Verses ascribed to St. Colum Cille, (Columba)
Click image to zoom to a close detail of the Celtic styled drawing
Calligraphy by Denis Brown 2004, 297mm x 420mm
Gouache, shell gold and pencil on translucent calfskin vellum over watercolor paper. The vellum is stretched over a wooden board, with the watercolor paper behind it. Drawing and writing on the paper shows through the translucent vellum.

There are a few holes in the vellum skin, allowing some of the drawn Celtic animals to peep through from behind! (Ancient manuscripts often used vellum with holes- even the Book of Kells where one page was patched by stitching a new square of vellum over a hole and writing over that!)

Larger than life detail. The work features 2 layers of flourishes- one on the paper behind the translucent vellum, and a second layer on the calfskin itself. The script is a 'Celtic hybrid'- a mix of Celtic styles with italic.

Text
An early Irish 'marginal poem'- that is, a poem casually written by a scribe in the margin of a manuscript. This poem is ascribed to the Irish Saint Colum Cille, founder of many great Monasteries in the 6th century, including those at Durrow, Kells and Iona. The poem begins with a complaint that his 'hand is weary with writing', but soon reveals passion for scribal duties: 'a steady stream of wisdom springs from my well-tanned, fine shaped hand: it pours its draught onto the page: ink from the grey skinned holly'.

Some additional text is written in pencil handwriting in the right hand margin. It is the opening words of St. John's gospel in Latin, 'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made by Him.' This reverses the concept of marginal poetry, in that what was originally a marginal poem is now the main text, while a Gospel text is a mere reference in the margin.

Many Celtic animal drawings hide in the details of this work. There are at least: 2 lions, 8 dogs and 9 heads drawn on the ends of flourishes.

©2011 Denis Brown www.quillskill.com