Oghamica : in a letter to J.G.A. Prim, Esq. / by Samuel Ferguson.
- Samuel Ferguson
- Date:
- 1873
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Oghamica : in a letter to J.G.A. Prim, Esq. / by Samuel Ferguson. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.
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![THE OGHAM MONUMENTS OF KILKENNY, WITH REMAKES ON CERTAIN OGHAM FORMULAS, IN A LETTER TO JOHN G. A. PRIM, ESQ. BY SAMUEL FEEGrUSON, LL.D. 20 North Great George's-street, Dublin, 2nd September, 1872. Dear Sir,—Having been permitted, through your kindness, to obtain paper-casts of the Ogham-inscribed stones in the Kilkenny Museum, I have taken the opportunity to have them made in duplicate, and now beg leave, through you, to present one set to your Society. I present, in addition, a similar reproduction of the Gowran inscription, but regret that the position of that at Claragh prevents my obtaining a paper cast of it, also, for your Museum. These casts possess the advantage of being easily handled, and turned to the light; and the uniform colour of the surface aids the eye in de- tecting shallow indentations. Well executed, they possess all the quali- ties of casts in plaster, with lightness superadded. [The facility of adjust- ment to a favourable light has enabled me, since the printing of this paper in its original form, to supply photographic reproductions, on the next pages, of the Dunbel inscriptions noticed below. The indentations on the casts have not received any treatment to bring them out; and the ad- justment to the light has been so favourable that all are apparent; so that, for the first time, the reader may here look upon perfectly complete and authentic reproductions in print of two of these legends. I have been in- duced to this course by observing that the same issue of the “Journal” contains a paper in which the Dunbel inscriptions receive a transliteration differing from mine.] I have deposited upwards of thirty such casts in the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy, and am the possessor of about as many more ; but the array of material is still so far from sufficient for grounding generali- zations, that in what I shall have to say, regarding those more immediately under our notice, I must confine myself rather to indicating paths of in- quiry, than to announcing results. I do not, however, apply this caution to the general process of trans- literation. It is impossible to contemplate the agreement between the Latin and Ogham legends found side by side, on not less than seven bi- literal examples in South Wales and in Ireland, without recognizing the substantial accuracy of the ordinary Ogham key, and feeling assured that, wherever we possess a complete text, uncomplicated by intentional obscurations, we will be safe in assigning the key-values to most, if not all, of the characters. A](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b22458451_0005.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
