Ogam, which is sometimes written ogham, is an early form of alphabetic writing used in Ireland and Wales, and found very occasionally in other parts of Britain, between the fifth and the tenth century. it is in a way quite simple and was used mainly incised on the corner of stones such as pillars or graves. Consonants were made by lines, vowels by notches, so it took up quite a lot of room along the side of whatever it was carved into. There were twenty ‘letters altogether and was apparently created by Ogma, from which derived the name of the alphabet.
I’d heard about it years ago and on the TV programme Countryfile this week, one of the presenters was looking at an example and then drew her name in the sand using ogam.
Visiting the British Museum yesterday I was delighted to come across this example:
Lois Elsden 