Old French Version.-(Continued.) le Bigod Cunte de [9] Norf' et Marefchal de Englet're Modern English Translation of Old English Version.-(Con.) Bigod, earl of Norfolk and Marshal of England: Peter of Savoy; William de Fort, earl of Albemarle; [10] John de Plessis, earl of Warwick; John Fitz Geoffrey; Peter de Montfort; Richard de Grey; Roger de Mortimer; James Audley, and in the presence of other kinsmen. [11] And in exactly the same words it has been sent into every other shire throughout the kingdom of England and also in till Ireland. Principal errors of former editions. Only such blunders are here given as make nonsense of the original. The numbers refer to the lines of the MS., the spaced letters to the original, and the italics to the errors. Send igretinge 1, Tyrrel, Henry, Latham: send I greting. holde ilærde 1, Henshall: hol theilaerde. freme 3, Somner: freine; Henshall freime. ilche ope 5, Tyrrel, Henry, Lyttelton: ilche other. Rizt 5, Somner: (in alle pinge pat) ogt; Tyrrel: (in all thinge that) ogt; Henry, Lyttelton: in alle thet heo ogt; Craik : [in alle thaet heo] oght. noan ne nime of 5, Somner, Tyrrel, Henry, Henshall, Rymer, Craik noan ne mine of; Latham: noan ne of mine. ezte. wherburg 6, Somner: egtewhær þurg; Tyrrel, Henry: egetewher thurg; Latham: egetewhere, thurg; Henshall: egte-whar, thurg; Rymer: egteohæro þurg; Craik: eghteohæro, thurg. deadliche ifo an 6, Somner, Tyrrel, Henry, Latham, Rymer, Craik deadlicheistan;; Henshall: deadliche. If than. In consequence of these errors the translations given by Somner, Old English Version.-(Continued.) Bigod eorl on Northfolk' and Marefcal on Engleneloand.' Perref of Sauueye. Will' of Fort eorl on Aubem'. of Pleffeiz. eorl on Warewik Ioh' Perref of Muntfort. Ric' of Grey. Rog' [10] Ioh' Geffreef fune. of Mortemer. moze. Iamef of Aldithel' and ætforen opre [11] ¶ And al on to ilche worden if ifend in to æurihce opre shcíre ouer al þære kuneriche on Engleneloande. and ek ín tel Irelonde. Conjectured Pronunciation of Old English Version.-(Con.) Bii god, eorl on North folke and Maa'reskal on Eq·leneland'e. Peres of Savai'e; Wil Helm of Fort, eorl on Au⚫bemarle; [10] Dzhoon of Ples aiz, eorl on Waa'rewiike; Dzhoon Dzhef rees suun'e; Peres of Munt fort; Riitshard of Grai; Rodzh'er of Mortemer; Dzhaam ez of Al dithel, and etfoo'ren oodh're moogh'e [11] And al on dho il tshe word en is isend in to ev'ritshe oodh're shii're oo'ver al dhee're kin'eriitshe on Eq·lenelande, and eek in til Iir lande. Henry, Latham, and Craik of the passage: And þæt æhc oper helpe .... deadliche ifo an, 5, 6, are ludicrously wrong. Somner's Latin version is: "Et quod unusquisque, vigore ejusdem juramenti, contra omnes homines, in omnibus tum faciendis, tum recipiendis, ut id ita fiat et observetur, alter alteri sint auxilio. Et (quod) nullus sive de terrâ (vel, gente) meâ, sive quacunque aliâ, per consilium hujusmodi (hujus scil. consilii obeundi causâ) impediatur, sive damnum patiatur, ullo modo. Et si quis, sive vir sive fæmina, huic (edicto) contravenerit, volumus et mandamus ut omnes fideles nostri eos habeant infensissimos." Craik's English version is: "And that each other help that for to do, by them (to) each other against all men (in all that they) ought for to do and to promote. And none, nor of my land nor elsewhere, through this business may be let (hindered) or damaged in anywise. And if any man or any woman come them against, we will and enjoin that all our lieges them hold deadly foes." The most remarkable error in the copy of the French version printed in Rymer is: nos Giueons, for nos enue ons 6, which has the false appearance of an appropriation of a Saxon word by the Normans, with a French inflexion,-a philological curiosity! 2. ANCREN RIWLE, XIII TH Century. The ANCREN RIWLE and the HALI MEIDENHAD may be considered together.1 In the ANCREN RIWLE it will be seen that the simple vowels a, e, i, o, u must be taken as usual to mean (aa a, ee e, ii i, oo o, uu u), with a much larger allowance of u = (y) or (i, e) than is found, except in the west of England. Thus we have gult, cluppen, fustes, fur, lupes, lut, nule, for guilt, clip (embrace), fists, fire, lips, little, n'ill. Besides this there is a very extensive assortment of diphthongs and even triphthongs, which should be apparently pronounced thus: ai, au, ea, ei, eo, eu, oa, oi, ou, ui (ai, au, eea ea, ai, eeo eo, eu, ooa, uui, oou ou, ui). The oa, oi, ui as in bloawen bloamen buine are too rare to form a good judgment on. The combination iw which only occurs in the foreign word riwl is most probably intended to give the sound (yy), for it is scarcely possible to imagine that (yy) could not have been pronounced, and that therefore iw = (iu). On account of the action of the (r) the sound (riul) is difficult to enunciate purely, and (ruul, ryyl, ríl) are all easier, and they are consequently still in use provincially. The following brief example from p. 70 of the Ancren Riwle,33 will shew the effect of these assumptions, and will render an example from Hali Meidenhad needless: Original Text. þe Muche fol he were, muhte, to his owene bihoue, hweder se he wolde, grinden greot oper hwete, if he grunde pet greot and lefde bene hwete. Hwete is holi speche, ase Seint Anselme seið. Heo grint greot de cheflex. pe two cheoken beo pe two grinstones. pe tunge is þe cleppe. Loke, leoue sustren, þet ouwer cheoken ne grinden neuer 1 The Ancren Riwle; a treatise on the Rules and Duties of Monastic Life, edited and translated from a SemiSaxon MS. of the thirteenth century by James Morton, B.D., vicar of Holbeach, prebendary of Lincoln; printed for the Camden Society, 1853, London, 4to. Hali Meidenhad, from MS. Cott. Titus D. xviii, fol. 112 c., an alliterative homily of the thirteenth century, edited by Oswald Cockayne, M.A., London, 1866, 8vo. pp. viii, 50; E. E. T. S. 2 As the combination iw does not occur in other words, and as riule, Conjectured Pronunciation. Mutshe fool Hee weere, dhe mukht'e, to His oou ene biнoo've, whedh'er see He wold'e, grind en greeot oo'dher wheete, лif не grund e dhet greeot and leev de dheen'e wheet'e. Wheet'e is Hool'i speetsh'e, as e Saint Anselm'e saith. Heeo grint greeot dhe tsheef leth. Dhe twoo tsheek en beoth dhe twoo grin'stoon.es.* Dhe tuqe is the klepe. Looketh, leo ve sustren, dhet oou'er tsheok'en ne grind en never reule are found in very old Norman, the point must be considered doubtful. In the XIV th century the sound was almost certainly (ryy·le). Mr. Payne is inclined to think that the old Norman sound was (riú·le). 3 The proof was read by Mr. Brock by the original MS., Cott. Nero A. xiv. The "colloquial" pronunciation (grin ston), mentioned by Smart, is thus shewn to be very ancient, and becomes a proof that grind was formerly (grind) not (graind), suprà p. 276, and p. 290, 1. 3. Much fool he were, that might, to his own behoof, whether so he would, grind chaff (grits) or wheat, if he ground the chaff and left the wheat. Wheat is holy speech, as Saint Anselm saith. She grinds chaff that chaffs (chatters). The two cheeks are the two grindstones. The tongue is the buut'e sooule vood'e; ne oour ea ren ne Herk'nen never buut'e sooul'e Heal'e; and nout oon'e oour eea'ren, aukh oou'er aire thirl es tuun'eth asain ii'del speetshe; dhet to oou ne kuum e ne taal e ne tiidh'iqe of dhe worlde. Translation. clapper. Look, dear sisters, that your cheeks do not grind never but soul's food; nor your ears do not harken never but to soul's health; and not only your ears, but your eye's windows fence against idle speech; (so) that to you (may) not come neither tale nor tiding of the world. 3. OLD ENGLISH HOMILIES, XIITH CENTURY. The venerable homilies lately disinterred by Mr. Morris' cannot be read in any other way than the Ancren Riwle. The values of all the letters and combinations seem to be completely known, and no further change can be expected. A very brief example will therefore suffice. In the following, the original text is exactly reproduced except in mid for mix, (2) wolde for walde, (ga for gad, do for deð, (5)bulke for buke. The leinten for lenten at the beginning, may, as so many other evidently are, be a dialectic pronunciation, and is comparable with fleish for flesh (suprà p. 473, n. 1), but Stratmann quotes the same form from Wright, Vocab. 90, Rob. Glouc. 187, 8. The experiment of writing (y) for u, when it may be (i, e), and (ei) for ei, as being older forms, has here been made. Original Text, p. 25. Dominica Prima in Quadrigesima. [I]n leinten time uwilc mon ga to scrifte; þer beo summe be mare herm is þe gað al swa ic nupe eow tellen wulle. He seið mid" pa mu e pet nis naut in his heorte. ic wulle gan to scrifte for scome alswa do oder men. zif ic forlete be preost me wolde (2) eskien on ester dei hwa me scriue er he me zefe husul and ec for monne weordes dinge. he ne ga (3) naut to scrifte al swa do oder men. Conjectured Pronunciation. First Sunday in Lent. In lein ten tii'me y'wilk mon gaath to skrift e. Dher beoth sum e, dhe maa're Herm is dhe gaath, alswaa ik nuu dhe Jou tel en wyle. He saith mid dha muu dhe, dhet nis naut in His Hеorte: "Ik wyle gaan to skrifte for skoo⚫me alswaa dooth oo'dher men; Jif ik forlee'te, dhe preost me wol de es kien on eest er dai whaa me skrii ve, eer Hее mе Jее'vе Hus'ul, and eek for mon'e weor des thique." Hee no gaath naut to skrifte alswaa dooth oo'dher men. 1 In the same work with the Moral Ode, suprà p. 484, note 1. Ah al swa he do swa pe swica þe biswike hine seolfe on ende and bid al swa is an eppel iheowed. he bi widuten feire and frakel wiðinne. Awah pet he efre wulle pristelechen oder bipenchen mid his fule heorte be heo wulle underfon swa hez þing and swa hali swa is cristes licome in his sunfulle bulke.(5) and wene pet hit wulle him helpen Neisoliche nawiht ah penne pe preost hit de in his mupe. penne cume drihtenes engel and binime pa halinesse mid him toward heouene riche. bet per bilef in his mude, ah if eni mon hit muste isean. he mahte iseon ane berninde glede pet hine al for-bernað purut to cole. Akh alswaa Hе dooth, swaa dhe swiik'a dhee biswii keth Hiin'e seol fe on end'e, and biith alswaa is an epel iheo weth; Hee biith withuu ten faire, and frak el within'e. Awakh, dhet нe ev're wyle thris'teletsh'en odh'er bithen tshen mid His fuule нeorte, dhee Hеo wyle underfoon swaa Hei thiq and swaa Haali, swaa is Krist es liic oome in His syn'fule bulke, and ween eth dhet Hit wyle Him Helpen! Nei, soothliithshe naawikht! akh dhene dhe preost Hit deeth in His muu the, dhene kuu meth drikhtenes equel, and binii meth dha Haa lines'e mid Him toward⚫ Heo vene rii'tshe. Dhet dher bilefth in His muu the, akh лif en'i mon Hit mus'te isee an, He makh'te isee on aa ne bern ind⚫e gleed'e, dhet Hii'ne al forbern eth thuruut to koole. Mr. Morris's Translation, p. 24. In Lenten time each man goes to confession; there are some to whom there is greater harm in going (than in abstaining), as I will now tell you. He saith with the mouth what is not in his heart. "I will go to shrift for shame, as other men do; if I neglect the priest will ask me on Easter day who shrove me, before he administer to me the sacrament, and also for the sake of man's esteem." He does not go to shrift as other [good] men do, but acts like the cheat who at last deceiveth himself, and is as a rosy apple-fair without and rotten within. Alas that he will ever dare or think with his foul heart to receive so high and so holy a thing as is Christ's flesh into his sinful body, and thinketh that it will help him. Nay truly not! but when the priest putteth it in his mouth, then cometh the Lord's angel and taketh the holiness with him toward heavenkingdom. As for what remaineth there in his mouth, if any man were able to perceive it, he might see a burning gleed that consumes him all to coals. § 4. Teutonic and Scandinavian Sources of the English Language. The pronunciation of English has now been traced up to the earliest period in which it is known in a literary form as distinct from Anglosaxon. To complete the edifice, some account must be attempted of the pronunciation of Anglosaxon, the direct mother, and Old Norse, an important modifier of our tongue. These again point to Gothic as the oldest low German dialect that is known. It would be highly desirable to add an account of Old Norman, but no |