BURIAL CUSTOMS.--OGAM STONES.
NECESSITY FOR DISPOSAL OF DEAD--INHUMATION AND CREMATION IN BRITISH
ISLES AND CONTINENT--BALLON HILL--CARROWMORE--DYSART--METHODS
OF BURIAL--ORIGIN OF CREMATION--RELIGIOUS SENTIMENT--URNS,
CLASSIFICATION AND USES OF--OGAM STONES--REFERENCE TO,
IN IRISH MSS.--MOUNT CALLAN STONE--BISHOP GRAVES--OGAMS
DESCRIBED--ALPHABET--GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS.
Notwithstanding the number and variety of sepulchral remains in
Ireland, it is strange that the rites and ceremonies attending the
disposal of the dead in prehistoric times have not received from Irish
archæologists the systematic study they deserve. Unfortunately many of
the burial sites have, in the past, been treated in a manner that has
left but little data of any scientific value for expert use. The number
discovered, of cinerary urns containing human remains has been very
great, and establish, beyond a doubt, the fact of the general custom of
cremation. Most of these urns have been destroyed, either through the
ignorance and stupidity of the discoverers, or the carelessness of the
subsequent owners.
Under all human conditions it is necessary that some method should be
adopted for the disposal of the dead; but there can be no doubt that
the religious sentiment has ever been the predominating factor in all
burial customs. The earliest method of disposing of the dead was by
simple interment; and even when cremation became general, the practice
was never entirely abandoned. Both forms may occur in the same mound;
but the general result is that the inhumed remains are found at the
bottom, and the cremated remains nearer the surface, which shows these
were later in point of time. Where, however, the earliest interments
have been burnt bones, inhumed bodies, as at Ballon Hill, may form
secondary burials. The result of Canon Greenwell’s explorations in
the barrows of Yorkshire showed that out of 379 burials 301 were by
inhumation, and in 78 cremated remains were found. Exploration in other
parts of England gave similar results.[57] Out of 297 interments in
Derby, Stafford, and York, Mr. Bateman found that 124 were of burnt
bones; 163 were of ordinary burials, of which latter the bodies in
97 had been placed in a contracted or sitting position. Sir R. C.
Hoare found that out of 267 interments in Wiltshire, 214 were of
cremated remains, 53 of inhumed, of which the skeletons of 15 were
found contracted. In the district of Glasinac is a vast collection
of tumuli. ‘Their total number,’ says Dr. Munro, ‘is estimated at
20,000--an estimation which is now regarded as coming far short of the
actual number--of which about 1000 have been explored.... The builders
of these burial mounds practised both inhumation and cremation, the
former being in the proportion of 60 per cent., and the latter 30 per
cent., while the remaining 10 per cent. were of a mixed character,
_i.e._, contained both kinds of interments.’[58] In the Hallstatt
cemetery in the Noric Alps (which has given its name as a distinctive
term to an archæological period, owing to the importance of its
‘grave-goods’), tombs to the number of 993 were examined as far back as
1868. Of these ‘525 contained simple interments; 455 had incinerated
human remains; and in 13 the bodies had only been partially burnt
before being interred.’[59] Great quantities of implements, domestic
articles, and objects for personal use and adornment have been found in
both classes of graves.
At Ballon Hill, near Tullow, County Carlow, a number of cinerary urns
and great quantities of cremated remains were discovered in 1853,
evidently of the pure Bronze Period. This spot has not been identified
with any of the great burial-places mentioned in early Irish records.
Three skeletons were found a couple of feet beneath an immense boulder,
‘huddled together in a small space not above 2 feet in length.’ At a
considerable depth below these, and beneath four granite blocks, a
bed of charcoal was reached, containing broken urns of four different
patterns. Many perfect urns were found, some of which are among the
finest examples yet discovered in Ireland. The urns were placed in
stone cists, and also in the earth without any trace of an enclosure.
There was evidence of great fires, while deep pits and beds of
charcoal were laid bare, showing the extent to which cremation and
the attendant funeral rites had been carried out at this spot. The
only weapon found was a single dagger blade of bronze.[60] Carrowmore
furnishes an instance of a mixed interment, where the inhumed remains
were found over the calcined bones. ‘At the lowest level,’ says Colonel
Wood-Martin, ‘of the side-stones of the cist a floor or flagging of
calpy limestone slabs was found. It was on this--which overlay the
undisturbed “till”--that the body or bodies of the primary interment
had been originally cremated, portions of the floor showing marks
of fire; and semi-burnt wood was found inlaid, with the layer of
calcined bones above. It was plainly evident from the floors and burnt
bones extending in “pockets” under the side-stones of the cist, that
the latter had been constructed over the funeral pyre, and that the
calcined remains were the primary interment, and that they had not been
placed within an already completed chamber.’[61]
In a small tumulus at Dysart, County Westmeath, Dr. Dillon Kelly
discovered, in 1876, two kistvaens containing skeletons in a contracted
position. One was of an irregular pentagon shape, the longest diameter
being 3 feet 9 inches, and the depth 2 feet 3 inches. In this there
were three animal teeth; and each chamber contained a fine urn of baked
clay. Cremated remains were found on the covering stones and round the
cists. The burning seems to have taken place over the inhumed bodies,
whose heads may, from their sitting position, have come into almost
immediate contact with the covering stones. The supposition receives
additional weight from the baked look of the tops of the skulls, both
of which presented such an appearance over the whole of their vertical
aspects.[62]
Urn burials on a larger scale were found at the Hill of Rath, near
Drogheda, in 1841. Here remains of some 150 to 200 urns were discovered
in an inverted position, each covering a quantity of human bones.
They were placed in the earth without any protection, and were in
consequence mostly broken by the pressure of the earth. Singly and in
small groups urns containing incinerated remains have been found in
most parts of Ireland. Worsaae was of opinion that many of the mounds
or barrows were places of family sepulture, and that cists containing
urns with burial remains found in open fields were those used by the
poorer class who had no burial mound in which to place their dead.[63]
We have ample evidence of the antiquity and general practice of
cremation in Europe. It was the custom of the Achæans, as Homer tells
us, at least 1000 B.C. The remains of Achilles ‘were wash’d in wine
and given fit unction,’ and, with the bones of Patroclus, placed in a
‘two-ear’d bowl of gold.’ This was placed in a grave, and over it was
raised a ‘matchless sepulchre’ high above the Hellespont. The body of
Hector was burned on a mighty pile of wood, and the remains treated
with similar observances. Recent archæological opinion ascribes the
origin of cremation to the Celtic tribes inhabiting Central Europe. It
is urged that the custom would not have arisen among nomadic tribes,
but rather among a people living in a land covered with woods and
forests. Tacitus says that the Germans ‘simply observe the custom of
burning the bodies of illustrious men with certain kinds of wood.
They do not heap garments or spice on the pyre. The arms of the dead
man, and in some cases his horse, are consigned to the fire. A turf
mound forms his tomb. Monuments, with their lofty elaborate splendour,
they reject as oppressive to the dead.’ In Denmark cremation became
a general practice; and in Scandinavia it was an essential religious
custom in the worship of Odin. Professor Montelius thinks that the
evidence favours the view that in the north of Europe the Stone Age
ended rather before than after 1500 B.C. During it the bodies were
always buried unburnt in a recumbent or sitting position, and, as
in the British Isles, urns and implements are found with the burial
remains.[64]
The Gauls, as we know from Cæsar, burned some of the servants, slaves,
and favourite animals of the dead chief, or warrior, in celebrating
their funeral rites. Cremation was not practised in Asia Minor,
Phœnicia, or Palestine. The Egyptians embalmed their dead, for they
believed that as long as the body existed, so long did the soul exist
in the spirit world. The Scythians, as Herodotus tells us, did not
burn, but buried their dead. They embalmed the body of their king;
and ‘they strangle and bury with him one of his concubines, his cook,
cup-bearer, groom, lackey, his messenger, and some of his horses,
firstlings of all his other possessions, and some golden cups.’ Over
all was raised a mound; and ‘this Scythian custom, in its late Greek
and Roman imitations, explains the countless tumuli which travellers
see to this day in Bulgaria, in the Dobrudscha, in Wallachia, Moldavia,
and Southern Russia, as far as the Crimea.’[65] The Thracians either
burned or buried their dead, held feasts and games, and raised tumuli.
In Illyria and in Bosnia, as we have stated, inhumation and cremation
were observed at the same time. Historical evidence goes to show that
the Thracians and Illyrians were conquered by the Celtic tribes from
the Alps; ‘and as the culture of the early Iron Age in the Danubian
region corresponds to that of the Celtic Hallstatt, there is a
probability that the practice of cremation, which makes its appearance
in the early Iron Age in Bosnia, and which was practised by some
Thracians in the fifth century B.C., was introduced by the Celtic
conquerors who lived with the Illyrians and Thracian tribes.’[66] Mr.
Ridgeway, having carefully considered the methods of disposing of the
dead in the countries bordering on the Mediterranean, finds that,
without exception, ‘inhumation, or some other method of disposing of
the body without the use of fire, was universal in early times, and
continued so over most of the area down to the Christian era.’ His
conclusion is ‘that cremation did not pass into Greece from either
Libya, Egypt, or Asia Minor, nor did it originate among the Pelasgians
of the islands, nor yet in the mainland.’[67] Whether the practice
arose among the Celtic tribes of Central Europe, or was adopted by
them, it passed with other customs and things westwards and northwards
along the trade routes, and its adoption in Britain and Ireland was
merely a matter of time.
Man’s belief in a spiritual existence was, as we have already pointed
out, the cause of that respect for the dead, which has shown itself in
the countless sepulchral monuments scattered all over the world from
prehistoric times down to our own days. To house the dead and hold the
spirit entombed was the idea that once prevailed, and does so still
among savage tribes. Immense cromlechs, cairns, and mounds of earth
were raised above the dead, not only to house the spirit fittingly,
but to prevent its return to earth; and strange customs still survive
among primitive races to puzzle the dead should they attempt to return
to their old habitations. It was a belief, too, among the Celtic
tribes, as it has been among other races, that the spirit of the dead
chief would keep watch and ward over them, and hence the burial-mound
was sometimes raised close to or within the ring-wall of the camp.
We are told that Eoghan Bel, King of Connaught, having received his
death-wound in the Battle of Sligo, ordered that his grave should
be dug in the side of his rath, and his body buried ‘with his red
spear in his hand and his face to the north.’[68] The site overlooked
the pass traversed by the Ulstermen in their accustomed raids; and
the burial was so effective in terrifying these foes that they made
a special incursion, exhumed the body, and buried it with its face
downwards on the shores of Lough Gill. King Laoghaire[69] was buried,
as we have already mentioned, in the south-east external side of the
rampart of Rath Laoghaire, Tara, with his weapons upon him, and ‘his
face towards the Lagenians in the attitude of fighting with them.’[70]
(See p. 50.)
The dead were believed to require servants, food, raiment, weapons,
and a home such as they did in life; and hence the quantity of
‘grave-goods’ of early races, so important to the archæologist,
discovered in many burial-mounds and tombs. Small fictilia, which are
considered food-vessels by some, are commonly found with body burials,
the offering of food and libations to the dead being a primitive
custom, which still exists in many heathen lands, and has its survival
in some Christian practices down to our own time. When inhumed, the
dead chief was laid in the grave, or within the chambered tumulus, clad
in full apparel, with his ornaments and weapons, and servants to attend
him. We have references to the burial of warriors with their weapons
in Irish MSS. Dr. Sullivan quotes the following:--‘Dearg Damhsa, the
druid, made a capacious yellow-sodded Fert for Mogh Neid on the plain,
and he buried him in it with his arms, and with his clothes, and with
his armour.’ And from the _Book of Lecan_ he cites this:--‘He killed
Feradach after that, the good son of Rocuirp; according to rule, and
until his death, he brandished his arms which are under the Duma of the
beautiful Carn. Feradach was killed at the Battle of Carn Feradaig, and
this here is Feradach’s Fert.’[71]
In cremation the old neolithic practice was changed with the newer
conception of the relation between the soul and body. This belief was
that the soul could not pass into the spirit world until the body had
been destroyed by burning. Total separation was necessary, and the
quickest and most effective method was through the medium of fire. The
practice was probably an evolutionary one, as in France the process of
the natural destruction of the flesh from the bones, before the latter
were burned, seems in the first instance to have been adopted. Until
the body was destroyed the spirit haunted its local habitation; and the
Homeric idea, shared by the Celt and Norse, was that, when the earthly
tabernacle was consumed, the soul departed for ever to the world of
shades.
Cremation was very probably confined to the chiefs, heroes, or other
important persons, as from the very difficulties attending burning
the ordinary practice of interment was doubtless adopted for the rank
and file of the tribe. Inhumation was practically universal all over
Europe until the close of the Stone Age; but all through the Bronze
Age both customs were practised, and in the west of Europe interment
remained the prevailing custom of disposing of the dead. In the north
of Europe, however, cremation reached a far higher development than
elsewhere. In remote districts of Spain, France, and in the British
Isles the sepulchres of the Stone Age long lingered; and in the tombs
and chambered cairns cremated remains have been found of the later
Bronze Period.
Though there are numerous references in Irish MSS. to burials in
early times, on the subject of cremation they are silent. We have one
remarkable passage, however, which has frequently been quoted and
commented on, as it seems to refer to this custom. In the _Book of
Ballymote_ is the following account of the death of Fiachra, son of
Eochaidh Muighmhedhoin, and brother to Niall of the Nine Hostages:
‘Then the men of Munster gave him battle in Caenraigne, and Maidhi
Meascoragh wounded Fiachra mortally in the battle. Nevertheless, the
men of Munster and the Erneans were defeated by dint of fighting, and
suffered great slaughter. Then Fiachra carried away fifty hostages out
of Munster, together with his tribute in full, and set forth on his
march to Temor. Now, when he had reached Forraidh in Uibh Maccuais, in
Meath, Fiachra died of his wound. His Leacht (grave) was made, and his
Fert (mound) was raised, and his Cluicht Caintech[72] were ignited, and
his Ogam name was written, and the hostages which had been brought from
the south were buried alive round Fiachra’s Fert, that it might be a
reproach to the Momonians for ever, and that it might be a trophy over
them.’ Though we have but this single recorded instance in Irish Annals
of human sacrifice--that of strangers at the burial of a chief--it
must not be regarded merely in the light of revenge for the death of
their leader. The reproach here cast on the men of Munster followed
a principle common wherever similar burial customs have prevailed.
According to the practice usually observed at the burial of a chief,
the attendants and slaves who were to accompany Fiachra to the spirit
world would have full funeral rites conferred upon them. But the
Momonian hostages were thus destroyed, so that their souls might keep
perpetual guard around Fiachra’s fert, that covered his sepulchre of
stone.
* * * * *
[Illustration: Cinerary Urn, from One Man’s Cairn, N. Moytura.]
_Urns._--As we have seen, urns are among the objects commonly found
with the remains of the dead, whether inhumed or cremated. The Irish
fictilia are usually classified as food-vessels, cinerary urns,
and incense-cups. In Great Britain a fourth class is known, called
‘drinking-cups,’ but none of these have been found among burial remains
in Ireland. The cinerary urns vary in size and ornamentation, and are
found from 10 to 25 inches in height; one of the latter size is in the
Grainger collection in the Belfast Museum. They are usually of narrow
base, and reach their widest above the middle; they contract towards
the mouth, which has an overhanging rim; this is sometimes broad enough
to contain all the ornamentation on the urn. This consists of chevron,
lozenge, or other archaic designs impressed into the clay. A good many
of the richer description present mouldings, bosses, &c., in relief.
It is difficult to form an exact opinion as to the manner in which the
more highly decorated and larger urns were manufactured. They generally
present an outer surface, some eighth or so of an inch in depth,
composed apparently of well-kneaded compost of yellow or buff-coloured
clay, which exhibits but few or no traces of the action of fire.
Underneath this envelope is a black, highly-fused mass of coarser
composition, which forms what may be called the strength of the vessel.
It is a curious fact that the majority of cinerary vases exhibit upon
the interior indications of an intense action of fire, while in many
examples the outer surface would seem to be simply sun-baked. From a
careful examination of a considerable number of urns found in Irish
tumuli and sandhills, it seems to us that at least three stages in the
process of their formation are indicated. First, the vessel appears
to have been fashioned of a somewhat coarse, gritty material; it was
then baked in a strong fire, and burnt almost to blackness. It would
seem, upon cooling, to have been overlaid with a fine matter, generally
buff or cream-coloured, sufficiently soft to receive impressions
readily from a tool formed of wood, horn, bone, stone, or possibly of
bronze or iron. Strips of light material, like that of the coating
or veneer already referred to, were then laid on, just, to use a
homely illustration, as a modern cook will embellish a pie-crust. The
overlayings, while still soft, were then indented with patterns, and
the work either dried in the sun or presented to the influence of a
moderate degree of heat from a fire of wood or peat.
[Illustration: Cinerary Urn from Co. Carlow.]
[Illustration: Cinerary Urn, Co. Wicklow.]
[Illustration: Cinerary Urn, Co. Cavan.]
All sepulchral urns were hand-made and invariably unglazed. They have
been found to contain portions of the bones of a human body, sometimes
of more than one, in a highly calcined state; and there is reason to
believe that occasionally some relics, also burnt, most notably those
of the dog, had been inurned along with the remains of man. Arrow-heads
and knives of flint, pins of bone or bronze, glass and stone beads,
rings of jet, and in one case, at least, a beautiful knife or dagger of
bronze, have formed, with the bones, portion of the contents of these
vessels; charcoal and particles of half-consumed wood constitute the
remainder. Sometimes the urn is found placed mouth downward, and, as
at Drumnakilly, surmounting a cup-hollow; but in general it stands on
its base, and is covered by a thin flat stone or slate. A unique and
very beautiful example, preserved in the National Museum, is furnished
with a veritable lid. Though generally presenting the appearance of a
cinerary urn, this relic may have been a food-vessel.
[Illustration: Urns from Co. Down.]
The vessels considered to have been receptacles for food are usually
found associated with inhumation, and are supposed to have contained
food for the spirits in their journey to the world of shades. Though
they vary greatly in ornamentation, yet they are better made and more
richly decorated than the British urns of a similar class. They are
somewhat globular in form, and are well represented in the figure on
next page, which shows a specimen discovered in connection with the
cromlech-like tomb in the Phœnix Park, already described. This vessel,
with some antiquities of the same ‘find,’ may be seen in the National
Museum. One other example (p. 149), remarkable for the elaborate
character of its ornamentation, is from Ballymote, County Sligo.
[Illustration: Food-Vessel from Cist in the Phœnix Park, Dublin.]
[Illustration: Small Cinerary Urn, Bagenalstown, Co. Carlow.]
[Illustration: Food-Vessel from Grave near Ballymote, Co. Sligo.]
The so-called ‘Incense Cups’ found in Ireland are, like their
British prototypes, invariably of very small size. They are usually
undecorated; the rims are sometimes pierced with four or more
apertures, as if for suspension. In Ireland vessels of this kind are
usually found enclosed in urns of the larger and richer class. There
is no evidence to support the theory that they were used as vessels for
holding ‘incense,’ or as ‘chafers’ containing burning coals for a short
time. They are now generally considered as cinerary urns in which the
remains of infants were placed. Perhaps the most beautiful specimen yet
discovered in the British Isles was found near Bagenalstown in 1847,
which contained the burnt bones of an infant or very young child. ‘It
was embedded in a much larger and ruder urn, filled with fragments
of adult human bones.’ The smaller urn, when reversed, ‘presents,’
says Wilde, ‘both in shape and ornamentation all the characteristics
of the Echinus, so strongly marked that one is led to believe the
artist took the shell of that animal for his model.’ It is 2⅛ inches
high, and 3¾ across the outer margin of the lip, which is beautifully
ornamented, and has the rare addition of a handle. The body is divided
into a number of upright sections, all elaborately worked in a
variety of patterns. A rope-like ornament surrounds the neck, and the
under-portion of the lip has an accurately cut chevron.
OGAM STONES.
The passage we have quoted from the _Book of Ballymote_ (p. 142) is
one of many from Irish MSS. which refer to Ogam Stones. In the account
in the _Leabhar na h-Uidhre_ of the death and burial of Fothadh
Airgthech, who was killed in the Battle of Ollarba, near Larne, in 285
A.D., we are told of his burial in a stone sepulchre with ‘his two
Fails (bracelets), his Bunne-do-At (twisted hoop), and his Muintorc
(neck-torque) of silver; and there is a rock standing at his tomb; and
there is an Ogam inscription on the end which is in the ground of the
rock, and what is written on it is: Eochaidh (or Fothadh) Airgthech
is here.’[73] In the _Táin Bó Chuailgne_ (the Cattle raid of Cooley),
the earliest copy of which is to be found in the _Book of Leinster_,
we read that when Fergus mac Roigh brought back the body of Fergus
Etercomal, who was slain by Cuchulainn, they celebrated his funeral
games, planted a stone over his grave, and inscribed his name in Ogam.
In an early poem in the _Book of Leinster_ we have, in an account of
the Battle of Gabhra, which was fought in 283 A.D., the following
lines referring to the death of Cairbre Lifeachair:--
‘An Ogam in a _lia_, a _lia_ over a _leacht_,
In a place whither men went to battle,
The son of the king of Erin fell there,
Slain on his white steed by a sharp spear....
‘That Ogam which is upon the stone,
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.
[Illustration: 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.’
[Illustration]
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.
[Illustration: Ogam Stone, Monataggart, Co. Cork.]
The number of Ogams discovered (including fragments and lost stones) is
now about 270, and these are chiefly confined to the south of Ireland;
but it is significant, as Dr. Rhys points out, that the most recent
discoveries are in Ulster and Mayo. The county of Kerry furnishes
nearly one-half the entire number, the barony of Corkaguiny being
the richest in these remains of antiquity. There are nine in the
burial-ground at Ballintaggart, near Dingle, and collections have been
made at Burnham House (Lord Ventry), and at Parknasilla. The finest yet
formed, numbering thirty, is in the National Museum, Dublin. The stones
vary in form: most are tall and tapering, of a somewhat pyramidal
shape; many are flags; some are amorphous monoliths; and others are
rounded, especially those on the shores of the Dingle peninsula, which
were probably worn by the action of the Atlantic waves. Ogam stones
appear always to have been set up in the rough state, as those found
present no appearance of having been cut into shape. Standing above
the ground, they vary in height from 3 to about 19 feet. The scores
commence at some distance from the foot of the stone, so that it is
evident that the blocks, whether now prostrate or not, were originally
intended to stand upright.
Ogam stones to the number of 54 exist in Great Britain, the cipher
being identical with that of the Irish inscriptions. Of these South
Wales has 25, Scotland 16, south-west of England 5, and the Isle of
Man 6. Most of the Welsh and south-west stones have Roman lettering
of a rude type which points to the early Christian period, when there
was close intercourse between the Irish and Welsh Churches. One of
the Welsh stones is of considerable importance, as it furnished an
efficient test to the truth of the key to the cipher in the _Book of
Ballymote_, and as demonstrated independently by Dr. Graves. This stone
is at St. Dogmael’s, near Cardigan; it contains an Ogam inscription,
and another in Roman letters. A copy of the former was sent to
Dr. Graves, whose reading was practically identical with the Roman
lettering which he had not seen. On a close examination of the stone,
traces of the vowel _a_, which had been cut by a crack and absent in
the copy of the cipher, were discovered, and the truth of his reading
thus wholly verified.
Besides marking burial and other sites, Ogam stones are found in all
kinds of situations: in souterrains, in some fourteen of which Ogam
stones have been discovered; in drains and other field uses; and in the
walls of churches and other buildings. In the underground chamber of
Dunloe there are seven Ogam stones; in Drumloghan, Co. Waterford, ten;
and on the stones forming the roof of a drain at Ballyknock, Co. Cork,
there are fifteen inscriptions. When their original use had long been
forgotten, they were evidently taken from their sites and converted
into such building or farm purposes as the occasion required.
The Ogam character was sometimes used in other material than that of
stone. There is MS. evidence, as we have mentioned, of its having
been applied to wood, which was doubtless the material first used for
the purpose; and examples occur in bone, amber, gold, silver, and
lead. Of these are the Conyngham gold manilla, the authenticity of
the characters of which was, however, doubted by Dr. Graves; a silver
brooch found in 1806 at Ballyspellan (Co. Kilkenny), and which is
considered to date from the end of the eleventh or beginning of the
twelfth century. The specimen in lead was discovered by Mr. Wakeman
in 1844; the little vessel upon which the scores appeared was then
in use as an ink-bottle. It is interesting not only from the legend
being in relief, which goes to establish its genuineness, but also from
the circumstance of its discovery in Kilmallock, the name of which
place it gives. The characters are in two lines, and, if read from the
bottom upwards, give the words: ‘Nig-Lasmeich,’ and ‘Cill Mocholmog.’
The object on which they occur is a narrow, quadrangular vessel, one
inch and three-eighths in height, with sides converging upwards, and
with a low, small, circular neck. The Ogam character, in one form or
another, was sometimes used as a charm, as in the case of the amber
bead belonging to a family of the O’Connors, near Ennis, Co. Clare; or,
as shown by Bishop Graves, for purposes of divination.
Archæologists are not yet agreed on all matters relating to Ogams. The
varied opinions as to the readings of most inscriptions, the somewhat
uninteresting and meagre details of all, the doubt hitherto as to
whether they are cryptic or not, the great difficulty of identifying
them through the medium of Irish written records, limit the interest
and check inquiry in this particular field of archæological research.
But Dr. Stokes and Dr. Rhys have established their non-cryptic
character, and shown their exceptional value from a philological point
of view. Doubt, too, has long been thrown on their antiquity. Brash and
others claim for them a pre-Christian origin; but recent authorities,
such as Dr. Rhys, do not consider them earlier than the introduction of
Christianity into the British Isles. It has been well urged by Bishop
Graves that the division of the alphabet into vowels and consonants
‘furnishes internal evidence of its having been contrived by persons
possessing some grammatical knowledge, and acquainted with alphabets
of the ordinary kind.’ Other questions arise, such as the presence of
the Christian emblem on many stones, the number standing in church
burial-grounds, and their presence in caves, from which various
deductions have been drawn. It has been urged by the claimants for the
pagan origin of Ogams, that it was the custom of the early missionaries
to convert things identified with heathen uses to Christian purposes,
and to mark such objects as these stones with the sacred symbol of the
Cross. A consideration of these questions would lead us too far afield,
and not necessarily lead to a final judgment on any of the points at
issue. It is sufficient, however, to say that the internal evidence
of the alphabet, and the affinity of the Irish unilingual Ogams to
the bilingual stones of Wales, are in themselves highly presumptive
of their dating within, and not without, the period marking the
establishment of Christianity in Ireland.