The Washington herald., 1910-06-26

Horsleydown. in Surrey, and Is now pre-
served in a British collection. It is de-
scribed as follows: THE ring IS formed
OF twin, or double. hoops, which play
within one another like links 10 a chain.
Each hoop has one Of it's sides fat, the
other convex, and each Is twisted once
! around and surmOunted by a hand issu-
ing from an embossed work mist. or
sleeve. rising above the circle and ex-
tending in the same direction. The course
of the twist in each hoop Is made TO cor
respond with that of its counterpart. so
thar on bringing together the fat sur
faces of the hoops they unite in one ring.
The whole device represents the emblem
Of love. fidelity. and union. the whole be-
ing Of fine gold and weighing two penny
weights"
The Greek church ritual directs that
the ring be placed upon the right hand.
and the Romans made theirs of iron to
express endurance and baser metals
have been used since When young Rus
sian girls are anxious TO know If they
will be married several Of them assemble.
each wearing ring. A large basket or
corn is brought in. and each girl drops
her ring carefully, stirring up the corn
the while. Then a hungry hen is intro
duced. and whichever maiden's ring Is
first discovered will be the first one mar
RED. In the marshes OF the North Sea
coast IL was formerly customary in Ger
many for the bridegroom 20 give the
bride on the day OF betrothaI Instead Of
g ring valuable coin called "echle," or
genuine. as a pledge that the compact
between them was binding. This is also
remnant Of the time when wives were
acquired by right Of purchase, and the
custom Is still prevalent in some isloated
| places.
Among the un-Christian nations be-
trothai rings are unknown. For example,
Mohammedan instead OF giving his
bride ring. bestows on her a mash
! kass,' or square amulet of pure gold.
which the girl hangs around her neck In
india small amulet is worn by a wom-
an as a badge of marriage. IT generally
consists Of many-colored beads and is
| about as large as 8 bracelet; but there
must be some gold in It. no matter how
little. An amulet ring OF the flfteenth
century discovered a number of years
ego in England was supposed to guRran-
| tee its wearer against all evil. In the
middle is the figure OF Christ, with the
| FIVE holy wounds, from which ooze drops
Of blood. The surrounding inscriptions
/ are: The well OF everlasting iife.'' ''The
well OF pity" The well OF mercy THE
well of comfort" THE well of grace"
/ <AHhio-SeSoits the ring was
worn by the bride or wife. on whose
right hand IL was placed at the betrothal.
being transferred 10 the left hand at the
marriage ceremony.
!
Fingen.r.ngs have been used as ornan-
ments from the earliest times. There Is
a Greek story OF the origin OF their use.
Jupiter chained Prometheus to rock in
the Caucasus, where vulture preyed on
his liver, which grew again over night
After $500 years of this chronic liver
trouble Jupiter released him, but ordered
he should wear on his finger an iron
ring having attached to it a piece OF the
rock so that the deity might keep his
| oath OF perpetual imprisonment Hence
4 the use of rings of metal with jewels
Rings seem TO have been among the
/ first trilkets given and priced They
were tokens Of trust. insignia OF COM
mand, rank. and honor; pledges OF faith
and alliance. They have also been badges
of servitude. illustrating the proverb that
extremes meet Pharoah gave his ring to
Joseph In token of delegated authority.
The oldest rings now in existence came
from Egypt. having been originally
placed on the fingers of the dead. The
most interesting ring in the world. at
least to aptquarians, is the ring of Che
ops, who built the great pyramid. II is
of fine gold, weighing about the same as
three fye-dollar gold pieces An old
Jewish legend tells US that TubalcaIn,
the first Of metal workers. made the first
ring for his wife.