If your correspondents on this subject will refer to the first volume of
_Kalendars and Inventories of his Majesty's Exchequer_, published by the
Commissioners of Public Records, they will find in the Introduction,
written by Sir Francis Palgrave, at page cxlvii., a fac-simile
representation of a letter upon paper from James IV. of Scotland to Henry
VII., dated July 12, 1502, showing the seal encircled by a rush ring. At
page cxxxvii. it is stated that in the fifteenth century a rush ring
surrounding the fragile wax was not unfrequently used for the purpose of
preserving it.