Finger-Ring Lore

Everything a Victorian antiquary could gather about rings: betrothal and mourning, poison rings and papal rings, the superstitions attached to every stone, and the rings dug from the presumed site of Troy.

Table of Contents

My Wife

Pledge Happy A Wedded Life Yon Cœur : Sans Peur.

X. Remarkable Rings

3 pages

Rings from the Earliest Period

34 pages

Nvs Amoris

ABES PROTEROS VGIAE Roman 'memorial' gift-rings. adopted for classic rings when used as memorial gifts. The first is inscribed, - You have…

Inxpo No

ME Anglo-Saxon ring, found near Bosington. a male head, round which is inscribed 'NOMEN EHLLA FID IN XPO,'-my name is Ella; my faith is in…

Tège Helldovicuni. Imperatorem

From the reign of Hugh Capet each King had his particular seal-ring. St. Louis had for device a ring interlaced with a garland of lilies…

Ring Superstitions

57 pages

Zara Za I Deze Vel

Outside DEBAL·6V T.6VTTANI Inside Talismanic ring 'The talismanic character of these mysterious words seems to be sufficiently proved by…

Salv Sre

Galen mentions a green jasper amulet belonging to the Egyptian King Nechepsus, who lived 630 years before the Christian era. It was cut in…

Secular Investiture by the Ring

12 pages

Rings in Connection with Ecclesiastical Usages

THE ring has, for many ages, formed a part of ecclesiastical insignia. It appears to have had a twofold purpose and signification, the one…

Rings in Ecclesiastical Usages

35 pages

Pivs.ix.pont. Max

'What is called the Annulus Piscatoris, or the "Fisherman's Ring," is the Pope's lesser seal, or signet, used for documents of minor…

Mariov

Inscription on a supposed religious ring, found at Carlisle. 'The annexed engraving represents a ring found, about 1790, in Stretly Park…

Betrothal and Wedding Rings

18 pages

Higsvsna Zavsrex

In the Braybrooke Collection is a splendid gold gemmel ring, with enamelled and jewelled twin or double hoops, which play one within…

Token Rings

10 pages

Memorial and Mortuary Rings

19 pages

Posy, Inscription, and Motto Rings

9 pages

Qvi Se Poet Garder Des Mavxdisans

(on a gold ring found on Flodden Field, in the possession of George Allen, Esq., of Darlington, 1785).

In God Is All

(on a silver ring found among the ruins of the Priory of St. Radigund, near Dover, in 1831).

Customs and Incidents in Connection with Rings

2 pages

Finger-Ring I.ore

were twenty-one oars on each side. Musical performers attended in another barge. The vessel left the Piazza of St. Mark under a salute of…

Customs and Incidents

18 pages

Remarkable Rings

15 pages

Thenri Lo Darnley

1565 Signet-ring of Mary, Queen of Scots, and the Darnley ring. In the interesting 'Notices of Collections of Glyptic Art,' by the Rev. C…

Sant Lovis

Denys' (1646) this ring is thus described: 'L'anneau du mesme glorieux Roy Sainct Louis qui est précieux : il est d'or, semé de fleurs de…

Rings from the Earliest Period. P

4 pages

Betrothal and Wedding-Rings. P

I SHOULD not omit to mention the famous sermon of good Jeremy Taylor on 'a wedding-ring for the finger,' which is worthy the perusal not…

Ring Tokens

THE story of the ring given by Queen Elizabeth to the Earl of Essex is of such romantic interest that it is sad to destroy the charm by…

Tion of Finger-Rings

The Rings are divided into Two Grand Chronological Classes.

Class I. Antique

Arranged according to the various nations in the order of their antiquity or pre-eminence. 15 O 16 P Celtic. 17 Q Scandinavian. 20 T…

Divided into Official and Personal

Rings of Popes, or with Papal insignia.

Signet Rings

38 a Heraldic, with Coats of Arms or Badges. 39b Merchants' Marks. 40 C Crowned Letters or Devices. 41 Letters without Crowns. e Other…

Love, Betrothal, and Marriage

45 h Tokens of Love. 46 í Posy Rings. 47 Giardinetti. 48 k Betrothal Rings. 49 I Gimmal Rings. 50 m Marriage Rings. 51 n Jewish Nuptial…

Historical Rings

56 $ Rings used by, or belonging to, Historical Persons. 57 t Rings commemorating Historical Events. 58 u Rings emblematical of particular…

Charm, Magic, and Medicinal

64 a a Cramp Rings. 65 bb Rings with Toadstones or other substances believed to possess medicinal virtues. 66 cc Astrological and…

Ornamental Rings

5 pages

Rights & ReuseThe complete text of Finger-Ring Lore (1877) is in the public domain in the United States — like all works published before 1928 — and is free to read, download, quote, teach from, and reuse. This digital edition (its transcription, restored images, and site design) is © 2026 PhotoOpAI, and any editorial commentary we add is clearly marked as ours; the underlying public-domain text carries no such restriction.