6 Proceedings of the Rojial Irinh A cademj/. 



I now return to the four initial pages which it is my particular object to 

 describe to you. One feature common to them all, and of very special interest 

 and importance, is the set of uncial letters in that pecuharly elongated and 

 angular epigraphic hand, which appears on certain pages of the Book of Kells, 

 in the Books of St. Chad and Liudisfarne, in one of the St. Gall manuscripts, 

 in the beginning of the Book of Armagh, and, more especially, in the celebrated 

 inscription, consisting of the names of the Apostles, round the rim of the 

 Ardagh Chalice. This was noticed in the paper read by Lord Dunraven before 

 this Academy on February 22, 1869, and piiblished in the Transactions} But 

 the occurrence of this remarkable uncial script in the MacEegol Gospels is 

 more interesting than in any of the other sources, except the Ardagh Chalice, 

 because the lettere come out with remarkable clearness in yellow on a light 

 purple ground ; whereas, in the Book of Kells, the eoloming is so dark, and 

 the wealth of ornament so profuse, that it is less easy to distinguish particular 

 characters ; and in the Book of Lindisfarne the letters are much more rounded. 

 MacEegol has also this advantage that an entire cd'j]iha,let of this uncial script 

 can be constructed fi'om his initial pages. 



I deal first with the initial page of St. Matthew (leaf 1 recto). Its inferiority 

 is attested by the clumsiness of the spu-als, the coarseness of the faces at the 

 top,- and the blunder by which the scribe chd not leave himself room for the 

 last fom" syllables of " gen^ratiojiis," but was obliged to add them in an ill- 

 formed annexe outside the square border. The place of honour on this page 

 is given to the contraction IHU (the genitive of Jesus). It has a rectangle 

 of zoomorphic interlacing above, and of ribbon-work below. I may notice 

 once for all that the ribbons in MacEegol have no borders, as they ha^'e in 

 the Books of Durrow, Lindisfarne, and KeUs. 



The arrangement of the colour's is vermilion alternating with yellow, for 

 the ribbonwork, the step pattern, and the Chinese puzzle : the narrow borders 

 are green ; the others a dull purple. A foundation of black like Indian ink is 

 foimd in some few places. Xotice also the lower section of the left-hand 

 border, consisting of a Chinese pattern in yeUow and vermilion; and, beneath 

 it, as well as at two other corners, a square of step-work, as in the Lindisfarne 

 Book. The sections of the right-hand border are the same as those of the 

 other side, but in inverse order. The external embeUishments of the border 

 are rather rough, but at the left corner, at bottom, there is a curious and 

 interesting interlacing of two birds with big claws like hands, touching one 

 another, and very weU drawn. 



' Vol. xxiv, p. 433. See also a separate publication by Margaret' Stokes. 



'^ Unless one hold that these were added by a later hand. They look \ery like ,i subsequent 

 effort to improve on MacEegol ; especially as the border would be perfect without them. 



