About a hoop of gold, a paltry ring, That she did give me, whose posy was For all the world like cutler’s poetry Upon a knife, _Love me and leave me not_. Hamlet (act iii. scene 2) says-- Is this a prologue, or the posy of a ring? In ‘As You Like It’ (act iii. scene 2) Jaques remarks: ‘You are full of pretty answers; have you not been acquainted with goldsmiths’ wives, and conned them out of rings?’ In Ben Jonson’s comedy, ‘The Magnetic Lady,’ the parson, compelled to form a hasty wedding, asks: Have you a wedding ring? To which he receives an answer-- Ay, and a posie: _Annulus hic nobis, quod sic uterque, dabit_. He exclaims: --------Good! _This ring will give you what you both desire_; I’ll make the whole house chant it, and the parish. The following illustration represents a posy-ring of the simplest form, such as would be in use in the early part of the seventeenth century. [Illustration: Posy-ring.] Herrick, in his ‘Hesperides,’ says: What posies for our wedding-rings, What gloves we’ll give and ribbonings! And in his ‘Church Miserie’: Indeed, at first, man was a treasure; A box of jewels, shop of rarities, A ring whose posie was ‘my pleasure.’ And in the same work, ‘The Posie:’ Lesse than the least Of all Thy mercies is my posie still: This on my ring, This, by my picture, in my book I write. Some of these posies and inscriptions are very appropriate and tender; others are quaint and whimsical. Not the least curious among the latter is that, well known, of Dr. John Thomas, Bishop of Lincoln, in 1753, who had been married three times. On his fourth espousals he had the following motto inscribed on his wedding-ring: If I survive I’ll make thee five. Burke, in his ‘Anecdotes of the Aristocracy,’ states that Lady Cathcart, on marrying her fourth husband, Hugh Macguire, had inscribed on her wedding-ring: If I survive I will have five. In far better taste than these was the motto on the ring presented by Bishop Cokes to his wife on the day of their marriage. It bore the representations of a hand, a heart, a mitre, and a death’s-head, with the words: These three I give to thee, Till the fourth set me free. ‘On the wedding-ring that Dr. George Bull, Bishop of St. David’s (1703), gave to his wife, was the inscription: “Bene parêre, parare det mihi Deus”--a prayer she might be a prolific mother, an obedient wife, and a good housekeeper. The prayer was heard; she had five sons and six daughters, lived in wedlock happily fifty years, and was esteemed a model housekeeper’ (Singer). Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, died 1439, had three daughters, who all married noblemen. Margaret’s husband was John Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, and the motto of her wedding ring was, ‘Till deithe depart.’ Alianour married Edmund, Duke of Somerset, and her motto was, ‘Never newe.’ Elizabeth married Lord Latimer, and hers was, ‘Til my live’s end.’