The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1915-12-04
IRISH SCRIPT

To st. Patrick Ireland owes its ex.
quisite script, which speedily sup.
planted the original Ogam, the Gaelic
alphabet of ancient times. The basis
of this script is the Roman naif-uncial
hand, uncial being the script used
upon papyrus and parchment in the
late Roman empire, consisting Of
forms with somewhat curved
vertical strokes.
Owing to the isolated position Of
the island and the consequent absence
of extraneous influences a strongly
national hand developed,
which ran its uninterrupted course
down to the late Middle Ages. This
hand was at first round in character
and of great clearness, beauty and
precision; but, at an early period, a
modified, pointed variety Of a minus
cule type developed out of it, used for
quicker and less ornamental writing.
AS might have been expected, the
same authority AYERS, the English
adopted both the round and pointed
varieties of their Irish teachers, says
the Catholic Sun.
One of the earliest and most beau
tiful examples of the former is The
Book Of Durham or the Lindisfarne
Gospel, written about 700 A. D. by
Eadfrith, Bishop of Lindisfarne.
And, as specimen of the latter,
may be mentioned a fine copy Of
Bedes Ecclesiastical History in the
University of Cambridge, written not
long after 730, which possesses an adj
ditional interest as preserving one of
the earliest pieces of poetry in the
English language, The Hymn of Caed-
mon, in the original Northumbrian
dialect.
A relatively small number of manu-
scripts has come down to us through
the vicissitudes of the ages; they are
scattered far and wide, at present
through collections public and private.
Trinity College, the Royal Irish Acad-
envy, London, Paris, Berlin, Brussels,
and scores of others are jealousy pre-
serving the most precious specimens.
The exact amount of Irish literature
still remaining has never been deter.
mined, maintains DR.. Douglas Hyde.
According to him, a French scholar
has noted 1873 existing manuscripts,
all of them over three hundred years
old, and some over a thousand years,
and the whole number found existing
in public libraries on the continent
and in the British Isles was 1909.
But hundreds upon hundreds exist
in private collections scattered
throughout the country, and hundreds
upon hundreds more have been de-
stroyed since the so-called National
schools were established by the Eng
lish government in Ireland, to train
up the children of Irishmen as though
they were the children of people in
Birmingham or Liverpool.
The art of Illuminating manuscripts
has been known from times immemo-
rial. The moment manuscript had
been finished in the scriptorium, the
general writing room of the typical
monastery, it passed into the hands of
another expert, the illumination, before
being turned over to the binder. The
characteristic feature of Irish illumi-
mating is the use of dots, following
the outlines of the initials; delicate
spirals, interlacing ribbons and tes-
selated patterns.
This applies particularly to early
Irish manuscripts, notably The Book
of Kells of the seventh century, now
in Trinity College, Dublin. A we'll
executed specimen page giving por-
ton of Christ's genealogy reveals
other characteristics, profuse capitals,
bold penmanship, and trenchant
figures. To the monk-artist, illuminat.
ing was labor of love, as may easily