DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14722#0111
IRISH BIBLICAL MSS.—PLATE II.
end of St. Mark, «finit f and at the end of St. John, " $INIT Amen $INIT" (copied in my plate).
" O Tu quicunq. scripseris vel scrutatus fueris vel et ia videras li volumen," &c.; and four other lines
almost illegible, "Nomen autem scriptoris Mulling dicitur. Finiunt quatuor euangelia" (also copied in
the plate).
There is also an inscription on the verso of the last page in the same hand as the text, containing
the Magnificat, part of the Sermon on the Mount, Apostles' Creed, " Patricius epis," and a circular
table with inscriptions.
In the same box was also found the Epistle of St. Jerome to Pope Damasus; the articles on the
four Evangelists (" Hic est Johannes Evangelista," &c.) ; the numerical tables of the sections of the Gospels,
andthree full-length drawings of the Evangelists, in the style of those in the Gospels of MacDurnan; each
holding a book, and one a pen with an ink-stand by his side; each also with a circular nimbus, and
one with the long curls of hair (?) hanging over his shoulders; all of which evidently formed portions
of the Gospels of St. Mulling. In addition to these, was also found a fragment of St. Mark's Gospel
from another MS., of which the specimen No. 5 is a fac-simile of the commencement; and which is
remarkable, not only for the curious forms of the capital letters in the first line, but also for the variation
in the reading of the second line. It is to be read, " INItium euangelii ihu xpi filii di sicut scriptum
est in profetis ecce mitto angelum meum ante facie."
It remains to notice the two singular specimens represented under the Nos. 9 and 10, which are copied
from the Book of Armagh, written at the close of the seventh century, and which, in several of its ornaments,
is very similar to the Gospels of Lindisfarne (Cott. Nero, C. IV.) of the same date. The text however is
written in minuscule characters, very similar to those of the Gospels of MacDurnan, the volume being of the
8vo. size. It moreover contains the whole of the New Testament, and also, "the Confession of St. Patrick," and
has been fully described by Sir W. Betham, in the second volume of his Antiquarian Researches, with fac-
similes of some of the drawings and ornamental initial letters.*
The specimen, No. 9, is part of the word " Apocalipsis," at the commencement of the Book of the
Revelations, the Ap being omitted, or rather minutely delineated at the commencement of the fac-simile, the
A measuring nearly five inches in length, and highly ornamented. I do not recollect any other instance in
which the large square form has been applied to a word not written in capitals—these letters being in fact large
square minuscules.
The specimen, headed No. 10, " KaTa MATTHYM," is the Lord's Prayer in Latin, written in singular-
formed Irish-Greek letters, in which capitals and minuscules are strangely mingled together.
" riaTHR NOCTER KYI EC 1N KaeXic CKI<t>lKHTYR NwMEN TYYM «AVENI«T
RETNYM TYMM <J>UT VoXYNTaC TYa CIKYT IN KaEXw ET IN TERRA n«NE
NOCTRYM KOTIAIaNYM AA NwftiC hoAlE ET AIMITTE Noj/3tC AE/3ITA NOC-
TRA CIKYT ET NWC AIMICCIMYC AE/3£TwRI/3YC NOCTRIC ET NH n«TlaRIC
NWC iNAYKI IN TE MflTaTtwN E M CEA XifieRa NOC « M«AW."
It will be seen that this MS. has the same singular reading of the penultimate paragraph as occurs in the
Gospel of St. Mulling.
It has been affirmed that the ignorance of the ancient scribes led them to write Greek in Roman
characters; but we have here abundant proof not only of their learning, but also of their piety, since we
cannot but suppose that the circumstance of the Lord's Prayer being thus distinguished resulted from a
desire entertained by the scribe to treat that particular portion of the Gospels with a greater mark of revcrence.
Other instances however of this usuge may be quoted. The Benedictines (after Gori and Maffei) havegiven
copies of two deeds of sale on papyrus written at the close of tbe sixth century, which, although in Latin, are
written in cursive Greek letters, almost unintelligible. (N. Tr. de Dipl. 3, pl. 63, No. II., 2, 3.) The abbey
of Fulda possesses an ancient parchment written in the same style, with the M formed as in our specimen
* I learn from Mr. Petrie that this volume is in the possessijn of a private gentleman in Dublin, and is not in the library of Trinity Coll.
5
end of St. Mark, «finit f and at the end of St. John, " $INIT Amen $INIT" (copied in my plate).
" O Tu quicunq. scripseris vel scrutatus fueris vel et ia videras li volumen," &c.; and four other lines
almost illegible, "Nomen autem scriptoris Mulling dicitur. Finiunt quatuor euangelia" (also copied in
the plate).
There is also an inscription on the verso of the last page in the same hand as the text, containing
the Magnificat, part of the Sermon on the Mount, Apostles' Creed, " Patricius epis," and a circular
table with inscriptions.
In the same box was also found the Epistle of St. Jerome to Pope Damasus; the articles on the
four Evangelists (" Hic est Johannes Evangelista," &c.) ; the numerical tables of the sections of the Gospels,
andthree full-length drawings of the Evangelists, in the style of those in the Gospels of MacDurnan; each
holding a book, and one a pen with an ink-stand by his side; each also with a circular nimbus, and
one with the long curls of hair (?) hanging over his shoulders; all of which evidently formed portions
of the Gospels of St. Mulling. In addition to these, was also found a fragment of St. Mark's Gospel
from another MS., of which the specimen No. 5 is a fac-simile of the commencement; and which is
remarkable, not only for the curious forms of the capital letters in the first line, but also for the variation
in the reading of the second line. It is to be read, " INItium euangelii ihu xpi filii di sicut scriptum
est in profetis ecce mitto angelum meum ante facie."
It remains to notice the two singular specimens represented under the Nos. 9 and 10, which are copied
from the Book of Armagh, written at the close of the seventh century, and which, in several of its ornaments,
is very similar to the Gospels of Lindisfarne (Cott. Nero, C. IV.) of the same date. The text however is
written in minuscule characters, very similar to those of the Gospels of MacDurnan, the volume being of the
8vo. size. It moreover contains the whole of the New Testament, and also, "the Confession of St. Patrick," and
has been fully described by Sir W. Betham, in the second volume of his Antiquarian Researches, with fac-
similes of some of the drawings and ornamental initial letters.*
The specimen, No. 9, is part of the word " Apocalipsis," at the commencement of the Book of the
Revelations, the Ap being omitted, or rather minutely delineated at the commencement of the fac-simile, the
A measuring nearly five inches in length, and highly ornamented. I do not recollect any other instance in
which the large square form has been applied to a word not written in capitals—these letters being in fact large
square minuscules.
The specimen, headed No. 10, " KaTa MATTHYM," is the Lord's Prayer in Latin, written in singular-
formed Irish-Greek letters, in which capitals and minuscules are strangely mingled together.
" riaTHR NOCTER KYI EC 1N KaeXic CKI<t>lKHTYR NwMEN TYYM «AVENI«T
RETNYM TYMM <J>UT VoXYNTaC TYa CIKYT IN KaEXw ET IN TERRA n«NE
NOCTRYM KOTIAIaNYM AA NwftiC hoAlE ET AIMITTE Noj/3tC AE/3ITA NOC-
TRA CIKYT ET NWC AIMICCIMYC AE/3£TwRI/3YC NOCTRIC ET NH n«TlaRIC
NWC iNAYKI IN TE MflTaTtwN E M CEA XifieRa NOC « M«AW."
It will be seen that this MS. has the same singular reading of the penultimate paragraph as occurs in the
Gospel of St. Mulling.
It has been affirmed that the ignorance of the ancient scribes led them to write Greek in Roman
characters; but we have here abundant proof not only of their learning, but also of their piety, since we
cannot but suppose that the circumstance of the Lord's Prayer being thus distinguished resulted from a
desire entertained by the scribe to treat that particular portion of the Gospels with a greater mark of revcrence.
Other instances however of this usuge may be quoted. The Benedictines (after Gori and Maffei) havegiven
copies of two deeds of sale on papyrus written at the close of tbe sixth century, which, although in Latin, are
written in cursive Greek letters, almost unintelligible. (N. Tr. de Dipl. 3, pl. 63, No. II., 2, 3.) The abbey
of Fulda possesses an ancient parchment written in the same style, with the M formed as in our specimen
* I learn from Mr. Petrie that this volume is in the possessijn of a private gentleman in Dublin, and is not in the library of Trinity Coll.
5