ON THE ORIGIN AND SUPERSTITIOUS INFLUENCE OP RINGS.
The ancient magicians, among other pretended extraordinary powers of
accomplishing wonderful things by their superior knowledge of the secret
powers of nature, of the virtues of plants and minerals, and of the
motions and influence of the stars, attached no small degree of mystic
importance to rings, the origin of which, their matter and uses,
together with the supposed virtues of the stones set in them, afford a
subject squaring so much with our design, and so deserving of notice
from the curious, that no apology need be made for discoursing on them.
According to the accounts of the heathen mythologists, Prometheus, who,
in the first times, had discovered a great number of secrets, having
been delivered from the charms, by which he was fastened to mount
Caucasus for stealing fire from heaven, in memory or acknowledgment of
the favour he received from Jupiter, made himself of one of those
chains, a ring, in whose collet he represented the figure of part of the
rock where he had been detained--or rather, as Pliny says, set it in a
bit of the same rock, and put it on his finger. This was the first ring
and the first stone. But we otherwise learn, that the use of rings is
very ancient, and the Egyptians were the first inventors of them; which
seems confirmed by the person of Joseph, who, as we read (Genesis, chap,
xi.) for having interpreted Pharoah's dream, received not only his
liberty, but was rewarded with his prince's ring, a collar of gold, and
the superintendancy of Egypt.
Josephus, in the third book of Jewish antiquities says, the Israelites
had the use of them after passing the Red Sea, because Moses at his
return from Mount Sinai, found that they had forged the golden calf from
their wives' rings, enriched with precious stones. The same Moses,
upwards of 400 years before the wars of Troy, permitted the priests he
had established, the use of gold rings, enriched with precious stones.
The high priest wore upon his ephod, which was a kind of camail, rich
rings, that served as clasps; a large emerald was set and engraved with
mysterious names. The ring he wore on his finger was of inestimable
value and celestial virtue. Had not Aaron, the high priest of the
Hebrews, a ring on his finger, whereof the diamond, by its virtues,
operated prodigious things? For it changed its vivid lustre into a dark
colour, when the Hebrews were to be punished by death for their sins.
When they were to fall by the sword it appeared of a blood colour; if
they were innocent it sparkled as usual.
It is observable that the ancient Hebrews used rings even in the time of
the wars of Troy. Queen Jezebel, to destroy Nabath, as it is related in
the first Book of Kings, made use of the ring of Ahab, King of the
Israelites, her husband, to seal the counterfeit letters that ordered
the death of that unfortunate man. Did not Judah, as mentioned in the
38th chapter of Genesis, abuse his daughter-in-law, Thamar, who had
disguised herself, by giving her his ring and bracelets, as a pledge of
the faith he had promised her?
Though Homer is silent in regard to rings, both in his Iliad and
Odyssey, they were, notwithstanding, used in the time of the Greeks and
Trojans; and from them they were received by several other nations. The
Lacedemonians, as related by Alexander, ab. Alexandro, pursuant to the
orders of their king, Lycurgus, had only iron rings, despising those of
gold; either their king was thereby willing to retrench luxury, or to
prohibit the use of them.
The ring was reputed, by some nations, a symbol of liberality, esteem,
and friendship, particularly among the Persians, none being permitted to
wear any, except they were given by the king himself. This is what may
also be remarked in the person of Apollonius Thyaneus, as a token of
singular esteem and liberality, received one from the great Iarchas,
prince of the Gymnosophists, who were the ancient priests of India and
dwelt in forests, as our ancient bards and druids, where they applied
themselves to the study of wisdom, and to the speculation of the heaven
and stars. This philosopher, by the means of that ring, learned every
day the secrets of nature.
Though the ring found by Gyges, shepherd to the King of Lydia, has more
of fable than of truth in it, it will not, however, be amiss, to relate
what is said concerning Herodotus, Coelius, after Plato and Cicero, in
the third book of his Offices. This Gyges, after a great flood, passed
into a very deep cavity in the earth, where having found in the belly of
a brazen horse, with a large aperture in it, a human body of enormous
size, he pulled from off one of the fingers a ring of surprising virtue;
for the stone on the collet rendered him who wore it invisible, when the
collet was turned towards the palm of the hand, so that the party could
see, without being seen, all manner of persons and things. Gyges, having
made trial of its efficacy, bethought himself that it would be a means
for ascending the throne of Lydia, and for gaining the Queen by it. He
succeeded in his designs, having killed Candaules, her husband. The dead
body this ring belonged to was that of an ancient Brahman, who, in his
time, was chief of that sect.
The rings of the ancients often served for seals. Alexander the Great,
after the death and defeat of Darius, used his ring for sealing the
letters he sent into Asia, and his own for those he sent to Europe. It
is customary in Rome for the bridegroom to send the bride, before
marriage, a ring of iron, without either stone or collet, to denote how
lasting their union ought to be, and the frugality they were to observe
together; but luxury herein soon gained ground, and there was a
necessity for moderating it. Caius Marius did not wear one of gold till
his third consulship; and Tiberius, as Suetonius says, made some
regulations in the authority of wearing rings; for, besides the liberty
of birth, he required a considerable revenue, both on the father and
grandfather's side.
In a Polyglot dictionary, published in the year 1625, by John Minshew,
our attention was attracted by the following observations, under the
article "RINGFINGER.--Vetus versiculus singulis digitis Annulum trebuens
Miles. Mercator. Stultus. Maritus. Amator. Pollici adscribitur Militi,
seu Doctor. Mercatorem á pollice secundum, stultorum, tertium. Nuptorum
vel studiosorum quartum. Amatorum ultimum."
By which it appears, that the fingers on which annuli were anciently
worn were directed by the calling, or peculiarity of the party. Were it
A soldier, or doctor, to him was assigned the thumb.
A sailor, the finger next the thumb.
A fool, the middle finger.
A married or diligent person, the fourth or ring finger.
A lover, the last or little finger.
The medicinal or curative power of rings are numerous and, as a matter
of course, founded on imaginary qualities. Thus the wedding ring rubbing
upon that little abscess called the stye, which is frequently seen on
the tarsi of the eyes, is said to remove it. Certain rings are worn as
talismans, either on the fingers or suspended from the neck; the
efficacy of which may be referred to the effects usually produced by
these charms.