the pig came. As it was found near the Watling-street, which pointed towards Wales, it is obvious to imagine the piece was brought from that quarter of the island; but then it should be considered, that the road called the Watlingstreet was not then made, and that Hints-common is nearly in a direct line to London, either from the Peak of Derbyshire or the Wapentake of Worksworth, in the same county, in both which districts lead was gotten very anciently, insomuch that the piece might be brought, with equal probability, from amongst the Coritani of Derbyshire; I may say, with greater probability, as their country was reduced into the form of a province, by Ostorius Scapula, before the Ordevices were subdued by Suetonius Paulinus, and consequently their lead works would be known to, and would come under the management of, the Romans, sooner than any works in North Wales. In a word, it appears more reasonable, that A. D. 76, a block of Roman lead, for such it then was, should be brought upon a small Peak horse out of Derbyshire, than out of Wales, a country, which, in the north part, seems not to have been peaceably settled till U. C. 826, when Julius Agricola was governor, and but two years before this block was stamped.* T.Row. P.S. Blocks of lead were formerly called pigs; but these being too heavy to be easily managed, as they weighed three hundred weight, more or less, they are now commonly made in Derbyshire into two pieces. The term pig had relation, I conceive, to a sow, which I suppose might be an heavier block. The term sow is still retained in the word sow-metal, and perhaps might be chiefly used for blocks of cast iron, though Dr. Johnson explains it an oblong mass of tead, and Dr. Littleton interprets a sow of lead, by massa plumbi MAJOR conflata, which shews however, that, in his idea, the sow was a larger mass than the pig. 1773, Feb. $2. Pig of Lead found near Stockbridge, Hants. Nov. 7. A PIG of lead was found on the verge of Broughton-brook, near Stockbridge, Hants, on the Houghton side of the * Univ. Hist. xix. p. 136, seq. The Britannia Prima, whence Claudius's block came, had been formed into a province by Vespasian, before A. D. 49. Ent our piece could not come thence; and the Silures were too far out of the rout in respect of London. water, Aug. 11, 1783. It weighs near 156lb. and is now in the possession of Thomas South, Esq. of Bossington, in the said county, who having very obligingly favoured me with a copy of the inscription thereon, of which, the letters are as perfect as when they first came out of the mould, I send it you for your Miscellany, and hope the learned antiquaries may be induced to give the public an explanation thereof. Y. Z. HAVING Communicated this to one of our antiquarian correspondents, we had the pleasure to find he had received a copy of it, somewhat different, from the Rev. Mr. Price of Oxford, with the same view of obtaining an explanation. -Our correspondent has accordingly favoured us with the. following: Neronis Augusti ex Keangis IIII Consulis Britannici. I read the inscription on this eighth* pig of lead cast by the Romans in Britain, and discovered in the course of two centuries, thus: The fourth Consulship of Nero falls A. U. C. 813. A. D. 60, when he had for his colleague Cornelius Cossus, as Tacitust calls him; or as the Fasti Consulares, published by Almeloveen,‡ Cossus Cornelius Lentulus; and in an Iusc. Grut. CXVIII. COSSO LENTVLo cossi filio cos. also VIII. 5. Thus far our way is clear; the former inscriptions of this kind exhibiting the Emperor's names, titles, and consulship. But here Nero seems to have assumed the title of BRITANNICVs, which no other of his monuments or coins give him.→→ He certainly was entitled to it, for in his reign the Romans continued to gain fresh conquests in this island, though the Britons, who were very uneasy in this state of servitude, made several efforts to regain their liberty, and particularly under the conduct of Queen Boadicea§. The letters HVLPMCOS have the appearance of a consulship, but to whom to ascribe it, is the difficulty. The two first are described by Mr. Camden in Cheshire, Brit. p. 465, ed. 1607. The third near Bruton in Somersetshire. Horsi. Brit. Rom. p. 328. Stuk. It. Cur. 1. 143. The fourth and fifth, 1734, found in Yorkshire. Phil. Trans. No. 459, and vol. xlix. p. 686; one of which is now in Brit. Mus. (Archæol. V. 570;) the other at Ripley-Hall, the seat of Mr. John Ingoldsby. Pennant's Wales. The sixth on Hints common, co. Stafford, 1772. Gent. Mag. xlii. 558, xliii. 61 The seventh on Cromford on the Moor, co, Derby, illustrated by Mr. Pegge, Archeol. v. 569. Ann. xiv. 20. P. 75. Ward, in Phil. Trans. xlix. 690, There is but one Consul of the name of Ulpianus, in the whole series of Fasti Consulares, and that was 178 years after the date here given, viz. A. U. C. 228. See Gruter, civ. 3. (a reference which I cannot find;) and Censorinus de Die Nat. c. 21. On the other side are the words EX ARGENT and CAPASCAS ; and the sigles like xxx may be the numerals expressing thirty. "The intent of making the blocks of lead with the Emperor's name, might be to authorise the sale of them by virtue of his permission. The year likewise, and the name of the people where the mines lay, were necessary to be added for the sake of the proprietors, in order to adjust their accounts with the officers, and prevent frauds in the execution. of their trust. And it is observable, that the method now made use of in the lead mines is not much different from this. For the pigs are upon an average nearly the same weight with that preserved in the draught of that found in Yorkshire, viz. 1cwt. 1qr. 16lb. and they are likewise commonly marked with the initial letters of the name of the smelter, or factor, and sometimes both, before they are sent from the mines*." No ancient people of Britain have given our antiquaries so much trouble to settle as the Cangi. Mr. Horsleyt, after a good deal of argumentation, inclines to place them in and about Derbyshire, with the addition of the counties of Stafford, Warwick, and Worcester. If we admit with him and Professor Ward, that it is by no means necessary that the pieces of lead should have been cast in the county where they were found, this new discovery will not help us at all to ascertain the situation of the Cangi. As the professor supposes Camden's twenty pieces found at the mouth of the Mersey, in Cheshire, may have been the remains of the cargo of some vessel laden with them, and wrecked on that shore; so we may suppose the present pig was lost or dropped in its passage from the mines, perhaps those of Mendip in Somersetshire, which are the nearest I recollect to the spot where it was found. It may have been on its way down the Rumsey river to the port of Southampton, whose ancient name of Clausentum is by Baxter and Salmon derived from Clauz, the British word used for a fort,and Auton, *Ward, Ib. 696. + P. 34, 35, 36. Ubi sup. p. 697. the name of the river, perhaps synonymous with Aufona, or Avon. Dr. Gale* places about the river Itchen a people of the Iciani, distinct from those commonly known by that name, and takes them for Cæsar's Icenimagni or Cenimagni, whose name the Dr. fancied he saw preserved in Meanstoke, Meanborough, Mean, places hereabouts. But not to mention that he errs in saying that Ptolemy places Portus Magnus [Portsmouth] among the Icenimagni, which is not true (for Ptolemy never mentions them.) Mr. Horsiey proposes to read Iceni, Cangi, or Iceni, Regni, making them two distinct people. To return to the Cangi. If I am right in my conjecture that they are mcant on the present piece of lead, it may be objected that there is a difference in the orthography; to which I answer, that on the Hants pig the N is onntted, but a space left for it. On the lead mentioned by Mr. Camden the name is spelt Ceangi. It will be therefore no material variation in orthography, especially considering who the workmen were that made or composed this stamp, to find it here written KIANGI, or the second letter may be an imperfect E. The dimensions of the present pig correspond, within an inch, to those of the Kirshaw and Hints pigs. The weight is near 156lb. that of the Kirshaw 1cwt. 1qr. 16 lb. of the Hints, now in Mr. Green's collection at Litchfield, 150lb. Mr. Pennant says, this last weighs 152lb. about 2lb. more than the common pigs of lead. We have now a succession of these pieces for the reigns of Claudius, Nero, Vespasian, Titus, Domitian, and Ĥadrian. The words EX ARGEN may be explained by Mr. Pennant's observation that the Romans found such plenty of silver in the Spanish mines, that for some time they never thought it worth their labour to extract it from leads. In later times they discovered an ore that contained silver, tin, and lead, and these three metals were smelted from it. It appears that the first product was the tin, the second the silver, and what Pliny calls galena, which was left behind in the furnace, and seems to be the same with our litharge, and being Comment. on Antoninus's Itin. p. 109. Wales, I. 56. Ib. 58. Strabo, III. p. 221, melted again became lead, or, as this writer calls it, black lead, to distinguish it from white lead, or tin.* The piece of lead now under consideration, is, like all the others, of a wedge-like shape prolonged, a transverse section of which would form a wedge, with the acute angle flattened for the sake of the inscription. On the basis is a hole, seemingly for the insertion of an instrument, whereby it might be lifted by a crane. 1773, Feb. LXXV. St. Blase, the patron of Wool-combers. MR. URBAN, I HAVE been often asked about St. Blase†, and his being the inventor of wool-combing, or, at least, the patron of that art. Little, however, can I find to my satisfaction; but what I can learn of him I shall freely impart to you, nevertheless, Mr. Urban, for the information of the querists, and in hopes that those who know more of this vulgar saint may be induced to give us some further account of him, and, in particular of his connection with the wogl-combers. Blase was a Bishop and Martyr; and his see, according to the Breviary, was Sebasta, or Sebask, in Cappadociat.He is a person of great note amongst the vulgar, who in their processions, as relative to the wool-trade, always carry an effigy or representation of him, as the inventor or patron of their art of combing it. There was an order of knighthood also instituted in honour of him§; and his day, which stands marked at this day in our calendar, was celebrated 3 February. He suffered death in the reign of Dioclesian, about the year 283, according to the Legenda Aurea, but the English version of that book has 387; neither of the dates are strictly true, since Dioclesian did not succeed to the empire till A. D. 284, and died before the latter date. Indeed, authors vary much about the time of his *Plin. xxxiv. c. 6. He is written also Blasus, and Blaize or Blaise. In the Aurea Legenda there are two etymons of the name, both of them ridiculous. Aurea Legenda, cap. 39. See also the Aurea Legenda. Others reckon him patron of Armenia; see Collier's Dictionary, v. Blaise and Beda, in Martyrologio, p. 340, § Collier's Dictionary in Voce. |