363 



formation of the vowel group in the Ogham alphabet. Be- 

 ginning with the vowels a and o, for which he found Runic 

 characters already formed, viz., stem-strokes, with one or two 

 strokes across, the alphabet maker went on to invent charac- 

 ters for the remaining vowels, on the same principle. 



So much for the tree-form of the Ogham letters. Their 

 tree-names seem to have multiplied in somewhat a similar 

 manner. In the original Runic alphabet but two of the let- 

 ters are named after trees: thorn, and birch. In the later and 

 more developed Anglo-Saxon alphabets we find the number of 

 tree-names increased to six : thorn, yew, sedge, birch, oak, 

 and ash. The contriver of the Ogham alphabet named all his 

 letters after trees. In this case, as in the former one, we see 

 a progress in a certain direction, obviously arising out of a 

 desire to systematize. 



When we come to consider the powers of the letters in the 

 Ogham, we find fresh reason to infer its close connexion with 

 the Runic alphabet. 



The letter b, though excluded from the number of radical 

 letters by modern Irish grammarians,* was manifestly thought 

 indispensable when the Ogham alphabet was framed. We 

 cannot otherwise account for the fact, that a character is as- 

 signed to it, the removal of which would entirely disturb the 

 symmetry of the scale. This indicates that the framers of 

 the Ogham were influenced by a regard to a foreign alphabet 

 into which h enters as a radical letter. We find h an element 

 in the oldest Swedish alphabet of sixteen Runes, as well as in 

 the Semitic alphabets, with which some writers have vainly 

 endeavoured to connect the Ogham. 



Again, the letter p is wanting, both in the original Ogham 

 and in the oldest Runes. And in the later Runic alphabets 

 it is represented by a dotted h, {Stunginn BiarJcan.) On 



* O'Donovan'a Grammar of the Irish Language, p. 31. 

 VOL. IV. 2 E 



