Collection
exhibited in the South Kensington Museum, in London, in 1872. The
statement is made that this ring was presented by Bishop Juxon to Sir
John Hal-loway, and from him passed into the possession of the Dalby
family. The ring bears a death's head in white enamel on a black
ground, and has the motto, " Behold the ende " ; around the edge is the
inscription, " Rather death then fais fayth " ; at the back are the
initials " M " and " L," tied with a mourning ribbon.53
The
" Verney Ring," with a portrait of Charles I of England, is, if
genuine, the only relic of a heroic tragedy. It is said to have been
bestowed by Charles I upon Sir Edmund Verney, one of his most faithful
followers in the perils of the Civil War. Sir Edmund was killed at the
battle of Edgehill, in 1642, where the Cavaliers were utterly defeated,
but even in death he still held the royal standard in his grasp. The
ring was taken from his hand, and the body abandoned; it was never
recovered. As he was helped into the world by a Caesarean operation, it
became a common saying in the neighborhood of Edgehill that Sir Edmund
was neither born not buried.54
With
that striking indifference to moral right and wrong so characteristic
of Charles II of England, he did not hesitate to bestow a choice ring
from his own hand upon the notorious Jeffreys, when the latter was
leaving London on one of his circuits always marked
63 South Kensington Museum : Catalogue of the Loan ColÂlection, 1872; London, 1873, p. 72, No. 838. The ring is figured in the Gentleman's Magazine for 1797, vol. lxvii, pt. ii (Oct.), on plate opposite p. 827, figs. 5 and 6 ; see also pp. 830 and 1017.
54
Catalogue of the Special Exhibition of Works of Art at the South
Kensington Museum, June, 1862," section 33, " MisÂcellaneous Rings," by
R. H. S. Smith, p. 637.
