“England borrowed it _en bloc_; and in the Early Middle Ages the Irish missionaries who spread over the continent of Europe and who became the founders of religious houses carried their native script with them and taught it to their pupils. Thus in such centres as Luxeuil in France, Würzburg in Germany, St. Gall in Switzerland, and Bobbio in Italy, Irish writing flourished and MSS. in the Irish hand multiplied. At first there was no difference between the writing in these MSS. and that in the Irish codices actually written in Ireland. But as might be expected the script thus employed in isolated foreign places gradually deteriorated as the bonds with the native hand relaxed and the Irish monks died off.”[299] From these MSS. written in the characteristic Irish script we are able to form some idea, though an inadequate one, of the magnitude and importance of the work done by the Irish monks in preserving the ancient classics. Moreover, in addition to those MSS. described as _Scottice Scripta_ by continental librarians, Zimmer has shown that many of the MSS. ostensibly the work of the continental scholars are in reality the work of Irish monks.[300] The explanation is that those monks who studied on the Continent tried as far as possible to accustom themselves to the forms of the letters used by continental scholars. For instance, this is the case of all the documents written by Moengal at St. Gall between the years 853–860 A.D.[301] LIBRARIES: An important feature of every monastic school was the library, or _tech screptra_, as it is styled in the older Irish MSS. When we recall the fame of these schools, the needs of the students, and the number of scribes whose business it was to cater to these needs we might reasonably infer that these libraries were provided with text-books and with books for general reading. These libraries differed widely from our modern libraries. There were no shelves for rows of books, but there was another arrangement which was more suitable for the type of book then in use. The books were kept in satchels hung on pegs or racks round the room. Each satchel containing one or more volumes was labelled on the outside. The satchels were of embossed leather beautifully adorned with designs of interlaced ornament so common in Irish art. Many specimens of these satchels are on view in the National Museum, Dublin, and there is one in Corpus Christi College, Oxford.[302] These satchels were also used when carrying a book from place to place. The book itself was of parchment. Manuscripts which were greatly valued were usually kept in elaborately embossed leather covers of which two are still preserved, namely, the cover of the _Book of Armagh_,[303] and that of the Shrine of St. Maidoc.[304]