Chapter 13 1 What did Columba use to make blue ink?
2 What did he use to make green ink?
3 What did he write with?
4 What did he use to grind the stone to powder?
What did he use to hold the inks when they were made?
Draw...!
Draw a spiral pattern and try to end it with a snake's head. Colour your pattern.
Fact File
Illuminated Manuscripts: These were mostly written and copied by monks in monasteries from the sixth to the fourteenth centuries. They were written on vellum (calf skin) with a quill (the feather of a bird). They were called illuminated because of the wonderful pictures which decorated them. The Book of Kells: No one knows exactly where and when the Book of Kells was written but it is believed that it was started in Iona by the Irish monks of St Columba and then, after the Viking raids on Iona, it was brought to Kells and was finished there. It has the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John all beautifully written and illustrated. Paper was not invented then so it was written on vellum, or calfskin.
Explore...!
Try making some inks for yourself using whipped white of egg and some powder from a soft stone such as chalk or yellow sandstone. Be careful to ask an adult to help if you are grinding a stone. You can also use the juice of blackberries or raspberries.
Imagine......!
Imagine what it would be like to live in the eight century and to be chosen to help with one of the great books such as the Book of Kells or the Book of Durrow. Write about your first day in the scriptorium.
The Book of Kells was stolen in the 11th century and found, under a sod in a field, about a month later. Write the story of how it was stolen and how the book was tracked down.
