Hemphill — The Gospels of 3Iac Regol of Birr. 9 



found. The round of the 0, as distinguished from its interior, also consists of 

 live compartments, of marked inferiority to the interior of tlie Lindisfarne Q. 



The outside angles, at the upper left and lower right of Q, are the nearest 

 approach to trefoil which MacEegol exhibits. These are in lines of black on 

 red. 



All the divisions of Q have green lines, but none of these divisions calls 

 for special mention. I may, however, say that the spirals are disappomting. 



The letters other than Q are in the usual yellow on light purple with red 

 borders ; the only one of them calling for remark is s of " sunt," which is the 

 clearest instance of the epigraphic shape. 



Of the three interior rectangles, that under clem of " quidem " is very well 

 done, and consists of four bird- worms, in which the claws • are the most 

 remarkable feature. They are yellow on black ground, and do not come out 

 in Westwood. I look on this as one of the finest pieces of work in the MS. 



It is necessary to add that Westwood's engraving of this great Q leaves 

 very much to be desired, as he puts in a great deal too much black shading, 

 giving the page a sombre appearance foreign to the truth. 



We now come to 127 redo, the rich "in Principio " page. This has been 

 lithographed as Plate xxiii. in the first volume of the National MSS. of Ireland. 

 Eut it is necessary to state simply in the interests of truth, and without any 

 reflection on the scholarship of the editor, that, since the advent of photo- 

 graphy, all such lithographs have been superseded. 



Looking at this page in MacEegol we see sharp definition and plenty of 

 contrast in the colours. 



The left of the frame is surmounted by the upper part of a man quaintly 

 drawn ; his yellow beard and queue in MacEegol's best style of interlacing, 

 the beard coiling twice round the right arm, the fingers spread out with the 

 thumb to the nose,' and, fantastically interlaced with the fingers, a vocal reed 

 through which the man is playing a tune ; while a worm-dog, with a heraldic 

 tongue, looks on in amazement vis-d-vis with the musician. 



Below this four birds are cleverly interlaced, and their claws come out 

 with great distinctness, the design being repeated in the inverse position on 

 the right of the frame. 



At the top of the right of the frame is a man with his arms raised as if 

 in blessing ; and as outer embellishments to the lower corner of the right of 

 the frame are two venerable faces looking sadly into space. 



The Maltese Cross pattern occurs in two places, the lower section of I 

 and the upper of P, in the usual red, but is rather indistinct. 



' Compare Ezilciel, viii. 17, for the earliest instance of this. 

 E.I. A. PROC, VOI,. XXIX., SECT. C. [2] 



