[Illustration: ERECT CROSS-SLAB IN ABERLEMNO CHURCHYARD, FORFARSHIRE _John Patrick of Edinburgh, photo._] [Illustration: Front] [Illustration: Back Cross at Penmon, Anglesey Drawn by Harold Hughes Scale ¹/₁₆ linear] The erect cross-slabs of the Isle of Man show a mixture of Celtic and Scandinavian art, but there are a few which appear to be purely Celtic, as, for instance, those at Kirk Maughold[374] (on the village green) and at Kirk Bride.[375] The erect free-standing cross seems to have been evolved from the erect cross-slab by removing one part of the background of the cross after another, until at last nothing but the cross itself was left. We see the first stage in the Papil stone from Shetland, now in the Edinburgh Museum of Antiquities. Here the top of the slab is rounded to suit the curve of the circle, within which the head of the cross is enclosed. The wheel-cross comes next, in which the portion of the background of the cross on each side of the shaft is dispensed with, as in the specimens at Margam[376] and Llantwit Major,[377] both in Glamorganshire. Then the ends of the arms of the cross are allowed to project beyond the circular ring, as at Penmon,[378] Anglesey. Lastly, the portions of the background of the cross between the quadrants of the ring and the arms are pierced right through the slab, thus giving us the “four-hole” cross of Cornwall[379] and the typical High Cross of Ireland.[380] [374] J. G. Cumming’s _Runic Remains of the Isle of Man_. [375] _Ibid._ [376] Prof. J. O. Westwood’s _Lapidarium Walliæ_, pl. 15. [377] _Ibid._, pl. 5. [378] _Ibid._, pl. 84. [379] A. G. Langdon’s _Old Cornish Crosses_. [380] H. O’Neill’s _Ancient Crosses of Ireland_. We have used the term “wheel-cross” to describe the class of monuments with a round head and a shaft of less width than the diameter of the head rather because it is convenient than on account of its appropriateness. Perhaps “disc-cross” would be more accurate, but in order to avoid confusion it may be as well to adhere to the term “wheel-cross,” which has been adopted by previous writers on the subject. [Illustration: Great Wheel-Cross of Conbelin at Margam Abbey, Glamorganshire Drawn by Worthington G. Smith Scale ¹/₁₆ linear] The wheel-crosses are peculiar to Wales, Cornwall, and the Isle of Man, there being none either in Ireland or Scotland. The wheel-crosses of Wales and the Isle of Man have round heads of large diameter and very short shafts; those of Cornwall have heads of much smaller diameter with a taller shaft. The best examples of wheel-crosses are at Margam and Llantwit Major, Glamorganshire; and at Kirk Braddan and Lonan, Isle of Man.