Lawluk — The Cathach of St. Columba. 401 



has a number of abbreviation-symbols.' What has become of the time- 

 honoured formula : " Absence of abbreviation is a criterion of the older 

 MSS. " ? 



And now to leave generalities, and see what can be gleaned from these 

 ten photographs of the Cathach. There is no " late symptom " to be detected. 

 The abbreviations (besides b : " bus," q : " que ") are confined to the " nomina 

 sacra," with the exception of n " non," which Dr. Lawlor tells me the. 

 scribe has used in a correction. This symbol almost forced its way (like the 

 " que " and " bus " symbols) into recognition in ancient book-hand. It is 

 employed freely in the Turin Cicero palimpsest, and appears in the Aulus 

 Gellius palimpsest (see Hertz' edition, ii, p. xvi). The " nomina sacra " symbols 

 are used generally in the strict fashion of the earliest- times, " Deus," 

 "Dominus," etc., being expressed by ds, dfis, etc., while " deus," " dom(i)nus " 

 are written in full. Thus, on fol. 51'': terribilis est super omnes decs {not dos) 

 quoniam omnes dii {not dl) gentium, etc. ; in Ps. Ixxxi. 1, ds stetit in synagoga 

 deomm. But in Ps. Ixxx. 10, ds, din are used for " strange god." Besides 

 scs " sanctus " we find sciiarium " sanctuarium," scitudo " sanctitudo," scifico 

 "sanctifico," etc., but these derivative symbols are allowed in quite early times, 

 and are no evidence of lateness. " Israel," " Hierusalem," " David," etc., 

 are always written in full. Final in at the end of a line, I am told, but 

 not n, is often indicated by a horizontal stroke (with a dot above and 

 below) over the preceding letter (or rather letters). 



The lettering is of sturdy, squat appearance, with no high shafts, and with 

 bold triangular tags (or beaks) of I, d, I, etc. The most noticeable form is the 

 three-stroked uncial s. The round of d, q, p is oblate (broader than it is 

 high). The letter c is rather higher than most shaftless letters. The d is 

 often open. Only in "in" (and only when written with half-uncial n) do we 

 find i longa (or rather " i longior "), patently to avoid confusion with m. 

 Dropped i is found in "fi" " ci," " li." The r is broad, so that a word like 

 terrores (fol. ■45'') occupies a good deal of space. The y occasionally shows that 

 Insular variety' in which the left-hand branch is curved to the right, instead 



' I am not referring to those seen in the two plates, most of which come partly from 

 the ninth-century Anglo-Saxon script corrector, but chiefly, I think, from a twelfth- 

 century corrector who has sadly marred the original form of the greater part of this M.S. 

 It is, perhaps, unfortunate that a page was not sihown us from the untouched portion, 

 foil. 155-20.5, where this Mar -text has not been at work. 



2 Traube denied the right of the Codex Romanus of Virgil to an earlier date than the 

 sixth century, because it twice used ds of a pagan god. 



^ Discussed in ZOP is, 307, where it is suggested that " the detection of this form 

 on the Continent [i.e. on ancient inscriptions] might give us a clue to the locality from 

 which writing was first introduced into Ireland." Probably, however, it is a scribe's, not 

 a sculptor's invention, due to the practice of not lifting the pen when the dot of the y was 



B.I. A. PROC, VOL. SXXIU., SECT. C. [56] 



