DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.6910#0101
ANCIENT STONE CROSSES.
65
with Cadwallo, himself holding it till the earth was rammed in round ahout it, while
all his soldiers kneeled down devoutly * Also before any great or decisive under-
taking, they would visit the shrine of some particular saint, and there vow great
donations to the monastery in which it was contained, in case they returned victo-
rious. Thus Athelstan, in his journey to the north, (where the Kings of Scotland
and Wales were committing depredations, and ravaging the country), visited the
tomb of St. John of Beverley, where, earnestly supplicating for success, and not
having any thing worthy enough with him to present to the saint, he left his knife
<>n the tomb, vowing, that if he returned victorious, to redeem it with a worthy
price, which he faithfully afterwards performed." f
From general observations, I shall now confine myself to particular exanples,
and endeavour to ascertain the character and appropriation of the different crosses
represented in the accompanying prints.
Many instances might be given of crosses having been placed as marks for the
boundaries of districts, of church property, and of sanctuary. Among these we may
notice the following. " Thest one at Frisby, called Stump-Cross, is a boundary-
stone between that village and Asfordby, in the county of Leicester. There is
another stone called Stump-Cross, which stands on the summit of a high hill, at
Townley, in the township of Cliverger, in the parish of Whalley, and county of
Lancaster: it is at present about five feet high. The shire-stone, on the mountain
called Wry-nose, at the head of the river Dudding, in Cumberland, divides that
county from Westmoreland. % The inscription on the boundary-stone of Croyland
manifests the purpose for which it was erected : §
" Aio banc petram
" viuthlacus habet sibi metam."
In the vicinity of Croyland Abbey are the bases and fragments of several other
crosses. ||
" There is a famous stone cross near Lundoris, in Fifeshire, which Camden says
was placed as a boundary between the districts of Fife and Strathern, with old bar-
• Bede Ecc. Hist. Lib. 3. cap. 2. t Strutt's View of Ancient Customs, &c. Vol. I. p. 31.
J Hutchinson's Cumberland, Vol. I. 43.
§ See dissertations upon this stone by Governor Pownall and Mr. Pegge, in the Archaeologia. Vol. III. p. 96,
and Vol. V. p. 101.
|| Archrcologia, Vol. XIII. p. 214.
K. VOL. I.
65
with Cadwallo, himself holding it till the earth was rammed in round ahout it, while
all his soldiers kneeled down devoutly * Also before any great or decisive under-
taking, they would visit the shrine of some particular saint, and there vow great
donations to the monastery in which it was contained, in case they returned victo-
rious. Thus Athelstan, in his journey to the north, (where the Kings of Scotland
and Wales were committing depredations, and ravaging the country), visited the
tomb of St. John of Beverley, where, earnestly supplicating for success, and not
having any thing worthy enough with him to present to the saint, he left his knife
<>n the tomb, vowing, that if he returned victorious, to redeem it with a worthy
price, which he faithfully afterwards performed." f
From general observations, I shall now confine myself to particular exanples,
and endeavour to ascertain the character and appropriation of the different crosses
represented in the accompanying prints.
Many instances might be given of crosses having been placed as marks for the
boundaries of districts, of church property, and of sanctuary. Among these we may
notice the following. " Thest one at Frisby, called Stump-Cross, is a boundary-
stone between that village and Asfordby, in the county of Leicester. There is
another stone called Stump-Cross, which stands on the summit of a high hill, at
Townley, in the township of Cliverger, in the parish of Whalley, and county of
Lancaster: it is at present about five feet high. The shire-stone, on the mountain
called Wry-nose, at the head of the river Dudding, in Cumberland, divides that
county from Westmoreland. % The inscription on the boundary-stone of Croyland
manifests the purpose for which it was erected : §
" Aio banc petram
" viuthlacus habet sibi metam."
In the vicinity of Croyland Abbey are the bases and fragments of several other
crosses. ||
" There is a famous stone cross near Lundoris, in Fifeshire, which Camden says
was placed as a boundary between the districts of Fife and Strathern, with old bar-
• Bede Ecc. Hist. Lib. 3. cap. 2. t Strutt's View of Ancient Customs, &c. Vol. I. p. 31.
J Hutchinson's Cumberland, Vol. I. 43.
§ See dissertations upon this stone by Governor Pownall and Mr. Pegge, in the Archaeologia. Vol. III. p. 96,
and Vol. V. p. 101.
|| Archrcologia, Vol. XIII. p. 214.
K. VOL. I.