Tea at Trianon: Pictish Writing

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Saturday, April 13, 2013

Pictish Writing

A new discovery.

A new language dating back to the Scottish Iron Age has been identified on carved stones. These inscriptions are believed to belong to the early Pict society living from ca 300 to 843 AD, in modern-day eastern and northern Scotland. The Picts, meaning “the Painted Ones”, were named by the Roman Eumenius in 297 AD and are renowned for having repeatedly repelled invasions from both Romans and Angles, creating a clear North-South division of the British Isles.

Celtic tribes around Ireland, Wales and Scotland are known for their use of stylised stones as signs of ownership and to indicate their names. In the past, some two dozen Pictish Ogham inscriptions had been found in the north and north-west of Scotland. Oghams, also called Primitive Irish, compose a lexigraphic language and the earliest inscriptions discovered date back to the 4^th century AD.

The new written language discovered in Scotland differ however very much from Ogham as the study published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society A, led by Rob Lee, Philip Jonathan and Pauline Ziman reveals. (Read entire article.)

Anonymous said...: Follow your tweet, and here's a very interesting parallel to enrich our imaginations with:
"the researchers came to the conclusion that the stones would also present semasiographic symbols "
Signs and images of Heavenly glory were strewn all over his earthly path. The “signs” were (1) nature and (2) Scripture, God’s two books, (3) general providence, and (4) special miracles. (The word translated “miracle” in the New Testament [sëmeion] literally means “sign”.)

I do believe that the iconoclasm of the spirit is healed by fertile imagination fed by gifts of Divine grace, thanks for serving delectable appetizers on both of your blogs!

Cheerio
@MrsKrishan; April 14, 2013 at 11:07:00 AM EDT
Anonymous said...: oops missing citation (most important to give credit where credit is due so you may read the entire article by genius Dr. Peter Kreeft!)

http://www.integratedcatholiclife.org/2013/04/dr-kreeft-the-difference-heaven-makes/

In brief:

"Dullness, not doubt, is the strongest enemy of faith, just as indifference, not hate, is the strongest enemy of love."

(paralleling JPIIs wisdom on what most harms Trinitarian love: neglect ie abuse of passion, not passion ill-directed); April 14, 2013 at 11:15:00 AM EDT