1899.] on Runic and Ogam Characters, etc. 187 



The easternmost of the English ogams, and from the place of its 

 discovery the most puzzling of all the ogams in these islands, was 

 found in a well at Silchester, incised on a Koman stone. It bears 

 the word which has up to this time baffled every one, mucoi. The 

 inscription is Ebicati maqi mucoi. 



In order not to omit any of our combined islands and parts of 

 islands from ogamic illustration, I show diagrams produced from 

 rubbings of stones in Mann and in Scotland. 



At Arbory, in Mann, we have Cunamagli maq . . . , " the memorial 

 of Cunamgl, the son of . . ." The name is the same as the Irish 

 Conmal and Conmbal. 



On an irregular rounded stone at Arbory there is an Ogam 

 inscription which is evidently honest, but otherwise might have 

 been supposed to be a trick not very skilfully played. It reads 

 maqleogu, the u being shown, as I believe, by the tips of the three 

 short vowel strokes ; others had not noticed this when I was there. 

 The curious thing about it is, that Macleog, and its modern forms 

 (after the Manx fashion of dropping all but the last letter of Mac) 

 Cleague and Clague, are and have long been local names in Arbory 

 parish ; " Arbory " is " Kirk Cairbre." The minuscule inscription at 

 Beckermet, in Cumberland, which has so long defied solution, has this 

 year been read as Manx-Irish : it is the epitaph of Juan son of Cairbre. 



At Ballaqueeny, also in Mann, are two Ogam inscriptions of much 

 interest, on account of an unusual genitive found on each of them. 

 They are Dofaidona maqi droata and Bifaidonas maqi mucoi Qunafa. 

 The proper names are Dofaidn, Bifaidn. The former of the two is 

 believed to mean " the memorial of Dofaidn, son of a Druid." If that 

 is so, it is the only existing mention of the Druids in the epigraphy 

 of these islands. It should be noted that Manx tradition and folk- 

 lore attributes everything ancient to the Druids, so that Mann is the 

 most likely of all places to have some mention of that elusive class 

 of people. 



In Scotland I show the ogams and minuscules upon the famous 

 Newton stone (Insch, Aberdeenshire), on which volumes are written. 

 It is rather a disgrace to us all that the minuscules are not as yet 

 conclusively read. I do not propose to give any reading of either 

 inscription here. 



The ogams on a sculptured stone found at Scoonie, in Fife, of 

 which I show a complete facsimile, read Edarrnonn, a name which 

 would take us into very interesting questions if we were dealing with 

 ecclesiastical history. 



The sculptured stone at Aboyne, of which also I show a complete 

 facsimile, has a longer inscription, a good deal disputed. On my 

 outlined rubbing we may read on the left-hand line maqqoi talluorrh. 

 Talorc and Taluorc, in various forms, is a well-known Pictish name 

 in the lists of Pictish kings. 



