Dragon King, Poem

Ancient Biblical Photos

It is Sunday night, and I am in the middle of my Biblical records research. When what confronts me, a dragon. I simple had to stop for a moment and share these amazing photos with you guys. They are all taken form Bibles, or concordances of early 1700s or older. Aren't they just simple amazing...

 

The Stone Dragon and Other Tragic Romances chapter 2

The Stone Dragon and Other Tragic Romances

THE  STONE  DRAGON 

CHAPTER 2

 By Murray Gilchrist

When I reached home it was to find father dead Had I arrived an hour sooner I should have had the gratification of holding his hand in mine during the parting moments and have heard his last words But my act of disobedience had prevented this and by my secret visit to Furnivaux I had lost what would have been one of the dearest recollections of my life He had died thinking of me and as the last struggle began had stammered out that I was to yield myself entirely to the written instructions conJ tained in the secret drawer of his writing desk and intended for my eyes alone Therein I found myself directed to spend the years intervening before my coming of age at a tiny estate in northern Italy He had purchased it several months before his death and such use for it in view had furnished the comfortably and revived the faded glories of library Bound by a solemn command I was live retired from the world and not to myself at Furnivaux whilst Lady Barbara lived The manuscript concluded mystically I known that in your youth she will cross path an unscrupulous woman who cares nought so long as her heart's desire is fulfilled The stars declare it Perhaps even as I write she may be weaving the fatal web that is destroy life and happiness But the line of runs on straightway I cannot tell for the destiny may overpower you what to advise let justice and love ever sway you and that earth's joy is nought in comparison with which follows Beware Ralph of her I write of wherever she be Overpowered with grief my first impulse was petulant and unreasonable fury against those whom I had passed that delicious summer morning So angry was I with the cause of my disobedience that I did not even write to Barbara and after my father's funeral I at once for the home he had chosen Here I passed seven years of irresolute work The management of the estate was entirely in my own hands and I worked in a desultory amongst my people earning their affection being as happy as any man who has no aim in I had always my ideals and my recollections think of and I never felt a desire for interests At last came a time when all this ceased and became terribly depressed Who can trust I have had so many so many and so many false that I have alternately and disbelieved in the supernatural powers which foolish people place such absolute We spend many hours in mourning over phies that never occur whilst at the time that greatest possible disasters are affecting our we are plunged into the lightest ecstasy Yet I must confess that when I received from the Verelstfs lawyer that on the opening my great aunt's will he had discovered a codicil by which I was compelled to marry Rachel or Mary or to suffer the estates to entirely from our branch of the family a vista of ills opened before me and I bitterly because of the craftiness and self will the old woman who would not believe that but worldly interest was necessary for marriage At first I determined not to go but as knowledge came that unless I did so my would be plunged into poverty I gave tions for my trunk to be packed and left everything in the hands of a steward It was considerable trepidation that I pondered over meeting and as I looked farewell on the of my house on the vineyards and the river execrated the memory of the old make plot In four days I was on the platform at station watching with a sort of amazement train that had brought me disappearing at curve and wondering whether the letter I written from Dover had forewarned the ladies when a withered groom advanced and touched hat in antiquated style Be ye Mr Rafe 1 he said Why bless me what am I sayin as if I couldn t him from his likeness to Mr Alston 1 Yes I responded laughingly I am Eyre You are from Furnivaux Castle 1 wore the old fawn livery with pelicans on the buttons and a high white crape was tied around his neck You are surely Stephen whom my father spoke of so often That I be he cried I remembered him perfectly now from father's description In my boyhood I had told that he was at least ninety yet he was straight as a staff Miss Rachel s waiting outside in the carriage sir he said Train s nigh upon an hour late With this gentle hint that his mistress might be growing impatient he seized my luggage and led me to the gate where stood a large green chariot A woman's voice accosted me I bid you welcome cousin 1 And before I could speak I felt my hand taken and held The sunlight was gleaming so fiercely that I could scarcely distinguish the features that smiled beneath the crown of red golden hair but when I did so it was with a start of astonishment for Rachel Verelsfs beauty had become transcendent She leaned back against the soft olive velvet cushions and after insisting on my sitting at her side she gave the order and we were driven through the stretches of woodland and moor and over the miles of park road that lead to Furni vaux Half bewildered I continually turned to look at my companion Strange to say she did not wear mourning but a gown of yellow tulle worked in high relief with golden flowers and the outline of her splendidly proportioned figure was visible through the gauzy folds Whether it was that my arrival had excited her or that it was her ordinary motion I could not tell but her heart was beating wildly beneath its coverings and floods of a rich colour sped to and from her cheeks Her bizarre conversation related much to the object of my visit The peculiarity of the circumstances she took little heed of and having at the first moment leaped into the familiarity of an old friend she tacitly refused to vacate the position How delightful it is she remarked as we passed through the Headless Cross wood to meet a man who knows something of the outer world O the stupidity of our country gentlemen whose noblest aspiration is to dine well whose noblest possibility is to hide the mark of the ploughman and the lout How definitely you refresh me Rafe Your presence here has already done me a world of good If you only knew how stagnant how wearisome life is Bah but you don t sympathise This last observation was made because I had not replied but to tell the truth I did not wish my voice to break the musical echo hers had left in my ears I expressed a hope that she would not regard me as laconic but rather as overwhelmed by the gladness of reunion Whilst I spoke the turrets of Furnivaux just touched by the purple rays of the setting sun gleamed above a cluster of gnarled elms The mists from the sloping woods had ascended to the parapet of the roof and given it the aspect of a terrace in the clouds A gaily coloured flag fluttered in the Giant's Tower and I could distinctly see the crest wrought in flagrant contradiction to the laws of blazonry Twas I who did it Rachel said in your honour Mary wanted to embroider the pelican but it was all my own idea and I would not let her However she prevailed on me concerning the motto see you can just catch a glimpse of her Nourrit par son sang in azure letters 1 The carriage stopped in front of the portico and Stephen opened the door My cousin laid her hand on my arm and we entered the great hall together As I paused to look up at the domed roof with its pargeting of wyverns and cockleshells a feeling of chilliness made me shiver My dear Rafe Rachel said the change of climate tries you Had I imagined that the place would be so cold I would have ordered a fire to be lighted This is the way to the dining room I wonder where my sister is ah you are there Mary 1 One dressed in the plainest of white muslins stood in an open doorway She shrank visibly at the sight of my outstretched hand and it was only by an effort that she placed her own in it to lie there for too brief a space Her figure was slight and insignificant and she had not a feature worthy of comparison with her brilliant sister's Rachel had taken away all the awkwardness of 19 my involuntary visit Mary had forced it back again and I mentally accused her of inhospi tality Rachel seeing that I was hurt turned with the intention of diverting my thoughts Pray do not change your clothes this evening she said We are very unconventional here and it is nearly dinner time I will show you the state bedroom it is at your disposal So saying she led me to an immense upper chamber with a gilt bedstead hung with watchet blue Grotesque lacquered cabinets lined the walls and in each corner stood a dark green monster from Nankin Here I made a few hasty alterations in my toilet and after slipping a spray of honeysuckle from a bowl on the dressing table into my button hole I hurried down to the drawing room Mary sat within her knees covered by a long piece of lawn which she was embroidering It fell to the floor and she turned very pale as I entered Cousin Mary I said reproachfully why do you treat me so coldly Have I offended you Her eyes were slowly lifted to mine and I beheld in them despite her timidity a look of the keenest pleasure She held out her hand tentatively and seemed relieved when I grasped it I am sorry that you should have misunderstood me 1 she murmured The anticipation of 20 this meeting has been so painful I am not as strong as Rachel and anything disconcerts me 1 Rachel's entrance prevented any further remarks She had taken advantage of the short time to doff her yellow gown for one of pale green gauze of the same hue as the sea where the sunlight falls over shallows A pair of fancifully worked gloves were fastened to her girdle they were made of a claret coloured semi transparent skin With a laughing reminder of the ceremony we had used as boy and girl at our first meeting she accompanied me to the table where the meal passed in delicious interchange of thought during which although Mary neither spoke nor seemed to listen I could well understand that she was appreciative When I returned to the drawing room Rachel's look was mischievous Mary had evidently been reproving her You shall judge me Rate 1 she cried holding up her hands so that I might see what she had done The gloves she had worn at her belt covered them now They were awkwardly made and on the back of each was worked a silk picture of a dagger and a vial They are tragic accompaniments 1 she said Mary has been scolding me for wearing them she declares that they will bring me ill luck Do you believe in such nonsense She did not wait for my reply but continued They were made of the skin of a murderess gibbeted in these parts a hundred and twenty years ago Old Barnard Verelst insisted on having a piece he wanted to cover a book with it but his wife whom tradition reports as a real she devil insisted on having these gloves instead Between ourselves the result was that she poisoned her lord but as he was very old nobody was much the worse 1 And mirthfully arching her mouth she passed the glpves into my hand A strong repugnance to touch them made me immediately drop them on a side table Rachel's originality carried her into strange humours I was not sorry when the lamps were brought They were of curious Venetian make with round shades of silver lattice work filled in with cubes of gold coloured glass Their soft and pleasant light enhanced Rachel's personal charm She went to the piano soon and calling me to her side began to play Never had I heard such wild and fantastical music as the first three melodies They were Russian savage rough airs which fretted me to unhealthy excess of inquietude After the third by which the soul is wrought to such a pitch that it is hard to refrain from shrieking she began a plaintive air with a grotesque rhythm This is the tune the gnomes dance to on the hillside she said Here they emphasise the step now they float round and round in rings now the king is performing alone and they are all watching My favourite is that one with the white slashed doublet and crooked face with a moustache so long that it pricks the others Ah well with hands brought down dashingly they must all creep through the bronze door Sof Then playing another unfamiliar melody she began to sing Shelley's Love's Philosophy 1 I scarcely dare attempt to describe her voice Poets have dreamed of its likes heard them I may swear never it was almost unearthly in its pathos and tears were streaming from my eyes ere the first verse was ended How she could sing so purely I cannot tell but it seemed as if to the accompaniment of music all the dross were purged from her spiritual nature and an innocence left unsullied as that of our first mother ere she sinned As the song went on a fuller harmony sustained her and looking around I saw that Mary's hands swept delicately over the strings of a harp that stood in shadow I leaned back delivered to perfect delight but just as my head pressed the cushion a sob came from Rachel's lips and rising hastily she pressed her hands over her face and hurried from the room Mary followed her but returned almost immediately Cousin Rafe she said nervously forget that Rachel has broken down her singing often overpowers her she feels everything too acutely She begs you to pardon her absence for the rest of the evening Recent events my aunt's illness and sudden death amongst them have unnerved her you must remember what great store they set on each other 1 The revulsion was very distressing I had begun to regard Rachel as a woman of iron will endowed with an intellect nothing could quail This sign of weakness coming so unexpectedly surprised and pained me Had I been more closely connected with her I would have sought her chamber and drawn her head to my breast As I sat the moon began to rise over the further hills The rays slanted into the Italian garden where seven years before Mary and I had played like young children She had returned to her harp and was drawing forth soft chords The night however became so beautiful that I felt I must breathe the outer air Let us walk together I said Show me the dragon and the maze where we ran and the lilies and flowing rushes The heat of the room oppresses me 1 She led me silently down the broad stone stairs The dragon was unchanged We will sit here she said and you can tell me everything that has happened in the last few years I have nothing to give in return for my life has been placid from the very beginning and the only great excitement I ever had was when you visited Furnivaux before Rachel says that I have a small soul it must be so for the quiet content of this place suits me well I suppose that I am one of those weeds that root themselves firmly anywhere Each thing about here I love as if it were a part of me Now forgive me for my tediousness and tell me everything Thus bidden I began the story of how I had spent the intervening time There was little worth telling It was a brief and simple record of dormant faculties and aspirations when my highest desire had been for undisturbed sleep Mary listened in silence and when I had finished looked up But the awakening has come now she said very gently A new future is thrust upon you your life will no longer be as it was 1 Somehow as she spoke my head moved nearer hers and before she could draw back my lips had pressed her cheek She rose gasping then turning on me a look of surprise and wonder she hurried away Perhaps some reminiscence of our former racing came to her for I heard her laugh light and long and silvery as her gown glimmered through the yews When I retired to my room it was not to sleep A conflict was raging in heart and brain Rachel was undeniably the more beautiful indeed she was by far the most beautiful woman I had ever seen and her wit and power of fascination were incomparably superior to Mary's She evidently believed that I must choose her and so I had fully intended to do until a tone in Mary's voice and a quick responsive beating of my own heart told me that it could not be Mary had never imagined that I should take her in preference but I knew now that whatever love lay in my nature must be placed in her keeping I had discovered that I wanted no mental stronghold to surround me but a wife tender loving and dependent Uncertain whether a declaration would or not be premature I decided to leave the castle early next morning and to reflect for at least a month on my decision Rachel had acquired a strong influence over me and I dared not venture to free myself from her bonds without tightening my armour So rising almost before daybreak I set out in secret from the village inn despatching a short note My dear Rachel Do not attempt to fathom the motive which compels me to leave Fumivaux Impute it if you will to flightiness I was always fond of doing strange things I shall return in a month a month to day Ralph Eyre 1 My meditating place was Northen Hall a small manor house situated about two hundred miles away I had inherited it from my mother It stands in a little park outside an antiquated market town I had installed Jeffreys my father's old friend and he was living out the remainder of his years in ease and solitude He was standing in the walled rose garden when I reached the place Half his time since my father's death had been spent with me in Italy but the climate had proved unsuited to him and he had been compelled to return to England The affection he greeted me with was very touching Although I had always been very tiresome I have no doubt that he loved me deeply A suite of rooms had been kept in readiness for me and I was soon made comfortable therein I had much writing to do and for some days worked hard so that I might drive away the thought of my dilemma But after awhile when I was idle again the remembrance of Mary's timid loveliness haunted me from morning to night and I began to long for the time of my return The momentous day came at last Rachel Verelst like another Fiammetta clad in a gown of dull dark green with scarlet lilies at the neck met me on the terrace There was a slightly puzzled look in her eyes when I did not give her the warm greeting she evidently expected but she slipped her arm into mine with as much graceful ease as if she were already my wife There was no sign of Mary and when I inquired for her Rachel replied evasively Not until I went to the drawing room after dinner did I see her She was alone sitting near a window with a book in her hands She gave a sudden start when she saw me O Rafe she cried when did you come I did not know you were here Rachel would not tell me anything about you either where you were or why you went and I have only just come in from riding to watch the sunset 1 Before she had done speaking I had clasped her in my arms and was showering kisses on her lips Mary 1 I whispered I have come back for you She began to extricate herself but before I had released her the door opened and Rachel herself entered

The Dungeons and Dragons movie.

For the next four days, I will be showing nothing but movies. To start this weekend of, we will be watching one of my beloved movies, The Dungeons and Dragons movie.

The Stone Dragon and Other Tragic Romances

THE  STONE  DRAGON 

CHAPTER I

 By Murray Gilchrist

My father's account of his last visit to Furnivaux Castle which I found in his journal some years after his death enlightened me concerning the cause of his disagreement with my great aunt Barbara In response to an imperious summons he had travelled hurriedly from the south of France to the remote corner of Westmoreland where her estate lay no sooner had he reached the portico than the old woman confronted him and began to discuss a new plan for restoring his shrunken fortunes by a marriage compact between myself and one of her great nieces either Rachel or Mary both of whom were children in the house I was fifteen years old then Rachel thirteen and Mary ten The ceremony was to take place at once and I was to travel for some years before claiming my child wife My father refused indignantly scarce had his decisive words been spoken ere Lady Barbara turned away angrily Fool is there no changing you she cried He understood her peculiarities and despite his acknowledgment that she was a gross and materialistic woman who held no views beyond this world and whose chief enjoyment was to interfere mischievously with the affairs of other folk his kinship made him treat her with respect folk his kinship made him treat her with respect None he replied My boy shall not be forced into bondage before he knows what love means I would rather he begged for his bread than wronged body and soul She swung round and showed a menacing face You have refused what I had set my heart on Her voice softened Tis for the love I bear you Alston I want to help you remember that I am your mother's sister Don t refuse me Aunt he said painfully it may not be I cannot sin against my son 1 She came still nearer Well so be it she muttered in his ear Others will suffer for your obstinacy I know what my project meant but you with your blind gropings after light will never see Nay you come no further into my house this is no place for you The door was closed violently and my father passed along the dark avenues to the village He was with me in two days but although I pressed him often being curious to hear all about Furni vaux which I had never seen he refused to disclose either the cause or the result of his visit Before two years had passed however I found myself by a curious trick of fortune in the vicinity of Furnivaux Castle I had suffered from an acute attack of brain fever and when convalescent had been ordered by the doctor to taste the air of Marlbrok over Sands a quaint watering place at the mouth of the Lamber estuary My father was engaged at the time in preparing for the press his volume of Philosophical Discussions and although he would willingly have accompanied me I chose rather to take Jeffreys a man who had been his valet in former times but who held now the posts of confidant secretary and checker of the domestic accounts a faithful old servant of a type unknown to the present generation At first my father was averse to my visiting Marlbrok He had suggested Nice or Mentone fancying that the bustle of foreign life would act as a tonic but as he heard of the marvellous strengthening virtues which according to Doctor Pulteney belonged to the Lamber water he consented and after strictly enjoining me not to go within at least a mile of Furnivaux travelled with me and left me with Jeffreys at an ancient inn On the fourth evening of my stay I strolled with Jeffreys to a large hill whose seaward side is perfectly precipitous but which is easily climbed landward by a winding sheep path When I had reached the summit I threw myself on the grass and rested for a while gazing at the misty outline of Man then when my dimmed eyes had cleared I turned and saw high on the side of a far distant inland hill an enormous building which at first sight appeared on fire for the westering sun struck full on the great square windows A grove of majestic trees gloomed to the left and a park besprinkled with herds of deer sloped downward to the furthermost recess of the estuary A shepherd was training a dog near the place where I sat regardless of Jeffrey's deprecations I called to him and inquired the name of the house Furnivaux Castle young sir Lady Barbara Verelst's place he replied What I cried Tell me all about it Have you ever been there What is it like Before he could answer Jeffreys interposed Come Master Ralph it is growing chill we shall have Doctor Pulteney here if you take cold But I took no heed of him and despite his attempted hindrance obtained all the necessary information concerning the way An evil desire to disobey my father filled me it seemed as if 4 THE STONE DRAGON the glamour of the house had cast a spell me and as I was hurried away by Jeffreys I resolved to take advantage of him in the early morning and to visit Lady Barbara I slept little that night but lay watching dawn creep over the sea and listening to plaintive chirping of birds As the cracked bell Marlbrok St Mary's struck six I sprang from bed dressed hurriedly and after a quiet laugh at the thought of what Jeffreys consternation would be when he discovered my absence I slipped from the house and followed the path the shepherd had described It led through a long wood of small trees matted with bracken and sedge and crossed many rivulets that ran down to the sea There was much honeysuckle so sweet that life grew absolutely perfect I gathered a large bunch wherein lay many bees and chanting extempore rhymes I hurried onward When I reached the terrace of Furnivaux it was nearly breakfast time The hall door open revealed a vista of ancient pictures As I knocked there timidly an ancient serving man in fawn livery appeared Something perhaps my resemblance to my father amazed him and he bade me enter at once I wish to see Lady Barbara Verelst I said He ushered me into a small white panelled room Her ladyship will be with you very soon 1 he replied Meanwhile I arranged the honeysuckle in a large china dish As I was doing this a slight noise disturbed me and looking up I saw a white frocked little girl eyeing me very intently A black Persian cat lay in her arms rubbing its head on her shoulder Coimn Mary I cried The child dropped the cat and ran forward to bring her tiny mouth to mine But even as she kissed footsteps came and she drew back alarmed I took the honeysuckle and flung it all into her apron and she as if fearing to be seen made for another door and disappeared Then Lady Barbara entered There was nothing of the patrician in her appearance Clad in a plain brown dress with a narrow collar of lace she might well have passed for a housekeeper who had no liking for bright colour Her face was round and russet with a broad low forehead that was covered with an intricate network of wrinkles Her eyes were small and sherry coloured and her teeth which as I heard afterwards were natural glistened like regular pieces of ivory Altogether she struck me as a sharp bargain driving countrywoman with a good deal of craft and an underlying vein of sarcastic humour As she saw me she courtesied very low So you are Ralph or Rafe as I love best to say it she said Well you are very welcome here though your father and I got across at our last meeting But I suppose he has thought better of my proposal and sent you now 1 Here she looked at her watch a massive gold and crystal globe that swung from her girdle The girl is a long time 1 she exclaimed Before I could open my mouth to declare the truth about my father a rustling of silks came and a girl swept through the doorway She was about fifteen years old but might well have passed for twenty Tall and slender in figure and with a face so perfectly so strangely lovely it compelled me to make a simile of a flame resolving at the lambent crest into a star She moved towards me and with no assumption of modesty threw her arms around my neck and kissed me I have no idea how she was dressed but as I write comes a recollection of the flower called crown imperial lying on a web of red golden hair Lady Barbara shrieked in affected dismay My dear Rachel she cried you are forgetting yourself Rafe is not a little boy he seventeen he 1s a man 1 Rachel Verelst turned to her uplifting luminous eyes O aunt she said with a sigh of relief it is most delicious to see a man I am Miranda he Ferdinand Cousin mincingly you Ye the first man I ve seen for two years except of course the servants and they don t count with such people as your lowly handmaid 1 Something about her perhaps the fact that her manner was so opposed to that with which I had endowed my ideal woman fascinated me at once Never before had I seen such radiant beauty never before had I known a woman lay herself out so coquettishly to attract attention She was unlike anything I had ever dreamed of and even as I stood I felt myself become enthralled There was such admiration too in her glance admiration of the most flattering kind All suddenly I sprang high in self esteem A handsome couple the old woman said pointedly One fair as day the other as Shakespeare says somewhere black as night Yes day and night Now pray let me see you walk together to the breakfast room I will waive etiquette for once and you shall take precedence Ah yes sir your arm was given gracefully I am quite satisfied with your manner You are a Verelst though your name is Eyre With many comments upon the picture we made she followed us to a small parlour hung with red velvet embossed with earl's coronets in gilt A light meal was spread The aroma of coffee filled the air and after the footman had brought in the hot dishes a gust of fresher sweetness came as Mary shyly bedecked with honeysuckle entered and sat at my side Lady Barbara took no heed of her appearance so bent was she on her own plans So your father has really conquered his prejudices she remarked I knew all the time that they meant nothing poor Alston he was always feather brained and I did not believe that he would have held out so long Well forgive and forget It does my heart good to see you and Rachel at table together I am almost inclined to sing Nunc Dimittis at once Something in the exultancy of her voice suppressed my avowal that overpowered by curiosity and attraction I had come clandestinely It was not from kindness that my tongue refused its office but rather of a dread of how she might act Did he send any message any writings she inquired sharply I shook my head Ah the rogue she said He s proud of you he knows that your presence is enough to explain all Ay and a very good recommendation to my favour Alston had ever a little of the diplomatist Again let me assure you that nobody could be more welcome 1 So the meal passed Often Rachel turned to me with proudly sweeping eyes and brought her face so near mine that I could see my reflection in each apple For one so young her wit was brilliant and sharp edged but the vivid outlines of her colouring prevented me from seeing anything unmaidenly in her demeanour There was depth mingled with unstableness in her character and although against my will I was allured I could not help feeling a sort of oppression as if the air were becoming too heavily perfumed Two centuries ago she might have shone as a king's mistress When I looked at her sister timid frail and shrinking it was as if a draught of cool air rippled across my temples Once the child essayed to speak Cousin Rafe she said softly will you tell me after breakfast what the world is like I don t mean the country or the little market towns but those places that one reads about Is Venice like Mrs RadclifFe paints it in the Mysteries UdolphoV Lady Barbara began to laugh rather coarsely What is the girl raving about she said turning contemptuously to Rachel Does she think that at my age I Ve nothing better to do than to listen to puerile descriptions My dear Rafe do not trouble with her Rachel I wonder you permit his attention to be distracted Great tears rolled down Mary's cheeks I was angered I like to hear her talk I said chivalrously At this my great aunt laughed again but Rachel with wonderful tact rose and embraced her sister If she had not done so I believe that I should have hated her Even Lady Barbara was pleased You are a good girl Rachel she said patting her shoulder Now Mary you must forgive my querulousness 1 She took Rachel's hand and drew her from the table As she reached the door she paused Rafe she said can you amuse yourself till noon Rachel writes my letters and manages everything for me so I must take her away Mary make your cousin's stay here as pleasant as you can show him all over the house and gardens or anywhere so long as he's entertained If you care to ride order the ponies But Mary as soon as we were alone led me to the open window A flight of stairs descended from here to an old garden where busts and urns surmounted columns of fluted marble A spring prattling over many hued stones crossed the middle of this and deepened into shallow pools that were edged with irises and flowering rushes Let us sit beside the dragon at the wellhead she said it is my favourite dreaming place and I will ask you all I want to know I am not THE STONE tiresome to you Cousin Rafe she added downcast eyes Our spirits rose Ere long I was chasing up and down the maze quite forgetful of gravity of seventeen and attempting at corner to grasp her flying skirts but ever intentionally out of compliment to her of foot Her paleness had quite disappeared as she laughed at me through the legs of the peacocks she looked like a young nymph began to sing hurriedly in a silvery voice in imitation of some gaffer When first I went a waggonin a waggonin did go I filled my pairients hearts full of sorra grief au woe And many are the hardships that I ha since gone thro So sing wo my lads sing wo Drive on my lads Yo ho For ye canna drive a waggon when the wunnago Every word came clear and distinct Scarcely however had she begun the second verse than sound of an approaching vehicle silenced her looked down the avenue and beheld a trap drawn by a bony white horse It drew up near us A familiar voice accosted me Master Ralph 1 To my surprise it was old Jeffreys very haggard and with eyes more sad than reproachful O Master Ralph he said come back at once for God's sake There s just time enough to catch the boat if you don t linger a moment Word came this morning that my poor master was dying His voice broke into sobs Turning hastily to the child who stood aghast at my side I gave her one quick kiss and then sprang up to the seat forgetful of all save the great catastrophe

Japanese Dragon

The Overland Monthly, Volume 13

 The word dragon stands for a genus of which there are several species and varieties To describe them in full and to recount minutely the ideas held by the Japanese rustics concerning them would be to compile an octavo work on dragonology The merest tyro in Japanese art indeed anyone who has seen the cheap curios of the country must have been impressed with the great number of these colossal wrigglers on everything Japanese In the country itself the monster is well nigh omnipresent In the carvings on tombs temples dwellings and shops on the government documents printed on the old and the new paper money and stamped on the new coins in pictures and books on musical instruments in high relief on bronzes and cut in stone metal and wood the dragon tatsu everywhere swinges the scaly horror of his folded tail whisks his long mustaches or glares with his terrible eyes We shall attempt no detailed description of the Japanese dragon presuming that most of our readers are already familiar with its appearance on works of art

The creature looks like a winged crocodile except as to the snout which is tufted with hair and the claws which are very sharp A celebrated Japanese author in his masterpiece of Hak kenden describes the monster with dogmatic accuracy He says The dragon is a creature of a very superior order of being It has a deer's horns a horse's head eyes like those of a devil a neck like that of a snake a belly like that of a red worm scales like those of a fish claws like a hawk's paws
like a tiger's and ears like a cow's In the spring the dragon lives in heaven in the autumn in the water in the summer it travels in the clouds and takes its pleasure in winter it lives in the earth dormant It always dwells alone and never in herds

There are many kinds of dragons such as the violet the yellow the green the red the white the black and the flying dragon Some are scaly some horned some without horns When the white dragon breathes the breath of his lungs goes into the earth and turns to gold When the violet dragon spits the spittle becomes balls of pure crystal of which gems and caskets are made One kind of dragon has nine colors on his body and another can see everything within a hundred ri another has immense treasures of every sort another delights to kill human beings
The water dragon causes floods of rain when he is sick the rain has a fishy smell The fire dragon is only seven feet long but his body is of flame The dragons are all very lustful and approach beasts of every sort The fruit of a union of one of these monsters with a cow is the kirin with a swine an elephant

and with a horse a steed of the finest breed The female dragon produces at every parturition nine young The first young dragon sings and likes all harmonious sounds hence the tops of Japanese bells are cast in the form of this dragon the second delights in the sounds of musical instruments hence the koto or horizontal harp and suzumi a girl's drum struck by the fingers are ornamented with the figure of this dragon the third is fond of drinking and likes all stimulating liquors therefore goblets and drinking cups are adorned with representations of this creature the fourth likes steep and dangerous places hence gables towers the projecting beams of temples and pagodas have carved images of this dragon upon them the fifth is a great destroyer of living things fond of killing and bloodshed therefore swords are decorated with golden figures of this dragon the sixth loves learning and delights in literature hence on the covers and title pages of books and literary works are pictures of this creature the seventh renowned for its power of hearing eighth enjoys sitting hence the chairs are carved in its image the loves to bear weight therefore the of tables and oihibachi braziers to fire usually made of brass or bronze are shaped like this creature's feet the dragon is the most powerful in existence so the garments of the or mikado are called the robes his face the dragon his body the dragon and his anger the dragon wrath

Flying Snake

Palestine, or the Holy land: from the earliest period to the present time

1837-By Michael Russell

 There is mention made in Holy Scripture of the fiery flying serpent a creature about whose existence and qualities naturalists have entertained a considerable difference of opinion It is now generally admitted that in Guinea Java and other countries where there is at once great heat and a marshy soil there exists a species of these animals which have the power of moving in the air or at least of passing from tree to tree Niebuhr relates that at Bazra also there is a sort of serpents called heie sursurie They commonly live on dates and as it would be troublesome to them to come down one high tree and creep up another they hang by the tail to the branch of one and by winging that about take advantage of its motion to leap to that of a second These the modern Arabs call flying serpents hcit thidre I do not know whether the ancient Arabs were acquainted with any other kind of flying serpent Near Batavia there are certain flying snakes or dragons as they are sometimes called They have four legs a long tail and their skin speckled with many spots their wings are not unlike those of a bat which they move in flying but otherwise keep them almost unperceived clc se to the body They fly nimbly but cannot hold out long so that they only shift from tree to tree at about twenty or thirty yards distance On the outside of the throat are two bladders which being extended when they fly serve them instead of a sail t

An essay on aërial navigation, with some observations on ships, by J.McS. 1844

Cicero in his work de Natura Deorum speaks of Ibis in Egypt destroying flying snakes volucres angues brought by the wind from the desert of Libya speaks also in the same passage of the Crocodile and the Ichneumon so that it was evident that he was ignorant of the natural history of Egypt He was of the most accomplished men of his age and if snakes were entirely fabulous it is difficult to that a man of his great acquirements could have into such a mistake There was intercourse by ships between Rome and Egypt at the time so that he opportunities of knowing a deal about Egypt If it admitted that Dragons existed in the historical period why not admit the existence of the Pterodactyle in same period and that this creature was brought occasionally into Egypt by the wind But it may be said that Pterodactyle resembled a lizard more than a snake this it may be answered that the ancients were not so precise as the moderns in the nomenclature of animals from its long n eck the Pterodactyle might have been a snake by ancient writers Tacitus appears to use words anguis and draco in the same sense in of a fabulous matter favor plebis acrior in loco preesagii acceptus est vulgabaturque infantia dracones in modum custodum fabulosa et miraculis assimulata nam ipse huadquaquam sui detractor unam omnino anguetn in cubiculo vision solitus est Taciti Annal Lib XI The Ibis by lacerating the membranous wings of the Pterodactyle in the air could cause it to fall curious bird the Dodo has become extinct in the historical period There is thus some reason to suppose that flying snake of the ancients was the Pterodactyle

DRACONTIUM or SERPENTINE TEMPLE and TEMPLAALAT

Specimen of an Etimological Vocabulary 

or Essay By Means of the Analitic Method

to Retrieve the Antient Celtic Specimen

Written by: John Cleland, in 1768

DRACONTIUM or SERPENTINE 

TEMPLE and TEMPLAALAT 

A The modern names of Dracontium and of Alta temple the one meaning simply a circle or church the other a winged circle were purely owing like so many others to such mistakes of ancient Words as arose from similarity of sound the rectifying of which throws on the antiquities of Britain a light that cannot be but satisfactory to those those who prefer the simplicity of truth to the marvellousness of falsity For the word Dracontium then there were two coinciding reasons First The circles or churches for they are syno rilmous were originally formed or built by the Druids Among their names for they had many was that of Drac or circle maker this also signisied a Dragon One reason this for the word Dracontium Another Such circles had commonly sanctuaries Lechs Cromlechs Meyns or Minsters belonging to them these were called Naids and with the particle tor annexed expressive of the precinct ground or verge of their influence this would give Naid tor Now Naidr signifying a snake can there be any thing forced in the presuming that as the Druid churches became exploded by Christianity the name of Snake temples as the more invidious or contumelious might supplant the real one of Sanctuary temples of The circle's representing the coil of a snake either in its outline or inward circular partitions I might adduce as a further reason but I think it rather too quaint too forced to be the principal cause though it might contribute to give still more foundation for the misnomer and help to fix it As to the Alata templa I take this to be obviously a mistake of the like nature
 The collegiate circles of the Alburys or Cant ah burys had collaterally to them a range or ranges of Heills or Halls both for the instruction of youth and the administration of justice These were called Heils or Halls thence our I Les of a church Thence in Gaul they were stiles Ailis wings a term conspired by some affinity of form answering to the Wilton of the Greeks and in time generalized to signify the out buildings of any fabric sacred or profane This was however not unlikely the origin of the Alata templa of the Druids and indeed of those of Christianity la these wings metaphorically given to the serpentine temples you have most probably the genuine origin of that absurd impersonation of them in the winged serpent dragons or griffins Cir effins a word expressing a snake temple especially too as in those temples it was of old customary to deposit consecrated treasures I would be loth to be too positive that Strabo did not mistake Lecbs or Cromlechs for the Latin Lacus and thence translated it and why not as well as some historians took the Celtic hatchets for ace tum vinegar A single rock unluckily fallen a cross a pathway on the Alps was enough to obstruct Hannibal's whole army this a few Celtic hatchets would clear away in a few instants which a thousand tons of vinegar acetum if he had had so much in his camp would hardly have effectuated in as many years As these Leeks then were Kit miens lap-ides custodies in every sense and in that quality not only safe guards of men but of treasures whether consecrated or deposited there for safety might not the word Lech by its found impose on Strabo a Greek Who can conceive that lakes were not more proper reservoirs for such than for treasure It is barely possible but very improbable that they were put to such an unexampled use
The lands on which the Leches or Asylums stood might-be sold by the Roman conquerors but Lakes were not commonly objects of property The great temple of Tho louse which Strabo mentions belonged doubtless to a Lech or Cromwell not to a Lake and was some such Minster as the other Mayans or Fanes of Britain or Gaul M Bourguet in his dissertation on the Etruscan alphabet p I c takes notice of an extremely rare Greek word Ext in the signification of Temple which he thinks may be the etimon of the Venetian Zecca or mint This rather comes from Z ick to strike a coin But if Exx in the sense of Temple or Fane dismisses its idiomatic tetminative and assumes the common Celtic prepositive or 1 it gives precisely our British Lech the import of a Cromlech itself the Fane or Meyn and giving the name of Temple to the whole precinct or Church Most of the Greek words on a fair analisis will be found purely Celtic The Druids or Dr acs were officially the guardians of such treasures Thence the antient siction of assigning the guard of precious things to Dragons In lhort the winged dragons and their uard ng treasures may very well take rank with the hippagnfHns with fairy dances in a ring on the green and TheThe N of the Greeks for a temple I take to have an origin though purely Celtic different from our word Nave or Nef to express the body of the church This rather derives from the connection of the circle or main spot to the Hoff or Hab the head Con hoff Con hab this was the with other productions of fancy and chimera most of them to be traced to such mistakes or childish play of words which have not been the less seriously believed in the times of barbarism and ignorance Naos for temple I take to be by a contraction frequent h the Greek and Latin languages to stand for Ketaws in which the Ken does not the less for its not being at all Greek enter into the composition of that language This is the case of many other monosillables of the elementary language
They are not Greek but they contribute to form the Greek The Celtic car for heart is not Greek but it forms KapJia Ks is one of the old Celtic words for bead in which sense it enters into Tivomo I ken or kenoiv know In Naos for Ke aof it means a head place If the reader mould here think I take an unwarrantable liberty in presuming the elliptic letters I offer to his own consideration the following examples Take the Latin words Nascor Watus Natura and the French Ne for born Analize them and you will sind that A cor being but a frequentative Atus a common idiomatic termination Atura the fame e the fame This reduces all these words to this single initial letter n which offers no sense Restore the two elliptic letters ge cut off by the usual tendency of languages to contraclion or to euphony you have gena cor genatus genatura gene in which gen the radical of generative of kind of beginning &c and of hundreds more gives a clear fense nor will it escape the reader that Ken head and Gen generative have so great an analogy as to be at bottom the fame word Nor is this the only word by many Notus in Latin has the fame origin as the Greek Tuoaxa of which only the sirst Iota is elliptic in rW t The postulate then of variation of the fame words stands incontestable Even in proper names where one would the least suspect it it is astonishingly great Alfred Galfred Aubrey Jeffrey Ambrose Alvarez and very possibly Abarii are at bottom all the same name though some of them preserve so little of the family likeness They all derive from Allury or Amlry headhead head sanctuary or altar piece collateral to this Nave were the I les or Wings the Heils or Halhi Such was the disposition of the Druidical collegiate churches which gave them the name of Alata There is if I mistake not the remains of a Druid serpentine temple in Westmorland called the Shap a contraction of The Ab the head Here be it observed that even the word Nef signisied antiently a serpent as if every thing had concurred to this denomination This head Hofs or Cove was specisically the place of the sacred Stone Lech or Meyn which was considered as the capital part of the whole precinct whether an Albury or a Cantalbury It is now represented by the altar piece and chancel And here I must entreat the reader's retrospect to page 52 where Conwont or Coffwont it is the fame word is represented in its true connection with theantient word Minster which I have so much reason to think it is so far from deducible from the Greek that on the contrary itself gave birth to that barbarous and false Hellenism And surely the more he considers the circumstance of convents having been so familiarly multi plied in Europe so very early after the prevalence of Christianity he will be the less ready to believe that monasteries could derive their original of living in the society of collegiate life from the example of the solitaries or hermits of the Thebaid in Egypt it is even a contradiclion in terms unless you will force the word w from single life allusively to celibacy a word never in that fense made use of in Greek where ay or a ytx Aril & was at once so much more expressive and so obvious to conception What likelihood is there that unless the conventual or collegiate life of the Druids had smoothed the way for the institution of Christian convents convents they should have all at once and in those countries especially where the Druids had confessedly the greatest or rather exclusive sway the notion of convents and that it should be so familiar as it appears to have been in the earliest ages of Christianity Besides which the distinction was always kept up between hermits and collegiates not only in the name but in the thing As to the Druid monks they formed a class apart which I have precedently explained But they offer to me here an opportunity of retrieving the lost fense of an antient British word which will greatly corroborate my proposition of the priority of Druid Minjlers to Christian Monasteries Its degree of weight or validity I submit to any judge of literature the severer the better You will sind that the modern Welsh make a promiscuous use of the words Corphlan and Myn went to express a church yard for which they are justly reprehended by the learned Dr Wotton the editor of Howell Dha's laws He proves very clearly from the text of the laws themselves compiled in or about the year 942 and probably the most of them much more antient that Mynwent and Corphlan have essentially different signisications Corphlan he makes very naturally come from Corph corpse and llan inclosure but as to Myn vent it is plain from his own showing that he Corflan & Corphlan apud hodiernos Wallos Corflant & Mynuaent pro cœmeterio vulgo usurpantur In Legibus dit ersa sunt Mynuuent suit Atrium Ecclefiii adjacent Corphlan exte rius suit Atrium interius illud undiquaque ambiens in quo Ca davera sepeliebantur Vide How Dha lib ii cap viii 6 Corphlan a Corph Corpus & Llan septum Myn voent dicitur quasi Monumentum Ccemeteria erant extra Atria ne corrupta ca davera sidelibus in ecclesia congregatis incommodo essent Sed hæc omnia acompluribus ab hinc feculis confysaSi indistintla sunt Wotton mistakes sanctuary precinct not content with impowering friars to go about the country to beg in their behalf they even indulged them the liberty of going about their own affairs beyond the sanctuary limits without fear of molestation from their prosecutors or from officers of justice provided that they carried with them some authenticated mark a bough of evergreen for example delivered to them by a Druid conventualist the producing which maintained their title to sanctuary though caught out of the lawful bounds It was a kind of day rule to them This testimonial was called Crair contractedly from Cir ayer the bough or warrant from the church or hallowed circle But when Christianity prevailed under the dispensation of which it was very natural for the ecclesiastics in their care for the prerogative of the church not to give up so material a one as the right of sanctuary they retained this privilege of Naid or sanctuary with no difference but that of substituting to the crair or bough the relicks of some saint which relicks however retained metonimically the antient name of Crair and Naid y Craireu was called the fro teclion of the relicks By these the antient Christianized Britons used to swear as they formerly did on the altar or the sacred bough instead of kissing the book as is now practised

Historical Book Artwork, on Dragons

 There are thousands of books upon the dragon, although none of them quite have the same taste of artwork as those from the later era. The only problem though is that they are all in pig Latin, which is impossible to solve unless your a mason of course. So because where not, we are destined to view the images. These following images, are from the book of:

The XVIth Century: A Large Collection of Valuable Books on ..

That was written in 1520 AD.

 

 

England: Dragon Hill

Dragon Hill:

A New and Comprehensive Gazetteer, Volume 1

By: George Newenham Wright

1834

The first historical book reference we will begin with, was written in 1834 by  By George Newenham Wright.  A man of high nobility and honor within his homeland of Ireland. George was born in 1794, very little is known about his life, other than he was a clergyman for the Anglican Church as well as a well noted writer of his era. 
George had written 7 books within his lifetime, with the following book being his second to last. The following segment comes from the book A New and Comprehensive Gazetteer, Volume 1, (Gazetteer : geographic reference book: a dictionary or index of places, usually with descriptive or statistical information).

" The hills of Surrey and Hampshire an extensive prospect and the eminences on the W command a prospect over Gloucester Wilts and Oxford The extreme length of the co that is from Old Windsor to Buscot is 48 m and its extreme breadth is between Witham and Sandhurst Pop 145,380 The area contains 472,270 acres which are divided naturally into 1 The White Horse vale extending from Bus cot to Streatley bounded on one side by Thames on the other by the White Horse hills by 2 The Chalk hills which occupy the part of the county 3 The vale of Kennet 4 The Forest division commencing E of I odd on and extending the whole way across the co to Old Windsor The chief rivs are the Thames Kennet Loddon Lambourn Ock Aubourn Emme and Broadwater The soil in general reclines upon chalk and calcareous matter sometimes on a mixture of gravel and clay The vale is uniformly fertile the prevailing soil being a strong grey calcareous loam in which vegetable mould is intimately mixed with cretaceous earth Amongst the chalk hills fertile spaces intervene where the surface con sists of vegetable mould mixed up with chalk flint and gravel The hills are everywhere clad with verdure and form excellent sheep walks a species of peat is found in the vale of Kennet used both as fuel and manure Near Reading is a bed of chalk 30 feet in thickness reclining upon flint above the chalk is a stratum of sandy clay covered by a layer of oyster shells two feet in depth A species of ochre is found depth species here echini fossil shells sharks teeth marine remains of infinite varieties pipe clay potters clay and shell marl in Kennet vale Chalybeate springs exist at Cumnor Sunning hill and Gorrick well The soil produces wheat and barley superior in quality and profuse in quantity and malting is a trade pursued extensively Large dairy farms occupy White Horse vale and the Berkshire sheep large tall with black faces and long tails are much esteemed and fatten easily The swine here are also famous poultry are reared in great numbers at Oakingham timber chiefly oak and beech are grown here and constitute a good trade The manufactures consist of sail cloth woollen and paper At Bisham are very extensive copper works Berkshire is divided into copper works twenty hunds namely Beynhurst Bray Charlton Compton Cookham Faircross Faringdon Ganfield Hormer Kirilbury Eagle Lambourn Moreton Ock Reading Ripplesmere Shriveo ham Sonning Theale Wantage Wargrave besides the boroughs of Abingdon returning member Reading two Wallingford one and Windsor two members The co returns members and the boroughs together six There are twelve mkt tns in Berkshire namely Abingdon Faringdon Hungerford East llsley Lambourn Maidenhead Newbury Oakingham Reading Wallingford Wantage and Windsor This co is also distinguished as containing the royal residence of the kings of England viz Windsor Cast le besides rovalpalaces atFrogmore Cumberland lodge and Iran bourn Lodge The advantages arising to the inhabitants from inland navigation here are very considerable of one dist of a triangular shape no part is distant 12 m from water carriage on the Thames on the Kennet on the Wilts and Berks canal or on the Basingstoke navigation The Kennet and Avon canal runs parallel to the Kennet river until it enters Wiltshire in the vicinity of Hungerford Berkshire includes the ancient British principality occupied by the Attribatii originally from Gaul Upon Constantine's division of the island in the year 310 into provs this par was included in Britannica Prima under the Saxon Heptarchy it was comprehended in the kingd of the West Saxons and when Alfred a native of Wantage in this co ad 889 divided England into cos hunds and pars this was lor the first time named Berocshirc or Berkshire There are many evident traces still subsisting of Roman and Danish occupation The Roman Watling street enters Berkshire a Streatley between Wallingford and Reading and crosses the county to Marlborough Another Roman road enters from Hampshire and at Newbury divides one branch extending to Marlborough the other to Cirencester A branch also from the Icknield street extends from Wallingford to Wantage Several Roman encampmetits metits may be traced the most obvious remain aie at Wantage East Harapstead Oakingham White Horse hill Siuodun hill and Pusey UAingham castle is supposed to be Danish Deal White Horse hill is the monument of a Danish chief slain by Alfred and Dragon hill is believed to be the burial place of Jther Pen dragon There is a figure of a horse distinctly marked in the front of the chalky hill called from this curious resemblance which is supposed to have been formed by the ancient Britons and to have some connexion in customs or superstitions with a similar figure observed upon ancient British coins Berkshire has been the scene of military operations from the time of king UHa to the period of the revolution BERKS".

Cross of Cong

The Celtic Records and Historic Literature of Ireland:

The Cross of Cong

Written By: J.T. Gilbert

1838

 

The Cross of Cong (Irish: An Bacall Buí, "the yellow baculum") is an early 12th-century Irish Christian ornamented cusped processional cross, which was, as an inscription says, made for Tairrdelbach Ua Conchobair (d. 1156), King of Connacht and High King of Ireland to donate to the Cathedral church of the period that was located at Tuam, County Galway, Ireland. The cross was subsequently moved to Cong Abbey at Cong, County Mayo, from which it takes its name. It was designed to be placed on top of a staff and is also a reliquary, designed to hold a piece of the purported True Cross. This gave it additional importance as an object of reverence and was undoubtedly the reason for the object's elaborate beauty.
The cross is displayed at the National Museum of Ireland, Dublin, having previously been in the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy, Dublin. It is considered one of finest examples of metalwork and decorative art of its period in Western Europe.
The cross consists of an oak cross, covered in gold, silver, niello, copper, bronze, brass, enamel, coloured glass, and other ornamentation.^[2] In addition to traditional Irish design features from Insular art, the cross also displays some Viking and Romanesque influences,^[1] including 'strapwork' decoration in the Urnes style. It has been suggested that the older Insular stylistic elements may be deliberate revivalism. The decoration includes minute golden filigree work in an intertwined pattern called on front and back. From the base heads of beasts on each side grip the cross in their mouth, a feature also found in German crosses. The overall shape of the cross was thought to be Romanesque, but recent discoveries have shown very similar shapes in much earlier Irish pieces.^[3] Some of the original precious stones and glass pieces that studded the cross are now missing.
There is a large polished piece of rock crystal in the centre of the cross. Under this was placed the relic (sent from Rome around the year A.D. 1123) of what at the time was believed to be the True Cross. The relic is since lost, and was a small fragment of wood only. The crystal is semi-transparent, once enabling the relic to be partially seen by the viewer.

The cross is 30 inches high and the arms are 18 ¾ inches in breadth.^[4]
As a processional cross, the cross was carried mounted on its staff at the head of a religious procession by one of the officiating clergy or altar-servers. Often such crosses were then removed from their staff and placed on the altar during the ceremony.

 According to Irish annals, supported by the inscriptions on the cross itself (which refer to known historical personages), the cross was made in County Roscommon. In the annals, the cross is sometimes called in the Irish language "an Bacall Buidhe", which translates as "the yellow staff" — a reference to its golden color.

The cross was commissioned by King Tairrdelbach Ua Conchobair.
In A.D. 1123, according to the Irish annals, a small piece of the purported True Cross arrived in Ireland from Rome and was enshrined at Roscommon.^[5] The cross then appears to have moved to Tuam. At an early date, probably in the mid-12th century, the cross was moved from Tuam to Cong Abbey, an abbey founded by the Augustinians on a much earlier Christian site.

In later centuries, the exact location of the cross in the Cong area is uncertain but it appears to be have been hidden by locals and ecclesiastics in their homes because of religious persecution against Catholics, which reached its peak in Ireland under the penal laws.

In 1680, Ruaidhrí Ó Flaithbheartaigh, the historian from County Galway, saw the cross (which he referred to as the "Abbot of Cong's Cross") and copied inscriptions from it. Edward Lhuyd of Wales,^[6] Ó Flaithbheartaigh's friend, recorded this fact in his "Archaeologia Britannica", published in 1707.^[7]

In the 19th century, George Petrie, the Irish antiquarian, was aware that Lhuyd's book mentioned the cross, though he partly misinterpreted the details. In 1822, Petrie had seen the cross himself when he passed through Cong on a tour he made of Connacht.^[8] Petrie told his friend, Professor James MacCullagh (of Trinity College, Dublin), about the cross and of its historical value.^[8] MacCullagh, using his own money, though not a rich man, afterwards purchased the cross from the Parish Priest of Cong — Fr. Michael Waldron.^[9] Fr. Waldron had succeeded Fr. Patrick Prendergast as Parish Priest of Cong, when Fr. Prendergast died in 1829, and discovered the cross amongst his belongings. Fr. Patrick Prendergast, an Augustinian, was also considered to be the last Abbot of Cong Abbey. Fr. Prendergast had discovered the cross hidden in an old oak chest kept in a house in the village, where it was said to have been kept since about the mid-17th century (the time of the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland). Fr. Prendergast then kept the cross in his house, named 'Abbotstown', located on a farm in the townland of Ballymagibbon (or Ballymacgibbon), which is close to Cong.^[10] William Wilde, who was from this part of Ireland, had seen the cross in his childhood in Fr. Prendergast's possession and stated that at that time (the early 19th century) the cross was used at Cong chapel at the festivals of Christmas and Easter, when it was placed on the altar during mass.^[11] MacCullagh presented the cross in 1839 to the Royal Irish Academy, where it was for a long period one of its most treasured artefacts.^[12][13]
About 1890, the cross was transferred to the newly opened National Museum of Science and Art, Dublin, which was the predecessor of the National Museum of Ireland, and remained in the same building when the National Museum of Ireland was founded in 1925. Today, the cross remains in the National Museum of Ireland, although it was on display in the National Museum of Ireland - Country Life, Turlough Park, Castlebar, from 31 March 2010 for one year, while the Dublin museum was being renovated.^[14] This was the first time the cross had left Dublin since the 1830s.^[15]

Inscriptions

The cross has inscriptions on it^[2] — all of which are in the Irish language, with the exception of one which is in Latin.

Latin

The Latin inscription occurs twice — once on each side of the shaft — in one case the letters of the sixth word are "Pahus", and in the other, "Pasus"; it should be "Passus". A facsimile engraving (taken from a rubbing) of one of these inscriptions is shown below,
In modern Latin this is rendered as

"Hac cruce crux tegitur qua pas[s]us conditor orbis",^[16]

which has been translated as

"With this cross is covered the cross on which suffered the Maker of the World."^[2]

or, with similar meaning, as

"In this cross is preserved [or conserved] the cross on which the Founder of the world suffered."^[16]

Irish

In addition, the translated Irish language inscriptions read as follows:

A prayer for Tairrdelbach Ua Conchobair, for the King of Ireland, for whom this shrine was made.^[17]

Pray for Muireadhach Ua Dubhthaigh, the Senior of Erin.

Pray for Domnall mac Flannacáin Ua Dubthaig, Bishop of Connacht and Comarb [Successor] of [Saints] Comman and Ciaran, under whose superintendence the shrine was made.^[18]

Pray for Mael Isu mac Bratdan O Echan, who made this shrine.^[4]