mentioned, partaking however more of the nature of a regular letter. In A.D. 408, Corc, son of the king of Munster, was driven by his father into exile; he fled to the court of Scotland; but, before appearing in the king’s presence, an Ogham inscription on his shield was discovered and deciphered by a friend, who thus saved the prince’s life, the inscription being to the effect that, should he arrive at the Scottish Court by day, his head was to be cut off before evening, and if by night it was to be cut off before morning.[153] It is almost needless to add, that all Ogham mortuary scribings are in very antique language, thereby adding considerably to the difficulties attending any attempt at translation of these archaic inscriptions. The Gaelic of to-day, where it yet lingers, is to the ancient dialect much what modern English is to the Anglo-Saxon of olden times. The oldest lettered characters of the Irish lake dwellers are Ogham or runic-like markings on stones, amulets, pins, and brooches. An important “find” at Ballydoolough consists of a block of hard reddish sandstone, measuring 2 feet 1 inch in length, by 4½ inches in breadth, and 6 inches in depth. On it are well-marked Ogham characters, and these, when read by the light of the Ogham alphabet, would seem to spell the word B A L H U. [Illustration: Fig. 182. Ogham found at Ballydoolough Crannog.] In the comparison of Irish and Gaulish names by Professor Adolph. Picket[154] is found the Celtic name “Balanan” (BALANU), which seems very like that on the stone. At the thicker end of this stone, just before the commencement of the Ogham, a slightly-marked cross of peculiar form may be traced;[155] and the accompanying illustration represents, full size, a fragment of an ornamented stone, from Ardakillen, inscribed with Ogham-like scores. [Illustration: Fig. 183.--Scribed Stone from the Crannog of Ardakillen. Full size.]