Chapter 26

Sabrina fair,Listen where thou art sittingUnder the glassy, cool, translucent wave,In twisted braids of lilies, knittingThe loose train of thy amber-dropping hair.

Sabrina fair,

Listen where thou art sitting

Under the glassy, cool, translucent wave,

In twisted braids of lilies, knitting

The loose train of thy amber-dropping hair.

In the neighbourhood of Bryanstone Square is Lissom Grove, a corruption of Lillestone Grove: here thus seemingly stood a stone sacred to the Lily or the All Holy, and the neighbouring church of St. Cyprian probably marks the local memory of a traditionalsy brian,Sabrina, ordear little brownie.

Near Silchester, on the boundary line between Berks and Hants, is a large stone known as the Imp stone, and as this was formerly called the Nymph stone,[731]it is probable that in this instance the Imp stone was a contraction of Imper or Imber stone—the Imp being the Nymph of the amber-dropping hair. The Scandinavians believed that the steed of the Mother Goddess Nat produced from its mouth a froth, which consisted of honey-dew, and that from its bridle dropped the dews in the dales in the morning: the same idea attached to the steeds of the Valkyre, or War Maidens, from whose manes, when shaken, dew dropped into the deep dales, whence harvests among the people.[732]

Originally,impmeant a scion, a graft, or an offspring, a sprout, or sprig:sprig,spright,spirit,spirt,sprout, andsprack(an old English word meaning lively, perky, or pert), are all radicallypr: in London the sparrow “was supposed to be the soul of a dead person”;[733]in Kent, asparrow is termed asprug, whence it would appear that this pert, perky, little bird was once a symbol of the sprightly sprout, sprite, or spirit.

Fig.372.—Six-winged angel holding lance, wings crossed on breast, arrayed in robe and mantle. (From Didron.)

Stow mentions that the fair parish church of St. Michael called Paternoster when new built, was made a college of St. Spirit and St. Mary. All birds in general were symbols of St. Spirit, but more particularly the Columba or Culver,[734]which was pre-eminently the emblem of Great Holy Vere: we have already illustrated a half white, half black, six-winged representation of this sacred sign of simplicity and love, and the six-winged angel here reproduced is, doubtless, another expression of the far-spread idea:—

The embodied spirit has a thousand heads,A thousand eyes, a thousand feet, aroundOn every side, enveloping the earth,Yet filling space no larger than a span.He is himself this very universe;He is whatever is, has been, and shall be;He is the lord of immortality.[735]

The embodied spirit has a thousand heads,

A thousand eyes, a thousand feet, around

On every side, enveloping the earth,

Yet filling space no larger than a span.

He is himself this very universe;

He is whatever is, has been, and shall be;

He is the lord of immortality.[735]

It is difficult to conceive any filthiness or evil of the dove, yet the hagiologists mention “a foul dove or black culver,” which is said to have flown around the head of acertain holy Father named Nonnon.[736]We may connote this Nonnon with Nonna or Non, the reputed mother of St. David, for of St. David, we are told, his birth was heralded by angels thirty years before the event, and that among other miracles (such as restoring sight to the blind), doves settled on his shoulders. Dave or Davy is the same word as dove; in Welshdofmeansgentle, and it is more probable that the gentle dove derived its title from this word than as officially surmised from the Anglo-Saxondufan, “to plunge into”. According to Skeat,dovemeans literallydiver, but doves neither dive nor plunge into anything: they have not even a diving flight. The Welsh are known familiarly as Taffys, and the Church of Llandaffis supposed to mean Church on the River Taff: it is more probable that Llandaff was a shrine of the Holy Dove, and that David with the doves upon his shoulder was a personification of the Holy Spirit or Wisdom.Nonis the Latin fornot, and the black dove associated with Nonnon ornot notwas no doubt a representation of thatNegation, non-existence or inscrutable void, which existed before the world was, and is otherwise termed Chaos or Cause. That Wisdom or the Holy Spirit was conceived as the primal and inscrutableDarkness, is evident from the statement inThe Wisdom of Solomon: “For God loveth none but him that dwelleth with Wisdom. For she is more beautiful than the sun, and above all the orders of stars: being compared with the lightshe is found before it.”

The Nonnon of whom “it seemed that a foul dove or black culver flew about him whilst he was at Mass at the alter” was said to be the Bishop of Heliopolis,i.e., the cityof the Sun, and he comes under notice in connection with St. Pelagienne—“said ofpelaguswhich is as much to say as thesea”. The interpretation further placed upon St. Pelagienne is that “she was the sea of iniquity, and the flood of sins, but she plunged after into the sea of tears and washed her in the flood of baptism”. That poor Pelagienne was the Water Mother of Mary Morgan is implied further by the fragment of autobiography—“I have been called from my birth Pelagienne, but for the pomp of my clothing men call me Margaret”:[737]we have seen that Pope Joanna of Engelheim was also called Margaret, whence it is to be suspected that although it is true thatpelagusmeantthe seaSt. Pelagienne was primarily theBellaor beautifulJeanne,i.e., Mary Morgan or Morgiana.

Figs.373 to 376.—Greek. From Barthelemy.

Fig.377.—British. From Akerman.Fig.378.—British. From Evans.

Fig.377.—British. From Akerman.

Fig.378.—British. From Evans.

Figs.379 to 384.—British (Channel Islands). From Barthelemy.

On the coins of KingJanusof Sicily there figured a dove;jonah,yuneh, orIoneare the Hebrew and Greek terms for dove; the Ionian Greeks were worshippers of the dove, and the consociation of St. Columbe Kille or the “littledove of the church” with the Hebridean island of Iona is presumptive evidence of the worship of the dove in Iona. In the Rhodian Greek coins here illustrated the reverse represents the rhoda or rose of Rhodes, and the obverse head may be connoted with the story of St. Davy with the dove settled on his shoulder: that the dove was also an English emblem is obvious from the British coins, Figs. 377 to 384; the dove will also be found frequently introduced on the contemnedsceattaeillustratedante,page 364.

Fig.385.—The Father, Represented as Slightly Different to the Son. French Miniature of the Close of the XIII. Cent. FromChristian Iconography(Didron).

Fig.386.—The Divine Dove, in a Radiating Aureole. From a French Miniature of the XV. Cent. FromChristian Iconography(Didron).

Among the golden treasures unearthed by Schliemannat Mykenae was a miniature “model of a temple” on which are seated two pigeons with uplifted wings:[738]among the curious and interesting happenings which occurred during the childhood of the Virgin Mary it is recorded that “Mary was in the Temple of the Lord as if she were a dove that dwelt there, and she received food as from the hand of an angel”: Fig. 380 appears to illustrate this dove dwelling in a Temple. The legend continues that when the HolyVirgin attained the age of twelve years the Angel of the Lord caused an assembly of all the widowers each of whom was ordained to bring with him his rod: the High Priest then took these rods and prayed over them, but there came no sign: at last Joseph took his rod “and behold a dove came out of the rod and flew upon Joseph’s head”.[739]It is said by Lucian that in the most sacred part of the temple of Hieropolis, the holy city of Syria, were three figures of which the centre one had a golden dove upon its head: not only was no name given to this, but the priests said nothing concerning its origin or form, calling it simply “The sign”: according to the British Bards—“To Addav came the sign. It was taught by Alpha, and it was the earliest polished melody of Holy God, and by a wise mouth it was canticled.” There is little doubt that the descending dove with wings outstretched was a variant of the three rays or Broad Arrow, that theawenwas theIona, and that this same idea was conveyed by the Threeains, oreyen, Eyes, Golden Balls, or pawnbroker’s sign. It is recorded of St. Nicholas of Bari, the patron saint of pawnbrokers, that immediately he was born he stood up in the basin in which he was being washed and remained with hands clasped, and uplifted eyes, for two hours: in later life he became wealthy, and threw into a window on three successive nights a bag of gold as a dowry for three impoverished and sore-tempted maidens. In commemoration of these three bags of gold St. Nicholas became the patron saint of pawnbrokers whose sign of the Three Golden Balls is a conversion of the three anonymous gifts.

Fig.387.—FromChristian Iconography(Didron).

Fig.388.—God the Father, with a Bi-Triangular Nimbus; God the Son, with a Circular Nimbus; God the Holy Ghost, without a Nimbus, and within an Aureole. (Fresco at Mount Athos.) FromChristian Iconography(Didron).

Fig.389.—The Three Divine Persons, Adorned with the Cruciform Nimbus. Miniature of the close of the XIII. Cent. MS. in the Bibliothèque Royale. FromChristian Iconography(Didron).

Fig.390.—God the Father, and God the Son, with Features Exactly Identical. French Miniature of the commencement of the XIII. Cent. FromChristian Iconography(Didron).

In Hebrew the Three Apples, Eyes, or Golden Balls are calledainsor fountains of living water, and to this day in Wales a spring of water is called in Welsh the Eye of the Fountain or the Water Spring. It will be remembered that the sister of St. Nonna, and therefore the aunt of St. Davy, was denominated Gwen of the Three Breasts,Tierbron, or three breasts, may be connoted with three-eyed Thor, and the combination of Eyes and Sprigs is conspicuously noticeable in Fig. 39,page 364: one will also note the head of No. 49 on the same plate.

Fig.391.—From Barthelemy.Fig.392.—British (Channel Islands). From Barthelemy.

Fig.391.—From Barthelemy.

Fig.392.—British (Channel Islands). From Barthelemy.

The Three Holy Children on the reverse of Fig. 391—a Byzantine coin—are presumably the offspring of St. MichaelaliasNichol on the obverse: the arms of Cornwall consist of fifteen golden balls calledbesants; the county motto is One and All. Of St. Nicholas of Tolentino who became a friar at the age ofeleven, we are told that a star rested over his altar and preceded him when he walked, and he is represented in Art with a lily in his hand—the symbol of his pure life—and a star over his head: that Nicolette was identified with the Little Star or Stella Maris is clear from Troubadourchansons, such as the following from that small classicAucassin and Nicolette—

Little Star I gaze upon,Sweetly drawing to the moon,In such golden haunt is setLove, and bright-haired Nicolette.God hath taken from our warBeauty, like a shining star.Ah, to reach her, though I fellFrom her Heaven to my Hell.Who were worthy such a thing,Were he emperor or king?Still you shine, oh, perfect Star,Beyond, afar.

Little Star I gaze upon,

Sweetly drawing to the moon,

In such golden haunt is set

Love, and bright-haired Nicolette.

God hath taken from our war

Beauty, like a shining star.

Ah, to reach her, though I fell

From her Heaven to my Hell.

Who were worthy such a thing,

Were he emperor or king?

Still you shine, oh, perfect Star,

Beyond, afar.

It is impossible to say whether the three-eyed elphin faces illustratedante,page 381, are asters, marguerites, marigolds, or suns: in the centre of one of them is a heart, and without doubt they one and all symbolised the Great Amour or Margret. During excavations at Jerusalem in 1871, the symbol of Three Balls was discovered under the Temple of King Solomon on Mount Moriah: this temple was circular, and it is probable that the name Moriah meant originally Moreye or Big Eye. That the three cavities in question were once ains or eyes is implied by the explorer’s statement: “Within this recess are three cylindrical holes5¼ inches in diameter, the lines joining their centres forming the sides of an equilateral triangle. Below this appears once to have been a basin to collect the water, but whatever has been there, it has been violently removed ... there can be little doubt that this is an ancient overflow from the Birket Israil.”[740]It is probable that the measure of these three cup-like holes was once 5 inches, and that the resultant fifteen had some original connection with the fifteen besants or basins of Byzantine Britain.

Fig.393.—FromThe Recovery of Jerusalem(Wilson and Warren).

Figs.394 to 396.—British. From Evans.

Fig.397.—British (Channel Islands). From Barthelemy.

Fig.398.—FromChristian Iconography(Didron).

With thebrook Birket Israilat Mount Moriah may be connoted the neighbouring “large pool called El Burak”: the existence on Mount Moriah of subterranean cisterns or basins known as Solomon’s Stables renders it probable that El Burak was El Borak, the fabulous white steed upon which the faithful Mussulman expects one day to ride. The Eyes of the British broks or nags here illustrated are curiously prominent, and in Fig. 396 theeleven-eared wheat sprig is springing from a trefoil: with the lily surmounting theCunosteed may be connoted the two stars or morrow stars which frequently decorate this triune emblem of Good Deed, Good Thought, Good Word: they may be seen to-day on the badges of those little Knights of To-morrow, the Boy Scouts.

The lily appears in the hand of thePixtilosfigure hereillustrated, and among the Pictish emblems found on the vitrified fort at Anwath in Scotland is the puckish design illustrated on page 496, Fig. 293. This was probably a purely symbolic and elementary form of the dolorous and pensive St. John which Christianity figured with a pair of marigolds or marguerites in lieu of feathers or antennae.

Fig.399.—FromAn Essay on Ancient Gems(Walsh, R.).

Fig.400.—Gaulish. From Akerman.

Figs.401 and 402.—Gaulish. From Akerman.

Accompanying the Pictish inscription in question were the elaborate barnacles or spectacles reproducedante,page 495: in Crete the barnacles, as illustrated on page 494, are found humanised by a small winged figure holding a wand, and the general effect of the two circles when superimposed is that of the figure 8. The nine-rayedAbracaxlion as portrayed by the Gnostics, and doubtless a variant of Abracadabra, has its serpentine body twined into an 8; on a Longstone in Brittany there is a figure holding an 8 tipped staff, and the same emblem will be noticed on the coins of the Longostaliti, aGaulish people who seemingly were so ghoulish as to venerate acalix orcauldron: from thepair dadenior cauldron of renaissance represented on these astral coins it will be noticed there are emerging two stars and other interesting nicknacks. The locks of hair on the astral figure represented on the coins of Marseilles—a city founded by a colony of Phocean Greeks from Ionia—number exactly eight: in Scotland we have traced the memory of eight ancient hags, the Mothers of the World: in Valencia we have noted the procession of eightscrupulously coiffured Giants, and there is very little doubt that the eight survivors of the Flood,[741]by whom the worldwas re-peopled, is a re-statement of the same idea of the Gods of the four quarters and their Consorts. In connection with the Ogdoad or Octet of eight gods one may connote the curious erection which once decorated the London Guildhall, the seat of Gogmagog:[742]here, “on each side of the flight of steps was anoctangularturreted gallery, balustraded, having an office in each, appropriated to the hallkeeper: these galleries assumed the appearance of arbours from being each surrounded by six palm-trees in ironwork, the foliage of which gave support to a large balcony, having in front a clock (with three dials) elaborately ornamented, and underneath a representation of the Sun, resplendent with gilding; the clock frame was of oak.At the angles were the cardinal virtues, and on the top a curious figure of Time with a young child in his arms.”[743]At the village ofThame-on-Thames, which the authorities state meantrest, quiet, otherwisetameor kindly, gentleTime, there is a celebrated figure of St. Kitt,aliasFather Time, with the little figure of New Time orChangeupon his shoulder. In Etruria a parallel idea would seem to have been current, for Mrs. Hamilton Gray describes an Etruscan work of art inscribed “Isis nourishing Horus, or Truth teaching Time”.[744]It is most unusual to find the Twins depicted as old men, or Bald ones with the mystic Lock of Horus on their foreheads, but in the eighteenth-century emblem here reproduced the intention of the deviser is unmistakable, and the central Sun is supported by two Times.

Fig. 403.—FromSymbolism of the East and West(Aynsley, Mrs. Murray).

Fig.404.—English Eighteenth Century Printer’s Ornament.

In a cave situated at the cross roads at Royston in Hertfordshire, there is the figure of St. Kitt beneath which are apparently eight other figures: these are assumedly “other saints,” but the Christian Church does not assign any singular pre-eminence to St. Christopher, and the decorators of the Royston Cave evidently regarded St. Kitt as the Supreme One or God Himself. It is abundantly evident that to our ancestors Kit or Kate was God, Giant, Jeyantt,[745]or Good John: that he was deemed the deity of the ocean is obvious from instances where the water in which he stands is full of crabs, dolphins, and other ocean creatures. I have suggested that Christopher was a representation ofdador Death carrying the soul over the river of Death,i.e., “Dowdy” with the spriggan on his back. Among sailors Death is known familiarly as “Old Nick,” “OldDavy,” or “Davy Jones,” and in Cornwall they have a curious and inexplicable saying: “as ancient as the Flood of Dava”. I think this Dava must have been the genius of the rivers Dove, Taff and Tavy.

Fig.405.—St. Christopher. From Royston Cave.[To face page 640.

Fig.405.—St. Christopher. From Royston Cave.

[To face page 640.

Fig.406.—Mediæval Paper mark. FromLes Filigranes(Briquet, C. M.).

That Kit was connected with the eight of the Cretan Eros figure is further implied by the fact that on the summit of a lofty hill near Royston or Roystone there is, or was, a “hollow oval”. The length of this prehistoric monument was stated in 1856 as about 31 feet (originally 33?) and its breadth about 22 feet. “Within this bank are two circular excavations meeting together in the middle and nearly forming the figure eight. Both excavations descend by concentric and contracting rings to the walls which form the sides of the chambers.”[746]From this description the monument would appear to be identical in design with the 8-in-an-oval emblem here illustrated, a mediæval papermark traceable to the Italian town of St. Donino. Examples of twin earthwork circles forming the figure 8 are not unknown in Ireland.

At Royston, which, as we shall see, was the Lady Roesia’s town, is a place called Cocken Hatch, but whether this is the site of the eight-form monument in question, I am unaware: in the megalithic stone illustrated on p. 638 the Cadi is not only holding an 8 on the tip of hiscaduceus, but he has also acadetor little son by the hand:cadiis Arabic for ajudge, and in Wales the Cadi no doubt acted as the final judge. In Celtic the wordcadmeant war, animplication that in one of his aspects Ked or St. Kitt was the ever-victorious Michael or the all-conquering Nike: there is a Berkshire ballad extant, in which the wordcaddling, meaning fighting, is employed, yet caddling is the same word ascuddling. In Scotland,caddiemeans a messenger or errand boy: Mercury or Hermes was the Messenger of the Gods: among the Greeks, Iris was the Messenger, and Iris was unquestionably the Turkish Orus or St. George. In Arabia, St. George is known as El Khoudr, and it is believed that El Khoudr is not yet dead, but still flies round and round the world: in a subsequent chapter it will be shown that Orus is the same as Horus the Egyptian dragon-slayer; hence Giggras, another of St. George’s titles, may be resolved into Mighty Mighty Horus or Eros, and it is possible that the Pictish town of Delginross should readTall King Eros.

The eleven rows of rocks at Carnac extend, it is said, foreightmiles, and at the neighbouring Er-lanic are two megalithic circles, one dipping into the sea, the other submerged in deep water: according to Baring-Gould, these two rings are juxtaposed, forming an 8, and lie on the south-east of the island; the first circle consists of 180 stones (twicenine), but several are fallen, and it can only be seen complete when the tide is out; one stone is 16 feet high; the second circle can be seen only at low tide.[747]

It is probable that the measurements of the Venus de Quinipily, illustrated on p. 530, are not without significance: the statue stands upon a pedestal, 9 feet high, and the figure itself rises 8 feet high.[748]With eight may be further connoted the eastern teaching of the “Noble EightfoldPath,” and also the belief of Western Freemasonry as stated in Mackey’sLexicon of Freemasonry: “Eight was esteemed as the first cube (2 × 2 × 2), and signified friendship, prudence, counsel, and justice. It designated the primitive Law of Nature, which supposes all men to be equal.” The root ofeight,octave, andoctetorogdoadisOg, the primeval giant, who, as we have seen, was reputed to have waded alongside the ark with its eight primordial passengers.

When flourishing, the megalithic monument at Carnac must have dwarfed our dual-circled, two-mile shrine at Avebury: “The labour of its erection,” to quote from Deane, “may be imagined from the fact that it originally consisted of eleven rows of stones, about 10,000 in number, of which more than 300 averaged from 15 to 17 feet in height, and from 16 to 20 or 30 feet in girth; one stone even measuring 42 feet in circumference”.

One of the commonest of sepulchral finds in Brittany is the stone axe, sometimes banded in alternate stripes of black and white: the axe was pre-eminently a Cretan emblem, and my suggestion that the Carnac stones were originally erected to the honour of St. Ursula and the 11,000 Virgins is somewhat strengthened by the coincidence that the London Church of St. Mary Axe was closely and curiously identified with the legend. According to Stow: “In St. Marie Street had ye of old time a parish church of St. Marie the Virgin, St. Ursula and the 11,000 Virgins, whose church was commonly called St. Marie at the Axe of the sign of an axe over against the east, and thereof on St. Marie Pellipar”. In view of the fact that the town of Ypres boasted an enormous collection of relics of the 11,000 Virgins, the title Pellipar may be reasonablyresolved intoBelle power: the Cretan axe or double axe symbolised almightypower.[749]

Fig.407.—Bronze statuette, Despeña Perros.Fig.408.—Bronze statuette, Aust-on-Severn, Gloucs.FromA Guide to the Antiquities of the Bronze Age(B.M.).

Fig.407.—Bronze statuette, Despeña Perros.

Fig.408.—Bronze statuette, Aust-on-Severn, Gloucs.

FromA Guide to the Antiquities of the Bronze Age(B.M.).

According to an Assyrian hymn, Istar, the immaculate greatStar, the “Lady Ruler of the Host of Heaven,” the “Lady of Ladies,” “Goddess without peer,” who shaped the lives of all mankind was the “Stately world-Queen sov’ran of the Sky”.

Adored art thou in every sacred place,In temples, holy dwellings, and in shrines.Where is thy name not lauded? Where thy willUnheeded, and thy images not made?[750]

Adored art thou in every sacred place,

In temples, holy dwellings, and in shrines.

Where is thy name not lauded? Where thy will

Unheeded, and thy images not made?[750]

In the caves or “fetish shrines” of Crete have been found rude figurines of the Mother and the Child, and it is probable that the pathetically crude bronze statuetteshere illustrated represent the austere wielder of the wand of doom. Fig. 407 comes from Iberia where it was discovered in the vicinity of what was undoubtedly a shrine near the pass over the SierraMorenaat DespenaPerros: Fig. 408 comes from the English village of Aust-on-Severn. The place-name Aust appears in Domesday as Austreclive, and the authorities suppose it to have meant “notEastas often thought, but the Roman Augusta”: I doubt whether any Roman Augusta ever troubled to claim a mere cleeve, and it is more probable that Austreclive was a cleft or pass sacred to the austere Austre. There is an Austrey at Atherstone, an Austerfield at Bawtry, and an “Austrells” at Aldridge: this latter, which may be connoted with theOyster Hills round Verulam, the authorities assume to have meant “Austerhill, hill of the hearth, forge or furnace”. That Istar was the mighty Hammer Smith is probable, for the archaic hymnist writes:—

I thee adore—The gift of strength is thine for thou art strong.

I thee adore—

The gift of strength is thine for thou art strong.

In all likelihood the head-dress of our figurines was intended to denote the crescent moon for the same hymnist continues:—

O Light divine,Gleaming in lofty splendour over the earth,Heroic daughter of the moon, O hear!O stately Queen,At thought of thee the world is filled with fear,The gods in heaven quake, and on the earthAll spirits pause and all mankind bow downWith reverence for thy name ... O Lady JudgeThy ways are just and holy; thou dost gazeOn sinners with compassion, and each mornLeadest the wayward to the rightful path.Now linger not, but come! O goddess fair,O Shepherdess of all, thou drawest nighWith feet unwearied.

O Light divine,

Gleaming in lofty splendour over the earth,

Heroic daughter of the moon, O hear!

O stately Queen,

At thought of thee the world is filled with fear,

The gods in heaven quake, and on the earth

All spirits pause and all mankind bow down

With reverence for thy name ... O Lady Judge

Thy ways are just and holy; thou dost gaze

On sinners with compassion, and each morn

Leadest the wayward to the rightful path.

Now linger not, but come! O goddess fair,

O Shepherdess of all, thou drawest nigh

With feet unwearied.

I have suggested that the circle of Long Meg and her daughters originally embodying the idea of a Marygold, Marguerite, or Aster, was erected to the honour of St. Margaret the Peggy, or Pearl of Price, and it is possible that the oyster or producer of the pearl may have derived its name from Easter or Ostara: that Astarte was St. Margaret is obvious from the effigies herewith, and the connection is further pointed by the already noted fact that in the neighbourhood of St. Margaret’s, Westminster, there prevailed traditions of a Giantess named Long Meg. This powerful Maiden was evidently Margaret or Invicta,on the War-path, her pugilistic exploits being far-famed: it is particularly related that Long Meg distinguished herself in the wars at Bulloigne, whence it will probably prove that “Bulloigne” was associated with the War Maid whom the Romans termed Bellona, and that both Bulloigne and Bologna were originally shrines of Bello gina, either theBeautiful Womanor theWar Queen.

Fig.409.—St. Margaret. From Westminster Abbey. FromThe Cross: Christian and Heathen(Brock, M.).Fig.410.—Astarte, the Syrian Venus. From a Coin in the British Museum. FromThe Cross: Christian and Heathen(Brock, M.).

Fig.409.—St. Margaret. From Westminster Abbey. FromThe Cross: Christian and Heathen(Brock, M.).

Fig.410.—Astarte, the Syrian Venus. From a Coin in the British Museum. FromThe Cross: Christian and Heathen(Brock, M.).

That Istar, “the heroic daughter of the moon,” was Bellona or the Queen of War is clear from the invocation—

O hear!Thou dost control our weapons and awardIn battles fierce the Victory at will,O crowned majestic Fate. Ishtar most high,Who art exalted above all the gods,Thou bringest lamentation; thou dost urgeWith hostile hearts our brethren to the fray.The gift of strength is thine for thou art strong,Thy will is urgent brooking no delay,Thy hand is violent, thouqueen of war,Girded with battle and enrobed with fear,Thou sov’ran wealder of the wand of Doom,The heavens and earth are under thy control.

O hear!

Thou dost control our weapons and award

In battles fierce the Victory at will,

O crowned majestic Fate. Ishtar most high,

Who art exalted above all the gods,

Thou bringest lamentation; thou dost urge

With hostile hearts our brethren to the fray.

The gift of strength is thine for thou art strong,

Thy will is urgent brooking no delay,

Thy hand is violent, thouqueen of war,

Girded with battle and enrobed with fear,

Thou sov’ran wealder of the wand of Doom,

The heavens and earth are under thy control.

There is very little doubt that the heroic Long Meg of Westminster was alternatively the Mary Ambree of old English ballad: in Ben Jonson’s time apparently any remarkable virago was entitled a Mary Ambree, and the name seems to have been particularly associated with Ghent.[751]As the word Ambree is radicallybree, it is curious to find John of Gaunt, who is associated with Kensington, also associated with Carn Brea in Cornwall: here, old John of Gaunt is believed to have been the last of the giants, and to have lived in a castle on the top of Carn Brea, whence in one stride he could pass to a neighbouring town four miles distant. The Heraldic Chain of SSS was known as John of Gaunt’s chain: the symbol of SSS occurs frequently on Candian or Cretan monuments, and it is probable that John of Gaunt’s chain was originally Jupiter’s, or Brea’s chain.[752]

The name Ghent, Gand, or Gaunt may be connoted not only with Kent or Cantium, and Candia or Crete, but also with Dr. Lardner’s statement: “That the full moon was the chief feast among the ancient Spaniards is evident from the fact thatAgandia or Astartiais the name for Sunday among the Basques”.

We have already seen that Cain was identified with “the Man in the Moon,” thatcannwas the Cornish forfull moon, and we have connoted the fairy Kenna of Kensington with the New Moon: the old Englishcain,meaningfairor bright, is clearly connected withcandidandcandescent. Kenna is the saint to whom the village of Keynsham on the Somersetshire Avon is dedicated, and St. Kenna is said there to have lived in the heart of a wood. To the north of Kensington lies St. John’s Wood, and also the ancient seat named Caen or Ken Wood: this Ken Wood, which is on the heights of Highgate, and is higher than the summit of St. Paul’s, commands a panoramic view of the metropolis that can nowhere else be matched. Akin to the wordsken,cunning, andcanny, is the Christian name Conan which is interpreted as being Celtic forwisdom. The Celtic names Kean and Kenny—no doubt akin to Coyne—meantvast, and in Cornishkenmeantpity. On the river Taff there is a Llangainof which the church is dedicated to St. Canna, and on the Welsh river Canna there is a Llangannaor Llangan: at Llandaffby Cardiffis Canon’s Park.

There is a celebrated well in Cornwall known as St Kean’s, St. Kayne’s, St. Keyne’s, or St. Kenna’s, and the supposed peculiarity of this fountain is that it confers mastery or chieftainship upon whichever of a newly-wedded couple first drinks at it after marriage. St. Kayne or St. Kenna is also said to have visited St. Michael’s Mount, and to have imparted the very same virtue to a stone seat situated dizzily on the height of the chapel tower: “whichever, man or wife, sits in this chair firstshall rulethrough life”: this double tradition associating rule and mastery with St. Kayne makes it justifiable to equate the “Saint” withkyn,princessand withkhanthegreat Hanor King. There was a well at Chun Castle whose waters supposedly bestowed perpetual youth:can, meaning a drinking vessel, is the root ofcanal,channel, orkennel, meaning water course: we have already connoted the worddemijohnor Dame Jeanne with the Cornish well termed Joan’s Pitcher, and this root is seemingly responsible forcanopus, the Egyptian and Greek term for the human-headed type of vase as illustrated on page 301. A writer inNotes and Queriesfor 3rd January, 1852, quotes the following song sung by children in South Wales on New Year’s morning,i.e., 1st January, when carrying a can of water newly drawn from the well:—

Here we bring new waterFrom the well so clear,For to worship God withThe happy New Year.Sing levez dew, sing levez dew,The water and the wine;The seven bright gold wiresAnd the bugles they do shine.Sing reign of Fair MaidWith gold upon her toe,Open you the west door,and let the old Year go.Sing reign of Fair MaidWith gold upon her chin,Open you the east door,And let the New Year in.

Here we bring new waterFrom the well so clear,For to worship God withThe happy New Year.Sing levez dew, sing levez dew,The water and the wine;The seven bright gold wiresAnd the bugles they do shine.

Here we bring new water

From the well so clear,

For to worship God with

The happy New Year.

Sing levez dew, sing levez dew,

The water and the wine;

The seven bright gold wires

And the bugles they do shine.

Sing reign of Fair MaidWith gold upon her toe,Open you the west door,and let the old Year go.Sing reign of Fair MaidWith gold upon her chin,Open you the east door,And let the New Year in.

Sing reign of Fair Maid

With gold upon her toe,

Open you the west door,

and let the old Year go.

Sing reign of Fair Maid

With gold upon her chin,

Open you the east door,

And let the New Year in.

We have traced Maggie Figgy of St. Levan on her titanic chair supervising the surging waters of the ocean, and there is little doubt that the throne of St. Michael’s was the corresponding seat of Micah, the Almighty King or Great One. The equation of Michael = Kayne may be connoted with the London Church now known as St. NicholasAcon: this name appearing mysteriously in ancient documents as alternatively “Acun,” “Hakoun,” “Hakun,” and “Achun” it is supposed may have denoteda benefactor of the building. In Cornishughanoraughanmeantsupreme; in Welshechenmeantoriginsorsources,[753]and asNicholasis the same word asnucleusit is impossible now to say whether St. Nicholas Acon was a shrine of theGreat Oneor ofechenthe little Nicholas ornucleus. Probably as figured at Royston where Kitt is bearing the Cadet or the smallchitupon his shoulder, the two conceptions were concurrent: on the opposite side of the Royston Cave is figured St. Katherine, Kathleen, or Kate: Catarina meansthe pure one, butcathaas incatholicalso means the universal, and there is no doubt that St. Kathleen or Kate was a personification of the Queen of the Universe.

Cendwen or Keridwen,aliasKed, was represented by the British Bards as a mare, whale, or ark, whence emerged the universe: the story of Jonah and the whale is a variant of the Ark legend, and it is not without significance that the Hebridean island of Iona is identified as the locale of a miraculous “Whale of wondrous and immense size lifting itself up like a mountain floating on the surface”.[754]Notwithstanding the forbidding aspect of this monster, St. Columba’s disciple quiets the fears of his companion by the assurance: “Go in peace; thy faith in Christ shall defend thee from this danger, I and that beast are under the power of God”.

It has been seen that Night was not necessarily esteemed as evil, nor were the nether regions considered to be outside the radius of the Almighty: that Nicholas, Nixy, or Nox was the black or nether deity is obvious, yet without doubt he was the same conception as the Babylonish “exalted One of the nether world, Him of the radiantface, yea radiant; the exalted One of the nether world, Him of the dove-like voice, yea dove-like”.[755]

That St. Margaret was the White Dove rather than the foul Culver is probable from her representation as the Dragon-slayer, and it is commonly accepted that this almost world-wide emblem denoted Light subduing Darkness, Day conquering Night, or Good overcoming Evil. But there is another legend of St. Margaret to the effect that the maid so meek and mild was swallowed by a Dragon: her cross, however, haply stuck in its throat, and the beast perforce let her free by incontinently bursting (date uncertain); in Art St. Margaret therefore appears as holding a cross and rising from a dragon, although as Voragine candidly admits—“the story is thought to be apocryphal”. We have seen that Magus or the Wandering Jew was credited with the feat of wriggling out of a post—“and they saw that he was no other than a beardless youth and fair faced”: that the adventure of Maggie was the counterpart to that of Magus is rendered probable by the fact that St. Margaret’s birth is assigned to Antioch, a city which was alternatively known as Jonah. With Jonah or Iona may be connoted the British Aeon—

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