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ogham

ogham ogam, or ogum , ancient Celtic alphabet of one of the Irish runic languages. It was used by the druids and abandoned after the first few centuries of the Christian era. The ogham runes remain only in gravestone inscriptions found mostly in W Ireland and also in England, Scotland, and the Shetland Islands. The origin of ogham is uncertain; it contained 25 letters formed of straight lines and may have been adapted from a sign language . A treatise on ogham, The Book of Ballymote (15 cent.), confirms that it was a secret, ritualistic language.

Bibliography: See R. A. Macalister, The Secret Languages of Ireland (1937).

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"ogham." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 19 Dec. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

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"ogham." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Retrieved December 19, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-ogham-og.html

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ogham

The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature | 2003 | | Â© The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature 2003, originally published by Oxford University Press 2003. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

ogham, or ogam, an alphabet of twenty characters used by the ancient British and Irish, consisting of conjunctions of upright and sloping strokes, and dots.

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MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "ogham." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 19 Dec. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "ogham." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. (December 19, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-ogham.html

MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "ogham." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Retrieved December 19, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-ogham.html

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The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable | 2006 | | Â© The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable 2006, originally published by Oxford University Press 2006. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

ogham an ancient British and Irish alphabet, dating from the 4th century bc and consisting of twenty characters formed by parallel strokes on either side of or across a continuous line. Recorded from the early 18th century, the word comes from Irish ogam, connected with Ogma, the name of its mythical inventor.

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ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "ogham." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. Oxford University Press. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 19 Dec. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "ogham." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. Oxford University Press. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (December 19, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-ogham.html

ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "ogham." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. Oxford University Press. 2006. Retrieved December 19, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-ogham.html

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