The plus sign + (itself based on an et-ligature ) is often informally used in place of an ampersand, sometimes with an added loop and resembling ɬ. The ampersand is also sometimes shown as an epsilon with a vertical line above and below it or a dot above and below it. In everyday handwriting, the ampersand is sometimes simplified in design as a large lowercase epsilon Ɛ or a reversed numeral 3, superimposed by a vertical line. This symbol may have entered the script language by way of monastic influence in the time of the early Christian church in Ireland. The Tironian et (⁊) is found in Old Irish language script, a Latin-based script generally only used for decorative purposes today, where it signifies agus ("and") in Irish. However, while the ampersand was in origin a common ligature in everyday script, the Tironian et was part of a highly specialised stenographic shorthand. Both symbols have their roots in the classical antiquity, and both signs were used throughout the Middle Ages as a representation for the Latin word et ("and"). The ampersand should not be confused with the Tironian "et" ⁊, which has the same meaning, but which in appearance resembles the numeral 7. In her 1859 novel Adam Bede, George Eliot refers to this when she makes Jacob Storey say: "He thought it had only been put to finish off th' alphabet like though ampusand would ha' done as well, for what he could see." The popular nursery rhyme Apple Pie ABC finishes with the lines "X, Y, Z, and ampersand, All wished for a piece in hand".
Moore's 1863 book The Dixie Primer, for the Little Folks. Similarly, & was regarded as the 27th letter of the English alphabet, as taught to children in the US and elsewhere. The ampersand often appeared as a character at the end of the Latin alphabet, as for example in Byrhtferð's list of letters from 1011. Since the ampersand's roots go back to Roman times, many languages that use a variation of the Latin alphabet make use of it. After the advent of printing in Europe in 1455, printers made extensive use of both the italic and Roman ampersands. The modern italic type ampersand is a kind of " et" ligature that goes back to the cursive scripts developed during the Renaissance. The et-ligature, however, continued to be used and gradually became more stylized and less revealing of its origin (figures 4–6). During the later development of the Latin script leading up to Carolingian minuscule (9th century) the use of ligatures in general diminished. In the later and more flowing New Roman Cursive, ligatures of all kinds were extremely common figures 2 and 3 from the middle of 4th century are examples of how the et-ligature could look in this script. and the Old Roman cursive, in which the letters E and T occasionally were written together to form a ligature (Evolution of the ampersand – figure 1). The ampersand can be traced back to the 1st century A.D. Stepney is age 64 in The Stories of Sodor.Example of ampersand based on a crossed epsilon, as might be handwritten.He was bought by the Bluebell Railway Preservation Society and arrived on the railway on 17th May, making him the first standard gauge steam locomotive in the United Kingdom to be preserved. During his final working years, Stepney worked on the Hayling Island branch line, until he was taken out of service in 1960 and placed on an out-of-use siding. Stepney was built by Brighton Works in 1875, and was rebuilt into an A1X in 1912. He carries two builder's plates on the sides of his splashers. The real Stepney has a brass funnel top and brass numberplates with a blue ground. His name is painted on his side tanks and the number "55" is painted on the sides of his bunker, both in white. Stepney is painted in the LB&SCR goldenrod livery, formally known as "Stroudley's Improved Engine Green", with green, red, white and black lining. He is very eager to please and is every engine's friend. Stepney is a bubbly, honest and humble chap who is busting with enthusiasm. At the end, he and Joey and Mickey found out that it's Oliver who smashed S.C.Ruffy. Stepney wanted to work with Joey and Mickey to solve a mystery. Stepney works with Albert on the Southern Railway.