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112 PRECIOUS STONES.
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persons,
such as aldermen, wore a plain gold ring upon the thumb. Brome, in his
Play, " The Antipodes" (1638) wrote, '" A good man in the city wears
nothing rich about him, but the gout, or a thumb-ring." In Chaucer's "
Squier's Tale," it is said, respecting the rider of the brazen horse :—
'*,..» Upon his thumb he had of gold a ring." The Husband's Petition.
" Thou wil't not sure deny me
My first, and fond request ? —I pray thee by the memory
Of all we cherish best ; By all the dear remembrance
Of those delicious days When hand in hand we wandered
Along the summer braes :
" By the great vow which bound thee For ever to my side; And by the Ring that made thee
My darling, and my bride;— —Thou wilt not fail, nor falter,
But bend thee to the task; —A boiled sheep's Head on Sunday, Is all the boon I ask."—
Bon Gaultier Ballads.
Incidentally,
as connected with the subject of finger rings, the general aspect of
the hands is closely confronted. Thus, the secret of a woman's age is
more often revealed by the appearance of her hands than by her
features, or her figure. Brittle nails, to wit, and prominent veins on
the hands, are sure signs of advancing years.
According
to a Rabbinical saying—" Man is born with his bands clenched ; he dies
with his hands wide open. Entering life he desires to grasp everything
; leaving the world he is compelled to relinquish all that he has
possessed."
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