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Ring Superstitions: Rings

The sacred names of 'Jesus,' 'Maria,' and 'Joseph' were formerly inscribed on rings, and worn as preservatives against the plague. Rings simply made of gold were supposed to cure St. Antony's fire, but if inscribed with magical words their effect was irresistible.

A representation is annexed of an amulet ring found near Oxford, about 1805, bearing an inscription SCA. BAR., Sancta Barbara. The legend of St. Barbara calls her a patroness against storms and lightning.

DS BAR Amulet ring.

The following engraving represents an amulet weddingring, conjectured to be the figure of St. Catherine with her wheel, being an emblem of good fortune; the other being de Amulet ring. probably, St. Margaret (with the church), an emblem of her faith, wisdom, constancy, and fortitude: time of Richard II. Rings in which pieces of what was asserted to be the 'true cross' were placed are sometimes met with in old writings. St. Gregory states that his sister wore one of this kind. That this belief was not always credited is seen in the case of an exchange of rings between a bishop and an abbot in the annals of St. Alban's Abbey. This occurred in the reign of Richard II., when the Bishop of Lincoln (Beaufort) gave his to John, fifth abbot of St. Alban's, for one containing a piece of the true cross, and was therefore earnestly prized and begged for by the bishop. Whether the prelate had his misgivings as to the alleged sanctity of the splinter, or considered the garniture of the ring too plain, he very soon after informed the abbot that his own ring was the most valuable of the two, and the difference in value must be paid to him in money. In his zeal for his material interests the bishop overlooked the assurances of friendship which the exchange conveyed, and the abbot was obliged to give him five pounds.