The archaeology and prehistoric annals of Scotland . uncertainbasis, and have been the fruitful source of error. The traces of the use of Runic characters are still abundant in theIsle of Man, and undoubtedly belong to the period of the generaladoption of Christianity there, though it is not possible to assign tothem a precise date. But the above are not the only Runes inscribedon St. Molios cave. The whole surrounding surface of the rock iscovered with crosses, evidently the marks of pious but illiterate pil-grims, who thus recorded their visit to the Holy Isle. Among these,however, are also
The archaeology and prehistoric annals of Scotland . uncertainbasis, and have been the fruitful source of error. The traces of the use of Runic characters are still abundant in theIsle of Man, and undoubtedly belong to the period of the generaladoption of Christianity there, though it is not possible to assign tothem a precise date. But the above are not the only Runes inscribedon St. Molios cave. The whole surrounding surface of the rock iscovered with crosses, evidently the marks of pious but illiterate pil-grims, who thus recorded their visit to the Holy Isle. Among these,however, are also traceable initials, monograms, and other more Chronicon Manni!|uitntes(Jelto-Normanic?c. (.open. ]78C, ^ IbiLl. pp. 24,25. SCOTO-SCANDINAVIAN KELICS. )33 perfect evidences of tlie former concourse of pilgrims to the sacredspot. The annexed fac-simile of a group of them shews the curiouscharacter of these primitive holographs ; but among them the expe-rienced eye will at once discern the Runic characters, not regularly .^f I \ffll^lll|k. Eumo Inscription in St. Molios Cave. and boldly cut as in tlie former inscription, but irregularly scratched,as with the hasty hand of the wayfaring pilgrim. It is hardly neces-sary now too curiously to investigate the primitive record, though theletters are for the most part sufficiently distinct and well h, or k, is not a Scandinavian but an Anglo-Saxon Rune: a mix-ture by no means improbable by a Celtic inscriber. The whole pro-bably imj^ly no more than the proper name Akiethir, though it doesnot present, as in the former case, one familiar to our ears. Possiblylike some other Runic inscriptions, it reads from right to left, in whichcase we should perhaps recognise it as a female name, Ritheika. The rounded Roman characters, from which the medieval church-lettering ultimately sprung, were in use in the North more than acentury prior to the era of King Haco, though they had not entirelysuperseded the Runes. But before t
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1850, bookidarchaeologyp, bookyear1851
