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Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales
A small, gold finger ring inscribed on the inside in an italic of 16th or 17th century style:
Not•this•but•I (I give you not this ring, but myself)
Being so small, it may have been intended either for the taper finger of a lady or as a ring to be used on the second joint of the finger – a custom which, Mr. King informs me, was common both in mediaeval and Roman times. On the inside is engraved the motto, in old characters; Not this but I Notwithstanding the bad grammar (if it is to be read as “I give you not this ring, but myself”), there is a certain quaintness about the idea which is highly amusing.
Written by John Edward Lee, 1862 in: Isca Silurum or, An illustrated catalogue of the Museum of Antiquities at Caerleon
Site Name: Priory Garden, Caerleon
