of before, making nane answer to na person spiritual nor temporal in anything concerning it," and in which the king also charged all his subjects to make no impediment to the said Malise Doire's passing through the country with the said relic as he and his forbears were wont to do.

The traveller was so much impressed with the beauty of the relic and the unusual nature of its authentication that he wrote a letter to the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, in which he mentions these circumstances, and adds that at the time of his visit a youth of nineteen, the representative of his father's name and heir presumptive to this treasure, lay drooping in the last stage of consumption. "I am induced,” he says, " to advertise the Society of this circumstance, lest at the death of the present owner the relic should become a sacrifice to the neediness of his heirs, and find a ready passage to the melting pot." On the back of this letter there is a memorandum in pencil :-"The owner of the relic afterwards emigrated to America, carrying the Quigrich with him." But the Society in course of time recovered traces of the relic, and though long unable to obtain possession of it, they were at length enabled, through the medium of Dr. Daniel Wilson, their former secretary, to acquire the Quigrich for the National Museum. On 30th December 1876, or ninety-four years

hand to compell nor distrenye him to mak obedience nor ansuere to you nor till ony uthir but allenarly to us and oure successouris, according to the said infeftment and fundatioun of the said Relik, and siclike as wes use and wount in the tyme of oure said progenitouris of maist nobill mynde of before: And that ye mak him nane impediment, letting nor distroublance in the passing with the said Relik throw the contre, as he and his forebearis wes wount to do; And that ye and ilk ane of you in oure name and autorite kepe him unthrallit, bot to remane in siclike fredome and liberte of the said Relik, like as is contenit in the said infeftment under all the hiest pane and charge that ye and ilk ane of you may amitt, and inrun anent us in that pairt. Gevin undir oure prive sele at Edinburgh this vj day of Julij, the yere of God jm iiije lxxxvij yeris and of oure regne the xxvij yere. JAMES R.

1 For this and other services to the archæology of Scotland, with which

after the date of the first communication regarding it which had been made to the Society, the present representative of the ancient Dewars, or hereditary keepers of the crosier, executed a deed, of which the tenor follows:

"Whereas I, Alexander Dewar of Plympton in Canada, am possessed of that ancient Scottish relic called the Quigrich or crosier of St. Fillan; and whereas the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland have applied to me, through Dr. Daniel Wilson of Toronto, for surrender to them of the said Quigrich for the consideration of seven hundred dollars to be paid in manner following, to wit five hundred dollars, and the remaining two hundred dollars to be credited to me as my contribution or donation towards the acquisition of the said relic: I have therefore granted and assigned the said relic to the Society and their successors on trust to deposit the same in the National Museum of Antiquities at Edinburgh, there to remain in all time to come, for the use, benefit, and enjoyment, of the Scottish nation."

The Quigrich thus restored to Scotland is the head of a pastoral staff, commonly, though not with strict correctness, termed a crosier. It stands 9 inches high, and consists of an external casing of silver (Fig. 81), enclosing an earlier crosierhead of bronze or copper ornamented with niello (Fig. 86).

The external case, which is of silver, gilt, and ornamented with chased work, and patterns in filigree-work of silver wire, consists of three parts-the crook proper, which is cylindrical and curved like the head of a walking stick; the bulb or socket fitted with a collar for the insertion of the wooden staff; and an ornamental crest, the object of which is to strengthen and bind together the several parts of which the crosier is composed. The crook is ornamented by eight lozenge-shaped plaques of silver, arranged end to end down

his name has been so long identified, Dr. Daniel Wilson deserves, and has received, the grateful thanks of the Society.

the centre, the angular spaces left between them being filled

Fig. 81.-Side view of the external case of the Crosier of St. Fillan. View of the front or pendent portion of the Crook, and of its terminal plate.

up with plaques of triangular form. No two plaques are

exactly equal, and no two are quite alike in their ornamentation. They are implanted on a thin skin of silver, beaten to fit the pattern thus produced, and the spaces left between each plaque are slightly chased with a simple cross-hatching, rather clumsily executed.

When we examine these plaques with attention, it is perceived that their filigree-work is of two different varieties. One is an elegant scroll-work formed of a single wire, irregularly placed but boldly designed, and executed with a precision of curvature and harmony of parts that at once indicates the work of a master of the art. The other is a geometrical pattern, poor in design and feeble in execution. It is wrought with a twisted wire, and appears sometimes as the sole ornament of the triangular plaques, but never occupies the whole surface of any of the lozenge - shaped plaques. Some of these have part of their ornamentation composed of this inferior work, and the large square plaque bearing the crystal in front of the pendent part of the crook (which is apparently the latest of the whole), is entirely composed of this inferior filigree-work.

The ornamentation of the bulb or socket of the crosier (Fig. 82) consists of semicircular panels of interlaced work, and triangular panels enclosing triquetra ornaments, separated by a pellet-bordering, which is continued along the strap under the concave surface of the crook, and reappears as a bordering

This

on the pendent portion of the front of the crook. pellet-bordering and this interlaced work, with many varieties of the triquetra ornament, appear on the bosses of an Irish crosier preserved at Tedavnet in the possession of a family of hereditary keepers till the year 1827. Dr. Petrie has figured two of the bosses of this crosier (Figs. 83 and 84), from which

Figs. 83 and 84.-Bosses of the Crosier of Tedavnet.

the general resemblance of the style of art on the boss of St. Fillan's crosier to the style so characteristic of the Christian Celtic art of Ireland will be at once apparent.

The crest, which is attached to the bulbous socket and passes along the ridge of the crook, is pierced by a row of quatrefoils, and terminates at the lower extremity in a rude imitation of an animal's head-the only zoomorphic feature which the art of the crosier presents. A similar termination. to the crest of an Irish crosier in the Museum (Fig. 85) exhibits a more pronounced character of zoomorphism, while the