Orthodox Inscriptions
In orthodox inscriptions the script was carved into the edge (droim or faobhar) of the stone, which formed the stemline against which individual characters are cut. The text of these "Orthodox Ogham" inscriptions is read beginning from the bottom left-hand side of a stone, continuing upward along the edge, across the top and down the right-hand side (in the case of long inscriptions).
MacManus (1991) lists a total of 382 known Orthodox inscriptions. They are found in most counties of Ireland, concentrated in Southern Ireland: County Kerry (130), Cork (84), Waterford (48), Kilkenny (14), Mayo (9), Kildare (8), Wicklow and Meath (5 each), Carlow (4), Wexford, Limerick, Roscommon (3 each), Antrim, Cavan, Louth, Tipperary (2 each), Armagh, Dublin, Fermanagh, Leitrim, Londonderry and Tyrone (1 each). Other specimens are known from Wales (ca. 40: Pembrokeshire (16), Breconshire and Carmarthenshire (7 each), Glamorgan (4), Cardiganshire (3), Denbighshire (2), and Carnarvonshire (1)), from England (Cornwall (5) Devon (2), elsewhere (1?)); the Isle of Man (5), and with some doubtful examples from Scotland (2?)
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Famous quotes containing the words orthodox and/or inscriptions:
“If the jests that you crack have an orthodox smack,
You may get a bland smile from these sages;
But should it, by chance, be imported from France,
Half-a-crown is stopped out of your wages!”
—Sir William Schwenck Gilbert (1836–1911)
““Our earth is degenerate in these latter days. Bribery and corruption are common. Children no longer obey their parents. . . . The end of the world is evidently approaching.” Sound familiar? It is, in fact, the lament of a scribe in one of the earliest inscriptions to be unearthed in Mesopotamia, where Western civilization was born.”
—C. John Sommerville (20th century)