, 1889-05-29
MY LADYS RING.
FACTS AND FANclEs CONCERNING
MANY HOOPS OF GOLD.

The Engagement and Wedding Rings ana
the Fingers They Adon-supcrstidons
and omens Connected with Them-The
Po~y Ring of ne Sixteenth Century.
Tho origin Of the circlet that adorns my
ladys hand is obscure, though very ancient.
There Is a tradition which assigns the inven-
ton OF the ring to Tubal Cain, and the old
Latin author who gives circulation TO the
story, In speaking OF the wedding circiet,
says; Tho form of the ring being circular
that Is to say, round and without end-im-
partcth this much, that mutual love and
hearty affection should roundly how from
one to the other, as In tho circle, and that
continually forever
The hands of female mummies found In
the tombs OF Egypt are profusely decorated
with rings, thus proving that ring wearing
was an established custom at a very carly
day. The wealthy ladies of Egypt wore
rings on nearly cvery fngcr-and costly rings
they were, too. Their poorer sisters used
less costly ~circlets, and rings formed of
bronze, glass and pottery with suitable mot
toes wero their finger friends
~ETRoTH n MARRIAGE RISoa
Marriage by the ring is common In many
countries besides our own Tho Russians
NAVY " AAhknt NAh1h nv hhAAkOa IL
times In the first plnce, the man plnccs the
ring on the woman's finger, then the priest
changes tho mans ring and puts It IN her
finger, and then priest and man join and givo
her the ring for life. When Henry VIII es-
poused Ammo OF Cloves no sent her a ring
which bore the inscription, 'God send mo
well to keep" 1t WINS a fatnl motto, as we
know, for ''bluf King Hnl" ere long grew
tircd of her and began 10 look around for
another pretty victim.
Wedding rings have not always been mndo
, OF metal. Necessity has caused the invention
Of some singular ones. On several occasions
a pieco cut from the finger OF a Kid glove has
answered for tho wedding circlet. When the
gallant Duke of Hamilton married Miss Gun
ming almost ON the spur Of the moment, one
might say, for the courtship WINS of but two
days duration, l believe, no proper cero-
moninl ring was ut hand. The archbishop
refused TO net without a ring, and the lord
and his Indy were for n while distracted.
But at length tho knot was cut In an ingcn-
ious manner and the young couple were mnr-
ried 10y tho ring Of tho bed curtain, which no
doubt cut a curious figure on tho white hnnd
of tho fair dnmscl
Among the Arnenians children are sub
jcctcd to early betrothal by ring
This is done by the mothers, who make tho
occasion n very solemn ono, md ut any timo
years afterwnrd the man can clnim his bride.
But once a yenr from tho dnto of tho be.
trothRl tho prospective bride is entitled TO
receive an Easter dress from tho hands of tho
future husband Customs similar to this ono
prevail In various countries of the east, md
the ring Is mhde to play q very important
. part In tho womnn's life.
In Roman cspousals, mentions Macrolius,
tho man gave tho woman n ring by way of
pledge, and tho woman put 1t ON the third
finger Of her left hand, because 1t was be-
loved that n nerve ran from that finger to
the heart Tho Egyptians ascribed the
possession Of this important nervo to
the fourth finger of tho snmo hnnd. Com
ing down to Inter belief and usage, wo
find that Madame de In Tour, writing OF my
lady's ring, says that II the Indy is willing to
marry, tho circlet should DO worn on tho in
dex finger of tho left hand; II engaged, on
the second finger; If married, on tho third;
but II sho has no desire to wed, then on the
little finger.
Tho sign language of the ring is varied and
quaint. For instance. we arc told TINT a
ring on the foreflnger indicates n naughty,
bold and overbearing spirit; on tho long
finger, prudence, dignity and discretion; on
the marriage finger, love md affection; ON
tho little finger, n mnstcrful spirit
One would not think that rings were once
worn on the thumb, but such was one of the
customs that prevailed from the Fourteenth
To tho Seventeenth century. We are quito
familiar with Falstnffs extrnvngant boast
that, when young, he was slim enough to
creep into any alderman's thumb ring.n
But thumb rings never came into general use
among tho ladies. They preferred TO keep
tho ring IN tho tapering fingers, where It
could be worn with more ease and to better
advantage.
Wedding rings In all ages have been ro-
gnrded sacred. When Mary of Modcna, ono
OF tho beautiful and unfortunate heroines of
history, was forced to dispose of hor Jewels
she kept as most precious to her her wedding
ring. DR.. Samuel johnson kept his wifeis
ring as n sacred treasure, and tho keepsake
most valued by Victoria is known TO DO the
ring placed on her finger by Albert on their
wedding day. There Is a story told of a Rus
sian prince who, on being searched previous
to n life long exile In Siberia, begged to be Ill
lowed TO retain n plain gold ring which kept
alive the memory of a happy marriage And
the story goes, / am glad to say, that ho
went to tho mines with the treasure ncxt 10
his heart
rosy n MOTTO RINGS.
Posy rings came into vogue with tho Six
tecnth century. These wero motto rings, and
they form ono OF the most interesting chap
tiers of ring lore. 1t Is said that the famous
ring which Essex sent to Queen Elizabeth by
the Countess of Nottingham, but which the
willful woman did not deliver until after the
dukes death, was u posy. These rings were
common between lovers and friends all over
Europe. Thoy bore rhyming notices and af-
fectionate sentiment, and the Indy without a
poSy ring was looked upon as forlorn and
with but few hopes Of marriage ahead.
Shakespeare knew the posy ring, for in the
Merchant of Venice be makes Gratiano and
Ncrtsa sny
Gn~tinno-About n hoop of gold, a paltry ring,
That she did give me, whose posy wps
For oil the world like cutlers poetry
Upon O knife, Love me, love me not"
Serssa-WhAt talk you OF the posy, or the value,
You SWORD To mo when ! did give IT YOU.
That you would wear 1t Till your hour
of death
Some of the notices on the old posy rings
are beautifully quaint The list of them Is
entirely too long to be embodied In this arti-
Gle, but / cannot refrain from giving q few;
I'm thee my choice, lido r~ejoice.n
May God above increase our loven
mot two but one till Life is done.n
my heart and | until / dien
AAg osnli fg nura ~ Love q, $50 "