True-love knots were common formerly. In the inventory of the effects of Henry Howard, K.G., Earl of Northampton, 1614, is mentioned ‘a golde ringe sett with fifteene diamondes in a true lover’s knotte, with the wordes _nec astu, nec ense_.’ In the Waterton Collection in the South Kensington Museum are some interesting specimens of this peculiar kind of ring of English and Italian workmanship. At the commencement of the present century ‘Harlequin’ rings were fashionable in England. They were so called because they were set round with variously-coloured stones, in some way resembling the motley costume of the hero of pantomime. ‘Regard rings,’ of French origin, were common even to a late period, and were thus named from the initials with which they were set forming the acrostic of these words:[72] R uby E merald G arnet A methyst R uby D iamond L apis lazuli O pal V erd antique E merald. The French have precious stones for all the alphabet, excepting f, k, q, y, and z, and they obtain the words _souvenir_ and _amitié_ thus: S aphir or sardoine O nyx or opale U raine V ermeille E meraude N atralithe I ris R ubis, or rose diamant. A méthiste, or aigue-marine M alachite I ris T urquoise or topaze I ris E meraude. Thus lapis lazuli, opal, verd antique, emerald represented _love_, and for _me_ malachite and emerald. Names are represented on rings by the same means. The Prince of Wales, on his marriage to the Princess Alexandra, gave her as a keeper one with the stones set with his familiar name, Bertie--beryl, emerald, ruby, turquoise, jacinth, emerald. These name-rings are common in France; thus, _Adèle_ is spelt with an amethyst, a diamond, an emerald, a lapis lazuli, and another emerald. Among the motto or ‘reason’ rings, as they were termed, is an example, described in the ‘Archæologia’ (vol. xxxi), a weighty ring of fine gold, found in 1823 at Thetford, in Suffolk. The device which appears upon this ring is an eagle displayed; on the inner side is engraved a bird, with the wings closed, apparently a falcon, with a crown upon its head. The following posy or motto, commencing on the outer side, is continued on the interior of the ring: ‘Deus me ouroye de vous seuir a gree--com moun couer desire’ (God work for me to make suit acceptably to you, as my heart desires). The devices appear to be heraldic, and the motto that of a lover, or a suitor to one in power. The eagle is the bearing of several ancient Suffolk families; it was also a badge of the House of Lancaster, and Thetford was one portion of the Duchy of Lancaster. These mottos were occasionally engraved in relief. In the Londesborough Collection is one of gold, found in the Thames. The inscription upon it is ‘Sans vilinie’ (without baseness).