will
dated in 1463, left a " rowund ryng of the Kynges silver," that is of
the silver coins of the royal offering; another bequest in the same
will is that of a " crampe ryng with blak innamel, and a part of silver
and gilt." A few years later, in the reign of Henry VIII, Edmund Zee
wills to his niece a " gold ryng with a turkes (turquoise) and a
crampe ryng of gold." 14
At
his coronation, Edward II of England offered at the high altar of
Westminster Abbey a pound weight of gold, fashioned with " the likeness
of a king holding a ring in his hand, to this was added a golden image
weighing eight ounces (2/3 pound), representing a
pilgrim stretching forth his hand to take the proffered ring. The
offering of a pound of gold has persisted down to modern times,
although the later offerings have been in the form of plain ingots,
while in medieval times the sovereign would have it formed into the
saintly figure or figures to which he paid particular devotion, as
Edward II did to St. Edward the Confessor.15
These
so-called " cramp-rings," long regarded in England as specifics for the
cure of cramps and convulsions, and even of epileptic attacks, owed
their virtue, as has been stated, to the royal blessing. Polydore
Vergil, writing in 1534, in the reign of Henry VIII, asserts that the
original cramp-ring was brought to Edward the Confessor shortly before
his death by some persons who came from Jerusalem. This very ring had
been given by Edward, many years before, to a beggar, who had craved
alms of the King for the love
14 Edmund Waterton on Cramp Rings in the " Archaeological Journal," vol. xxi, pp. 103-113.
15 "
Ancient and Modern Gold and Silver Smiths' Work in the South Kensington
Museum," with introduction by John Hungerford Pollen, London, 1878, p.
cxlix.
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