lain Bain's new book is a detailed manual of the construction of Celtic key patterns, and is also a convenient source of reference about the many variations of key pattern to be found around Britain.

Celtic Key Patterns complements the same author's previous work on Celtic Knotwork (Constable, 1986), and deals simply with the practicalities of construction, steering clear of speculation about any meaning or symbolism behind the patterns. At first glance the designs may appear complex, but the methods of construction are set out step by step and are illustrated at each stage by clear diagrams. The book can be a rewarding challenge for the contemporary artist or craftsperson working in the Celtic style, and Bain's methods of construction can give satisfling results in terms of new designs. Using the methods described, key patterns can be translated onto any desired surface, and this introduces many exciting potential uses.

The book is punctuated by colour reproductions of pages from the Lindisfarne Gospels and the Book of Kells which give examples of key pattern as used by the ancient artists. These provide inspiration for the present day worker, and suggest potential applications for the use of the essentially simple but infinitely variable key patterns. Some black and white photographs of Scottish carved stones decorated with simple or complex key pattern are also included in the text. Some of these photos are of casts rather than originals. The pages from The Early Christian Monuments of Scotland containing J R Alan's still very useful analysis of key pattern are reproduced as an appendix.

In a short introduction (x) the author confesses to a "nagging doubt" about the use of the word "Celtic" in the title, since: "The Lindisfarne Gospels were written in the monastery of Lindisfarne [and there] is evidence that the Books of Kells and Durrow were written there also. " Lindisfarne is one of the few Dark Age manuscripts whose provenance is certain, but most scholars would now attribute Durrow and Kells to a Celtic scriptorium, most probably iona. There is further confusion in the description of the related stone carvings in an area ranging ". . from Caithness in Scotland to Humberside and beyond . . [which] huge area was the land of the Picts, which suggests that the Saxons conquered an already cultured race".

The historical howlers in this passage hardly need to be pointed out. The author is on much firmer ground when he calls for the creation of original work using his methods: "I earnestly plead that non-standard key patterns must be practised once the construction methods are understood". It is indeed time that more original (or at the least historically accurate) work in the Celtic medium was produced, and not tourist trinkets decorated with feeble copies of the motifs in the books on Celtic art by the author or his father.

James Gillon-Fergusson and Niall M Robertson.