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34
Loves Garland.
Dr. George Bull, Bishop of St. David’s (1703), had,—
“Bene parêre, parere det mihi Deus.”
Chaucer, in the prologue to the “Knight’s Tale,” speaks of the Prioresse having
“A Brooch of Gold ful schene,
On which was first i-written a crowned A,
And after that ‘Amor vincit omnia.’”
On which was first i-written a crowned A,
And after that ‘Amor vincit omnia.’”
This last posy was largely used subsequently inscribed on rings.
These Mottoes or Posies were often witty and quaint, but invariably they were sentimental; the custom of having the Motto on the ring survives to this day, but the posy is cut and enamelled on the hoop, instead of being engraved as heretofore.
In this painfully matter-of-fact age it is too often sought to eliminate sentiment from the thoughts of daily life, and I fancy I can see a smile on the face of him who reads
