ample shews that it was occasionally nearly flat, resembling the bronze tarian of the Britons, such as have recently been found in Cambridgeshire. In other instances, however, it appears to have been of a convex form, rising to a central apex, as represented in the sculpture of St. Michael, over the doorway of Hallaton church, Leicestershire, and in figures given by Strutt, Horda, plates IV, V, XXXI[1]. It is not improbable that in the northern counties the use of this kind of shield had been retained, whilst the fashion of the kite-shaped and triangular shield prevailed in other parts of the country, and even at the present time the roundel is not wholly obsolete in North Britain.
The curious circlet of gilt metal which had been deposited in one of the tombs at Brougham is deserving of notice, both on account of the singular ornaments engraved upon it, and the difficulty of ascertaining to what purpose it had been applied. It was conjectured that it had been an armlet, but this supposition appears incorrect: its form and size would indicate that it had served as the rim, or mounting, of a cup, a drinking-horn, or, more probably, an oliphant or hunting-horn. The representations of ancient tenure-horns, given in the Archæologia, suggest that such may have been the purpose for which this ornament had been fabricated: and the figures of the three seraphim, whose names occur in the composition of written physical charms, may have been introduced with a notion of some talismanic virtue. Amongst the curious interlaced ornaments, which seem to denote a Saxon or early Norman date, a sacred symbol is introduced, properly pertaining to the Eastern Church, and designated by the term gammadion, being compounded of the letter gamma, several times repeated. It was introduced very frequently in the decorations and vestments of the Greek Church, as also occasionally of our own; an example is supplied by the fine effigy of Bishop Edyndon, at Winchester. This symbol, retained in later times as an heraldic charge, was known as the "fylfot," a term hitherto unexplained. There is no instance, it is believed, on record, of the discovery of a horn in any medieval interment, but the conjecture suggested by this ornament may on various accounts appear probable. The horn was borne by persons of distinction not only in the chace, but in warlike enterprises; it served from early times both as a token of the conveyance of lands, and of official appointments. In the marches of Scotland, moreover, the tenure by cornage prevailed, namely, by the service, or grand serjeanty, of sounding a horn whenever the Scots or other foes of the realm should cross the Border[2].
- ↑ A very good example of this kind of buckler is supplied by a figure of Goliath, given in the Essai sur la Calligraphie, by Langlois, from a MS. of the twelfth century, in the public library at Rouen.
- ↑ It is indeed remarkable, as regards the conjecture that the object deposited in the burial-place of the de Broham family may have been a horn of this description, that Lord Brougham actually holds some lands in the manor of Brougham by tenure of cornage, and an ancient horn is still in his possession, traditionally called the cornage horn.
