Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 9.djvu/169

 THE AUCIIAEOLOGICAL INSTITUTE. 117 exceeding five to a letter, ami distinguished by their position, on, above, or under, the medial line. This, it must be observed, is formed by the angle of the slab of stone bearing the inscription ; as it appears that this kind of writing was most commonly executed on two sides (as here shown) the edge of the stone forming the medial line. The designation Or/ham Craobh, or branching type, had reference to the supposed resemblance of such inscription to a tree : the letters also, it is said, were named from trees, and the inscriptions were either on wooden tablets or on stones. It has been considered that the Ogham characters, although discarded after the Christian period, when the Roman letters were introduced, were occasionally used in some parts of Ireland as late as the eleventh century. The example which we are enabled to submit to our readers, through Mr. Hoare's kindness, has been read thus by Sir W. Betham : Am cocc uga inf, signifying, It was his lot to die by the sea, from a boat ; and by the late Rev. M. Horgan, an Irish antiquary of much repute, as follows : A mac occ urga arus, — My youthful son lies in this grave. The Royal Institution at Cork possesses several slabs bearing Ogham inscriptions, and a collection of rubbings (about fifty) from similar memorials in different parts of Ireland, collected chiefly by the late Mr. Abraham Abell, of Cork. The subject of Ogham characters has assumed a fresh interest to the archaeologist on this side of the Irish Channel, through the curious dis- coveries of Mr. Westwood, who first noticed certain marks on the lateral angles of an inscribed slab near Margam, Glamorganshire, which he regarded as identical with the Ogham letters. See his representation of this monument, Archseologia Camb., vol. i., p. 182 ; also pp. 290, 413. Mr. Westwood has subsequently met Avith a second example of Welsh Oghams, near Crickhowel, Brecknockshire. (Archaeol. Camb., vol. ii., p. 25.) The Rev. W. Gunner produced, by the kind permission of Mr. Ponioni of mural painting, around the E. window East Wellow, Hants.