Around which the heavy hosts have fallen
If the battle-fighting Finn had lived,
Long would that Ogam be remembered.’
Many passages exist, too, referring to the use of Ogam writing on pieces of wood to convey messages by hand. Opinion has been divided as to how far the passages we have quoted bear testimony to the antiquity of Ogam stones for sepulchral purposes. This at least is plain: the belief in this use of the stones existed when the MSS. were written, and the stones themselves furnish strong presumptive evidence that the testimony of the records is based on something more than mere vague tradition. Many of the stones no doubt stand in their original position; but the meagre nature of the inscriptions renders it difficult, if not impossible, to identify them with any degree of certainty with those who figure in ancient Irish records.
Ogam Stone (Co. Kerry) in Trinity College, Dublin.
The earliest notice of Ogam writing is in the Book of Leinster, which gives the scale of letters. The Book of Ballymote is of especial interest, as it contains a tract on the Ogam writing of the Gaedhil, with the ‘key now ordinarily used in the translations of inscriptions, as well as a variety of ciphers founded on the original characters.’[74] It was not until 1784 that the attention of antiquaries was directly drawn to the existence of Ogam stones by the discovery of the Mount Callan monument in Co. Clare with an inscription in Ogam character. A vigorous controversy raged over this ‘find’; but it had one important result, the interest of archæologists was aroused, and in subsequent years General Vallancey and others gave considerable attention to the subject of Ogams; many stones were discovered and their nature and character investigated, not, however, without many wild theories being advanced, supported by unsound arguments and distorted learning. In 1846 the late Bishop Graves for the first time brought scientific methods to bear on the elucidation of Ogam inscriptions, and clearly demonstrated by independent investigation the certainty of the scale in the Book of Ballymote. The general principle upon which he based his analysis was: ‘That in any given language, or group of cognate languages, there is a preference for particular sounds and particular sequence of sounds.’ After various trials he established satisfactory results, and placed the whole scheme of inquiry in papers read before the Royal Irish Academy, in the years 1848–9. ‘The Ogam alphabet,’ says Dr. Graves, ‘consists of lines, or groups of lines, variously arranged with reference to a single stem-line, or to an edge of the substance on which they are traced. The spectator, looking at an upright Ogam monument, will, in general, observe groups of incised strokes of four different kinds: (1) groups of lines to the right; (2) others to the left of the edge; (3) other longer strokes crossing it obliquely; (4) and small notches upon the edge itself.... Ogam inscriptions, in general, begin from the bottom, and read upwards, from left to right. Almost all those which have been deciphered present merely a proper name with its patronymic, both in the genitive case. The monuments appear, for the most part, to have been sepulchral in the first instance. But there is reason to suppose that they were used to indicate the proprietorship of land, either standing as boundary stones, or buried in crypts, as evidences to be referred to in case of disputes arising.’
It will be seen from the accompanying score that the letters are arranged in four groups of five letters each. Those of the first or B group are to the right of the edge, represented here by the horizontal line; the second or H group to the left; the third or M group cut the edge obliquely; and the fourth or vowel group are small notches on the edge itself. Ogam inscriptions are written continuously, but the difficulty of a right division into words was simplified when it was found that the same group of incisions, which is rendered by Maqi, Maqui, or other form, the old genitive of Maquas, a son, invariably occurred in these scores. A general idea of the readings may be gathered from the annexed figure, which gives—Feqreq Moqoi Glunlegget,(the Stone of) Fiachra, Son of Glunlegget; the scores on this stone are inverted. The first name is usually in the genitive case, and the word ‘stone’ or ‘monument’ is supposed to be understood.
