Well-off people in the 16th-18th centuries often left mourning rings to good friends and family members. (Actually, the practice goes back at least to Roman times, but it took off in Europe later.) It's quite common to see bequests of "a ring of 20 shillings price" or other denomination-- the executor was supposed to buy a ring of the specified value and give it to the recipient in memory of the dead person. It wouldn't be usual for a person to have a dozen rings to give away, but quite normal to have a few in the estate and to buy more. By the late 17th century, there was a growing fashion for crystal rings with a lock of the decedent's hair inside (also for mourning brooches with hair). Earlier rings were commonly simple gold bands with a motto of remembrance engraved on them. Sometimes jeweler made more elaborately decorated bands, even with small portraits of the dead person or a decorative medallion. A few rings were set with stones, but that was not as common. As time went on, rings got cheaper and the lower classes started to follow the practice too. Kathleen Much On Fri, Sep 16, 2011 Diane wrote: > > Not to sound to stupid, but what's with the rings? Are they rings that go > on > your fingers? Is there any other kinds? Sounds to me she had a lot of them > for this time period. Am I wrong? Can anyone explain the rings? I'm just > trying to figure out the purposes of these rings. Thanks,Diane > >