EARLY CHRISTIAN MONUMENTS 



Debased Roman capitals are found with Ogam inscriptions on the 

 same stone. Of their palaeographical peculiarities, the chief consists in 

 joining up of two letters together, a part of the first letter forming part 

 of the one adjoining, as, for instance, the M and v in the word TVAVLO on 

 the stone at Hayle. In five cases, viz. at Par, Mawgan Cross, Cuby, 

 Sancreed No. i, and South Hill, the first F of the word FILIVS, or FILI, is 

 run into the following i, thus Fj, while in the example at Sancreed 

 No. i the + preceding the word FILIVS is run into the pj, thus forming 

 a threefold combination. 1 Likewise in five other instances, viz. at 

 Bleu Bridge, Cuby, Mawgan Cross, South Hill, and Worthyvale, the L of 

 the same word is run into the following i, thus Lj. It will be noticed 

 that amongst the foregoing there are two cases in which the word 

 FILI is written by both combinations thus f^H' V1Z - at Cuby and 

 South Hill. It is also a common practice to place the final i of a name 

 horizontally, thus , as in nearly all of the inscriptions on the rude 

 pillar stones. 



Anglo-Saxon capitals differ from the last by a tendency to assume 

 angular forms, as in the c () at Doydon, Waterpit Down, and Trevena. 

 The A has a horizontal bar across the apex, and an additional vertical 

 stroke hanging from the v-shaped cross-bar thus J^, a peculiarity which 

 occurs in the inscription upon the celebrated Ardagh chalice in the 

 museum of the Royal Irish Academy, a Celtic work of art of the best 

 period. 2 It is also found on a stone at Llandawke, Carmarthenshire, and 

 in Cornwall there are five examples on the altar slab at Camborne. The 

 two A'S on the stone at Welltown are similar, but without the top stroke, 

 while that in the name AELNAT on the stone at Trevena has the extra 

 bar across the top, but not the bottom one. 



It is interesting to note the alteration in the form of the Roman G ; 

 at Doydon and Nanscowe the bottom stroke is brought back thus Q, 

 and on the Lewannick No. 2 and St. Clement's stones the sickle-shaped 

 G is used thus Cj . Other characteristic letters are the Q made like 

 a p backwards, the 8 for th, and p for w, as on the Saxon stone at 

 Lanteglos by Camelford. 



Hiberno-Saxon minuscules were the natural outcome of the art of 

 writing, in which greater speed was attained by the rounding of the 

 letters ; e.g., v became u, made in one stroke instead of two. The 

 letters in this alphabet 3 are practically the same as those in use at the 

 present day, the chief differences being G for e, f for f, 3 for g, 1 for 1, 

 fl for r, "p or ( for s, and To for t. 



By far the best example in Cornwall of a minuscule inscription is 

 that on the inscribed cross-base at Redgate, as with the exception of 

 Cardinham No. 2. it is the only inscription in which the whole of the 

 letters are of this form, all others being more or less mixed up with 

 debased Roman capitals. 



1 See pi. Ill, fig. 24.. 



1 George Petrie, Christian Inscriptions In the Irish Language, \\, 50. 



3 J. R. Allen, Monumental History of the British Church, 66. 



411 



