FERGUSON — On the Transcription of Ogham Legends. 61 



5. of Antitheticals, having the power of their opposites (4) ; 



6. of Inversions and Dispartitions of proper names {supra) ; 



7. of Names of humiliation (14) ; and 



8. of the "Vocalization of seemingly consonantal texts (8), in Ogham 

 inscriptions. 



I have appended to this paper, originally designed to deal only with 

 technical details of transcription, but which now presents substan- 

 tial additions to the theory of interpretation, some examples, in notes, 

 of several of the branches of inquiry indicated. In these I have used 

 none but such texts as I possess in the form of casts or have myself 

 moulded or traced on the stone. I would have desired a larger field 

 of observation, but finding the total number of texts for which I can 

 answer from casts and personal inspection, to exceed eighty, I have 

 thought it better to communicate such results and suggestions towards 

 results, as my knowledge enables me to do. 



I also annex a tabulated precis of readings from the moulds of 

 Ogham texts presented. No. xvn. (third in the Ballintaggart group) is 

 the only one which appears too obscure at present for admission into 

 the list. This obscurity does not arise from any obliteration, the 

 legend being quite distinct in all its parts {axetriffi) ; but the results 

 (whether it be read directly, retroversely, inversely, from either end to 

 the x, or conversely to either end from it, and in whichever of its recog- 

 nised forces x be taken) present no probable expression of sound. There 

 seems some ground in xix. (ISTo. 5 in the same group) for ascribing to 

 x, besides its other forces, the power of m initial ; and I have ventured, 

 in transliterating that legend, so to suggest. Instances of one character 

 subserving even a greater number of sounds are not wanting in other 

 phonetic systems ; and if x here were deemed m initial, and the appa- 

 rent / taken distributively as lb, the name Ifaelbritti would emerge ; 

 but such a division of grouped digits seems inadmissible, and has 

 nowhere been resorted to in these expositions. Ap[ostoW] petri might 

 also be evolved, but in what seems an impracticable combination. 



Carefully as the following transcripts have been made, I do not 

 suppose that they will, in all cases, prove wholly exempt from error. 

 With the accession of new texts, and a wider field of comparison, we may 

 expect lost characters to be replaced, and doubtful constructions to be re- 

 cast into future recognised forms. In the meantime, they will suffice to 

 give a general view of the nature of the material available for this 

 curious branch of palseographic study. 



R. I. A. PROC. — VOL. II., SEE. II., POL. LIT. AND ANTIQ. 



