haps, indeed, from the existence of this class of monument in the famed church of the Templars, the opinion may have become prevalent, that by the crossing of the legs was indicated the fact of the individual commemorated having taken upon himself the cross, and joined in the crusades, or at least being under vow to do so at the time of his death. The discovery, at Cashel, on the site of the Franciscan abbey, of three female effigies of the thirteenth century, sculptured in the cross-legged position, as described and figured in the interesting memoir by Mr. Du Noyer (Archæological Journal, vol. ii. p. 121), appears to show the unsoundness of this assumption; and the opinion which seems least open to objection is, that the position of the limbs was a conventional mode of sculpture prevailing at the period, perhaps designed to be symbolical of the Christian faith of the deceased.

I have observed that such figures are common in England. In Ireland they are very uncommon; in a note to the paper already alluded to, Mr. Du Noyer states that, in addition to four monumental figures at Cashel, "one other effigy only has been described as existing in Ireland," namely, that on the south side of the nave in Christ Church, Dublin, supposed to represent Richard de Clare, earl of Pembroke and Strigul, surnamed Strongbow. This statement is, I believe, correct. No others had up to that period been described; but some exist, like too many of Ireland's antiquities, unknown and undescribed. In the county of Kilkenny two examples are found, a notice of which cannot fail to be acceptable to the student of monumental antiquities.

The first of these interesting monuments, hitherto unnoticed, is a cross-legged effigy, sculptured in high relief, on a slab which has

been inserted in one of the walls of the ancient abbey of Graigue-na-managh, now used as the Roman Catholic place of worship of that parish. The figure, which is very rudely executed, is larger than life, and represents a knight clad in a complete suit of mail, over which a surcoat fitting closely round the throat is worn; the right hand grasps the sword-hilt, while the scabbard is held by the left; the left leg is thrown over the right, and the entire attitude gives the idea of one starting forward prompt for action, and in the act of drawing the sword. A broad belt, attached by curiously contrived straps to the scabbard, and buckled in front over the hips, sustains the sword. A fracture extends across the waist of the figure, and from the deficiency of the lower portion of the slab towards the feet, the spurs are not visible to assist in fixing the date. The effigy has not been

Details of sword belt and scab

bard. Effigy at Graigue-na-managh, county of Kilkenny.

represented with a shield in this instance, so that heraldry does not, any more than tradition, serve to indicate the family to which this monument belonged; but, from the character of the armour, it may be assigned to the early part or middle of the thirteenth century. It should be observed that the hood or chaperon of mail conforms to the globular shape of the head.

The wood engraving, which accompanies this paper, gives a faithful representation of another example of this class of monumental sculpture, afforded by the county of Kilkenny. The old church of Kilfane, in the barony of Gowran, appears from its existing sculptured details to have been built at the close of the thirteenth century, or commencement of the fourteenth. On the erection of the present parish church, the older structure became disused as a place of worship, and served as a school-house; and I have been informed by several individuals, who some thirty years since attended as children at this school, that this sculpture lay on the floor, and that the punishment for idle or refractory urchins was a compulsory kiss bestowed on the stony lips of the "Cantwell fadha," the "tall Cantwell," as the effigy was traditionally named in the Irish language. Subsequently, the figure was buried beneath the surface to save it from injury, and so it remained for many years. In September, 1840, I well remember working hard with spade and shovel to disinter the knight for the purpose of obtaining a drawing. When the rubbish was cleared away I saw at once that this was no common monument, and the necessity of doing something for its preservation strongly presented itself; accordingly, a subscription was entered into, and an attempt was made to remove the slab to the aisles of the cathedral of St. Canice at Kilkenny; from several causes, however, the project fortunately was not put in execution. I say fortunately, for, from the mode of transit contemplated, and the immense weight of the slab, it is extremely probable that some injury would have resulted to this valuable monument. From the period alluded to, down to the summer of 1852, matters remained as before, and the knight lay safely beneath the protecting rubbish. Several circumstances, however, combined to force on the committee of the Kilkenny Archæological Society the importance of saving the sculpture from possible destruction. It was accordingly determined to obtain a mould from the effigy itself, as the most effectual way of perpetuating its peculiar features; this has been, by the kind permission of the archdeacon of Ossory, effected; and four casts have been made therefrom, one of which was exhibited at the National Exhibition at Cork, and rests finally in the Museum of the Royal Cork Institution; a second has been transmitted to the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy in Dublin, and has there elicited much interest; a third has been executed for the Court of Irish Art, in the Great Irish Industrial Exhibition of 1853; and the fourth has been reserved for the Museum of the Kilkenny Archæological Society.

These measures have been undertaken by the committee of the Kilkenny Society as calculated not only to multiply copies of a curious, and, in Ireland, almost unique relic, but also as tending to make the Society favourably known to the Irish public, as being alive to the importance of saving the monuments of the past from demolition.'

The Cantwell or de Canteville family was amongst the early Norman settlers in the counties of Kilkenny and Tipperary. Thomas de Kentewall is one of the witnesses to a charter granted by Theobald Walter, first chief butler of Ireland, to his town of Gowran, in the reign of Henry II. The Cantwells early possessed large property in the county of Kilkenny, on which stood the castles of Cantwell's Court near Kilkenny, and of Stroan and Cloghscreg in the immediate neighbourhood of Kilfane. That this monument represents a Cantwell is proved by the evidence of heraldry. The shield is charged with a bearing, which, without the tinctures, may be described as four annulets, a canton ermine the bearing seen on the seal of John Cantwell, attached to a deed of Walter Fitz Peter de Cantwell, and Peter Fitz Peter de Cantwell, dated 46th Edw. III., and on the seal of another John Cantwell, affixed to a deed dated 15th Henry VII.2 Probably this effigy was sculptured in memory of Thomas de Cantwell, who, by a writ dated at Thomastown, in the county of Kilkenny, in the year 1319, was exempted from attending at assizes, on the plea of being worn out with age (Rot. Pat. 13 Edw. II., No. 33). Tombs, it is well known, were occasionally erected by persons before their decease; perhaps such was the case in this instance. A suit of mail, without any portion of plate, defends the body, and the head and throat are protected by a chaperon of mail which falls over the hauberk; the chaperon is flattened at top, presenting the appearance of a slightly elevated cone. A long triangular shield, very much curved, and charged in relief with the arms before described, is supported on the left side by the shield-strap, passing over the right shoulder, and some acorns with oak leaves are carved in the stone as a support for its point. A surcoat is worn over the hauberk, confined by the sword belt at the waist, and the sword lies under the body, the end appearing between the legs; the right arm (the hand being bare, and the mailed gauntlet hanging by) is extended by the side; and the right leg crossed over the left. The feet are supported by wellcarved clusters of oak leaves with acorns, and the spurs are broadly rowelled. The effigy is well sculptured, apparently in Kilkenny marble; the contour of the head and neck is fine, the legs and feet are well formed, and the folds of the surcoat are disposed with-considerable elegance; but the shoulders are narrow, the chest flat, and

1 A special subscription has been commenced to defray the cost incurred, which the ordinary funds of the Society are inadequate to meet.

2 These documents are preserved in the

Record Room, Kilkenny Castle, amongst the Ormonde MSS. Burke gives-gules, five annulets, and a canton ermine (another, six annulets or), as the coat of Cantwell, in Ireland.-General Armory, &c.