THE PURPOSES OF RING WEARING 47
In
the possession of Waldo Lincoln, of Worcester, Mass., is a memorial
ring consisting of a narrow plain gold band. There is faintly
discernible on this a winged head, apparently a skull, similar to the
heads of this type sometimes to be seen sculptured on old gravestones.
Around the inner side of the band runs the following inscription: "Hoble I. Winslow Esqr., ob. 14 Decr. 1738 M 68." 74 This
refers to Isaac Winslow, a son of the noted Josiah Winslow (1629-1680),
governor of Plymouth Colony from 1673 until his death, and who was the
first native-born governor in New England. It was during his term of
office that the severe contest with the Indians, known as King Philip's
War, was fought out successfully.
A
mourning ring with a strangely materialistic motto is that executed by
order of the Beefsteak Club to commemorate the demise of John ThornhiU,
Esq., on September 23, 1757, according to the inscription in white
enamel on the hoop. The bezel is flat and of oval form, enamelled in
pale blue and white ; in the centre is shown a gridiron and around this
is the legend: " Beef and Liberty."75 The Beefsteak Club,
formed early in the eighteenth century, was Tory in politics, an
opponent of the Kit-Cat Club, whose members were devoted to the
success of the Whigs.
Rings
as memorials of the dead suggest the mention of a memorial ring of
another kind, one destined to favor the revival of a defunct
government. When Napoleon I was exiled to Elba after the overthrow of
his empire
74 Communicated by Waldo Lincoln, the owner of the ring.
75
0. M. Dalton : " Franks Bequest, Catalogue of the Finger Rings, Early
Christian, Byzantine, Teutonic, Mediaeval and Later [British Museum],"
London, 1912, p. 232, No. 1628,
