In 1781, March 22, Lord Radnor brought this find before the Society of Antiquaries. It had been found in the summer of 1780 in a field in the parish of Laverstoke, near Salisbury. According to the finder’s story, it was brought to the surface by the pressure of a cart-wheel, and it lay exposed on the edge of the rut. Mr. Howell, a silversmith in Salisbury, gave the man thirty-four shillings for the value of the gold, and Lord Radnor bought it of Mr. Howell. It still shows the effect of hard pressure, being almost flattened. It was figured in the _Archæologia_, vii. 421, and repeatedly since. It is preserved in the British Museum. A GOLD RING UPON WHICH THE NAME OF ÆTHELSWITH, QUEEN OF MERCIA, HAS BEEN INCISED. [Illustration] In the two rings already described, the names of Alhstan and Æthelwulf belong to the fabric of the rings, as the name of Ælfred belongs to the fabric of the Jewel. But it is different in the ring of queen Æthelswith. This ring swells out into a dilated bezil, on the cop of which is an _Agnus Dei_, beautifully engraved in relief, with a background of niello. The interior of this bezil (which would be in contact with the wearer’s finger) was a fair gold surface when the ring was finished and put out of hand by the goldsmith. Subsequently, the name of Æthelswith has been incised upon that surface with the fine point of a graving tool, somewhat in this form: ✠ EAÐEL[Symbol: reversed Z]VIÐ REG[Symbol: elongated N]A, where the [Symbol: elongated N] is a monogram for IN, so that the inscription reads ✠ ÆTHELSWITH REGINA. The incision is so slight and so fresh that it is manifest the ring had no considerable wear after it was done[55]. [Illustration] Æthelswith was the daughter of Æthelwulf and sister of Alfred, and consort of Burgred, king of Mercia, who was driven out by the Danes in 874, and retired to Rome, where he died. Æthelswith died in 888 at Pavia, apparently on pilgrimage. The annal recording it runs thus: ‘888. This year the alms of the West Saxons and of king Alfred were conducted to Rome by “Beocca ealdorman.” And queen Æthelswith, who was king Alfred’s sister, died, and was buried at Pavia[56].’ This fine nielloed ring was found near Aberford in Yorkshire, in or about the year 1870. It was first observed by a ploughman at the point of his ploughshare. He brought it to his master, who, thinking it brass, attached it to his dog’s collar, where it hung until some one assured him it was gold, whereupon he carried it to a silversmith at York, and exchanged it for spoons. From this dealer it was purchased by Canon Greenwell of Durham, from whom it passed into the possession of Sir Wollaston Franks, and ultimately by his bequest came to the British Museum. [Illustration]