1. The Gimmal or Gimmow Ring. 2. Sonnet by Davison. 3. Church Marriage ordained by Innocent III.; and, Marriage-Ring. 4. Rings used in different countries in Marriages and on Betrothment: Esthonia; the Copts; Persia; Spain; Ackmetchet in Russia. 5. Betrothal Rings. 6. Signets of the first Christians. 7. Laws of Marriage. 8. Wedding Finger; Artery to the Heart; Lady who had lost the Ring Finger. 9. Roman Catholic Marriages. 10. Marriage-Ring during the Commonwealth. 11. Ring in Jewish Marriages. 12. Superstitions. 13. Rings of twisted Gold-wire given away at Weddings. 14. Cupid and Psyche. 15. St. Anne and St. Joachim. 16. Rush Rings. 17. Rings with the Orpine Plant. 18. Ancient Marriage-Rings had Mottoes and Seals. 19. The Sessa Ring. 20. Rings bequeathed or kept in Memory of the Dead: Washington; Shakspeare; Pope; Dr. Johnson; Lord Eldon; Tom Moore’s Mother. 21. The Ship _Powhattan_. 22. Ring of Affection illustrated by a Pelican and Young. 23. Bran of Brittany. 24. Rings used by Writers of Fiction; Shakspeare’s Cymbeline. 25. Small Rings for the _Penates_; Lines to a Wife with the gift of a Ring. 26. Story from the “Gesta Romanorum.” 192 HISTORY AND POETRY OF FINGER-RINGS. CHAPTER ONE. 1. Interest and Importance attaching to Rings; Shakspeare’s Ring; Earl Godwin. 2. Words _symbolum_ and _ungulus_. 3. Ring-money. 4. Rings in Mythology; Theseus; Prometheus Inventor of the First Ring. 5. Seals from the Scarabæus. 6. Rings in Greek Urns. 7. Judah and Tamar; Alexander. 8. Ring a Symbol of Fidelity, Eternity, and of the Deity. 9. Roman Rings. 10. Rings in German Caverns. 11. Rings of the Gauls and Britons. 12. Anglo-Saxon Workers in Metal. 13. Ladies’ Seal-rings. 14. Substance, Forms and Size of Rings; Number, and on what fingers worn; Pearls; Carbuncle; Death’s-head Rings. 15. Law of Rings. 16. Order of the Ring. 17. Rings found in all places. 18. Persian Signets. 19. Value of ancient Rings. 20. Love’s Telegraph, and Name-rings; Polish Birth-day Gifts. 21. Rings in Heraldry. 22. Rings in Fish. 23. Riddle. 24. Ring misapplied. 25. Horace Walpole’s Poesy on a Ring. § 1. A CIRCLE, known as a finger-ring, has been an object of ornament and of use for thousands of years. Indeed, the time when it was first fashioned and worn is so far in the past that it alone shines there; all around is ashes or darkness.