A HISTORY OF CORNWALL 



The inscriptions may be classified as follows : 



(1) Ogams and \ 



(2) debased Roman capitals / 



(3) Anglo-Saxon capitals . 



(4) Hiberno-Saxon minuscules . 



about 450 to 650 



about 650 to 850 

 about 750 to 1050 



Anglo-Saxon capitals are occasionally found mixed with Roman 

 capitals, while the fourth class is employed principally on the ornate 



crosses. 



The Ogam 1 alphabet consists of four groups of five letters, each 

 letter composed of a straight stroke or strokes, numbering from one to 

 five, the vowel-strokes being much shorter than the others. The strokes 

 are cut with reference either to the vertical angle of a square pillar, or to 

 a vertical stem-line on the face of the pillar. The first group is cut at 

 right angles to, and on the left of, the vertical angle or stem-line, and 

 the second group similarly on the right, the third group diagonally across 

 the line, and the fourth group, or vowels, at right angles across the line. 

 For the sake of convenience the stem-line is placed horizontally in the 

 following groups : 



First group : 



Second group : 



n in mi nil 



B L F S N 



OR 



V 



H D T C Q 



I II III Illl Hill 



Third group : 



M G NG 



Fourth group : 



i ii 111 1111 niii 



AO U E 



I 



There are three or four other additional characters in this alphabet, 

 but since their occurrence is rare and they are not found in Cornwall it 

 is not necessary to include them here. 



1 See R. R. Brash, Ogham Inscribed Monuments of the Gaedbil (1874) ; Sir S. Ferguson, Ogham In- 

 scriptions in Ireland, Wales, and Scotland (1887) ; Prof. J. Rhys, Lectures on Welsh Philology (1887). 



410 



