The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-06-18

which they had themselves invented. This
was the celebrated Ogam script, consist
| Ing ~ number OF short lines. straight
| or slanting and drawn either below. above
| or through one long stem line. which
| stem line isgeneray the diagonal between two
sidcs Of a long. upright. rectangular stone.
| These lines represented letters. ard over two
| hundred stones have been found inscribed
| with Oaam writing. 1t is a remarkable fact
that. rude az this device for writing may at first
| sight SEEM IL has been applied with consider
| able skill and explained with much ingenuity.
In every case II Is found that the letters which.
| like the vowes. are most easily pronounced. are
| also in Ogam tho easiest to inscrihe. To account
| for the philosophical character OF this alphabet,
| than which no simpler method OF writing is
| Imaginable" n German phloogist DR.. Reth-
| wlch. concluded that the natural gift OF tho
! Cclts. and their practical genius for observa-
ton. ripnne up to n certain stage far earlier
| than did those OF their Indo- European rca-
! tions" This statement rests upon the as yet
improved assumption that Ogam writing 10
| pre-Christian and pagan. What Is Of interest
| Is the fact that the author OF the statement be-
| lieves that with one or two changes. It would
make the simplest conceivable universal al
| phahet or international coda of writing. Many
! Ogams have been easily read, thanks TO the
| key contained in the Book Of Balymote thanks
nlSp 10 inc tiltt IIlut OF nave utou
| found with duplicates inscribed with Latin
! letters. That Ogam was. rs some assert.
| an early cryptic alphabet. and one intended to
! be read only by the initiated. is pronounced an
| absurd hypothesis in tho face of the numbers
| OF such inscriptions already decphered. and
| tho many instances OF the employment Of the
| language recorded in the oldest sagas. In
| them Ogam is nearly always treated as an ordi-
| nary script which any ono could read, 1t Is
said to be certain that the grammatical forms
| of the writings inscribed upon most OF the Ogam
stones are vastly older than those oftho very old
est manuscripts and agree with those ofthe old
Gaulish linguistic monuments. That the OGam
alphabet. however. Is based upon tho Roman
there seems to be no doubt for it contains
letters which, according to the key represent
=. 4 and \, none Of which letters are used In
even the oldest manuscripts. and two OF which
N least must have been borrowed from the
liomans. To the author Of the book before us
| it seems probable that the Irish discovered tho
use of letters. either through trade with the
Continent or through the Romanized Brtons.
at some time after the first or second century
Of our era but how or why they invented the
Ogam alphabet. instead of using Roman letters.
or else Greek ones, the Gauls did. is ac-
knowledged to be a profound mystcry. Indis-
putable it is. nevertheless. that the Ogam
alphabet. at whatever time invented. is pos
session peculiar to the Irish Gael. and only to
be found whore he made settlements.
1t Is generally assumed by English writer's
that the prehistoric Irish, because OF their re-
motcness from tho Continent must have been
ruder. wilder and more uncvlized than the
Celtic inhabitants OF Britain. The assumption
il in no way borne out by the results OF archn-
illogical research to say nothing OF literary re-
mains. On tho contrary IL appears to be the
case that in point OF wealth. artistic feeling and
workmanship tho Irish OF the bronze age
surpassed the inhabitants of Britain. The
abundance OF gold ornaments which Cormack.
King OF ireland in the third century of our ern.
is represented in the book of Ballymote az
wearing is no mere ilgment Of the writer's i'm
agination II is founded on the unuuestionable
fact that Of all countries in western Europe Ire
land was prcHminent for its wealth in gold. As
lately as tho last century native gold was dis
covered on the confines Of Wicklow and Wex-
ford. and nuggets weighing respectiyely %
and ~ ounces wore found tbsrs How r,,,,b