336 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 



the symbol occurs at least seven times in the particle xoi, xi, of unascertained 

 meaning ; and it is unlikely to the last degree that any particle with initial P 

 existed in early Irish. Hence the thwartwise X, used as a consonant, may 

 safely be regarded as a duplicate form of C. 



Macalister has one example (83) of X engraved to the right of the arris. 

 On the ground that the difference in position indicates a difference in value, 

 he assigns here the value P, Erpenn. I cannot find anywhere the element 

 Erp- in Irish nomenclature, but of Ere- the instances are innumerable ; and 

 therefore I do not hesitate to substitute C for P in this reading also. 



Of the double chevron x, Macalister has four instances, 38, 60, 180, 206. 

 In No. 60, E is practically certain. In 38 and 180, E is hardly doubtful. 

 The fourth instance remains unidentified, but E is nowise improbable. The 

 safe course is to follow ascertained fact rather than uncertified theory. The 

 value E for >< must hold the ground until displaced. In 180, Macalister 

 reads K,' because, he supposes, " Corre is an impossible genitive." But Corre 

 is the late Ogham equivalent of MS. Cuirre, genitive of Corr, a feminine noun 

 used as a masculine name, Aedan 7nac Cuirre, BB 88^)312 ; Fidnms mac Dofa 

 maic Aengiisa, da mac lais .i. Corr, is uad Sil Ctdrre .i. Hui Aindsin 

 maic Cuirre 104j3'46 ; Cuirre, gen., 104j3"4, 8, 12 ; nom. Corr, gen. Corrae, 

 175/3^27, 35. 



Hence >< may perhaps be regarded as an effort to differentiate between 

 the values E and C of the symbol X. Its instances appear to belong to late 

 inscriptions. 



The question arises. Why were duplicate symbols used for E and C ? 

 With regard to E, I can only suggest that there may have been an effort to 

 distinguish the two sounds of this vowel (open and close ?) which undoubtedly 

 existed in the earliest MS. period, parting later on into e and ia. Perhaps 

 X = C was borrowed from the Christian symbol ^ = Christus. Indeed, 

 X, >< , = E, in like manner may represent H in the semi-symbolic IHS = 

 IHSOYS. 



Thus the use of an Ogham symbol for P in Ireland has not been 

 established. The absence of P from early Gaelic phonesis is no modern 

 discovery. The ancient grammar tract in the Book of Ballymote(326al3) 

 says : — " There is (or, there was) no P in Irish," ni hi P isin gaedilg. {Ni hi in 

 this book sometimes stands for 7ii hoi =Yfa.s, not.) 



Apart altogether from the age of the forms in use, the orthographical 

 system of the Ogham inscriptions and the orthographical system of early 

 manuscript Irish are as distinct and separate as if they belonged to two 



* Macalister's K is a provisional symbol for some sound akin to C. 



