Ogham - the Tree Alphabet

A few days ago (here) I mentioned the ancient Celtic Tree Alphabet - Ogham. What it demonstrates is how important trees were to our ancestors. 

The Celts were not a single nation or ethnic group. 'Celt' is a modern umbrella term, first used in 1707 in the writings of Edward Lhuyd, to describe the various individual tribes across Western Europe that shared the Celtic languages. In the UK, two branches of the language existed - the Goidelic branch (Scots, Irish, Manx) and Brythonic (Welsh, Cornish and the now extinct Cumbric). But neither branch had a fully-formed written language until they adopted the alphabet we know today. However, they did have Ogham, an ancient writing form that consisted of straight lines that could be scratched into stones and wood to mark the names of notable individuals, deities or places. Most commonly it appears to have been used to mark the boundaries of a person's territory. 

It could also be spelled out on the fingers, making it a common language that allowed communication between tribes. It may even have acted as a bridge between countries - in Shetland, Ogham has been found representing Norse words such as dattur (daughter) and krosk (cross) and, in Killaloe, County Clare, a particularly fascinating stone has a commemoration from c.1100 dedicated to a Scandinavian settler, Torgrim, which is written in Norse runes and then replicated in Ogham.

Ogham originally consisted of 20 characters and every letter relates to a native tree or plant. The 20 letters (feda) were split into 4 groups (aicme), with each aicme named after the first tree in that group: Beith, Huath, Muin, and Ailm. Five additional feda called Forfeda were introduced several centuries after the peak of Ogham usage to represent sounds felt to be missing from the original alphabet.

First Aicme (Beith) - Right side strokes

Beith (Birch)

Luis (Rowan)

Fearn (Alder)

Sail (Willow)

Nion (Ash)

Second Aicme (Huath) - Left side strokes

Huath (Hawthorn)

Dair (Oak)

Tinne (Holly)

Coll (Hazel)

Quert/Ceirt (Apple)

Third Aicme (Muin) - Across strokes

Muin (Blackberry)

Gort (Ivy)

Ngeadal (Broom)

Straif (Blackthorn

Ruis (Elder)

Fourth Aicme (Ailme) - Notches (Vowels)

Ailm (Silver Fir)

Onn (Gorse)

Ur (Heather)

Eadhadh (Aspen)

Iodhadh (yew)

Fifth Aicme (Forfeda) - Later additions

Eabhadh (White Poplar)

Oir (Spindle)

Uilleann (Honeysuckle)

Phin (Gooseberry)

Eamhancholl (Witch Hazel)

Here's my name - Stevyn Colgan - written in Ogham (note that there's no 'V' or 'Y' so the closest Ogham equivalents are 'F' and 'I'). It's read from bottom to top,

If you'd like to see your name in Ogham you can use this online transliterator here.

Evidence shows that Ogham was in use in the British Isles as early as the 4th century, long before the arrival of the Latin alphabet. There are around 400 surviving inscriptions on stone monuments throughout the UK and Ireland, mostly consisting of personal names.

This is one of the Dunloe Ogham Stones in Beaufort, County Kerry (Photo: Robert Linsdell) 

The ancients were fascinated with the natural world and trees were a hugely important part of their everyday lives. So it's no surprise that they inspired the creation of an entire early alphabet.

And what a wonderful thing that is.