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from a Roman form: while the two following may be assigned to some

Two-thirds the actual size.

centuries later, probably so late as the ninth or tenth; and to the same period may be referred an exceedingly rare shoe, found in a bog at

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Carrigallen. It affords a striking and elegant contrast to the rude, clumsy-looking foot-tire of the native taste and fashion.

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The class under which come animal materials, in which these objects are given, includes textile fabrics of various kinds, which, in Mr. Wilde's hands, are arranged and described so as to form a good basis and indication for the study of Irish clothing and costume. Having spoken of skin, leather, and hair-coverings, he proceeds to woollen material and manufacture; and after touching on the sources which supply information on the subject, observes :

"We possess unmistakable evidence of our native population having adopted particular colours, of which deep yellow (croch), styled by English writers 'saffron,' was the most prominent; and so national, that enactments were made to limit the extent of some garments, and to prohibit altogether the adoption of others dyed this colour. The Four Masters, and also the Clonmacnoise Annalists, attribute the

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art of dyeing party-coloured clothes (the latter say purple, blue, and green) to King Tighearnmas, whose reign extended from A.M. 3580 to 3656. And in the first of these authorities it is stated, under the year of the world 3664, that his immediate successor, King Eochaidh, was surnamed Eadghadhach, because it was by him the variety of colour was first put on clothes [no doubt woollen] in Ireland, to distinguish the honour of each by his garment, from the lowest to the highest. Thus was the distinction made between them: one colour in the clothes of slaves; two in the clothes of soldiers; three in the clothes of goodly heroes, or young lords of territories; six in the clothes of ollavs, (professors); seven in the clothes of kings or queens.' In a MS., H. 2, 18, in Trinity College, it is added to the foregoing, that all colours were used in the dress of a bishop. That there was a tartan, or plaid, like that used by the Highlanders of Scotland, there is undoubted proof in the remains of costume preserved in this collection. It appears to have been black and yellow, or 'saffron colour;' and probably each clan possessed a characteristic colour, and a plaid, as well as a special dress.-If we seek for documentary evidence before the period of the Anglo-Norman invasion, the earliest accessible authority upon the subject of costume is the Book of Rights.' There, among the tributes paid by the different states or kingdoms of the Irish Pentarchy, we read of the cloak or brat, the outer garment, of which the following varieties are specified:-A thousand cloaks not white, speckled cloaks, cloaks with white borders, red cloaks, blue cloaks, royal cloaks, green cloaks, purple cloaks, cloaks with golden borders, &c. The cochall, hooded cloak, or cowl, is seldom mentioned among these tributes."

This class concludes with some figured examples of bones covered with carvings, some of which were procured from crannoges. These carvings are patterns of grotesque animals, interwoven vermicular work, and other ornaments well known in Saxon works of art. Very similar carved bones were found in the excavations made in London, some of which are now in the British Museum. It is not improbable that, unless they may be considered as the amusement or practice of artists, they were patterns for artisans to work by: being in bone they would be portable, and not liable to be broken.

The metallic materials constitute the fifth class, the most numerous and important in the collection. By Mr. Wilde's arrangement, the numerous divisions comprised in it are all seen clearly and distinctly; and the student is left free to give them his own interpretation as regards chronology and parentage. We cannot but consider this arrangement far better than that of limiting the stone to one period, the bronze to another, and the iron to a third and late period. As the author remarks, the adoption of metal was not likely to have been sudden or universal stone weapons were still used in Ireland so late as the ninth century; and stone implements were fabricated with metal, and probably even with iron tools. William of Poitiers states that weapons of stone were used by the Saxons at the battle of Hastings; and in an early Saxon Vocabulary the Latin securis is translated stone axe;' but according to the system of archæological periods those weapons should have been of iron!

(To be continued.)

CORNISH CHURCHES.

V. ST. ANTONY, LANDEWEDNACK-ST. RUAN MAJOR.

THE parish of ST. ANTONY IN KIRRIER Occupies a mere neck of land, bounded on one side by the Helford River, and on the other by the Durra. The church, embosomed in trees, and almost close to the water's edge, stands on the southern side of the narrowest part of the promontory, the extreme eastern point of which is cut off by an ancient earthwork, Castle Dinas, which was occupied during the Great Rebellion, and surrendered to Sir Thomas Fairfax in 1646. It was the last place in Cornwall held for the King, except St. Michael's Mount and Pendennis Castle, and was defended by Sir Richard Vyvyan.

The situation of the church is very peculiar, and has a legend attached similar to that of Gunwalloe. It is said that soon after the Conquest, as some Normans of rank were crossing from Normandy into England, a tempest drove them on the Cornish coast, where they were in momentary danger of destruction; but in their distress they called on St. Antony, and vowed if he would save them from shipwreck they would build a church in his honour on the spot where they should first land. The ship was wafted into the Durra creek, and there the pious Normans as soon as possible fulfilled their vow. As in those days men were more wont than at the present time to express their gratitude to God in some visible form, this story seems not improbable, and a votive chapel may have marked the site for the present Church.

This parish is not mentioned in Domesday Book, but Bishop Tanner says there was a cell of Black Monks of Angiers here, belonging to the Priory of Tywardreath, which existed as early as the reign of Richard I. Its site is supposed to have been on an estate called Lantinny, adjoining the church-yard, where foundations of buildings and remains of human bodies have been found. Dugdale also refers to St. Antony (or Antonine) in Meneage as a cell to Tywardreath, and says that "being mentioned in Gervase of Canterbury's Catalogue, it must have existed as early as the time of King Richard I." It is rated in

⚫ Lysons' "Cornwall."

the Pope's Inquisition of 1294. Dr. Oliver says the church is dedicated to Antoninus the Martyr, but gives no date of dedication. The plan of the existing church closely resembles that of Manaccan consisting of a chancel, nave, north aisle, tower at

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the west end of the nave, and a shallow south transept with porch adjoining it to the west. The chancel appears to be of much earlier date than any other portions of the building, and has on its north side a single lancet, partially blocked. The east windows of the chancel and aisle are both good Early Per

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Window of Chancel and East Window of Aisle, St. Antony.

pendicular. With the exception of a small single-light on the south side of the chancel, and a window of three lights tre

foliated in the transept, all the others are of two lights, under a square hood-mould.

The nave and aisle are divided by an arcade of five acutely pointed arches, one side of each arch being formed by a single piece of granite, with mouldings of a simple order. The piers are plain octagonal shafts, with capitals of the same form.

The rood-turret on the north side of the aisle is very remarkable in having the entrance to the stairs on the outside. The north wall of the aisle is buttressed, and there are two buttresses against the south wall of the chancel.

The tower, of three stages, battlemented and pinnacled, and between sixty and seventy feet high, somewhat resembles that of St. Mawgan, though not so elaborately ornamented: it is built of granite. The pinnacles are formed by clustered shafts resting on angels. The belfry windows, of unusually large size for the district, are of three lights, with geometrical tracery. The western doorway consists of a depressed four-centred arch

within a square head, the spandrels being filled with a trefoil ornament. The towerarch, simply a plain soffit, is semicircular.

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The font, standing in the western end of the aisle, appears to be of the thirteenth century, and, like many others in Cornwall, has around the bowl four angels bearing shields. Around the upper part of the bowl is an inscription" Ecce karissimi de Deo vero baptizabuntur spiritu sancto," with the initials Q. P., B. M., B. V., P. R.; two letters being placed between each angel. Height of the font, including base, 3 feet 3 inches b.

Font, St. Antony.

The Perpendicular additions to this church are mostly of early and good character.

LANDEWEDNACK, the most southerly church in England, is little

In Lysons' "Cornwall" will be found an engraving of a font, formerly in Camborne Church, similar to this, and with the same inscription.

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