OGHAM. 
Harris, 1 in his edition of fir J. nig s Antignities of Ireland, 
gives the following ie ke of 
‘i b } con - Py I 
Sometimes confonants were {ubftituted for diphthongs, as 
in the following example 
ae ia ua 70 oi 
mm 1] bb co 8 opp 
The fecond kind was called Ogum coll, or the Ogum 
letter ¢, to which th e name of coll is 
a e t 0 a 
c cece} eece ec cee 
ea ia ot 26 ua 
© . 2 5 29 
Before proceeding to the confideration of the third kind - 
Ogum, it may be proper to offer a few remarks on the tw 
fpecies which have been juft defcribed. 
It is fufficiently obvious that their antiquity cannot be 
great ; and that the ufe of them was by no means confine: 
to the Irifh nation, even at the earlieft period t 
We are informed by Suetonius, in his * 
any © 
euclored the ee ee after that which he oug 
and Suetonius and Tidorus 
where the obje 
contraGtions, which are found on marbles, coins, and medals. 
The Roman laws and proceedings were contained in thefe 
figla; and, as fome antiquaries are of opinion, alfo in the 
fecond fort of cypher. Cicero certamly ftates that the 
forms of procefs in the Roman law were written in fecret 
marks (notis); and this expreffion points out rather the 
fecond than the third fpecics of cypher. So much intri- 
cacy and obfcurity had arifen from the ufe of thefe cryp- 
togamic characters, that Tribonianus, who compiled the 
Juftinian code, was frequently at a lofs to difcover their 
meaning ; and in A. D. 533, their ufe was forbidden by 
an Paes edict. 
Cypher of one or other of thefe kinds were ufed wherever 
a Roman ftation or colony was planted ; a they were 
foo eater by the barbarous nations w om e Romans 
barous in their name. prove 
that among the principal nations of both thefe tribes, their 
refpedtive privitive alphabets were employed for fuppofed 
magical purpofes ; ae a knowledge of the power and 
afcribed virtue of the letters, of obi it was formed, was 
confined to a certain order o m it was em- 
ployed for thefe purpofes ; a nite oe order of m 
after the comm n a'phabet, by the progrefs of eee 
would no longer ferve thefe purpofes, again clothed it in 
mytftery by the intermixture of charaQers borrowed from 
their Roman conquer 
es yptographic modes of writing, roca 6 sage to the 
wo ee of Tri ums h hav n defcribed, 
were practifed in all - northern countries FE urope. In 
the Icelandic are fal, is an example of the firft 
{pecies of Ogum, the m confoine, where, inftead of 
the vowel, the eon onaee plac follows next in the alphabet 
is placed, as 
« Dfxtfrt ferkptprks bfnfdkth skt pmnkbxs hprks.”’ 
Here, inftead of a, e, 7, Oy ty Ys the confonants 4, f, ky ps 
w, and x are placed, fo rhat it reads thus ; 
«‘ Dextera {criptoris benedi@ta fit omnibus horis.” 
A fimilar cypher wa* ufed by the Anglo-Saxo 
In thefe two {pecics of Ogums, therefore, die ere isn 
either of antiquity or peculiarity: the third foecise. will 
require a more detailed confideration 
This third fort is the Ogura eran or the virgular Ogum, 
which is thus defcribed by a le, in his * Origin of 
Writing,”” page 179, .2d editi « It was veep of 
certain lines or marks, which rae their power from their 
ftan 
which line, t ers or she are drawn, which fland 
in the place cer vowels rua diphthongs, and triph- 
thongs.” Ina {pe which he gives of Ogham writing 
of _ kind, ne oon J. Ware’s Antiquities of Ireland, 
_ The pono line is the prin- 
