Conference tallis::celt

1025.0. "Ogham" by MAJORS::COCKBURN (Craig Cockburn) Sat Mar 21 1992 04:32

Fhuair mi am brath seo bho Gaelic-l an d�,
A bheil sp�is aig duine sam bith air Ogham ?

Craig

 ------- Forwarded mail received on 20-Mar-1992 at 19:24:23 -------

From:	VBORMC::"GAELIC-L%[email protected]" 
	"GAELIC Language Bulletin Board"
To:	Craig Cockburn <MAJORS::cockburn>
Subj:	Ogham Alphabet

In response to the recent discussion about ogham, here is a brief description
of the ogham alphabet.

Dan Wilson
==============================================================================
                               THE OGHAM ALPHABET

        Here is a brief description of the ogham alphabet as presented
        by Ruth P. M. Lehmann in her paper "Ogham: the Ancient Script of
        the Celts," in Senner, Wayne M. (ed) (1989), THE ORIGINS OF
        WRITING. Lincoln, Nebraska: the University of Nebraska Press.

        In the script that follows, we are limited by screen resolution,
        but imagine a centerline with the marks shown below drawn
        relative to that centerline. The script is presented
        horizontally, although it is often (usually?) displayed
        vertically. Lehmann shows examples in both orientations. To get
        the correct vertical orientation, rotate each ogham character
        counter-clockwise until the centerline is vertical. References
        are made to "Auraicept," and this referes to Auraicept na n-Eces
        as translated from the Book of Ballymote by George Calder. The
        Book of Ballymote was published in 1917 by John Grant,
        Edinburgh.

        ================================================================


        ----X-X-X-X-X---    i   idad = "yew"

        ----X-X-X-X-----    e   edad = "aspen"

        ----X-X-X-------    u   ur = "blackthorn"

        ----X-X---------    o   onn = "gorse"

        ----X-----------    a   ailm = "elm"


        ================================================================


         ---/////-------    r    ruis = "elder"

         ---////--------    z    straif = "?"

         ---///---------    ng   getal = "broom"

         ---//----------    g    gort = "ivy"

         ---/-----------    m    muinn = "vine"

         NOTE:  
           getal = "broom" is not in original Irish, but occurs in
           Auraicept.

        ================================================================

         ___|||||_______    q    ceirt = "apple tree"

         ___||||________    c    coll = "hazel"

         ___|||_________    t    tinne = "holly"

         ___||__________    d    duir  or doire = "oak"

         ___|___________    h    huath  =  "whitethorn"

        (NOTE: h is not a letter in early Irish. It appears in Auraicept
        and Cormac's  Glossary)

        ================================================================

         ___     _______    n    nin = "ash"  (Only in Auraicept)
            |||||

         ___    ________    s    sail = "willow"
            ||||

         ___   _________    f or v     fern = "alder"
            |||

         ___  __________    l    luis = "mountain ash"
            ||

         ___ ___________    b    beithe = "birch"
            |

        ================================================================


        EXAMPLE: This example is from a drawing of an ogham inscription
        on a Gaedhil tomb stone in Kerry, from Cahernagat. The drawing
        and transcription are due to Richard Rolf Brash, author of THE
        OGHAM INSCRIBED MONUMENTS OF THE GAEDHIL IN THE BRITISH ISLANDS,
        London: George Bell, 1979.  According to Brash the ogham says:

        "Toictheach son of Sagi Rettos"



        ____ |||___||___//__||||__|||__|||__|__||||__||||__/__|________
                   ||  //   ||||            |             /   |
              T    O   G     I     T    T   A   C     C   N   A

        ___|||||__||||________|___//_|_____/////__||||__|||_|||__||________
                  ||||  ||||  |  //  |    /////   ||||           ||  ||||
             Q     E      S   A  G   A      R      E     T   T    O    S


        The actual inscription is vertically on an elongated tombstone.
        One of the sharp edges of the stone serves as the centerline.

        Note there is a discrepancy in Lehmann's paper regarding the
        proper vertical orientation for the letters n,s,f,l,b versus
        q,c,t,d and h. On pp.106, Lehmann gives an illustration showing
        n,s,f,l,b with marks to the right and q,c,t,d,h with marks to
        the left. Thus rotating CLOCKWISE would result in the same
        orientation as on the Kerry stone. The illustration of the Kerry
        stone however, shows q,c,t with marks to the RIGHT and s with
        marks to the LEFT so that a counter-clockwise rotation would
        yield the result above.