_The God Arciacon._--In a _Descriptive Account of the Antiquities in the
Grounds and in the Museum of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society_, drawn up
by the learned Curator of the antiquities, at page 20. I find the following
inscription and explanation:--
"N. III. An altar recently discovered in the rubble foundation, under
one of the pillars of the church of St. Dionis, Walmgate, York. It is
inscribed:
DEO
ARCIACON
ET N. AVG. SI
MAT. VITALIS
ORD V. S. LM.
Which may be read thus: DEO Arciacon et Numini Augusti Simatius Vitalis
Ordovix Votum solvit libens merito, _i.e._ To the God Arciacon and to
the Divinity of Augustus, Simatius Vitalis, one of the Ordovices,
discharges his vow willingly, deservedly--namely, by dedicating this
altar. There is nothing in this inscription to indicate its date, or
the Emperor to whose divinity, in part, the altar is dedicated. The god
Arciacon, whose name occurs in no other inscription, was probably one
of those local deities to whom the Roman legions were so prone to pay
religious reverence, especially if in the attributes ascribed to them
they bore any resemblance to the gods of their own country. If the
reading and interpretation of ORD be right, Vitalis was a Briton; and
Arciacon may have been a deity acknowledged by the Ordovices, who
occupied the northern parts of Wales."
In the name ARCIACON I fancy that I see in a Latinized form the British
words ARCH IACHAWR, _i.e._ the Supreme Healer. _Arch_ has the same meaning
in Welsh as it has in the English and several other languages. In
combination it is shortened to _Ar_, as in Yr Arglwdd Dduw, the Lord God.
My conjecture is, that the Britons may have worshipped a God whose
attributes resembled those of the Æsculapius of the Greeks. I hope that
some of the contributors to "N. & Q." will be so kind as to give some
information on this subject.
[Inverted hand symbol]
_Gat-tothed._--I do not know whether this mysterious word in the
description of the "Wife of Bath[3]," has been satisfactorily explained
since the time of Tyrwhitt; but perhaps the following passage may suggest a
new reading in addition to "cat-tothed" and "gap-tothed," which he gives in
his note on _Canterbury Tales_, p. 470.:
"The Doctor deriveth his pedigree from Grono ap Heylyn, who descended
from Brocknel Skythrac, one of the princes of Powis-land, in whose
family was ever observed that one of them had a _gag_-tooth, and the
same was a notable omen of good fortune."--Barnard's _Life of Heylyn_,
p. 75., reprinted in _Heyl. Hist. Ref._ Eccl. Hist. Soc., 1. xxxii.
Query, What was a _gag-tooth_? The "Wife" herself says,
"Gat-tothed I was, and that became my wele,
I hold the print of Seinte Venus sele."--6185-6.