overseer, in addition to that of the mason, as the former (the N. shaped mark in this ease) appears in connexion with variousother marks in other places. In the nave the marks are from 1 inch to 112 inch long; in the earlier parts of the building they are larger and more coarsely formed[1].
October 9.
Mr. Way exhibited several carefully detailed drawings, representing a stone cross, which is to be seen on the shores of Lough Neagh; they were executed by Thomas Oldham, Esq., of Dublin, who communicated the following account of this remarkable piece of sculpture.
"As far as I know, you have not in England any thing of equal beauty. Here these stone crosses are abundant; that at Arboe, of which I send the drawings, is situated on a small projecting point on the western shore of Lough Neagh, in the county of Tyrone, and being in a district hut little frequented, is less known than many others. Whether we consider its situation, or its intrinsic beauty of pro- portion and elaborate ornaments, it is a splendid monument of the good taste and piety of the times in which it was erected. It is close to the old church of Arboe, near which is also the ruin of an ecclesiastical establishment or college, which, tradition says, was very famous. The cross itself is formed of four separate pieces; the base or plinth, of two steps; the main portion of the shaft, a rectangle of 18 inches by 12 inches; the cross, and the mitre, or capping stone. These pieces are let into each other by a mortice and tenon-joint. The total height from the ground, as it stands, is 21 feet 2 inches. The material is a fine grit, or sandstone. The subjects of the sculptured compartments appear to be all scriptural: Adam and Eve, the garden of Eden, the sacrifice of Isaac, the Crucifixion," &c. Mr. Way observed that the early sculptured crosses which exist in various parts of the realm deserve more careful investigation than has hitherto been bestowed upon them. The curious group of these crosses at Sandbach, in Cheshire, affords a remarkable example, of which a representation may be found in Ormerod's History of that county; a singular and very ancient shaft of a cross on the south side of Wolverhampton church, Staffordshire, merits notice. Several crosses, most elaborately decorated with fretted and interlaced work, are to be found in South Wales; some of them bear inscriptions, which might probably serve as evidence of the period, or intention, with which they were erected. Those which best deserve observation exist at Carew, and Nevern, in Pembrokeshire; Margam, Porthkerry, and Llantwit Mayor, in Glamorganshire; and not less curious examples are to be seen in the North of the Principality; at Tremeirchion, Holywell, and Diserth, in Flintshire. Mr. Way shewed also some sketches, recently taken by him, of the ornamental sculpture on a stone cross, and
- ↑ "A circumstance occurred the next morning in connexion with this subject which is perhaps worthy of mention. A member of the Association believing that the marks were quite arbitrary on the part of the workmen, and had no connexion either one with another, or with 'free-masonry,' requested Mr. Godwin to accompany him to the mason's yard attached to the cathedral; when there, he called one of the elder men, and told him 'to make his mark upon a piece of stone.' The man having complied, and being asked why he made that particular form, said it was his father's mark, and his grandfather's mark, and that his grandfather had it from 'the Lodge.'"
