EARLY CHRISTIAN MONUMENTS the first edition having only a curious print of the Redgate stone, while the editions of 1772, 1789, and 1 806 contain a plate illustrating the stones at Bleu Bridge, Mawgan Cross, Biscovey (now at Par), Castle Dor (now at Four Turnings), and St. Cleer (Redgate). It was not until William Borlase in 1754 brought out his Observations on the Antiquities of Cornwall that any considerable number of monuments was illustrated. His twelfth chapter is devoted to ' The Inscribed Monuments before the Conquest,' in connexion with which he gives two plates 1 illustrating ten of the stones. In the Magna Britannia of Samuel Lysons, 1814, three of the rude pillar stones already published by Borlase are given on one plate, while on another is a drawing of the inscribed cross at Lanherne. Borlase and most subsequent authors on the subject are indebted to Edward Lhwyd, a writer of the seventeenth century, for having given the first satisfactory readings and translations of the inscriptions, and for having assigned a correct date to the monuments. The labours of Edward Lhwyd in this direction have been ably carried on by Professors Rhys and Westwood, H. Longueville Jones, the Rev. W. Jago, Dr. Emil Hiibner, and others. The most complete work on the subject is A Catalogue of the Early Christian Monuments in Cornwall? compiled in 1895 by J. Romilly Allen and the writer. Even since then three other stones have been added to the list, one having been found at Cardinham" on 3 September, 1901, by the writer. The six plates in this article illustrate all the ancient inscribed stones at present known to us in Cornwall. It is probable that all the rude pillar stones with inscriptions found in the Celtic portion of Great Britain are of Christian origin, and they are classed as such by Hiibner. The chief grounds for this opinion are (i) that they are entirely different from the pagan sepulchral stones, and in a very large majority of cases are found in or near churches ; (2) that some of the stones are marked with the Chi-Rho monogram, and others have early forms of the cross, there being no evidence to show that these symbols were added after the inscriptions ; (3) that several of the names mentioned are distinctly Christian, such as Paulinus and Martinus ; (4) that the persons commemorated are in some cases specified in the inscription as being officers of the church, such as bishops or priests ; and (5) that the form of the inscription is often of a distinctly Christian character, such as Requiescat in pace. The most common is, of course, Hicjacef, while one instance of Hie in tumulo occurs at Hayle. The geographical distribution of rude pillar stones with ogams and debased Roman capitals shows that they are of Celtic origin, as they have only been found in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Devon, Cornwall, Somerset, Dorset, Hants, and Northumberland, and not in the Saxon or Danish parts of England. 1 The later edition of 1769 contains the same plates. ' Arch. Camb. 5th ser. vol. xii (1895), 50. 3 Re&quary and Illustrated Arcbaeokgst, viii (1902), 50. I 409 52
