past shall ever last.
Well projected if accepted.
God thought fit this knott to knitt.
Thy Desart hath won my heart.
True love is the bond of peace.
Let our contest be who loves best.
Thine eyes so bright are my chief delight.
Our loves be so no ending know.
My pledge I prove of mutuall love.
Gift and giver, your servants ever.
_Lel ami avet._
(Thou hast a loyal friend).
Remember Him who died for thee,
And after that remember me.
Take hand and heart, ile ne’er depart.
Breake not thy vow to please the eye,
But keepe thy love, so live and dye.
I will be yours while breath endures.
I am sent to salute you from a faithfull friend.
This and my heart.
Too light to requite.
Your sight, my delight.
For a kiss, take this.
My heart you have and yours I crave.
The want of thee is grief to mee.
_Privata di te moriró._
(Deprived of thee I shall die).
_Mon esprit est partout,
Mon cœur est avec vous._
(My mind is everywhere,
My heart is with you).
Faithfull ever, deceitfull never.
God’s blessing be on thee and me.
Love him in heart whose joy thou art.
A loving wife prolongeth life.
Desire hath set my heart on fire.
Both or neither, chuse you whether.
Parting is vayne when love doth remayne.
I fancy none but thee alone.
God sent her me my wife to be.
This is your will, to save or kill.
If you deny, then sure I dye.
Your sight, my delight.
Joyfull love this ring do prove.
In thee I prove the joy of love.
Silence ends strife with man and wife.
This ring doth binde body and minde.
Death never parts such loving hearts.
Body and mind in thee I finde.
Ryches be unstable
And beauty will dekay,
But faithful love will ever last
Till death dryve it away.
One of those posies might seem to refer covertly to the length of the
foregoing list:
This hath no end, my sweetest friend. 1653.
[Illustration: SOME RINGS IN THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, BOSTON
1, silver and gilt; pierced with scrolls and the “Little Monk” of
Munich. Modern. Bavarian. 2, Tyrolese. Peasant’s engagement ring
of silver with design of two hearts and scrolls. 3, French (?).
Said to have belonged to a collateral branch of the Montmorency
family. Gold, large garnet with emerald each side; the crown
composed of pearls and small diamonds. Bought in London. 4,
Chinese ornament. 5, heavy silver, set with malachite. 6, Chinese
ornament. 7, Italian (?). Peasant’s engagement ring of silver.
8, Italian. Gold, set with a turquoise, a horse’s head in white
enamel at either side. 9, Tyrolese. Silver, set with a chamois
tooth for good luck. 10, French. Bishop’s ring of gold and
silver. Enameled bezel set with an almandine and diamonds. Bought
in Geneva. 11, Italian. Sixteenth Century style. Gold set with a
garnet. 12, Italian (?). Silver, set with a large crystal (?).
Black and white enamel on bezel. 13, Italian. Gold, set with a
cluster of red and green stones alternating; a crystal in the
centre. 14, gilt, set with red glass (?). 15, bronze, decoration
in relief. 16, Italian. Gold set with turquoises. 17, French (?).
Gold, set with a brilliant. 18, Laplandish. Silver-gilt with
pierced design.]
[Illustration: JACQUES GUAY, COURT GEM ENGRAVER OF LOUIS XV,
ENGRAVING GEMS IN HIS WORKROOM AT THE LOUVRE
Mariette, “Traité des Pierres Gravées,” Paris, 1750]
The sacred and peculiar quality of a ring that has been given to a man
by his wife as a memorial of marriage is expressed in strong terms in
Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice (Act v, sc. 1). One of these rings
was given by Nerissa to Gratiano, the other by Portia to Bassanio.
When Gratiano is charged with having parted with his ring, he defends
himself by making light of it but is rebuked for this by Nerissa. The
verses run as follows:
Gratiano: ... a hoop of gold, a paltry ring
That she did give me, whose posy was
For all the world like cutler’s poetry
Upon a knife, “Love me, and leave me not.”
Nerissa: What talk you of the posy or the value?
You swore to me, when I did give it you,
That you would wear it till your hour of death,
And that it should be with you in your grave.
Portia, joining in Nerissa’s feigned rebuke, says:
You are to blame, I must be plain with you,
To part so lightly with your wife’s first gift;
A thing stuck on with oaths upon your finger
And so riveted with faith unto your flesh.
I gave my love a ring and made him swear
Never to part with it; and here he stands;
I dare be sworn for him he would not leave it,
Nor pluck it from his finger, for the wealth
That the world masters.
Bassanio, however, is forced to confess that he, too, has relinquished
his ring. Of course, as all readers of Shakespeare know, both Portia
and Nerissa have these rings in their own possession, since they
themselves were, in disguise, the judge and the clerk to whom Bassanio
and Gratiano unwillingly yielded them.
While the finger-ring was known to the Chinese from a very early
period, it never seems to have enjoyed great favor with them. According
to primitive court etiquette in that land, the Emperor’s “leading
lady”--for the time being--had to wear a silver ring at court. In case
she presented her sovereign with a descendant, she was rewarded by the
gift of a gold ring, which she wore on one of the fingers of her left
hand. About the mid-period of the Han dynasty (206 B.C.-221
A.D.) nephrite (jade) rings were known as well as those with
stone setting but they were only rarely used as ornaments.[398]
VI
THE RELIGIOUS USE OF RINGS
The adornment of rings with religious emblems, and their use as
insignia of office for the higher ecclesiastics and for the priests
of the ancient ethnic religions will be considered in the present
chapter. Of special interest are the rings used by Roman Catholic
popes, cardinals and bishops, the usage in this direction having varied
considerably in the different periods. With regard to the engravings on
many ancient rings it may often be difficult, however, to know whether
a religious symbol, or the conventional figure of a divinity, has been
used in a strictly religious sense, or merely for ornamental purposes.
The employment of rings as religious symbols is often bound up with
their use in some other way, as in the case of many seal rings for
instance. This was undoubtedly the case with a large number of the
ancient rings noted in earlier chapters. Here we have endeavored to
group together those which were more exclusively religious in their
character, the ecclesiastical rings, especially those worn by Roman
Catholic popes, cardinals and bishops, constituting of course a large
part of these. A very few examples will serve as brief illustrations of
the religious use of rings in pagan times.
There is in the Louvre, among the Egyptian antiquities, a gold ring
engraved with figures of two horses. The symbol of the Sun-God which it
bears is believed to signify the gratitude of Rameses II--to whom this
ring is attributed--for the aid of the divinity in securing the king’s
victory over the Khetas in one of his Asiatic campaigns. Unquestionably
many of the engraved scarabs set in Egyptian rings had a specifically
religious significance, and the same is true of the engravings on the
chatons of gold rings, as, for example, in the case of that worn by the
priest in charge of the Pyramid of Cheops (Khufu). Some of these have
already been described in the chapter on signets, the essential use
of these rings being for sealing. In many other cases the presence of
a divine name as a component of the royal name, or in a royal title,
probably had not much more of a distinctly religious meaning than the
“Dei Gratia” on the coins of European rulers.
The rings worn by the high priests of Jupiter (flamines Diales),
who had, ex-officio, the rank of senators, were made hollow and of
openwork. This particular form is said to have been chosen for mystic
and symbolic reasons, as showing that everything indicating hardness or
severity, the restriction of liberty, or arduous labor, was to be held
aloof from this flamen, who, with those of Mars and Quirinus (Romulus),
belonged to the group of greater priests selected from the patrician
order.[399] The conjecture that we should seek here the origin of
Christian episcopal rings is very far-fetched, the general symbolism of
the ring as an emblem of eternity, and its bestowal as a mark of rank,
having been probably sufficient determining factors.