EARLY CHRISTIAN MONUMENTS WALES (CARNARVONSHIRE) Penmachno . . .In the church. 1 Trefllys . . . .In the church. 3 ISLE OF MAN Kirk Maughold 3 In Ireland none have been found up to the present. The earliest instance of the occurrence of this symbol at Rome belongs to the year 323 and its use in Gaul, as shown by dated examples, extended from 377 to 493, at which time it was superseded by the cross as a symbol of our Lord ; and since it died out in Gaul at the end of the fifth century we shall not be far wrong in allowing, say, a hundred years for its disappearance in Great Britain. Its presence, therefore, on the Cornish stones is evidence not only of their great age but it further tends to show that Christianity must have been introduced into Cornwall at a very early period. The earliest form of the monogram is that in which the diagonal strokes of the X cut the lower part of the P, as on the stone at Phillack, No. I, and St. Just in Penwith, No. i, thus J? ; and in the remaining three instances the X is represented by a horizontal stroke across the tail of the P, thus P . The partial disappearance of the loop of the P from the examples at St. Just in Penwith, No. 2, and Doydon shows them to be of a later date than the others, a fact which is confirmed in the latter example by the Saxon character of the name and form of letters in the inscription. In the accompanying plates the illustrations are drawn to a uniform scale of J inch to the foot, so that their relative sizes may be compared. An alphabetical list of the inscribed stones, with details and inscriptions, is here given. The stones are described under the headings of the parishes in which they occur. BISCOVEY. See PAR. BLEU BRIDGE. See GULVAL (2). BOSLOW. See ST. JUST IN PENWITH. CAMBORNE. (i) Altar slab in the church, under the communion table, said to have come from a little church at Newton, near Treslothan, demolished about 120 years since. The slab has a cross in the middle, and a key-pattern border within which is the inscription : LEUIUT IUSIT HEC ALTARE PRO ANIMA -j- SUA. (Plate IV, fig. 31.) (2) Altar slab in the garden in front of Pendarves House, found many years ago at Treslothan, and now used as the stand for a sundial. It has a cross enclosed in a rectangle in the middle, and a key-pattern border. Within the border is the inscription, which may be read : LOURED; suggested by Rev. W. Jago (Plate VI, fig. 41.) CARDINHAM. (i) Rude pillar stone standing on east side of churchyard, where it was set up in 1896, before which time it leant against the south wall of the churchyard. Of the inscription only o R i is now distinct. 4 (Plate I, fig. 4). (2) Four-holed cross with interlaced ornament, standing on south side of churchyard. The shaft and head had been built into the outside of the east wall of the chancel, and were taken out in 1872. Inscription : A R T H i -f- (Plate V, fig. 32). (3) Rude pillar stone standing in lane leading to Tawna, in use as a gatepost. It was discovered during the last ordnance survey. Of the inscription only o N i EPS is now clear. (Plate IV, fig. 26). (4) Rude pillar stone, standing in village (Well- 1 J. O. Westwood, Lapldarlum Walliae, pi. Ixxix, No. 2, and p. 175 ; Arch. Camb. (1863), 257. See also J. R. Allen, Early Christian Symbolism, where most of the above are illustrated. ' Arch. Camb. 6th ser. v (1905), 70. 3 Reliquary and Illustrated Archaeologist, viii (1902), 126. 4 The name o R i occurs on a stone at Llystyn Gwyn, in Carnarvonshire. See Proc. Soc.Ant. (ser. 2), six, 255, and Arch. Camb. (ser. 6), iv, 149. It is not clear whether the o R i on the Cornish stone is in itself a name, or only part of one, for at Fowey (Castle D6r) the second name in the inscription ends in o R i, as does also the first name on the stone at St. Columb Minor (Rialton). 415
