In Ireland, Insular
script was a medieval system superseded in circa 850 by Late-Celtic script;
in England, it was followed by a form of Caroline minuscule. The script was used
not only for Latin religious books, but also for every other kind of book, including
vernacular works. There are over 7,000 manuscripts written in Carolingian script
surviving from the 8th and 9th centuries alone. Carolingian script generally has
fewer ligatures than other contemporary scripts, although the ampersand, ae, rt,
st, and ct ligatures are common.
The Book
of Armagh (dated to 807-809), the Turin Gospel Book Fragment, the Leiden Priscian,
the St. Gall Priscian and the Macdurnan Gospel all date from the early 9th century
followed from the St. Gall Gospel Book and the Macregal Gospels come from the
late 8th century. The name "Book of Kells"
is derived from the Abbey of Kells in Kells,
County Meath in Ireland, where it was kept
for much of the mediaeval period. The Abbey of Kells was founded in the early
ninth century, at the time of the Viking
invasions, by monks from the monastery at Iona (off the Western coast of Scotland).
Iona, which had been a missionary centre for the Columban community, had been
founded by Saint Columba in the middle of the
6th century. When repeated Viking raids made Iona too dangerous, the majority
of the community removed to Kells,
which became the centre of the group of communities founded by Saint Columba.
The Annals of Ulster refer to Scotland
as Cruithintuait - the word Cruithni (meaning "the tribe of the designs")
being the Irish word for the Picts and tuath for people, land or nation. The Vikings,
upon landing in the north of Scotland
at the beginning of the 9th century,
called the country Pictland. The name Pentland
Firth is derived from the Norse name Pettaland Fjord, literally "Pictland
Fjord." In Britain, the P-Celtic speaking Britons spelled the Irish name "Cruithni"
(Pict) as Pryten; this eventually becomes Briton in the tongue of the Teutonic
invaders.
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