[Illustration:  Shrine of the bell of st. Patrick]

But the most famous bell in connection with St. Patrick is the one known by his own name and brought with his relics by Columbkille only sixty years after the saint’s death.  The outer case is an exceedingly rich example of Celtic work.  On a ground of brass, fine gold and silver filigree is applied, in curious interlaces and knots, and it is set with several jewels, some of large size, in green, blue, and dull red.  In the front are two large tallow-cut Irish diamonds, and a third was apparently set in a place which is now vacant.  On the back of the bell appears a Celtic inscription in most decorative lettering all about the edge; the literal translation of this is:  “A prayer for Donnell O’Lochlain, through whom this bell shrine was made; and for Donnell, the successor of Patrick, with whom it was made; and for Cahalan O’Mulhollan, the keeper of the bell, and for Cudilig O’Immainen, with his sons, who covered it.”  Donald O’Lochlain was monarch of Ireland in 1083.  Donald the successor of Patrick was the Abbot of Armagh, from 1091 to 1105.  The others were evidently the craftsmen who worked on the shrine.  In many interlaces, especially on the sides, there may be traced intricate patterns formed of serpents, but as nearly all Celtic work is similarly ornamented, there is probably nothing personal in their use in connection with the relic of St. Patrick!  Patrick brought quite a bevy of workmen into Ireland about 440:  some were smiths, Mac Cecht, Laebhan, and Fontchan, who were turned at once upon making of bells, while some other skilled artificers, Fairill and Tassach, made patens and chalices.  St. Bridget, too, had a famous goldsmith in her train, one Bishop Coula.

The pectoral cross of St. Cuthbert of Lindisfarne is now to be seen in Durham.  It was buried with the saint, and was discovered with his body.  The four arms are of equal length, and not very heavy in proportion.  It is of gold, made in the seventh century, and is set with garnets, a very large one in the centre, one somewhat smaller at the ends of the arms, where the lines widen considerably, and with smaller ones continuously between.

Among the many jewels which decorated the shrine of Thomas a Becket at Canterbury was a stone “with an angell of gold poynting thereunto,” which was a gift from the King of France, who had had it “made into a ring and wore it on his thumb.”  Other stones described as being on this shrine were sumptuous, the whole being damascened with gold wire, and “in the midst of the gold, rings; or cameos of sculptured agates, carnelians, and onyx stones.”  A visitor to Canterbury in 1500 writes:  “Everything is left far behind by a ruby not larger than a man’s thumb nail, which is set to the right of the altar.  The church is rather dark, and when we went to see it the sun was nearly gone down, and the weather was cloudy, yet we saw the ruby as well as if it had been in my hand.  They say it was a gift of the King of France.”