English Dialects From The Eighth Century To The Present Day Part 2

gesuicas _vel_ waeges fore mec gefeath and wynnsumiath forthon mentientes propter me. 12. gaudete et exultate quoniam

mearda iuere monigfalde is _vel_ sint merces uestra copiosa est

in heofnum suae _vel_ suelce ec forthon in caelis sic enim

ge-oehton tha witgo tha the weron aer iuih gee persecuti sunt prophetas qui fuerunt ante uos. 13. Uos

sint salt eorthes thaet gif salt forworthes in thon gesaelted bith to estis sal terrae quod si sal euanuerit in quo sallietur ad

nowihte _vel_ naenihte maege ofer thaet nihilum ualet ultra

buta thaet gesended bith _vel_ geworpen ut nisi ut mittatur foras

and getreden bith from monnum et conculcetur ab hominibus

gie aron _vel_ sint leht middangeardes 14. Uos estis lux mundi

ne maeg burug _vel_ ceastra gehyda _vel_ gedeigla ofer mor geseted non potest ciuitas abscondi supra monte posita.

ne ec bernas thaeccille _vel_ leht-faet 15. neque accendunt lucernam

and settas tha _vel_ hia unther mitte et ponunt eam sub

_vel_ under sestre ah ofer leht-isern and lihteth allum tha the in modio sed super candelabrum et luceat omnibus qui in

hus bithon _vel_ sint domo sunt.

The history of the Northern dialect during the next three centuries, from the year 1000 to nearly 1300, with a few insignificant exceptions, is a total blank.

CHAPTER IV

THE DIALECTS OF NORTHUMBRIA; A.D. 1300-1400

A little before 1300, we come to a _Metrical English Psalter_, published by the Surtees Society in 1843-7. The language is supposed to represent the speech of Yorks.h.i.+re. It is translated (rather closely) from the Latin Vulgate version. I give a specimen from Psalm xviii, 14-20.

14. He sent his arwes, and skatered tha; Felefalded levening, and dreved tham swa.

15. And schewed welles of watres ware, And groundes of ertheli world unhiled are, For thi snibbing, Laverd myne; For onesprute of gast of wreth thine.

16. He sent fra hegh, and uptoke me; Fra many watres me nam he.

17. He out-toke me thare amang Fra my faas that war sa strang, And fra tha me that hated ai; For samen strenghthed over me war thai 18. Thai forcome me in daie of twinging, And made es Layered mi forhiling.

19. And he led me in brede to be; Sauf made he me, for he wald me; 20. And foryhelde to me Laverd sal After mi rightwisenes al.

And after clensing of mi hende Sal he yhelde to me at ende.

The literal sense is:--"He sent His arrows and scattered them; multiplied (His) lightning and so afflicted them. And the wells of waters were shown, and the foundations of the earthly world are uncovered because of Thy snubbing (rebuke), O my Lord! because of the blast (Lat. _inspiratio_) of the breath of Thy wrath. He sent from on high, and took me up; from many waters He took me. He took me out there-among from my foes that were so strong, and from those that alway hated me; for they were strengthened together over me. They came before me in the day of affliction, and the Lord is made my protection. And He led me (so as) to be in a broad place; He made me safe, because He desired (lit. would) me; and the Lord shall requite me according to all my righteousness, and according to the cleanness of my hands shall He repay me in the end."

In this specimen we can already discern some of the chief characteristics which are so conspicuous in Lowland Scotch MSS. of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The most striking is the almost total loss of the final _-e_ which is so frequently required to form an extra syllable when we try to scan the poetry of Chaucer.

Even where a final _-e_ is written in the above extract, it is wholly silent. The words _ware_ (were), _are_ (are), _myne_, _thine_, _toke_, _made_, _brede_, _hende_, _ende_, are all monosyllabic; and in fact the large number of monosyllabic words is very striking. The words _onesprute_, _forcome_, _foryhelde_ are, in like manner, dissyllabic.

The only suffixes that count in the scansion are _-en_, _-ed_, and _-es_; as in _sam-en_, _skat'r-ed_, _drev-ed_, _hat-ed_, etc., and _arw-es_, _well-es_, _watr-es_, etc. The curious form _sal_, for "shall," is a Northern characteristic. So also is the form _hende_ as the plural of "hand"; the Southern plural was often _hond-en_, and the Midland form was _hond-es_ or _hand-es_. Note also the characteristic long _a_; as in _swa_ for _swo_, so; _gast_, ghost; _fra_, fro; _faas_, foes. It was p.r.o.nounced like the _a_ in _father_.

A much longer specimen of the _Metrical English Psalter_ will be found in _Specimens of Early English_, ed. Morris and Skeat, Part II, pp. 23-34, and is easily accessible. In the same volume, the Specimens numbered VII, VIII, X, XI, and XVI are also in Northumbrian, and can easily be examined. It will therefore suffice to give a very brief account of each.

VII. _Cursor Mundi_, or _Cursor o Werld_, i.e. Over-runner of the World; so called because it rehea.r.s.es a great part of the world's history, from the creation onwards. It is a poem of portentous length, extending to 29,655 lines, and recounts many of the events found in the Old and New Testaments, with the addition of legends from many other sources, one of them, for example, being the _Historia Scholastica_ of Peter Comestor. Dr Murray thinks it may have been written in the neighbourhood of Durham. The specimen given (pp. 69-82) corresponds to lines 11373-11796.

VIII. _Sunday Homilies in Verse_; about 1330. The extracts are taken from _English Metrical Homilies_, edited by J. Small (Edinburgh, 1862) from a MS. in Edinburgh. The Northern dialect is well marked, but I do not know to what locality to a.s.sign it.

X. Richard Rolle, of Hampole, near Doncaster, wrote a poem called _The p.r.i.c.k of Conscience_, about 1340. It extends to 9624 lines, and was edited by Dr Morris for the Philological Society in 1863.

The Preface to this edition is of especial value, as it carefully describes the characteristics of Northumbrian, and practically laid the foundation of our knowledge of the old dialects as exhibited in MSS. Lists are given of orthographical differences between the Northern dialect and others, and an a.n.a.lysis is added giving the grammatical details which determine its Northern character. Much of this information is repeated in the Introduction to the _Specimens of English_, Part II, pp. xviii-x.x.xviii.

XI. _The Poems of Laurence Minot_ belong to the middle of the fourteenth century. He composed eleven poems in celebration of events that occurred between the years 1333 and 1352. They were first printed by Ritson in 1795; and subsequently by T. Wright, in his _Political Poems and Songs_ (London, 1859); and are now very accessible in the excellent and cheap (second) edition by Joseph Hall (Oxford University Press). There is also a German edition by Dr Wilhelm Scholle. The poet seems to have been connected with Yorks.h.i.+re, and the dialect is not purely Northern, as it shows a slight admixture of Midland forms.

XVI. _The Bruce_; by John Barbour; partly written in 1375. It has been frequently printed, viz. in 1616, 1620, 1670, 1672, 1715, 1737, and 1758; and was edited by Pinkerton in 1790, by Jamieson in 1820, and by Cosmo Innes in 1866; also by myself (for the Early English Text Society) in 1870-89; and again (for the Scottish Text Society) in 1893-5. Unfortunately, the two extant MSS. were both written out about a century after the date of composition. Nevertheless, we have the text of more than 260 lines as it existed in 1440, as this portion was quoted by Andro of Wyntown, in his _Cronykil of Scotland_, written at that date. I quote some lines from this portion, taken from _The Bruce_, Book i, 37-56, 91-110; with a few explanations in the footnotes.

Qwhen Alysandyre oure kyng wes dede, That Scotland had to stere{1} and lede, The land s.e.x yhere and mayr perfay{2} Wes desolate efftyr his day.

The barnage{3} off Scotland, at the last, a.s.semblyd thame, and fandyt{4} fast To chess{5} a kyng, thare land to stere, That off awncestry c.u.mmyn were Off kyngis that aucht{6} that reawte{7}, And mast{8} had rycht thare kyng to be.

But inwy{9}, that is sa fellowne{10}, Amang thame mad dissensiown: For sum wald have the Ballyolle kyng, For he wes c.u.myn off that ofspryng That off the eldest systere was; And other sum nyt{11} all that cas, And sayd, that he thare kyng suld be, That wes in als nere{12} degre, And c.u.mmyn wes off the nerrast male In thai{13} brawnchys collateralle...

{Footnotes: 1: _govern_ 2: _more, by my faith_ 3: _n.o.bility_ 4: _endeavoured_ 5: _choose_ 6: _possessed_ 7: _royalty_ 8: _most_ 9: _envy_ 10: _wicked_ 11: _others denied_ 12: _as near_ 13: _those_ }

A! blynd folk, fulle off all foly, Had yhe wmbethowcht{14} yowe inkkyrly{15} Quhat peryle to yowe mycht appere, Yhe had noucht wroucht on this maner.

Had yhe tane kepe{16}, how that that kyng Off Walys, forowtyn sudiowrnyng{17}, Trawaylyd{18} to wyn the senyhowry{19}, And throw his mycht till occupy Landys, that ware till hym marchand{20}, As Walys was, and als Irland, That he put till sic threllage{21}, That thai, that ware off hey parage{22}, Suld ryn on fwte, as rybalddale{23}, Quhen ony folk he wald a.s.sale.

Durst nane of Walis in batale ryd, Na yhit, fra evyn fell{24}, abyde Castell or wallyd towne within, Than{25} he suld lyff and lymmys tyne{26}.

Into swylk thryllage{27} thame held he That he owre-come with his powste{28}.

{Footnotes: 14: _bethought_ 15: _especially_ 16: _taken heed_ 17: _without delay_ 18: _laboured_ 19: _sovereignty_ 20: _bordering_ 21: _such subjection_ 22: _high rank_ 23: _rabble_ 24: _after evening fell_ 25: _but_ 26: _lose_ 27: _thraldom_ 28: _power_ }

In this extract, as in that from the _Metrical Psalter_ above, there is a striking preponderance of monosyllables, and, as in that case also, the final _-e_ is invariably silent in such words as _oure_, _stere_, _lede_, _yhere_, _thare_, _were_, etc., just as in modern English. The grammar is, for the most part, extremely simple, as at the present day. The chief difficulty lies in the vocabulary, which contains some words that are either obsolete or provincial. Many of the obsolete words are found in other dialects; thus _stere_, to control, _perfay_, _fonden_ (for _fanden_), _chesen_, to choose, _feloun_, adj. meaning "angry," _take kepe_, _soiourne_, to tarry, _travaile_, to labour, _parage_, rank, all occur in Chaucer; _barnage_, _reaute_, in _William of Palerne_ (in the Midland dialect, possibly Shrops.h.i.+re); _oughte_, owned, possessed, _tyne_, to lose, in _Piers the Plowman_; _umbethinken_, in the _Ormulum_; _enkerly_ (for _inkkyrly_), in the alliterative _Morte Arthure_; _march_, to border upon, in _Mandeville_; _seignorie_, in _Robert of Gloucester_. Barbour is rather fond of introducing French words; _rybalddale_ occurs in no other author. _Threllage_ or _thryllage_ may have been coined from _threll_ (English _thrall_), by adding a French suffix. As to the difficult word _nyt_, see _Nite_ in the _N.E.D._

In addition to the poems, etc., already mentioned, further material may be found in the prose works of Richard Rolle of Hampole, especially his translation and exposition of the Psalter, edited by the Rev. H.R. Bramley (Oxford, 1884), and the Prose Treatises edited by the Rev. G.G. Perry for the Early English Text Society. Dr Murray further calls attention to the Early Scottish Laws, of which the vernacular translations partly belong to the fourteenth century.

I have now mentioned the chief authorities for the study of the Northern dialect from early times down to 1400. Examination of them leads directly to a result but little known, and one that is in direct contradiction to general uninstructed opinion; namely that, down to this date, the varieties of Northumbrian are much fewer and slighter than they afterwards became, and that the written doc.u.ments are practically all in one and the same dialect, or very nearly so, from the Humber as far north as Aberdeen. The irrefragable results noted by Dr Murray will probably come as a surprise to many, though they have now been before the public for more than forty years. The Durham dialect of the _Cursor Mundi_ and the Aberdeen Scotch of Barbour are hardly distinguishable by grammatical or orthographical tests; and both bear a remarkable resemblance to the Yorks.h.i.+re dialect as found in Hampole. What is now called Lowland Scotch is so nearly descended from the Old Northumbrian that the latter was invariably called "Ingliss" by the writers who employed it; and they reserved the name of "Scottish" to designate Gaelic or Erse, the tongue of the original "Scots," who gave their name to the country. Barbour (_Bruce_, IV 253) calls his own language "Ynglis." Andro of Wyntown does the same, near the beginning of the Prologue to his _Cronykil_. The most striking case is that of Harry the Minstrel, who was so opposed to all Englanders, from a political point of view, that his whole poem breathes fury and hatred against them; and yet, in describing Wallace's French friend, Longueville, who knew no tongue but his own, he says of him (_Wallace_, IX 295-7):

Lykly he was, manlik of contenance, _Lik to the Scottis_ be mekill governance _Saiff off his tong_, for _Inglis_ had he nane.

Later still, Dunbar, near the conclusion of his _Golden Targe_, apostrophises Chaucer as being "in _oure Tong_ ane flouir imperiall,"

and says that he was "_of oure Inglisch_ all the lycht." It was not till 1513 that Gawain Douglas, in the Prologue to the first book of his translation of Virgil, claimed to have "writtin in the langage of Scottis natioun"; though Sir David Lyndesay, writing twenty-two years later, still gives the name of the "Inglisch toung" to the vulgar tongue of Scotland, in his _Satyre of the three Estaitis_.

We should particularly notice Dr Murray's statement, in his essay on _The Dialect of the Southern Counties of Scotland_, at p. 29, that "Barbour at Aberdeen, and Richard Rolle de Hampole near Doncaster, wrote for their several countrymen in the same identical dialect." The division between the English of the Scottish Lowlands and the English of Yorks.h.i.+re was purely political, having no reference to race or speech, but solely to locality; and yet, as Dr Murray remarks, the struggle for supremacy "made every one either an Englishman or a Scotchman, and made English and Scotch names of division and bitter enmity." So strong, indeed, was the division thus created that it has continued to the present day; and it would be very difficult even now to convince a native of the Scottish Lowlands--unless he is a philologist--that he is likely to be of Anglian descent, and to have a better t.i.tle to be called an "Englishman" than a native of Hamps.h.i.+re or Devon, who, after all, may be only a Saxon. And of course it is easy enough to show how widely the old "Northern" dialect varies from the difficult Southern English found in the Kentish _Ayenbite of Inwyt_, or even from the Midland of Chaucer's poems.

To quote from Dr Murray once more (p. 41):

"the facts are still far from being generally known, and I have repeatedly been amused, on reading pa.s.sages from _Cursor Mundi_ and Hampole to men of education, both English and Scotch, to hear them all p.r.o.nounce the dialect 'Old Scotch.' Great has been the surprise of the latter especially on being told that Richard the Hermit [i.e.

of Hampole] wrote in the extreme south of Yorks.h.i.+re, within a few miles of a locality so thoroughly English as Sherwood Forest, with its memories of Robin Hood. Such is the difficulty which people have in separating the natural and ethnological relations in which national names originate from the accidental values which they acquire through political complications and the fortunes of crowns and dynasties, that oftener than once the protest has been made-- 'Then he must have been a Scotchman settled there!'"

The retort is obvious enough, that Barbour and Henry the Minstrel and Dunbar and Lyndesay have all recorded that their native language was "Inglis" or "Inglisch"; and it is interesting to note that, having regard to the p.r.o.nunciation, they seem to have known, better than we do, how that name ought to be spelt.