(LIBRARY 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF 
 CALir-~>RNIA 
 
 I SAN ji.-.iv; '
 
 
 KI
 
 sHSHaAsp 

 
 THE CAMBRIDGE SERIES 
 for 
 
 Schools and Training Colleges 
 
 OUTLINES OF THE HISTORY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE,
 
 SonDon: C. J. CLAY AND SONS, 
 CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS WAREHOUSE, 
 AVE MARIA LANE. 
 : 50, WELLINGTON STREET. 
 
 jig: F. A. BROCKHAUS. 
 Bombag: E. SEYMOUR HALE.
 
 OUTLINES 
 
 OF THE 
 
 HISTORY OF THE 
 
 ENGLISH LANGUAGE 
 
 BY 
 
 T. N. TOLLER, M.A. 
 
 LATE FETLOW OF CHRIST'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE; 
 PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH IN THE OWENS COLLEGE, MANCHESTER. 
 
 CAMBRIDGE: 
 
 AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS. 
 
 1900 
 
 \_All Rights reserved.}
 
 (Cambridge: 
 
 PRINTED BY J. AND C. F. CLAY, 
 AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 IN the following pages an attempt is made to give some idea 
 of the conditions under which language-material was 
 gradually accumulated, was sifted and shaped, before the result 
 was attained which we see in the present speech of England. 
 It is an attempt to give such a representation of a very 
 complicated subject as is possible by tracing merely its outlines. 
 These, however, if they are properly distinguished, may at least 
 suggest the claims to consideration which the subject can 
 make, claims that can be properly appreciated only when the 
 outlines are filled in. And surely one such claim is that the 
 study of English affords the opportunity for a varied mental 
 training. For to realize the language of a people at any time 
 in their history would be to realize their life at that time ; it is 
 in their words that their thoughts remain embodied, and really 
 to understand their words we must feel as they felt. To follow 
 a language completely throughout its gradual development 
 would be to follow all phases in the changing life of those who 
 spoke it ; and only as the powers of the imagination are
 
 vi Preface. 
 
 cultivated is progress made towards this ideal. A language, 
 again, may be regarded as a living organism, ever undergoing 
 changes, of which some, though they may be vital, yet do not 
 affect its outward form for words may keep their form, but 
 change their meaning ; while others are visible, for words may 
 be lost or gained, or re-shaped, or re-arranged. And here there 
 is abundant opportunity for training the faculty of observation. 
 Moreover no change in this organism is without a cause. 
 Language takes the shape which its speakers choose to give it ; 
 and in attempting to account for changes that result from 
 influences, which must be determined, operating upon the 
 speakers, who are the agents in effecting change, and whose 
 condition must be realized, there is ample scope for the exercise 
 of the reasoning faculty. Looked at, too, from the merely 
 physical side, language is educational. For it is the product 
 of a machine, whose mechanism and working must be observed; 
 a machine which is incorporated with the operator, and whose 
 operation at once responds to that which affects him. It may 
 be noted, further, that the study of English is of interest and 
 profit, not only because much of the material that has to be 
 observed is literature of the noblest kind, but also because the 
 student may carry on his studies among the homelier varieties 
 of speech, which are to be found still living in all parts of the 
 country. It is a study that offers a wide field in which to 
 exercise the faculties of the mind, and which abounds with 
 objects of interest on which to exercise them. 
 
 If the present sketch can suggest to a student the interest 
 which belongs to the history of the language, or can help one
 
 Preface. vii 
 
 who feels that interest, by providing the outlines which further 
 work of his own may enable him to fill in, it will have been 
 worth making. For hitherto our vulgar tongue has scarcely 
 received the consideration it deserves ; and not altogether 
 without excuse would those in England be, who should sym- 
 pathize with the great Italian, when he speaks of the esteem in 
 which by some was held the vulgar tongue he himself used. 
 Dante, denouncing the 'ill-conditioned men of Italy that 
 scorned their own vulgar tongue,' says : ' Forasmuch as with 
 that measure a man measures himself he measures the things 
 that are his, it befalls that to the magnanimous his own things 
 ever appear better than they are, those of others less good ; 
 the pusillanimous ever thinks his own things worth little, those 
 of others much. Whence many through this baseness scorn 
 their proper vulgar tongue, and esteem that of others ; and all 
 such as these are the abominable caitiffs of Italy, that hold of 
 no account this noble vulgar tongue.' 
 
 English, quite as much as the Italian of Dante, deserves to 
 be called ' a noble vulgar tongue,' and if in this little book its 
 history is not shewn to be a subject which will repay the 
 labours of the student, the failure is certainly not to be laid to 
 the charge of the subject. 
 
 T. N. T. 
 
 November, 1900.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 The history of a language a record of change self-adjusting character of 
 language inevitability of change views of some English writers on 
 the possibility of arresting change different kinds of change illus- 
 trated connection between names and things illustrations from 
 English metaphorical language development of that part of the 
 vocabulary which expresses abstract ideas change of form in words 
 general purpose of the chapter ..... pp. i 18 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Relation to one another, and to the common original, of languages which 
 have had a common source England and America the languages of 
 modern Europe their likeness likeness due to borrowing likeness 
 due to common Qrigin the case of the Romance languages regular 
 differences between Latin and English worked out the case of the 
 two languages parallel to that of the Romance languages the light 
 hence thrown upon English by Latin other languages may be 
 associated with English further knowledge of English which is thus 
 gained other languages may be associated with Latin the Aryan 
 family the classification of the Germanic or Teutonic group its 
 oldest monuments the likeness of their vocabularies illustrated light 
 thrown by languages on the condition of those who spoke them 
 unique position of English ..... pp. 19 39
 
 Contents. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Early history of a language to be learnt from a comparison with others 
 foreign influence on Teutonic speeches before the English conquest of 
 Britain loan-words from Latin from Celtic Celtic Britain as a 
 Roman province results as regards language contrast with Gaul 
 Latin of the First Period relations between Celts and English origin 
 of the word Wales the Celtic stock earliest borrowings from Celtic 
 later borrowings geographical names . . . pp. 40 51 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 The Saxon Shore the Saxons as sea-men their character in the fifth 
 century abandonment of sea-faring life after settlement in Britain 
 influence of the earlier life to be seen in Old English words denoting 
 water, ships, seamen, sea-faring inference from such words Teutonic 
 conquests in Britain Bede's account notices in the Anglo-Saxon 
 Chronicle bearing of these upon language possibility of other tribes 
 than those mentioned by Bede having taken part in the conquest 
 the Angles give the name to the language and the land the 
 Jutes pp. 5263 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 The position of the Teutons in Britain secured before the end of the 
 6th century the coming of Christianity to England its spread a 
 measure of its influence on the language learning in England before 
 the end of the 8th century libraries learning among the Celts and 
 its relation to the English the decay of learning in the Qth century 
 described by Alfred his attempts to promote education revival of 
 learning in the roth century Dunstan ^Llfric Latin charters 
 absence of foreign material in the language before the Norman Con- 
 quest the larger knowledge of the English due to Christianity 
 the consequent change of the language . . . pp. 64 77
 
 Contents. xi 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Learning in England the Latin authors chiefly studied were the Christian 
 writers Latin of the Second Period Latin-English hybrids the Latin 
 element, except in special classes of words, really small changed con- 
 ditions of life implied by some of the Latin words expansion of the 
 native language parallel Latin and English words contrast of Old 
 English with Modern English in respect to the use of foreign material 
 illustration of this from translations of the Scriptures ecclesiastical 
 terms scientific terms terms of grammar of Astronomy other 
 classes of words the method by which the use of Latin words was 
 avoided importance of the influence of Christianity on the 
 language pp. 78 101 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Peculiarities of the poetic diction in Old English antiquity of poetry 
 among Teutonic peoples early specimens of Teutonic poetry poetry 
 a favourite form of entertainment held in high esteem Teutonic 
 words connected with poetry the survival of heathen ideals in Christian 
 poetry Old English poems, Beowulf, Battle of Brunan burgh, Battle of 
 Maldon, "Judith, St Andrew the language of the poems examined 
 Christian saints described as Teutonic warriors the old idea of the 
 relations between the lord and the follower preserved the old social 
 life the Old Saxon poetry like the Old English recurrence of phrases 
 and imagery vocabulary of poetry distinct from that of prose 
 alliteration loss of the poetic vocabulary . . pp. 102 128 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Decay of learning in England after the appearance of the Danes the out- 
 pouring from ' the populous north ' physical and political conditions 
 of Norway and Denmark Danish attacks on England and the settle- 
 ments which followed Alfred's treaty with the Danes a permanent
 
 xii Contents. 
 
 Scandinavian element in England Danish rule in England the 
 character of the Danes as shewn in their conflict with the English 
 Danish influence on language to some extent destructive Danish loan- 
 words not numerous, but many of them characteristic of their source 
 terms connected with law, with the sea, with war general terms 
 amount of indebtedness implied by the loan-words evidence from 
 Middle English literature of borrowing in earlier times Danish words 
 in the literature and in dialects the determination of a Scandinavian 
 origin for words used in English Danish characteristics in English 
 
 pp. 129150 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Object of the chapter general remarks on the Old English specimens, 
 variety of subjects treated in them, Christian influence strongly marked, 
 the language of Southern England mostly represented King Alfred 
 as a writer his translations, Gregory's Cura Pastoralis, Orosius' 
 History, Boethius' De Consolatione Philosophiae specimen of his 
 original composition Alfred and the Old English Chronicles speci- 
 men of these Annals other works associated with Alfred his influence 
 on later times yElfric and his writings specimen of his style 
 Wulfstan as a contrast to ^Elfric other Old English prose works 
 grouped according to subjects Glosses and Glossaries poetical litera- 
 ture Kentish, Mercian, and Northumbrian specimens the retention 
 of the Old English vocabulary in that of Modern English illustration 
 from the works of Alfred and /Elfric the employment of the Old 
 English element by later writers illustrated . . pp. 151 173 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 The early West- Saxon vowel system and the development it shews the 
 common Teutonic vowel system changes in the consonant structure of 
 words which have already taken place in the oldest English doubling 
 of consonants loss of consonants early writing use of the Latin 
 alphabet use of Runes grammatical forms common to many Ian-
 
 Contents. xiii 
 
 guages the noun and its inflection in modern English inferences 
 that may be drawn from them scheme of Old English declensions 
 weak and strong declensions early loss and confusion of grammatical 
 forms continuousness of change later history of change different 
 conditions of Northern and Southern English prepositions instead of 
 case-endings declension of the adjective its case-endings preserved 
 by the pronouns comparison the conjugation of the verb strong 
 verbs scheme of these in Old English reduplication in verbs weak 
 verbs scheme of these in Old English traces of an earlier scheme 
 evidence from Gothic preterite-present verbs verbs in -mi presents 
 with infixed n mood person changes in conjugation since the Old 
 English period Anglo-Saxon and English . . pp. 174 202 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 Traces of foreign influence in English before the Norman Conquest slight 
 difference between conditions of Norman influence and those of earlier 
 influences the term Norman- French Latin in Gaul its character 
 the Franks in Gaul they adopt the language of the conquered the 
 Northmen in France they adopt the language of France Norman 
 influence in England before 1066 the Norman Conquest fusion of 
 Norman and English French in England a mark of race a mark of 
 class use of French in the I4th century disuse of French after 1350 
 in schools among the upper classes as an official language Latin 
 of the Third Period loss of old words limitation in the use of old 
 material English after 1066 the position of English dialects con- 
 tinuous series of English writings the English Chronicle in 1154 tne 
 Southern dialect c. 1200 the Ancren Riwle Layamon's Brut the 
 East Midland dialect the Ormulum the Southern dialect c. 1300 
 Robert of Gloucester's Chronicle its vocabulary its grammar the 
 East Midland dialect Robert of Brunne's Handlyng Synne the 
 Northern dialect the Northumbrian Psalter the Kentish dialect 
 the Ayenbite of Inwyt literary English of the latter half of the I4th 
 century specimen from Chaucer foreign element in its vocabulary 
 Old English element grammatical forms contrasts between the 
 language of literature in the nth and in the i4th centuries. 
 
 pp. 203239
 
 xiv Contents. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Important events in the isth century; geographical discoveries, the fall of 
 Constantinople, the invention of printing specimens of isth cen- 
 tury English, Occleve's Governail of Princes, Pecock's Represser, 
 Malory's Morte Darthur effects of printing classical learning in 
 England in the i6th century influence of modern languages on 
 English in the i6th century Ascham's criticism of English Wilson 
 on English style excessive use of foreign words the locality of the 
 best English description of the Court satires on the abuses in lan- 
 guage masque by Sidney Shakspere's Lovers Labour's Lost Spenser's 
 attempt to revive obsolete words style in English writers Euphuism 
 its popularity extract from Euphues Drayton on Euphuism 
 good English in the i6th century Lord Berners' translation of 
 Froissart's Chronicle Tyndal's translation of the New Testament 
 Sir T. More's Confutation of Tyndal North's Plutarch Sidney's 
 Apologie for Poetrie ...... pp. 240 270 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 The language of the early part of the i/th century classical studies 
 Burton his Anatomy of Melancholy Sir Thomas Browne's Vulgar 
 Errors its scientific vocabulary Milton's Areopagitica its vocabu- 
 lary its style Dryden's Essay of Dramatic Poetry modern in 
 vocabulary and style writers of the first half of the i8th century 
 Addison and Swift on words from foreign languages Johnson and his 
 style example of Addison's style Johnson's criticism of it contrast 
 to it shewn by Johnson's style in the Rambler influence of Johnson 
 on the language of his time his influence not permanent English in 
 the igth century the earlier history of the language indicated by its 
 present form ........ pp. 271 284
 
 OUTLINES OF THE HISTORY OF 
 THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 The history of a language a record of change self-adjusting character of 
 language inevitability of change views of some English writers on 
 the possibility of arresting change different kinds of change illus- 
 trated connection between names and things illustrations from 
 English metaphorical language development of that part of the 
 vocabulary which expresses abstract ideas change of form in words 
 general purpose of the chapter. 
 
 1. WITH the speech we use it is somewhat as with the 
 land we live in familiarity with an object, our 
 
 Language 
 
 idea of which is not disturbed by the conscious- an implement 
 ness of rapid or extensive change, makes us unapt co l n n . dei 
 to notice the evidence that bears witness to the tinupus modi- 
 conditions under which each has come to take 
 the familiar form. Examination of the country, however, leads 
 to the discovery of a story of extreme interest, that tells of various 
 change, of violent disturbance or of gradual modification, of 
 forces which have left their enduring impressions to be the 
 witnesses of their existence a story which finds confirma- 
 tion and illustration from comparison of our own with other 
 countries. A like story, not less interesting, belongs to the 
 speech a story of continuous change under influences of vary- 
 ing intensity ; and as one story tells how a country became the 
 T. I
 
 2 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 fitting home of those who live in it, so the other tells how the 
 speech became the fitting implement of those who use it. It 
 is an implement, however, we learn to use so early, that later 
 we are unconscious that there was any difficulty in the learning ; 
 and we are as apt to forget that this so easily acquired language 
 is the outcome of long ages of development, as to ignore the 
 varied story of the ground on which we tread. 
 
 But if we come to think a little of our implement we shall 
 find it to be an instance of wonderful continuous self-adjustment. 
 Take the main elements of modern English, the material which 
 is drawn from Old English, Latin and Greek ; even if we go 
 no further back than historic times in the case of each, yet the 
 use of such material implies that the same material that could 
 serve the purpose of language for those who lived under the 
 conditions which belonged to the old Englishman, the Latin 
 and the Greek, can still serve that purpose for those who live 
 under the widely different conditions of modern England. The 
 different life has not necessitated the creation of new material, 
 it has needed merely the adaptation of the old. But, further, 
 behind historic times lie others of yet simpler life, when the 
 same process of adaptation was going on ; and taking historic 
 and prehistoric times together we get the wonderful develop- 
 ment which produced from language material that served the 
 purpose of simplest life, the main part of a speech that meets 
 the needs of modern England. 
 
 A special case in the story of development, that should 
 perhaps be noticed, is suggested by the reference to Old English 
 and Latin and Greek. In very many instances material that 
 has been shaped elsewhere has been transferred to England ; 
 words that had got their force and form from use by Latin or 
 Greek started on a new course among new surroundings. But, 
 from the point of view of the continuous development we are 
 trying to consider, it is still old material we have to deal with, 
 not a new creation, as much as "if we were dealing with native 
 English words. In steam-engine and telegraph Old English,
 
 Chapter I. 3 
 
 Latin and Greek are represented, but each form is in the 
 same way a case of the application of old material to new uses. 
 2. But though material which is in use at one time may 
 still be used with more or less modification at Modification 
 a later, yet this continued life does not belong in language 
 
 ... . . . ,. . inevitable: 
 
 to all words; and this change in the direction views on this 
 of loss as well as the other, in the direction of jo^on 
 modification, follows necessarily from the nature Swift, 
 of the work required of language. Language is Puttenham - 
 the expression of thought ; that with which the mind can con- 
 cern itself needs words to express it. A people's language must 
 be in proportion to their knowledge ; with changed conditions 
 must come corresponding change in language. Old material, 
 if retained, must often adapt itself to new uses, while in other 
 cases that which is denoted by a word either no longer remains 
 an object for the mind to consider, or another word is chosen to 
 denote it : in either case there is loss of old material. And here 
 it may be not uninteresting to notice how far the irresistible 
 and uncontrollable character of change in language has been 
 appreciated by some who have had occasion to observe the 
 effects of that change. Johnson in the preface to his Dictionary 
 confesses that he had for a while flattered himself with the hope 
 that his work ' should fix our language, and put a stop to those 
 alterations which time and chance have hitherto been suffered 
 to make in it without opposition.' But further experience 
 brought him to the conclusion that with justice would 'the 
 lexicographer be derided, who, being able to produce no 
 example of a nation that has preserved their words and phrases 
 from mutability, shall imagine that his dictionary can secure 
 his language from corruption and decay, that it is in his power 
 to change sublunary nature, and clear the world at once from 
 folly, vanity, and affectation.' Somewhat earlier Swift had 
 written 'A proposal for correcting, improving, and ascertaining 
 the English tongue, in a letter to the Lord High Treasurer ' ; 
 in this he says, 'What I have most at heart is, that some 
 
 i z
 
 4 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 method should be thought on for ascertaining and fixing our 
 language for ever after such alterations are made in it as 
 shall be thought requisite.' The true state of the case had 
 been realised by a yet earlier writer, Puttenham, who in his 
 Arte of English Poesie (1589) concludes a chapter on language 
 by this rendering of some lines of Horace : 
 
 Many a word yfalne shall eft arise, 
 And such as now bene held in hiest prise 
 Will fall as fast, when use and custom will, 
 Onely umpiers of speach, for force and skill. 
 
 3. And of the inability of the individual to anticipate or 
 
 The com- control the verdict of these 'onely umpiers' the 
 
 munity, not same chapter gives examples. The writer, when 
 
 the individual, j i 
 
 decides what considering the appropriateness of some of the 
 bTcorrect- 1 newer words he has used, looks with as much 
 illustrations favour upon placation and assubtiling, as upon 
 function and refining; while on the other hand 
 audacious, egregious and compatible, equally wiihfacundity, implete 
 and attemptat, it is admitted, are 'not so well to be allowed of us.' 
 Swifr, too, will illustrate the same point by his comment upon 
 words that now are generally accepted. In 'A letter to a young 
 clergyman' he says, 'I defy the greatest divine to produce any 
 law either of God or man, which obliges me to comprehend the 
 meaning of omniscience, omnipresence, ubiquity, attribute, beatific 
 vision, with a thousand others so frequent in pulpits, any more 
 than that of eccentric, idiosyncrasy, entity and the like.' On words 
 of another class Swift's great contemporary, Addison, looked 
 with a disfavour which has not in all cases been felt by later 
 times. Thanks to the wars, foreign words were coming in to 
 the language, and, to judge by No. CLXV. of the Spectator, 
 Add i son's vote was given against morass, reconnoitre, defile, 
 marauding, army corps, gasconade, carte blanche; but time has 
 shewn that he voted with the minority. And that the individual 
 is as powerless to prolong the life of the old or to recover the
 
 Chapter I. 5 
 
 lost, as to prevent the introduction of the new, may be seen in 
 the case of Spenser, of whom Ben Jonson in his Discoveries 
 declared, and use in later times has practically justified the 
 statement, that 'Spenser, in affecting the ancients, writ no 
 language.' 
 
 What has just been said may suggest that change in the 
 vocabulary, whether in the direction of gain or of loss, is 
 determined as it were by an unconscious plebiscite. Words, 
 whether old or new, are always liable to challenge ; with 
 changed conditions of life it may be a question whether a 
 word be any longer necessary, and where a new word presents 
 itself it may be a question whether it be the fittest for the 
 work. l Politienj says Puttenham in the previously quoted 
 chapter, 'at this day usuall in Court, and with all good secre- 
 taries: and cannot find an English word to match him': the 
 word is presented, is tried, is not without merit in some eyes, 
 but the vote is given against it, and it disappears. 
 
 4. This change by way of gain or loss may be very 
 abundantly illustrated in the case of English. 
 
 _.. ,.. i_ j i i Modification 
 
 To the instances already given may be added by gain or loss 
 others, some of which may perhaps be of service of (rtMirrfi 
 in throwing light upon the progress of language in f modification 
 
 .. _ . , - in knowledge. 
 
 prehistoric times. Consider for example the revo- 
 lution involved in the acceptance of Christianity by the English. 
 Words connected with their earlier form of faith disappeared; 
 the Gothic gudja and the Icelandic gofti are native words for 
 priest, but no corresponding form remains in English. The 
 names of the gods, Tiw, Woden, Thunor were lost, though here 
 we have a case in which, as it were, fossil remains can bear 
 witness to the earlier living forms, for the names of the days of 
 the week remained in Christian times. Take a pursuit that 
 has been followed from earliest till latest times, but under ever 
 varying conditions that of war; the vocabulary of its terms 
 has been continually diminishing and enlarging, as one method 
 of warfare is supplanted by another ; the earlier weapons are
 
 6 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 to be found only in a museum, and their names must be 
 looked for in a dictionary of archaic words. Science, too, has 
 changed; the terms of the chemist take the place of those of 
 the alchemist, whose vocabulary becomes obsolete, as anyone 
 may see who will read Ben Jonson's play. 
 
 But loss is not due alone to the fact that ideas no longer 
 
 (a) as a result need to be expressed, or gain alone to the fact 
 
 of competition t ^ at new jd eas need expression. There may be 
 
 between ... . . .. 
 
 words of like competition between words that are practically 
 meaning. equivalent, and this was often the case, as we 
 
 shall see later, after the Norman Conquest, when those who 
 had been called Angel-^^f came under the influence of a 
 speech which was to supply material for their later appellation 
 the English people. But the same occurs with English words ; 
 the old }>d dies out, and \onne (then) does its work; mid in the 
 same way yields to with; sooth almost entirely disappears, its 
 place being taken by true; except as a dialect form heo 
 (Lancashire hoo) is ousted by she; and in the declension of the 
 same pronoun the whole plural (hi, hiera, him) has been given 
 up in favour of the demonstrative they, their, them. The two 
 last changes may perhaps be taken as suggestive of selection 
 in much earlier times, when we note that of a pronoun so 
 common in English as is he, so little use is made by German, 
 that the form heute is almost the only instance of its occurrence. 
 5. From adaptation by means of loss or gain we may turn 
 Modification to another case, that in which the material of 
 by alteration language is preserved, but with altered value. 
 
 oi meaning : r 
 
 the relation And the possibility of such adaptation depends 
 word-Tand upon the character of the connection between 
 
 things. a wor d an( j that which the word denotes. In 
 
 its origin a word is a symbol which, being expressive of what 
 is considered the main attribute of some thing, will serve to 
 denote that thing. For instance (taking for granted a not 
 quite certain etymology), the distinctive attribute of one of the 
 heavenly bodies seems to have been for our forefathers that
 
 Chapter I. 7 
 
 it enabled them to measure time, and the word they used to 
 mark it its name was moon. But things may have many 
 attributes, and not all people are equally impressed by each, so 
 that with different people the same thing will have different 
 names. The forefathers of the Latin race seem to have been 
 most impressed by the brilliancy of the same heavenly body, 
 and this brightness determines their name, lu(c}na. It is the 
 same process in each case; the selection of an attribute, and 
 then the application of some form expressive of such attribute 
 to serve as a name for the thing. Now consider the case 
 of a word that has so arisen. The object to which it belongs, 
 if it still remains for the users of the word to exercise 
 their minds on, may present itself to them in a very different 
 light from that in which it shewed itself to the originators of 
 the word; just as in earlier times it may have struck different 
 people differently (cf. moon and luna above). For us the moon 
 is not specially the measurer of time; it is rather as the earth's 
 attendant that we think of it, and so to us the moon suggests 
 a different idea; so much so that we can use it of a body 
 which stands to another in a relation like that of the moon to 
 the earth ; we can speak of Jupiter's moons, though in this 
 case the original idea of measuring time has no place. The 
 connection between word and thing is such, that it does not 
 restrict to the latter the application of the former. And this 
 naturally. For consider how we get at the meaning of a word; 
 it is in the end a matter of inference; a word is used, we note 
 with more or less accuracy the circumstances in which it is 
 used, and thence infer the meaning. A word is a ticket that 
 is not indissolubly and exclusively the property of the thing 
 it may once have marked. If the first naming of a thing may 
 be compared with the marking of it by a ticket denoting its 
 main attribute, the later history of the word may be compared 
 with the transference of that ticket to another object, which 
 has some attribute in common with the first, and its use 
 to mark the new object; and the transference may go on
 
 8 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 indefinitely. Our inference of the meaning of a word is the 
 assumption that the ticket is to mark a certain attribute, and 
 where that attribute exists, there we use our ticket. But it may 
 very well happen that we are thinking of a very different attri- 
 bute from that which was intended at an earlier time, and thus 
 the use of the ticket is changed, i.e. the word has changed its 
 meaning. It will be seen how important to the economical 
 development of language is (to continue the figure) this ready 
 transference of tickets, by which old tickets may be used for 
 new objects, instead of making new ones. 
 
 6. In illustration of what has just been said, a few common 
 ... t . English words may be considered. In the oldest 
 
 Illustrations ? 
 
 ofs. Knight, English knight and knave (the old forms are 
 knave, cniht and cnapa} could be used with much the 
 
 same meaning. Thus those whom ^Elfric in his treatise on 
 the New Testament speaks of as 'iunge cnihtas,' he calls 
 'cnapan' directly afterwards; and in Matt. xii. 18, where the 
 West-Saxon translator renders puer by cnapa, the North- 
 umbrian gloss has cnceht: Ine's laws speak of a ten-year-old 
 cniht ; in the metrical paraphrase of Genesis, the angel in 
 restraining Abraham from the sacrifice of Isaac is made to 
 say : ' fu cwicne abregd cniht of ade ' ; while in the prose trans- 
 lation of the passage telling of Hagar and her child in the 
 wilderness, Ishmael is called cnapa, and the same word is used 
 in speaking of Joseph when he is cast into the pit. The 
 original idea in the case of each word seems to be that of youth. 
 But youth is a time of subordination, of service, and already in 
 the oldest English the words are used of attendants or servants, 
 without necessarily implying youth. Thus in Gen. xxiv. 65 
 cniht is used of one described in v. 2 as servus senior; and in 
 the translation of Boethius, Ulysses' followers are spoken of as 
 cnihtas ealde ge giunge (Met. 26, 85) ; in Luke xii. 45 percutere 
 pueros et ancillas is translated ' beatan Ipa. cnihtas and Jnnena,' 
 and in Gen. xxii. 5 Abraham's two servants are called cnapan. 
 Now two directions in which the idea of service might develop
 
 Chapter I. 9 
 
 are suggested by special senses, military and domestic, of our 
 word service the service has the one, to be in service has the 
 other. The former idea became associated with cniht (^Elfric 
 translates ' non sine causa portat miles gladium ' by ' Ne byr5 
 na se cniht butan intingan his swurd '), the latter with cnapa, 
 But military matters changed with the coming of the Normans. 
 Apparently the English made little use of cavalry. In the 
 poem on the battle of Maldon (991) we are told that the 
 English leader made his men leave their horses, and he him- 
 self, after drawing up his forces, dismounted. And the A.-S. 
 Chronicle (1055) gives as a reason for the ill success of 
 the English, under the leadership of the Norman Raulf, in a 
 fight with the Welsh, ' they were on horses.' This method of 
 warfare, however, became familiar after the Norman Conquest ; 
 accordingly we find from Layamon (c. 1 200) that the cniht was 
 becoming a horseman, eques rather than miles : 
 
 cnihtes... 
 
 mid wepnen and mid horsen, 
 
 swa behoueth to cnihtes. III. 6. 
 
 But not every mounted soldier was to be a cniht, any more 
 than every such is to be accounted among a nation's chivalry. 
 The knight came to be the soldier of distinguished bravery, who 
 received his title for his prowess. The word came to be a 
 military title. But it does not remain with this limitation ; the 
 title was conferred on other grounds. Sir Andrew Aguecheek 
 was a knight 'dubb'd with unhatch'd rapier, and on carpet 
 consideration '; and, thanks to the way in which the title was 
 conferred, it ran some risk of losing its honourable character. 
 The change that has been brought about in the word may be 
 further illustrated by comparing the use of knighthood in the 
 older and later times. ' Our cnththdd,' says ^Elfric, ' is as the 
 third hour of the day '; while Scott can say, 
 
 Knighthood he took of Douglas' sword 
 When English blood swelled Ancram ford.
 
 IO Outlines of tlie History of the English Language. 
 
 While knight may be taken as an instance of the ascent of 
 a word in the scale of dignity, knave is a case of descent. 
 Coming down to Chaucer's time it is used, irrespective of age, 
 to denote a servant : 
 
 Who saued Danyel in the horrible caue 
 
 Ther euery wyght saue he, maister and knave, 
 
 Was with the leoun frete. M. of L. 474. 
 
 And in the contemporary Vision of Piers the Plowman, 
 
 'I shal arraye me to ride,' quod resoun, 'reste the a while' 
 And called Catoun his knave. Pass. iv. 16. 
 
 And from the same poem it may be seen that knight and 
 knave had so far developed that they can be contrasted : 
 
 For in charnel atte chirche, cherles ben yuel to knowe, 
 Or a kni^te from a knaue there, knowe this in thin herte. 
 
 Text C, IX. 51. 
 
 The meaning of servant it still had in Shakspere's time, 
 as when Shylock speaks of his house, 
 
 left in the fearful guard 
 Of an unthrifty knave. M> of V. I. 3. 
 
 But it has also another, the origin of which is suggested by 
 the quotation. Quite another attribute than service seems to 
 have been noted as the badge of the servant tribe roguery ; 
 so whether in service or not the rogue was called a knave. 
 ' A rascally, yea-forsooth knave,' says Falstaff of the unaccom- 
 modating mercer. It is in this last sense almost exclusively 
 that the word is now used, though, again, we have as it were 
 the fossil that tells of earlier life in the knave of a pack of 
 cards. It has come to pass, then, by gradual change that two 
 words, which for the old Englishman were so near together 
 that he could render the same Latin word by them, now stand 
 at opposite ends of the scale the honourable knight, and the 
 infamous knave. The same two words may be further utilised 
 to shew how the same material develops on quite different
 
 Chapter I. II 
 
 lines in different places, for the German knecht and knabe do 
 not at all correspond to our knight and knave. 
 
 The word town may be taken as an instance of a form 
 adapting itself to varying requirements. The 
 early idea connected with it is that of enclosure ; 
 in old English leac-/?2 (leek-town), and wyrt-/un (wort-town) 
 denote a garden, and there is the verb tynan = to close ; and 
 German still has Zaun hedge. A further development is seen 
 in the Icelandic use of the word, where it refers to an enclosure 
 within which a house is built, and so can denote the farmhouse 
 with its buildings. The like use is found in English, as when in 
 Luke xv. 15 the Latin villa is translated in the earliest version 
 by tun, and in Wicklif's by toun. But in England habitations 
 were not so isolated as in Iceland, and the term which in one 
 country is applied to a single dwelling, was used in the other of 
 a group. We need not, however, go so far as Iceland to 
 illustrate the former use, but may quote Scott, where he says, 
 ' Waverley learned... that in Scotland a single house was called 
 a town} And the quotation may be taken as suggestive of the 
 varying fortunes of the word, when we find from it that Tully- 
 Veolan and Edinburgh are equally entitled to the name of 
 town. 
 
 Even words whose force might seem incapable of modifi- 
 cation may yet acquire new significance. The 
 pronoun of the second person might be thought 
 to give little scope for change, but the Elizabethan literature, 
 or the history of the early Quakers, will shew how much more 
 than a mere grammatical difference, which was all that sepa- 
 rated them in the earlier time, had come to distinguish thou 
 and^<?#. The latter had come to be considered the respect- 
 ful form of address in speaking to a single person. Thus it 
 will be noticed in the scene between the king and his son, 
 i Henry IV. Act in. Sc. ii., you is always used by the 
 latter, but thou by the former. To use thou to a superior, 
 or to an equal who was not an intimate, was an affront,
 
 12 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 and hence came Sir Toby Belch's malicious advice to Sir 
 Andrew Aguecheek, ' Taunt him with the licence of ink : if 
 thou thou'st him some thrice, it shall not be^miss.' T. N. 
 Act in. Sc. ii. But from the records of real life the point 
 may best be illustrated. George Fox taught his followers to 
 adhere to a grammatical accuracy, which, as he pointed out, 
 even those who were most exacting in their demand for the 
 honourable you, still observed where the highest honour was 
 to be paid in addressing the Deity. How much more was 
 involved than a mere question of language may be seen from 
 this passage in his Journal : ' Few afterwards were so rugged 
 toward us for saying Thou and Thee to a single person, for 
 which before they were exceedingly fierce against us. Thou 
 and Thee was a sore cut to proud flesh, and them that sought 
 self-honour, who, though they would say it to God and Christ, 
 would not endure to have it said to themselves. So that we 
 were often beaten and abused, and sometimes in danger of our 
 lives, for using those words to some proud men, who would 
 say, " What ! you ill-bred clown, do you Thou me ? " as though 
 Christian breeding consisted in saying You to one ; which is 
 contrary to all their grammar and teaching books, by which 
 they instructed their youth,' p. 293. Since this was written 
 use has once more changed : thou now belongs to poetry or to 
 exalted prose, and it may yet be heard in dialects (e.g. 
 Lancashire), while you is the form of ordinary speech. But 
 at the present time the German Du has much of the force 
 of the Elizabethan thou, and the French verb tutoyer iQ thou 
 (see above) a person suggests that in French tu has been some- 
 thing more than the mere singular of vous. 
 
 7. Another means of economical development of language 
 material is afforded by the practice of extending 
 
 Economical J r ....... 
 
 extension of the application of a word beyond its first limits 
 means of by an ^ using it to denote that which bears some 
 metaphorical, likeness to the original which the word denoted. 
 
 figurative use : ,.,.,, 
 
 Thus for the attendant bodies, which above have
 
 Chapter I. 13 
 
 been referred to as moons, we might use the word satellites, 
 because they are as it were the body-guards of the larger bodies 
 round which they revolve. The importance of this kind of 
 development is at once evident, when it is considered in the 
 first place, that, as the terms imply, all metaphorical, figurative 
 speech is owing to such extension, and next how far language 
 is metaphorical. By way of statement of the case and at the 
 same time illustration of it we may take this passage from 
 Carlyle : 'Language is called the Garment of Thought: how- 
 ever, it should rather be, Language is the Flesh-garment, the 
 Body, of Thought. I said that Imagination wove this Flesh- 
 garment ; and does not she ? Metaphors are her stuff : examine 
 Language; what, if you except some few primitive elements 
 (of natural sound), what is it all but metaphors, recognised 
 as such, or no longer recognised ; still fluid and florid, or now 
 solid-grown and colourless? If those same primitive elements 
 are the osseous fixtures in the Flesh-garment, Language then 
 are Metaphors its muscles and tissues and living integuments. 
 An unmetaphorical style you shall in vain seek for : is not your 
 very Attention a Stretching- to? The difference lies here: some 
 styles are lean, adust, wiry, the muscle itself seems osseous ; 
 some are even quite pallid, hunger-bitten and dead-looking; 
 while others again glow in the flush of health and vigorous 
 self-growth, sometimes not without an apoplectic tendency.' 
 Sartor Resartus, p. 64. Where, as this passage points out, 
 material is so abundant, selection is difficult; we may take 
 a particular case, that in which the terms of terms of 
 special pursuits are transferred to the vocabulary g^"^^ 1 '" 
 of general terms. Such instances may serve to generally: 
 suggest for early times a development like that which they 
 themselves shew, and further to illustrate slightly the point, 
 that a language reflects the condition of the people who use 
 it, inasmuch as they imply that such pursuits have strongly 
 engaged the attention of those in whose language they are 
 found. Naturally those who have had as much to do with
 
 14 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 the water as have the English will adopt into their speech the 
 phraseology which is born on that element ; to sail near the 
 wind, to take the wind out of one's sails, to be on such and such a 
 tack, to put in one's oar, to be all in the same boat, to clear the 
 deck, to stem the tide, against the stream, have all been transferred 
 to land. War has given us such phrases as to lay siege to, to 
 take by storm ; and the tournament has left its traces in to enter 
 the lists, and to break a lance for a person or a cause. From 
 hunting and fowling we get run to earth, at bay, on the scent, tc 
 make a dead set, decoy, at one fell swoop, to fly at high game. 
 From fencing comes to parry, a home thrust; from archery to 
 be a butt, to hit the mark ; rub and bias we owe to the game of 
 bowls, handicap to racing ; to take one's cue, to play a part, tell 
 of the theatre ; and gambling, which had as strong a hold upon 
 the early Teuton as it has upon his latest descendant, has left 
 its mark in to play for a great stake, the die is cast, within an ace, 
 above board, a sure card, to turn up trumps. The few instances 
 just given may not, in all cases, be allowed the dignity of 
 literary English, but they deserve notice as illustrating a kind 
 of development which may very well have done much in the 
 early times of a language to increase its powers of ex- 
 pression. 
 
 As an instance of the possibilities of development in the 
 development case of material which to begin with is of sim- 
 mear^ngs'of 11 plest meaning the prepositions may be taken, 
 prepositions: which starting with the expression of local rela- 
 tions come o express relations that have some analogy or 
 connection with the local, but are of a far more abstract 
 character. Thus by denotes local nearness, to stand by a 
 person, in its literal sense, is to stand near him; but it has 
 the other meaning, to assist him, which naturally follows from 
 the former, because in order to give assistance to a person one 
 must be near him. The same phrase has yet another sense y 
 the opposite of the preceding, as in ' Stand by, I am holier than 
 thou.' Again, as the agent or the instrument may be expected
 
 Chapter I. 15 
 
 to be near that upon which either operates, agency and instru- 
 mentality are marked by the word. So, too, a person must get 
 near that which he obtains, and we can speak of coming by 
 anything, meaning getting possession of it. But we can also say 
 to come by train, where it is means we are marking. Nearness 
 may also imply agreement, and by all accounts is much the 
 same as according to all accounts. In the same way for, which 
 marks one thing as being in front of another, admits of ex- 
 tension. To be in front of another is to be in the position of a 
 defender, we may fight for a person ; or the idea of advocate or 
 representative is suggested, we may plead for, or act for, another. 
 Hindrance, again, may be marked, for aught I can see ; or 
 cause, they did it for envy. And it is the same with all the 
 words of this class. 
 
 Other illustrations of development, where from a supposed 
 connection between the material and the non- 
 
 ... , , . . , application 
 
 material the words which denote the former have to the non- 
 given rise to those which denote the latter, are f 1316 * 1 of 
 
 terms denot- 
 
 seen in the following. We speak of a person as ing the 
 being jovial, or mercurial, or saturnine; the words 
 are derived from the names of the planets, which according to 
 the belief of an earlier time could influence the dispositions of 
 men. The moon, too, could exercise an influence, and hence 
 the word lunatic. Or, again, we have courage, melancholy, 
 phlegmatic, choleric ; the words are based on the names of parts 
 of the body, which parts were supposed to be in some way 
 connected with the qualities denoted by the words. And 
 the words remain, although the beliefs to which they are due 
 may now be rejected. One other instance of this class may 
 be considered rather more fully, as in this case the stages 
 between an early simple physical meaning, and a later one 
 that has been found not very easy to define, are fairly marked. 
 We may look to Ben Jonson for an explanation of the develop- 
 ment which the word humour had reached in his time, and 
 may note in passing, that development becomes degradation,
 
 1 6 Outlines of tfie History of the English Language. 
 
 if a language is shaped by careless users, as when humour was 
 being maltreated by Corporal Nym and his kind. Very properly 
 objecting to such abuse, he desired, as he says in the Induction 
 to Every Man out of his Humour, 
 
 To give these ignorant well-spoken days 
 
 Some taste of their abuse of this word humour. 
 
 And then explains what is the proper use according to its 
 
 derivation : 
 
 We do conclude 
 
 That whatso'er hath fluxure and humidity 
 Is humour. So in every human body, 
 The choler, melancholy, phlegm, and blood, 
 By reason that they flow continually 
 In some one part, and are not continent, 
 Receive the name of humours. Now thus far 
 It may, by metaphor, apply itself 
 Unto the general disposition : 
 As when some one peculiar quality 
 Doth so possess a man, that it doth draw 
 All his effects, his spirits, and his powers, 
 In their confluctions, all to run one way; 
 This may be truly said to be a humour. 
 
 It was in this sense that the word was used by Ben Jonson 
 in the titles to his two plays, Every Man in his Humour and 
 Every Man out of his Humour, and the adjective humorous 
 meant that a person was marked by this kind of humour, as in 
 the title to another play, The Humorous Lieutenant. Something 
 of the old meaning remains in good- or ill-humoured, or the 
 less-used humoursome ; but mostly we connect a very different 
 idea with the words humour, and humorous, than that which 
 belonged to them in Ben Jonson's time. 
 
 8. So far it has been from one point of view only that 
 words have been looked at in respect to their 
 
 Modification 
 
 of the sounds work of conveying a meaning. But there is 
 of a language: ano ther point to be taken into account, where 
 again the question of change arises there is the spoken
 
 Chapter I. 17 
 
 form of a word, its pronunciation. And here from the nature 
 of the case, quite as much as with the meaning, change is 
 unavoidable. For the transmission of the spoken forms of 
 words is due to successive imitations ; each individual attempts 
 to reproduce that which he hears uttered, and while the result 
 of the attempt must of course be so far successful, that the 
 reproduction is recognisable as an imitation of its original, yet 
 such success does not require or attain, at least over long periods 
 or in the case of all words, exactness. Taking then even a 
 form of speech which is current among so limited a community 
 that at any particular time it may be considered practically 
 uniform, it is certain that the descendants of such a community 
 will not preserve the speech unchanged in this respect. English 
 has had so varied a history that, as might be as in the case 
 expected, it will offer abundant illustration of vowelsln 6 
 such change ; for example, the long vowel-sounds English, 
 of the old stdn, cwen, writan, to}>, ut are in no cases kept in 
 the modern stone, queen, write, tooth, out. Further, as is 
 suggested by a comparison of writan with write, parts of a 
 word may be lost in the course of successive transmissions ; 
 no infinitive now has the old termination, and most of the 
 inflections have suffered the same fate. Words, too, get 
 contracted by those who will not make the effort necessary 
 for giving each part of a word distinctly, as when feowertlne 
 niht is contracted to fortnight. The change under consideration 
 has been so great that hardly a word, which both was used 
 in Alfred's time and is used in our own, has the same form, 
 written and spoken, at both times. 
 
 Only very slightly has the adaptability of language to ever- 
 varying needs of expression been illustrated. The intention 
 with which such illustration as has been given is offered, has 
 been in the first place to suggest that, if we even cursorily 
 examine English as it is found during a not very extended 
 period, we shall see changes of such a kind and extent as to 
 make it appear possible that, if time be allowed for similar 
 T. 2
 
 1 8 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 changes to be worked out, language material, that did no more 
 than satisfy the needs of a primitive state of existence, might 
 have been a sufficient origin for the language of an advanced 
 civilization like that of England to-day. And in the second place 
 to suggest what a wonderful instance of development is furnished 
 by such a language as English, what interest might be found 
 in its history.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Relation to one another, and to the common original, of languages which 
 have had a common source England and America the languages of 
 modern Europe their likeness likeness due to borrowing likeness 
 due to common origin the case of the Romance languages regular 
 differences between Latin and English worked out the case of the 
 two languages parallel to that of the Romance languages the light 
 hence thrown upon English by Latin other languages may be 
 associated with English further knowledge of English which is thus 
 gained other languages may be associated with Latin the Aryan 
 family the classification of the Germanic or Teutonic group its 
 oldest monuments the likeness of their vocabularies illustrated light 
 thrown by languages on the condition of those who spoke them 
 unique position of English. 
 
 1. THE extent and character of change in the language 
 of a country has been slightly illustrated in the 
 
 preceding chapter by the help of some common to e another" 
 
 English words. As an introduction to the present and to the 
 
 chapter a particular case of change in a language, original" of 
 
 which also may be illustrated from the later his- lan e a p s 
 
 J which have 
 
 tory of English, may be noticed ; that, namely, had a common 
 where from the migration of a section of the case C ofEng^ 
 main body of its speakers a language develops land and 
 
 , , ,._. ,. . America. 
 
 simultaneously under different conditions. Such 
 is the case of English in England and in the United States ; and 
 already there are differences noticeable when the speech of one 
 country is compared with that of the other ; e.g. though guess 
 and calculate are current in both, yet neither is used in both 
 
 2 2
 
 2O Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 with exactly the same force ; dollar and cent are not ours ; the 
 pronunciation of America is not that of England. Taking, then, 
 English both in its old home and in lands to which its speakers 
 have migrated, we may get a suggestion of what might happen 
 in the case of the language material of a community whose 
 descendants after long time should be found in widely scattered 
 groups, each group having been subjected to conditions different 
 alike from those of the parent community and from those of 
 every other group. The American and the Englishman can 
 still for the most part understand one another, but if it were 
 possible to bring together the subjects of King Alfred and 
 those of Queen Victoria, they would be mutually unintelligible. 
 And so with the groups we have supposed : the description of 
 the state of things at Babel might in time come to be applicable 
 to them they might not understand one another's speech ; nor 
 might they understand the speech of the parent community 
 from which they had descended. Now this condition of mutual 
 unintellieribility, which we have taken to be a 
 
 Can the ..",.' . . . 
 
 languages of possible result in the case supposed, is practically 
 EurcTTbe J ust w ^ at exists among the various peoples of 
 
 taken as an- Europe ; the present actual condition agrees 
 with the result that might be expected on the 
 hypothesis that a single speech had had varied opportunities 
 of development. Can we find reasons for supposing that the 
 actual condition of the early times agrees equally well with this 
 hypothetical case, and in respect to a Babel-like multiplicity of 
 languages in modern Europe can we say, as did the old observer 
 of language in respect to the earlier 'confusion of tongues,' that 
 at some previous time there had been ' one language and one 
 speech ' ? An examination of the languages in question will 
 furnish an answer. 
 
 2. Though they are so far different that they are spoken 
 of as distinct speeches, yet in almost all cases 
 aiikef y are when they are compared with one another like- 
 ness is to be recognised. Likeness, however,
 
 Chapter II. 21 
 
 may be due to various causes. There is that kind of likeness, 
 so often occurring in English, which is due to Lik 
 borrowing. Many of our words are like Latin due to borrow- 
 words, but that is because they practically are 
 Latin ; they are merely Latin words shaped by English speakers. 
 There is, again, the likeness of French, Italian, Likeness due 
 and Spanish words, which, as we know, is due origin^ 'and 
 to the fact that they have a common origin, accompanied 
 
 B ' by regular 
 
 viz. Latin. Here we can see the same material difference. 
 
 being shaped independently by different sets of ^uH 
 speakers according to laws which may be de- languages. 
 duced from an examination of the material on which they 
 have operated. Thus Latin veritat- gives rise to French verite, 
 to Italian -uerita, to Spanish verdad. If now we compare 
 English and Latin, of the first kind of likeness, as has been 
 said, we can find endless instances. English has human, Latin 
 has humanus, but the former is merely the latter in an English 
 dress, and tells us nothing of the second kind of likeness, such 
 as is seen in French, Italian, and Spanish. But alongside Latin 
 homo, the material of which we have borrowed, we can put an 
 English guma, really to be found in bridegroom (Old English 
 bryd-guma), and here it may turn out that we have an instance 
 of the likeness that will, as in the case of verite, &c., point to 
 common origin. Now it will be noticed that, in the three 
 Romance languages referred to, the original material common 
 to them all develops regularly in each of them; thus if another 
 word like veritat- be taken, e.g. humanitat-, the identical 
 material in the two words has the same development in each 
 language respectively, and we get French humanite, Italian 
 humanita, Spanish humanidad; so that we see the regular 
 correspondence French -Je, Italian -ta, Spanish -dad. Moreover 
 it may be seen how, if the links which connect the divergent 
 forms of these modern speeches with their common source had 
 been lost, it would still be possible to construct the common 
 form with which each had been connected; to the construction
 
 22 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 of venial- French and Italian would contribute verit-, Italian 
 and Spanish would provide -a, and Spanish, which seems to 
 turn / to d, would give the final dental. The example of these 
 speeches may suggest, in the first place, that if we want to 
 establish the relation of common origin between English and 
 Latin we should shew that there is a regular correspondence 
 between English and Latin forms; e.g. the correspondences 
 between guma and homo, viz. that where English has g, Latin 
 has h, that both have m, must be proved to be regular by 
 shewing that to other English forms which have g or m, as 
 guma has, will, if like it they have Latin parallels, correspond 
 Latin forms with h or m. And the example may further 
 suggest that, if the common origin be established, it may be 
 possible to construct the common forms from which the English 
 and Latin words have developed. 
 
 3. To work out in all its details the problem of cor- 
 Likenessof respondence between Latin and English is 
 the second unnecessary, but some part of it may be given, 
 tioned in 2 to And it may be noted, by the way, that, thanks 
 comp u a "?ni n to the P ecu li ar influences under which English 
 Latin and has been shaped, we can obtain much of the 
 
 Latin material we need for comparison from 
 our present vocabulary ; just as from homicide we might have 
 got the material for comparison with guma instead of directly 
 appealing to Latin homo. Turning then to a more particular 
 consideration of the likeness of English "to Latin, it is easy to 
 find words which in both form and meaning may illustrate the 
 point. Of this kind, for example, are words denoting the 
 members of the family, such as paternal and fatherly, maternal 
 and motherly, fraternal and brotherly. So, too, with numerals, 
 unity is oneness, a dual control is one exercised by two parties, 
 triple is threefold, to decimate is to take one out of every ten ; 
 and the old Englishman who rendered uni-cornis by an-hyrne 
 was employing English material which corresponded with the 
 Latin to an extent that he did not suspect. The pronouns,
 
 Chapter II. 23 
 
 again, offer material : the egoist is one who uses the pronoun / 
 (older ic) too often. Sir Toby Belch's suggestion "If thou 
 thoitst him " might be translated by means of Latin material 
 the French verb tutoyer ; Latin gutdnunc is English what now. 
 The same likeness is seen in some of our commonest verbs ; 
 edible is eatable, the sedentary man is the one who sits much. 
 Now looking at such words it will be seen that the relation of 
 Latin patermis, triplex, edere, &c. to paternal, triple, edible, &c. 
 is of a different character from that of the same Latin words to 
 fatherly, threefold, eatable, &c.; and that it is as different, to 
 recur to the old example, as is the relation of Latin veritas to 
 Italian verita from that of Italian veritd, to Spanish verdad we 
 will now try to shew by deducing a scheme of regular corre- 
 spondence between English and Latin forms. 
 
 Take the case of Latin material (either in the original Latin 
 or in an English form) which contains a sound of 
 
 ' (i) the regular 
 
 a particular class, the hard (surd, breathed) difference of 
 
 j . i , jj-ij jj*7 dental sounds : 
 
 dental t, e.g. tu, triple, paternal, dental; on turning 
 to native English words of identical meaning and similar form, 
 it will be found that the place of the Latin t is in every case 
 occupied by th, another dental, and we have thou, threefold, 
 brotherly, tooth. Again, if Latin material be chosen that 
 contains the soft (sonant, voiced) dental d, such as dental, 
 decimate, cordial, pedal, the native English words of the same 
 meaning tooth, ten, hearty, foot, all shew t in place of d. To 
 complete a correspondence of dental sounds which seems 
 already suggested by the two cases already noticed, we ought 
 to be able to take Latin forms having th, and find that these 
 have equivalents in English shewing d. But though the latter 
 sound is frequent enough in English, th is not to be found in 
 Latin ; and if we want an equivalent for the material of our 
 door, it is to Latin fores that we must look. However, if we 
 may so far anticipate as to allow an appeal to Greek, we may 
 find material that will shew a dental to correspond to our 
 English d, and Greek thura is our door, Greek thugater, our
 
 24 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 daughter. Approximately, at least, we have worked out a 
 scheme of correspondence as follows : 
 
 Latin /, f (th Greek), d. 
 English th, d, t. 
 
 If now another group of sounds be considered, and Latin 
 material shewing c, h, g respectively be taken, a 
 
 difference of similar scheme of correspondence with English 
 
 guttural r 
 
 sounds: may be worked out. Thus to Latin collis and 
 
 cornu correspond English hill and horn, so that Latin c here 
 finds its equivalent in English h. Again Latin homo, hostis, 
 hortus may compare with our guma, guest, garden, which shew 
 English g for Latin h ; while Latin gelidus and gramim on 
 comparison with English cold and corn give a third correspond- 
 ence, Latin g = English c. With the same approximation as 
 before we may accept the scheme : 
 
 Latin c, h, g. 
 English h, g, c. 
 
 There remains a third group, the lip letters, to notice, and 
 
 (3)thereguiar following the same order as in the two preceding 
 
 difference of cases we see Latin pater and pellis have their 
 
 labial sounds : . , . _,.,,, i / 77 i 
 
 equivalents m English father and fell, that to 
 Latin ferre and frater correspond English bear and brother ; 
 while in lubricus we may recognise the same material that is 
 found in English slippery. A third scheme then might be 
 tabulated : 
 
 Latin p, f, b, 
 
 English / b, p. 
 
 On looking at the three schemes it will be seen that they 
 
 may be represented by one formula ; for whether 
 
 scheme 260 ^ be th e dental, guttural, or labial group, the 
 
 same place is occupied in each scheme by the 
 
 hard, aspirate, or soft member of the group respectively in the 
 
 case both of Latin and English. Thus we get a general form :
 
 Chapter II. 2$ 
 
 Latin H, A, s. 
 English A, s, H. 
 
 This result, though only a partial statement of the case, 
 may be taken at least as going far to prove a regularity of 
 difference between English and Latin words like that seen in 
 the case of French, Italian, and Spanish, which was due to the 
 development of those languages from a common source, and 
 so to establish a like development in the case of English and 
 Latin. 
 
 4. That the scheme given above, so attractive in its sim- 
 plicity, is partial, can easily be seen, for the form Regular devi- 
 which seems required by theory is not in every thegenerai 
 case found in practice. If, however, such dis- scheme, 
 crepancies are shewn to be apparent only, and to be in reality 
 examples of other laws, so far from weakening the case for 
 regular correspondence, that we wish to establish, they will 
 furnish further proof in its favour. For instance, in the case of 
 hostis and guest while as regards the h and ^theory and practice 
 agree, in respect to the /, which appears in both, they do not ; 
 the reason for such apparent discrepancy is that the combination 
 st is constant. Again, Latin decent and English ten satisfy the 
 scheme so far as the initial dentals are concerned, but no form 
 of the English numeral shews the h that should correspond to 
 the Latin c. That the English word must, however, at one 
 time have had a guttural is suggested by the earliest form of the 
 -ty (in twenty &c.), which was -tig, and that the guttural was h 
 is shewn by the form of the word in a language which we shall 
 see closely resembles English, viz. Gothic : there the numeral 
 is written taihun. In just the same way our old English verb 
 teon agrees, according to the scheme of dentals, with the Latin 
 ducere, but fails as regards the gutturals. But in this case, too, 
 either by referring to the past singular teak, or to the Gothic 
 infinitive tiuhan, the required correspondence is established, 
 and the apparent failure is explained by the law for English, 
 that h between vowels disappears.
 
 26 Outlines of the History of ttie English Language. 
 
 But the most remarkable case of regular divergence from 
 the scheme deduced above is that which may be 
 r ' 8 illustrated by the two words brother and father. 
 
 In their present form, indeed, both seem equally 
 in agreement with the general rule that Lat. /=Engl. th, but on 
 looking to earlier times it will be found that while the older form 
 of brother was bro]>or, that of father was ftzder ; the one keeps 
 the rule, the other seems to break it. Now at one time the 
 position of the accent was different in the two words ; in brother 
 the accent was on the vowel preceding the th t in father it was 
 not. In cases where the accent did not fall as in brother it 
 will be found that English shews d, not th ; so the Latin mater, 
 which is similar to pater, has for the corresponding English 
 form modor, not mo\or. Under the same conditions in the 
 matter of accent a parallel divergence is seen in the case of the 
 gutturals ; English , shews g, not^, as the equivalent of the Latin 
 c. So the Old English word for a leader, here-toga, is connected 
 with the verb noticed above teon (= teohan) which corresponds 
 with Latin ducere, and toga may consequently be connected 
 with Latin dux 1 . The instances given may be enough to shew 
 how deviations from the simple expression of correspondence 
 by their regular character offer the same kind of evidence, as is 
 afforded by that simple expression itself, as to the relation 
 between English and Latin. 
 
 5. Turning now to consider other sounds we shall find that 
 again regularity of correspondence is recognis- 
 
 Regularcor- '. , 
 
 respondence of able. Thus Latin m and n are generally preserved 
 
 0the m,T dS: in English, e.g. Lat. mater, me, homo, domare, 
 
 nomen, noct-, novem. tenuis, cornu, corresponding 
 
 to Engl. mother, me, guma, tame, name, night, nine, thin, horn. 
 
 1 The law, which is here illustrated in the case of the dental th and of 
 the guttural h, and which concerns also the labial/, and, as will be seen 
 later, the sibilant s, is called after the scholar who formulated it Verner's 
 Law. As an exact statement of it belongs to a fuller treatment of the 
 subject than is being attempted, such a statement is not given.
 
 Chapter II. 27 
 
 In the case of n, however, as in the case of h (see 
 above), the general rule may fail to express in some in- 
 stances the actual condition, because another law has come 
 into operation. Thus the n of Latin dent- is not in 
 accordance with the general rule preserved in English tooth ; 
 the reason is that English regularly dropped n before th; 
 compare, for instance, ten with tithe. Again, . 
 
 Latin r and / are generally constant, e.g. Lat. 
 rectus, ferre, pater, longus, collis, pellis are in English right, 
 bear, father, long, hill, fell. So, too, Latin s is 
 English s, e.g. Lat. sex, septem, sedere, est, hostis 
 are Engl. six, seven, sit, is, guest. In the case of s, however, 
 the same law that was seen to cause the difference of dentals in 
 brother and father, may bring about the change of 
 s to r in an English word, and so again the case 
 may arise where, until that law is taken into account, the 
 regular correspondence seems quite to fail. The change in 
 question, it may be noticed, is still to be seen in different parts 
 of the same English verb, e.g. was, were; lo$e,for-loYn; and the 
 former pair may help us to recognise the really regular cor- 
 respondence of Lat. ves-tire and Eng. wear. This last example 
 may suggest yet another correspondence, that of Latin v with 
 English w, further instances of which may be 
 
 . J v, w : 
 
 found in ventus and wind, velle and will, vae and 
 
 woe, veh-icle and wain (earlier wczgri), vidua and widow. The 
 
 correspondence of the other semi-vowel may be 
 
 seen in subjugate, which literally means to make 
 
 a person pass under the yoke, and in juvenile which means a 
 
 young person. 
 
 6. There remain now for notice only the vowels. These 
 sounds admit modification more readily than do R egu iar cor- 
 the consonants, and a scheme of correspondences respondence of 
 in their case will be proportionately more com- 
 plicated. A few instances, however, may be sufficient to shew 
 that the correspondences of the vowels, no less than those of
 
 28 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 the consonants, are marked by regularity. Thus Latin ad,pater, 
 ager have in Old English the forms at, feeder, cecer (ce having 
 the sound of a in of); Lat. edere, ferre, pellis are O.E. etan, 
 beran, fell; Lat. piscis, vidua are O.E. fisc, widuwe. In Latin 
 hortus and domare the o corresponds to the a of garden and 
 tame : the a of mater and frdter is the 5 of modor and bro\or : 
 the diphthong aw of augere and owm is the ea of # (mod. eke) 
 and rare. Here is regularity comparable with 
 
 
 Regular ^ t wn i c h ma rks the relation between Latin 
 
 deviation. 
 
 /, &c. and English th, &c. And just as in the 
 case of these consonants a general rule is modified by special 
 conditions, so with the vowels. Thus while the infinitives 
 edere and etan agree with the rule that Latin e = English e, on 
 turning to the 2nd pres. sing, of the verbs it is found that the 
 forms are edis and itst; so, too, the infinitive sedere has as its 
 English counterpart sittan. Again, though the nominatives of 
 the nouns mater and frdter shew Latin a English o, yet the 
 datives of the English words, meder and bre\er, seem to shew 
 Latin a - English e; so, too, on the analogy of mater, Latin 
 fdgus should have an English hoc- form ; the actual word, how- 
 ever, is bece (mod. beech}. Here just as under special conditions 
 English shewed a d instead of a th for Latin /, so it shews i and 
 e instead of e and o respectively; the special conditions in these 
 cases being the presence of certain sounds in the syllables that 
 followed the vowels in question. It is, then, with the vowels 
 as with the consonants ; in the case of neither group shall we 
 always find that a law of correspondence between a Latin and 
 an English sound is universal in its application ; but where the 
 simplicity of universal application is not found its absence is 
 due, not to the absence of rule, but to the presence of more 
 rules than one. 
 
 7. Though the preceding illustrations only partially present 
 
 The relation the case of the connection between English and 
 
 of Latm to Latin, yet they may be enough to shew that there 
 
 r/nglisn a ' J J J 
 
 parallel case to is between English and Latin forms that regular
 
 Chapter II. 29 
 
 correspondence, which the example of French, the relation of 
 
 ,. ,. , , . . , ,. , . , the Romance 
 
 Italian and Spanish suggested may find its expla- languages to 
 nation in the development of the two languages one another - 
 from the same material. Accepting the conclusion, then, that 
 Latin and English have a common origin, we significance 
 may turn to notice what is the significance of of the general 
 the scheme deduced above : 
 
 Latin H, A, S. 
 English A, S, H. 
 
 Turned into words the scheme means approximately this : 
 that as regards the sounds with which the scheme is concerned, 
 the condition of the language spoken by the ancestors of the 
 English must once have been nearly the same as that seen in 
 Latin; but that later such a change in these sounds was 
 gradually carried out by our forefathers, that t was regularly 
 changed to th, th to d, and d to /; similar changes were made 
 also in the case of the other sounds. Thus an earlier dent-, 
 which is the stage seen in Latin, in the end came to have 
 among those from whom the English are descended the form 
 toth. 
 
 8. It will be seen, then, that from a comparison of English 
 and Latin only much may be learnt about English Languages 
 that English by itself cannot tell us, so that the to be ass .- 
 history of English is not confined, as would be English, and 
 the case if such comparison were not possible, the consequent 
 
 . . . extension of 
 
 to the period whose beginning is fixed by the the general 
 date of the earliest English MSS. But it is not schemein 3- 
 Latin only with which a comparison may be made. Many 
 languages can be found that shew a closer connection with 
 English than does Latin. For instance, there are some which 
 share with English that condition of consonants, which English 
 shewed in contrast with Latin. Thus, taking old forms of 
 speech, how near Gothic, Old Saxon and Icelandic are to 
 English in this particular, may be seen by reference to the
 
 30 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 words in them which are the equivalents of English forms 
 contrasted above with Latin: 
 
 English Gothic O. Saxon Icelandic 
 
 thou thu thu thu 
 
 door daur dura dyrr (pi.) 
 
 ten taihun tehan tiu 
 
 horn haurn horn horn 
 
 guest gasts gast gestr 
 
 father fadar fader foXier 
 
 Other sounds might be considered, as was done in compar- 
 ing Latin and English, and the result would be to make still 
 more apparent the close connection between the languages 
 concerned. These languages, then, in their relation to one 
 another shew, to recur to a case used above, a yet closer 
 parallel to the Romance languages, which we know have a 
 common origin, than do English and Latin, of whose common 
 origin proof has been offered. Without looking for further 
 evidence we may assume, that for English, Gothic, Old Saxon 
 and Icelandic (besides others) there has been a common 
 original form, capable of at least approximate construction, 
 which, e.g., would shew the characteristic contrasts, common to 
 all, with Latin. We might now modify the scheme arrived at 
 above and substitute for English this common Teutonic speech. 
 
 9. But just as the establishment of the relationship 
 between English and Latin brings with it, as 
 abou f r EngHs n h we saw, a knowledge of English which could 
 gained from not be gained from English alone, so with this 
 speeches? ' further association of English with other speeches 
 comes further knowledge of what might be called 
 prehistoric English. For instance our pronouns we, us never 
 have any other forms even in the oldest MSS., but Gothic wets, 
 uns, Icelandic ver, and (to quote a language not yet used) 
 German wir, uns will shew what is the earlier history of the 
 words. Or, again, the oldest forms of the verb to see, infin.
 
 Chapter II. 31 
 
 seon, p. sing, seah, pi. sawon or sizgon, would be difficult to 
 explain if English stood alone; but Gothic saihwan, p. sing. 
 sahw, pi. sehwun would do much to remove the difficulty, and 
 with help from the other languages might make it possible to 
 construct a form out of which all the varieties found in any of 
 them might have grown. 
 
 10. It was said just above, that the scheme of correspond- 
 ence worked out for certain sounds in Latin and 
 English might be extended by the substitution of JJSSST 
 a common Teutonic speech for English. This scheme of 3 
 involves of course the same substitution in the 
 interpretation given of the scheme. And that 
 interpretation may now be confirmed by reference to a speech 
 whose relation to the common Teutonic is like that of the 
 latter to Latin. If German be compared with English (which 
 may be taken here as representing the common form), it will 
 be found that a process like that which ended in the differen- 
 tiation of a common Teutonic speech from Latin has been 
 repeated, with the result that the language of one section has 
 become differentiated from the common original of the whole 
 group. Thus the German forms of the first three words used 
 above to illustrate the identity of English, Gothic, &c., are du, 
 tor, zehn. There is a second shift, from th to d, from d to /, 
 from / to z (= ts). That this second shift is not carried out so 
 consistently as is the first is suggested by the German forms of 
 the next three words in the list, viz. horn, gasf, vater, where the 
 gutturals and the labial shew little change; but in so far as 
 change is made there is a regularity similar to that shewn in the 
 first shift, the character of which it serves to illustrate. 
 
 11. There still remains to notice a further extension of 
 the scheme, which carries with it a further ex- The scheme 
 tension of the relationship among languages, extended so as 
 
 ,,,-., T . , to associate 
 
 With Latin, as with English, may be associated other 
 other languages. Thus Greek phero is as near J53S. 
 Latin/m?, as Gothic bairan is near English beran ; Grimm's Law.
 
 32 Outlines of tJte History of ttie English Language. 
 
 and on the ground of similar likeness other languages may be 
 added to Latin and Greek. The scheme, then, which expressed 
 regular correspondence between Latin and English, and by its 
 regularity helped to prove the common origin of the two, has 
 served as the nucleus for a scheme, which expresses regular 
 correspondences between groups of languages, and by its 
 regularity helps to prove the common origin of all the languages 
 that are included in it. An exact statement of the scheme 
 known as 'Grimm's Law for the permutation of consonants ' has 
 not been attempted, only a suggestion of its character has been 
 given ; as regards, too, the sounds with which it does not deal, 
 the regularity of correspondence as seen in the case of Latin 
 and English must be taken as suggestive of the results which 
 would be arrived at by a wider comparison ; but enough may 
 have been said to shew the kind of evidence that may be given 
 to justify the acceptance of a relationship among certain 
 languages, which makes the use of the metaphor appropriate 
 in speaking of them as the Aryan (or Arian) or Indo-Euro- 
 pean or Indo-Germanicya#M7y. 
 
 12. The following is a list of the chief members of this 
 
 The family family (quoted from Dr Sweet's English Gram- 
 
 of languages mar p 212), ' different periods of their develop- 
 
 whose , . ' 
 
 relationship is ment being separated by dashes. 
 
 established. . T-> A 
 
 A. East-Arian or Asiatic : 
 
 (a) Sanskrit, the sacred language of India Pali 
 Bengali and the other Gaurian languages of India. 
 
 (b) Iranian languages: Zend or Old Bactrian. Old 
 Persian, which is the language of the Cuneiform inscriptions 
 Modern Persian. 
 
 (c) Armenian, which is really half-way between East- 
 and West- Arian. 
 
 B. West-Arian or European : 
 
 (d} Greek Romaic or Modern Greek.
 
 Chapter II. 33 
 
 (<?) Latin the Romance languages: Italian, Provengal, 
 French, Spanish, Portuguese, Roumanian. 
 
 (/) Celtic languages. Gaulish. The Goidelic group : 
 Irish, Manx, Gaelic. The Cymric group: Welsh, Cornish, 
 Breton (introduced from Britain). 
 
 (g) Slavonic languages. Old Bulgarian Russian, 
 Polish, Bohemian, Servian, Bulgarian. 
 
 (h) Baltic languages. Lithuanian, Lettish. 
 
 (/) Germanic languages.' 
 
 While all members of the family shew a family likeness, 
 varying degrees of nearness of kin may be Degrees of 
 noticed; the point maybe briefly illustrated in nearness of 
 regard to the Germanic speeches. Take for relationshi P- 
 instance the numerals. The words for numbers up to 100 for 
 the most part agree in a very striking manner ; but in the case 
 of 1 1 and 1 2 Germanic speeches do not, as e.g. do Latin and 
 Greek, combine the material used for i and 2 with that used 
 for 10 (cf. Latin duodecim with English twelve). Now in the 
 formation of the same numerals Lithuanian does not use its 
 form for 10, but a form -lika (dwy-lika=\2), a parallelism 
 between Germanic and Lithuanian which seems to shew a 
 closer connection between them than between either and e.g. 
 Latin. Again in the case of the higher number, 1000, Ger- 
 manic, Lithuanian and Slavonic shew likeness in the words 
 they use, but differ from both Latin and Greek. 
 
 13. Leaving, however, the relations of the Germanic 
 languages to other members of the family we classification 
 may notice how their relations to one another of the Ger- 
 may help to their classification. Gothic and manic Group ' 
 Scandinavian shew points of agreement. For instance, in 
 the conjugation of the strong verb they shew regularly, as 
 the inflexion of the 2nd per. sing. p. indie., a /, which other 
 Germanic speeches can shew only in exceptional cases,
 
 34 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 e.g. in the originally past form shal-t. The two are grouped 
 together under the name East-Germanic, the other members 
 of the stock forming the West-Germanic division. The 
 Germanic group, then, may be classified (continuing the quo- 
 tation from Dr Sweet's Grammar), 
 1 A. East-Germanic: 
 (a) Gothic. 
 (b} Scandinavian languages. 
 
 West- Scandinavian group: 
 Norwegian, 
 Icelandic. 
 
 East-Scandinavian group : 
 Danish, 
 Swedish. 
 
 B. West-Germanic : 
 
 (c) Low German languages. Old Saxon Dutch, 
 Flemish. Anglo-Frisian group : English, Frisian. 
 
 (d) High German or German.' 
 
 A reference to Grimm's Law will shew a reason for the division 
 of the West-Germanic into two sections. 
 
 14. As the grounds for the classification contained in the 
 oldest sped- scheme just given are got from a comparison of 
 Teutonic tne languages included in it, a brief notice of 
 
 speech. some of the oldest specimens of these languages 
 
 will not be out of place here. Among such monuments the 
 one that for several reasons may claim to be mentioned first is 
 the (fragmentary) version of the Scriptures in Gothic. The 
 MSS., in which all that is left to us is preserved, may be dated 
 about 500, but the translation was the work of one who lived 
 in the 4th century. This was Wulfila (or Ulfilas in a foreign 
 form), whose work and character may well claim the respect of 
 every one interested in Teutonic speech. He is said to have 

 
 Chapter II. 35 
 
 been descended from Cappadocian captives, who had been 
 carried off by Goths in the 3rd century, but he bears a Gothic 
 name, and is identified with the people among whom he was 
 born and for whom he laboured. Born probably about 311, at 
 the age of thirty he was made bishop, and for forty years dis- 
 charged the duties of his office among the Goths. Seven years 
 after his ordination, like a second Moses, he led his people 
 into Moesia, and it is from their settlement in this province of 
 the Roman Empire that the name Moeso- Gothic is used of 
 their speech, which, thanks to Wulfila, may yet be studied. For 
 in his zeal to promote the spiritual welfare of his flock he 
 undertook a translation of the Bible, and of this there remain 
 the greater part of the Gospels and of the Epistles of St Paul ; 
 of the Old Testament only very slight fragments are left. 
 Besides this translation there is a fragment of a translation of 
 a commentary on the Gospel of St John, and one or two minor 
 specimens of Gothic speech; on the whole there is material 
 from which much may be learned of Gothic. 
 
 The other member of the East-Germanic group can also 
 furnish very early specimens. The Runic inscriptions, which 
 give the earliest forms of Scandinavian speech, take us as far 
 back as the 5th century after Christ (some authorities assign a 
 yet earlier date) ; and in later times there is the rich literature 
 of Iceland with its extensive vocabulary and well-preserved 
 grammatical forms. 
 
 In the West-Germanic group the Old Saxon is represented 
 by a specimen belonging to the gth century, a poem of nearly 
 six thousand lines, which forms a metrical harmony of the 
 Gospels. Frisian is preserved in documents of the i2th and 
 i3th centuries. Of High German there are specimens belong- 
 ing to the 9th century in the harmony of the Gospels that goes 
 under the name of Tatian, and in the metrical rendering of the 
 same material by Otfrid. In the case of English, of which 
 more will be said later, we can go back to the 8th century, 
 perhaps even to the end of the yth. 
 
 32
 
 36 Outlines of the History of tlte English Language. 
 
 15. The foregoing may serve to suggest what are the time 
 
 limits for the material, from an examination of 
 
 oflhe Ibcfv" 688 which is to be deduced the relation of the various 
 
 languages languages, and an illustration may now be given 
 
 illustrated. ... ... . 
 
 to shew how readily such examination will bring 
 out relationship. Here are a few verses of the Gothic trans- 
 lation mentioned above, in which it will be seen that nearly all 
 the material is found in the other languages : 
 
 Hausei]?. Sai, urrann sa saiands du saian. Jah war)?, 
 mij>)?anei saiso, sum raihtis gadraus faur wig, jah kwemun 
 fuglos jah fretun )?ata. AnJ?ar gadraus ana stainahamma, J>arei 
 ni habaida air)>a managa, jah suns urrann, in )>izei ni habaida 
 diupaizos airj>os. At sunnin J>an urrinnandin ufbrann, jah unte 
 ni habaida waurtins, ga]?aursnoda. Mark iv. 3 6. 
 
 Here even in modern English nearly all the material may 
 be recognised. 
 
 The nouns wig, fuglos, airtya, sunnin, waurtins are way 
 (A.S. weg},fowl( A. S. fugol\ earth (A.S. ,eor\e), sun (A.S. sunne), 
 wort (A.S. wyrf) ; the verbs hausei]>, sat, rann, saian, kwemun, 
 habaida, brann are hear (A.S. hierafy, imper.), see (A.S. seon), 
 run (A.S. rann, p.), sow (A.S. seow, p.), come (A.S. cuomon, 
 p. pi.), have (A.S. hczfde, p.), burn (A.S. barn, p.) ; the adjective 
 forms sum, arityar, managa, diupaizos are seen in some (A.S. 
 sum), other (A.S. otyer), many (A.S. manig), deep (A.S. deop}; 
 the pronouns mty-lpan-ti, ]>ata, }>iz-ei shew the same material 
 as that or the-, and other words, raiht-is, faur, ana, Ipar-ei, 
 suns, in, at, ]>an may compare with English right, for, on, 
 there, soon, in, at, then. Where modern English fails, the 
 older language supplies the missing link in the case of sa, 
 cf. A.S. se; warty, A.S. wear]> (infin. weortyan, cf. woe worth 
 the day) ; mi]>, A.S. mid; gadraus, A.S. gedreas (infin. ge-dreosan, 
 cf. dreary) ; fretun, A.S. fraton (infin. fretan =for-etan) ; ni, 
 A.S. ne ; while the roots of stainahamma and gd\>aursnoda are 
 found in stone (A.S. stdn), and A.S. \yrre. 

 
 Chapter II. 
 
 37 
 
 That similar results may be obtained in the case of Icelandic, 
 Old Saxon and German will be sufficiently illustrated by taking 
 only the verbs and nouns. 
 
 Gothic 
 
 Icelandic 
 
 O. Saxon 
 
 German 
 
 hausjan 
 saihwan 
 
 heyra 
 sid 
 
 Jiorian 
 sehan 
 
 horen 
 sehen 
 
 rinnan 
 
 renna 
 
 rinnan 
 
 rinnen 
 
 saian 
 
 sd 
 
 saian 
 
 sden 
 
 wair]>an 
 driusan 
 kwiman 
 
 7'erlpa 
 (cf. dreyr-igr) 
 koma 
 
 wer\an 
 driosan 
 human 
 
 werden 
 (cf. trauer) 
 kommen 
 
 haban 
 (fra-)ifan 
 brinnan 
 
 hafa 
 eta 
 brenna 
 
 hebbian 
 etan 
 brinnan 
 
 haben 
 essen, (fr)essen 
 brennen 
 
 ^paursnon 
 
 \orna 
 
 (cf. ]>orron) 
 
 (cf. ver-dorreri) 
 
 wigs 
 fugls 
 airlpa 
 sunna 
 
 vegr 
 
 fa/ 
 
 io'rS 
 sunna (poet.) 
 
 weg 
 fugal 
 erfta 
 sunna 
 
 weg 
 vogel 
 erde 
 sonne 
 
 wanrts 
 
 urt 
 
 wurt 
 
 wurz 
 
 16. But it is not only information about words that is to 
 be got by the consideration of languages; the 
 fact that a word is common to different peoples 
 may shew that the object denoted by the word 
 is equally common to them, and thus not only 
 the early condition of the speeches, but also the 
 early condition of the speakers, may be inferred. 
 (A.S. feoh = cattle), whose equivalent is found not only in all 
 the Teutonic languages but also in others of the family, e.g. Lat. 
 pecus, tells of the early possession of flocks and herds ; while 
 the forms ox, cow (cf. Lat. bos), ewe (cf. Lat. ovis], goat (cf. Lat. 
 haedus) t farrow (A.S. fearh, cf. Lat. porcus),. A.S. eoh, a horse 
 (cf. Lat. equus), all of which are equally widely spread, may give 
 some information as to the animals of which such flocks and 
 
 Light thrown 
 by languages 
 on the con- 
 dition of those 
 who spoke 
 them. 
 
 Thus E. fee
 
 38 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 herds consisted. Among wild animals the names fox (cf. Lat. 
 lupus), wolf, bear shew common Teutonic material, as does 
 also the general name deer (A.S. deor). So, too, with birds : 
 as seen above the general term/0zt>/ is common Teutonic; and 
 there is common material in the words hen (in A.S. there is also 
 the masculine hana, cf. Lat. can-ere, to sing), sparrow, swallow, 
 em (A.S. earn, an eagle), hawk. Of early agriculture some- 
 thing, too, might be learned. Ear = to plough (A.S. erian) is 
 cognate with Lat. ar-are; corn with the Lat. granum; A.S. bere 
 may compare with Gothic bariz-eins, of barley; wheat with 
 Gothic hwaiteis and German weizen. The A.S. cweorn, a mill, 
 is the Gothic kwairnus. Among the names for metals gold, 
 silver, iron are common Teutonic words, and of the early 
 shaping of metals evidence is afforded by A.S. beag (cf. bugan, 
 to bend), Icel. baugr, O. Sax. bog, O.H.G. poug, all words for a 
 ring. Of religion, too, something may be learned from the 
 widely spread names of the gods Tlw (cf. Lat. deus), Woden, 
 Thunor (Thor), still preserved in the names of the days of the 
 week. The A.S. blotan, to sacrifice, has equivalent forms in 
 Gothic, Icelandic and O.H.German; and A.S. hearh, a temple, 
 may be compared with O.H.G. haruc = fanum, delubrum, and 
 Icel. horgr, an altar. 
 
 These few instances may suggest, that as well for the history 
 of the speakers as for the history of their speeches, the com- 
 parison of the latter with one another is fruitful in results, which 
 throw light upon the times that precede those of which we have 
 direct information. But it is mainly with the history of the 
 speech that we are concerned, and to our knowledge of this a 
 most important contribution has been made, if, as the chapter 
 has attempted to shew, English can vindicate its claim to a 
 place in the Aryan family. For this position implies that its 
 history before it appears as English may be known ; its forms 
 may be traced to common Teutonic predecessors, and these 
 again to the primitive material which is common to the whole 
 family
 
 Chapter IT. 39 
 
 17. In conclusion it may be noted that English holds 
 among its relatives a position in some respects unique 
 unique. For it has been the fate of those who position of 
 have spoken it to be brought in one or other 
 way into contact with representatives of nearly all the great 
 divisions of the family, and to have borrowed of their language 
 material. The English thrust themselves into a land occupied 
 by Celts, and have been in contact with them ever since. 
 They were, thanks to Christianity, brought into contact with 
 those whose language was Latin, and by the Norman Conquest 
 with those who spoke a language derived from Latin ; later, 
 with the revival of learning, came the study of the literatures 
 of Rome and Greece ; and, later still, by the conquest of India, 
 Asiatic members of the family were brought into contact with 
 the English. All this intercourse has left its marks on the 
 language, so that from nearly every section of the family has 
 this one member of it drawn material to form itself.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Early history of a language to be learnt from a comparison with others 
 foreign influence on Teutonic speeches before the English conquest of 
 Britain loan-words from Latin from Celtic Celtic Britain as a 
 Roman province results as regards language contrast with Gaul 
 Latin of the First Period relations between Celts and English origin 
 of the word Wales the Celtic stock earliest borrowings from Celtic 
 later borrowings geographical names. 
 
 1. IN the preceding chapter has been illustrated the possi- 
 bility of tracing back the history of words beyond 
 onh earijf* ^ ie sta g e which they shew in the earliest known 
 history of a specimens of the language in which they occur ; 
 got^bjTfcom-* comparison with kindred forms furnishes material 
 pansonofit f rom w hich such knowledge may be derived. 
 
 with others. J 
 
 Thus the continuous thread of change, which 
 can be traced back through English during the whole period 
 in which we know it from existing monuments, instead of being 
 broken at the point where that period begins, is extended into 
 a remote past. But leaving now the consideration of such 
 early history, the possibility of gaining some knowledge of 
 which is implied in accepting for English a place in the Aryan 
 family, we may turn to notice some points which belong to 
 times less remote, yet preceding the settlement of the English 
 in this island.
 
 Chapter III. 41 
 
 2. For a knowledge of the changes that during such times 
 were being effected in the language material that 
 was as the result of them to take the shape ^^l^~ 
 shewn by the speech of the conquerors of Britain, Teutonic 
 we must depend upon the comparison of English fo^the^ng- 
 with its Teutonic relatives, and from such com- lish conquest 
 
 of Britain. 
 
 panson it will appear, that not only were those 
 modifications of form taking place, which are continuously to 
 be traced in later times, but also another modification, which, 
 too, in varying degrees has continuously marked the develop- 
 ment of the language during the period when it is known from 
 its written monuments. These shew that words have been 
 admitted into the vocabulary from other languages, with which 
 from various causes English has been brought in contact ; and 
 that such borrowing took place in yet earlier times may be 
 shewn by help of the comparison referred to above. Teutonic 
 tribes by intercourse with the Romans were brought under the 
 influence of Latin, and as a result accepted some of its words. 
 To determine whether such loan-words were to be found in the 
 language of the Teutons who came to Britain is not possible 
 from an examination of the Old English alone, for we know the 
 language only when it had for a long time been settled in 
 a country that had once been a province of the Roman Empire, 
 and after it had been exposed to the Latin influence that 
 accompanied Christianity. The presence of a Latin word, 
 then, even in our earliest specimens, could not, if we took 
 English alone, justify the inference that it was already in the 
 language of those who came to Britain. But by the help of 
 other languages such an inference may be possible. Words 
 borrowed from Latin, that appear both in Old English and in 
 the earliest monuments of several other Teutonic dialects, may 
 well have been used in their continental home by the fore- 
 fathers of the English. Among such early borrow- 
 ings may be placed Lat. vinum, which gave to 
 English win, and a corresponding form to every
 
 42 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 other Teutonic dialect. The word for vinegar is in Old 
 English eced-, Gothic, Old Saxon, O.H. German also shew like 
 forms; all of them are from Latin. The Latin mango = a 
 defrauding trader, gives rise as well to the Old English mangere 
 (cf. \ion-monger), a trader, and to the verb mangian, to trade, 
 as to Old Saxon mangon, to trade, and to O.H. German man- 
 gari = mercator. The coinage of the Romans (moneta) may 
 have been known in the same early times, for alongside the 
 Old English mynet (cf. mint), a coin, and mynetere, a coiner, 
 may be placed Old Saxon muniteri, a coiner, muniton, to coin, 
 and O.H. German munizari and munizon. On the same level 
 stands Old English pund, seen in the same form in Gothic, and 
 in O.H. German as pfunt, from Latin pondo. Words, too, 
 connected with some of the characteristic Roman works are 
 widely spread, and would seem to have been early adopted by 
 the Teutons : e.g. Latin strata gives Old English strlzt, Old 
 Saxon strata, Old Frisian strife, O.H. German straza; Latin 
 vallum, Old English weall, Old Saxon wall, Old Frisian wal; 
 Latin porta, Old English port, Old Saxon porta, Old Frisian 
 porte, O.H. German phorta; Latin vicus, Old English wlc, Old 
 Saxon, Old Frisian wlk, O.H. German wtch. 
 
 Such instances may at least make it probable, that the 
 The names language, which the conquerors of Britain brought 
 of the days of with them, had been already influenced by Latin. 
 Even native words may be appealed to for 
 evidence in the same direction. With the exception of Saturday 
 the names given to the days of the week are English words, 
 but they are used to represent Latin originals ; Sunday is dies 
 solis, while the Teutonic gods, after whom other days are 
 named, are those which corresponded respectively most nearly 
 to the Latin gods after whom the days were called. The 
 influence of Latin, then, which soon after their migration 
 from the continent was to be exercised upon the language 
 of the English, and in one or other way was to continue 
 to operate until the present day, might already have been
 
 Chapter III. 43 
 
 traced in the speech of those by whom the migration was 
 made. 
 
 3. And it was not to Latin only that this speech was 
 indebted. With others than the Romans the 
 early Teutons had been in contact, with a race fr^CeiUc" 18 
 which was found not only in Britain, but on the 
 continent the Celts ; and from their speech material had 
 made its way into the vocabularies of Teutonic peoples. From 
 a Celtic source is derived the material, represented in every 
 Teutonic dialect, which in Old English produced rice, power, 
 rue, powerful, and rtcsian, to rule ; words which, in the case of 
 the noun and adjective, also helped in combination with 
 material found in English to form others, e.g. biscop-rice, a 
 bishop-ft^, cyne-rlce, a kingdom, heofon-rice, the kingdom of 
 heaven, sige-rice, victorious. Many proper names contain this 
 material, so that not only in bishop-ravfc, but also in names like 
 Fredera^ and Roderz'^, is the trace of the early borrowing yet 
 to be seen. Another case of borrowed material, spread as 
 widely as the preceding among Teutonic dialects, is furnished 
 by words connected with a Celtic form which in a Latin dress, 
 ambactus, is given by Caesar 1 . Old English shews ambeht, 
 alone and in compounds, and German still keeps ami, both 
 words expressing the idea of service 2 . 
 
 In the case of Celtic, as in the case of Latin, the traces of 
 early influence are slight in comparison with those left by later 
 contact, which, thanks to the conditions under which English 
 developed, has been in the case of each language practically 
 continuous, since Britain, once a Roman province with a 
 native Celtic population, passed into the power of the English. 
 
 1 Speaking of the knights of Gaul he says : 'Atque eorum ut quisque est 
 genere copiisque amplissimus, ita plurimos circum se ambactos clientesque 
 habet.' And Festus says: ' Ambaclus lingua Gallica servus appellatur.' 
 
 2 In rich and embassy Modern English has words which have the same 
 origin as have Old English rice and ambeht, but which have come to it from 
 Romance languages.
 
 44 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 But something will have been gained in respect to our 
 knowledge of the language which the Teutonic invaders of 
 Britain brought with them, if we can recognise in the 
 vocabulary inherited from them by their descendants words 
 borrowed by their forefathers from the Latin or the Celtic of 
 the continent. 
 
 4. As has just been said, in coming to Britain the 
 
 invaders were bringing their language within 
 
 as a Roman reach of Latin and Celtic influence. The island 
 
 re s C as nad been visaed by Julius Caesar in 55 B.C. and 
 
 regards again in 54 B.C., but had not, like Gaul, been 
 
 conquered ; it was not till towards the close of 
 the next century that a Roman province was established in it. 
 With the Roman conquest came Roman civilization, of which 
 the traces may still be seen in the remains of villas and of 
 the great military roads streets which were constructed in 
 different parts of the country. The map, too, still offers 
 evidence of the Roman occupation in the numerous place- 
 names containing Latin elements (e.g. those with -caster, -cester, 
 -Chester, the Latin castra), which may be found in it. But it 
 was not only by such material results that the Roman influence 
 was marked. Latin learning came in the train of the con- 
 querors, and apt scholars seem to have been found among the 
 conquered, for we hear of Britons excelling in eloquence their 
 neighbours of Gaul. But in their latest acquired and remotest 
 western province the Romans seem not to have effected the 
 transformation which they wrought elsewhere, and conse- 
 quently the language conditions of Britain offer a contrast with, 
 for example, those of Gaul. There in the first century of the 
 Christian era a form of Latin was the current speech of nearly 
 the whole country ; the original Celtic was preserved only in 
 certain districts : it was a form of Latin, then, containing some 
 few words adopted from Celtic, with which the Teutonic con- 
 querors of Gaul were brought into contact. It was otherwise 
 in Britain, as the prolonged life of Celtic shews. For an
 
 Chapter HI. 45 
 
 account of the relations between the two co-existent speeches 
 we may turn to Dr Freeman : ' I think that most likely things 
 were then much the same in all Britain as they are in Wales 
 now. In Wales English is the language of the towns, and in 
 the large towns most people cannot speak Welsh at all. And 
 a Welsh gentleman can very seldom speak Welsh, unless he 
 has learned it, as he may have learned French or German. 
 But the country people commonly speak Welsh, and some of 
 them cannot speak any English. So I fancy that in these 
 times men spoke Latin in the towns, and also those whom we 
 may call the gentry spoke Latin, but that the country people 
 still spoke Welsh.' The withdrawal of the Romans gave the 
 Celtic speech an opportunity of resuming its position as the 
 general language of the country ; it was, then, a Celtic speech, 
 in which some few words had been left by the Roman occupa- 
 tion, with which the Teutonic invaders of Britain were brought 
 into contact. 
 
 5. The importance for the later condition of language in 
 England of the conditions there, that preceded 
 
 the appearance of the English, is suggested by a 
 further consideration of the case of Gaul. There, 
 though the language still bears, as does our own, the name of a 
 Teutonic people, it is almost exclusively derived from the 
 language which was current in the country where that Teutonic 
 people settled ; and French is a Romance speech. In Britain, 
 whose history, in the successive conquests by Romans and 
 Teutons of lands occupied in the first instance by Celts, offers 
 a parallel to that of Gaul, the English found other conditions 
 than did the Franks, and such as were powerless to determine 
 the fate of their language ; and English is a Teutonic speech. 
 
 6. The Latin material, then, from which English on its 
 arrival in Britain could draw, was not the 
 vocabulary of a language which owed almost p^Perlod^ 
 everything to the Romans, but a limited number 
 
 of words, which had been retained by the Celts. The extent to
 
 46 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 which English was indebted to such material, is not very 
 easy exactly to determine; for, as has been noticed, some 
 Latin words were probably already known to the English when 
 they left the continent. Thus though the Roman roads might 
 keep their name among the English, and the use of the term 
 street in reference to them might be regarded as a result of the 
 Roman occupation, yet the word was one which probably the 
 English knew before they saw the Roman roads of Britain. 
 And so with some other words. On the other hand ceaster, 
 a town, from Latin castra, seems to have been learnt in this 
 country. But whether gained in the old or in the new home, 
 the earliest Latin element in English, which may be called 
 Latin of (he First Period, was not of any great extent, and need 
 not be further separated from the larger element which was 
 introduced after the acceptance of Christianity. 
 
 7. As regards the other of the influences to which English 
 
 on its arrival was to be exposed the Celtic it 
 
 ence ltlC mflU was not a case wnere > as w ^^ Latin, the results 
 must necessarily be limited by reason of scanty 
 material, but one where the results were to depend upon the 
 ability of the conquered to press their language upon the 
 conquerors. Though the main object of the chapter is to take 
 account of matters which are preliminary to the coming of the 
 English, on the one hand of modifications in their language 
 which had taken place on the continent, and on the other of 
 the conditions in Britain which might affect them on their 
 arrival, yet it may be convenient to notice here the results in 
 later times, which came from the continued contact of the Celts 
 with the English. 
 
 8. The relations prevailing from the outset between the 
 
 Celts and the English were not such as to make 
 
 Relations . , , . . . 
 
 between the it probable that the language of the former would 
 
 Enguth d ^ influence strongly that of the latter. The English 
 
 were the victors, and though the whole island 
 
 did not at once fall under their power, yet the area of conquest
 
 Chapter III. 47 
 
 was steadily enlarged, and the main Celtic-speaking population 
 was rolled back steadily westward. Between the two races, in 
 so far as they occupied different parts of the country, hostility 
 for the most part prevailed ; and those of the conquered who 
 were to be found within the English area could not shew, as a 
 counterpoise to inferior strength, superiority in other directions, 
 which, meeting with acknowledgment, would have compelled 
 the respect of the conquerors. So while the Romanized Celt 
 of Gaul gave the language, which, with much else, he had 
 learnt from Rome, to his Frank conqueror, the Celt of Britain 
 was almost powerless to affect the language of the English. 
 Yet there was one possible channel by which the Celtic in- 
 fluence might have been communicated. Christianity had 
 been introduced into Britain, and if it had been first taught to 
 the English by the Celts, the relations between the two peoples 
 might have been much modified. But how completely this 
 modifying influence was absent may be seen from the attitude 
 of the British bishops in the conference with Augustine, when 
 he invited them to cooperate with the Roman missionaries in 
 the conversion of the English, who at the close of the 6th 
 century were still heathen 1 . Celtic teachers had indeed much 
 to do with the English, as will be noticed later, when once 
 Christianity had been introduced, but this was a very different 
 thing from the acceptance of Christianity in the first instance 
 from the Celts. 
 
 9. From another quarter we may perhaps get a suggestion 
 as to the relations between the two peoples, 
 
 The origin 
 
 from the name, still familiar to us in Wales and of the word 
 
 Welsh, which the English gave to the Celts 
 
 Walas or Bret- Walas*. The word (in the singular walk or 
 
 wealK), which in the first instance seems to have come from the 
 
 1 Bede's Ecclesiastical History, Bk n. c. 2. 
 
 2 e.g. in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle under the year 465 : ' Hengest and 
 ./Esc gefuhton wij? Walas, and xii Wilisce aldormenn ofslogon'; and 552, 
 ' Cynric gefeaht wij> Brettas, and )>a Bret- Walas gefliemde.'
 
 48 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 name of a Celtic people, got the more general sense of foreign, 
 and so in O.H. German Walah can translate Romanus (cf. 
 German walsch - Italian, strange), while in Old English bar- 
 barns is glossed by walch. But in the latter wealh can also 
 translate servus and maneipium, and ancilla is rendered by a 
 feminine noun from the same root, wieln. That the English 
 could use the word that served as a name for the Celts to 
 translate, on the one hand barbarus, on the other servus, is at 
 least not inconsistent with an unfriendly relation between the 
 two races where they were separate, and with the dependent 
 position of one of them where there was amalgamation. 
 
 Where the Celtic population was amalgamated with the 
 English, there the language of the latter prevailed ; but where 
 the Celts maintained themselves in separation, there the old 
 language held its ground, and ever since has existed alongside 
 English with the consequent possibility of making some mark 
 upon its neighbour. The area from which the influence might 
 come, however, has been a steadily diminishing one. In the 
 north Cumberland, though its name points to the Cymry, has 
 long ceased to be a land of Celtic speech. In the south 
 Cornwall, the old Corn-Wea/as l , where again the name still 
 points to the Welsh, kept the native speech longer, but there, 
 too, at the close of the i8th century it died out. Even in 
 Wales English has encroached upon the border counties, though 
 there Welsh still lives in its old home. 
 
 10. Prominence so far has been given to one division 
 of the Celtic stock the Cymric with which 
 
 The divisions ... . . 
 
 of the Celtic English came first m contact; this includes the 
 stock. We]sh and Cornish. The other division the 
 
 Gadhelic or Goidelic includes Irish, Manx and Gaelic, and 
 with this division also English is concerned; though neither 
 from the one nor from the other has it at any time borrowed 
 much. 
 
 1 A. S. Chron. an. 997 : ' On J>issum geare ferde se here abutan Defnan- 
 scire, and gehergodon aegfter on Cormvealum ge on Nortiwalum ( Wales)?
 
 Chapter III. 49 
 
 11. Before the close of the nth century the following 
 words, which from their likeness to Celtic forms Earliest 
 might be supposed of Celtic origin, are found borrowings 
 
 , n / , 7 i, \ from Celtic. 
 
 m the language : Bannuc (translating buccella), 
 bin a manger, bratt a cloak, brocc a badger, crocca a pot, cumb 
 a coomb, dale a pin, brooch, dry a wizard, dun dun (adj.), dun 
 a hill, down, gafeloc a javelin, mattoc a mattock, sloh a slough : 
 and in the Northumbrian dialect occur carr a stone, luh a loch. 
 Further, assa an ass may be borrowed from the Old Irish 
 assan, which comes from Latin. From the true list of Celtic 
 borrowings perhaps one or other of these words might be 
 excluded, and in it possibly one or two words besides these 
 ought to be included. Whether or no the list given err either 
 by excess or by defect, however, matters comparatively little ; 
 in any case the conclusion would be the same that there is a 
 very small Celtic element to be found in the oldest English. 
 
 12. Nor does the literature of a later time, when the 
 language was no longer distinguished by the 
 
 freedom from foreign elements which is a mark borrowings 
 of the earliest period, shew much more readiness 
 in the admission of Celtic words. Professor Skeat (Principles 
 of English Etymology, Chap, xxii.) gives as the principal con- 
 tributions of the several Celtic speeches to English in later 
 times the following lists : 
 
 Irish. Bard, bog, brogue, dirk(T), fun, galloglass, galore, 
 glib, s., kern, lough, orrery, pillion (t\ rapparee, shillelagh, 
 skain (skene, skein), shamrock, spalpeen, tanist, Tory, usque- 
 baugh. 
 
 Scotch Gaelic. Banshee (also Irish), Beltane, bog (also 
 Irish), branks, brose, cairn, capercailyie, cateran, clachan, clan, 
 claymore, collie, coronach, corrie, cosy, crag, creel, galloway (pony), 
 gillie, glen, gowan, inch, ingle, kail, loch, macintosh, philibeg, 
 pibroch, plaid, ptarmigan^?), quaff, reel, slogan, spate, spleuchan, 
 sporran, strath, whiskey. Professor Skeat remarks in reference 
 to the above lists : 'We may draw two conclusions; that the 
 T. 4
 
 5O Outlines of the History of tJie English Language. 
 
 English has borrowed more freely from Gaelic than from Irish, 
 and that the borrowing began at an earlier time. This is the 
 natural consequence of the respective geographical positions 
 and political relations of Scotland and Ireland to England. 
 We should also bear in mind that dan, ingle, kail, and plaid 
 are ultimately of Latin origin, from planta, ignis, caulis, and 
 pellis; whilst brose, pibroch are really of English origin, from 
 broth and pipe ; and branks is really northern English, borrowed 
 probably from Holland.' 
 
 Welsh. Bragget, cam, clutter (heap), coble (?), coracle, crom- 
 lech, crowd (a fiddle), flannel, flummery, hawk (to clear the 
 throat), ken, kibe, kick, metheglin. 
 
 Whether there may be words in English of Celtic origin, 
 though they cannot, like those given above, be precisely traced 
 to any one of the three languages, Irish, Gaelic, or Welsh, is a 
 difficult question. 'Amongst the words,' says Professor Skeat 
 in the chapter already quoted, 'which perhaps have the most 
 claim to be considered as Celtic, or founded upon Celtic, are 
 some of which the origin is very obscure. It may suffice to 
 mention here the words bald, bat (thick stick), boggle, bots, brag, 
 bran, brat, brill, brisk, bug, bump, cabin, char (fish), chert, clock 
 (orig. a bell), cob, cobble, cock (small boat), coot, cub, Culdee, 
 curd, cut, dad, dandriff, darn, drudge, dudgeon (ill humour), 
 gag(f], gown, gyves, jag, knag, lad, lag, /ass(?), loop, lubber, 
 mug, noggin, nook, pilchard^, pony, puck, pug, rub, shog, skip, 
 taper, whin. As to some of these there does not seem to be 
 much known. I wish to say distinctly that I feel I am here 
 treading on dangerous and uncertain ground, and that I 
 particularly wish to avoid expressing myself with certainty 
 as to most of these words.' 
 
 With respect to these lists it may be remarked, as was done 
 in speaking of the borrowings in the earlier times, that for our 
 purpose their main value does not depend upon their being 
 exact. For even allowing that there is some uncertainty as to 
 their contents, there is no uncertainty in the conclusion that
 
 Chapter II L 5 1 
 
 may be drawn from them, viz. that Celtic has only very slightly 
 at any time influenced the vocabulary of English. 
 
 13. But though an English dictionary can shew little 
 material that is to be traced to the languages of Geographical 
 those who once held these islands, yet in one names from 
 
 J . . Celtic. 
 
 special case that of geographical names it is 
 from the early inhabitants that many words come, which are 
 still used where English is spoken. Among these, and perhaps 
 the most remarkable of them, are the names of nearly all our 
 rivers, e.g. Thames, Avon, Ouse, Don, Cam. That the Celtic 
 influence is strongly marked in other cases may be seen from 
 the following table, quoted from Mr Taylor's Words and 
 Places, where the names in certain districts of villages, hamlets, 
 hills, woods, and valleys are dealt with : 
 
 Percentage of 
 Names from the 
 
 Suf- 
 folk 
 
 Surrey 
 
 Devon 
 
 Corn- 
 wall 
 
 Mon- 
 mouth 
 
 Isle of 
 
 Man 
 
 Ire- 
 land 
 
 Celtic 
 
 2 
 
 8 
 
 32 
 
 80 
 
 76 
 
 en 
 
 80 
 
 Anglo-Saxon 
 
 90 
 
 9i 
 
 65 
 
 20 
 
 24 
 
 20 
 
 19 
 
 Norse 
 
 8 
 
 i 
 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 21 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 It is in such words alone that any strong mark has been 
 left by the language of those who have steadily yielded to 
 the pressure of stronger races, until almost the only home 
 for their speech is to be found in the western parts of the 
 western outpost of Europe the British isles. 
 
 42
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 The Saxon Shore the Saxons as sea-men their character in the fifth 
 century abandonment of sea-faring life after settlement in Britain 
 influence of the earlier life to be seen in Old English words denoting 
 water, ships, seamen, sea-faring inference from such words Teutonic 
 conquests in Britain Bede's account notices in the Anglo-Saxon 
 Chronicle bearing of these upon language possibility of other tribes 
 than those mentioned by Bede having taken part in the conquest 
 the Angles give the name to the language and the land the Jutes. 
 
 1. IN the preceding chapter the condition of the Roman 
 province of Britain has been shortly noticed with 
 Sh!ore. SaX n reference to the influences that might be exerted 
 upon the language of those who were to be the 
 successors of the Romans in the conquest of the island. Al- 
 ready before the empire had relinquished its remotest western 
 province, the name of those successors was known in the land 
 that later they were to occupy, and the connection in which it 
 occurs is significant. In a description of the Roman Empire, 
 'Notitia utriusque Imperii,' drawn up about 400 A.D., an official 
 is spoken of with the title ' Comes Limitis Saxonici per Britan- 
 niam,' or 'Comes Littoris Saxonici per Britannias.' The district, 
 for whose defence he had to provide, lay along the east and 
 south coasts, from the Wash to Southampton Water, and seems 
 to have got its name from its liability to be attacked by those 
 who, at a yet earlier period, are said to have infested the
 
 
 Chapter IV. 53 
 
 neighbouring seas'. It is, then, in the character of sea-rovers, 
 in which they strongly resemble the northern races from whom 
 their descendants were to suffer so much, that the Saxons first 
 present themselves ; and this is a point that it may be well to 
 notice, as having a bearing upon the language, seeing that a 
 speech must more or less shew the impress of the life of those 
 who speak it. And though, after their settlement in Britain, 
 the energies of the Saxons were diverted from the sea to the 
 land, and directed to the establishment and extension of their 
 power within the island, yet we may expect to find that the old 
 life had left its traces in the language in the shape of words 
 connected with nautical matters. Of the old sea-life, then, we 
 may try to learn something. 
 
 2. In the second century after Christ the geographer 
 Ptolemy mentions Saxons : it is by the sea that 
 
 J * The Saxons 
 
 he places them, by the mouth of the Elbe, and and the sea. 
 on three islands. Before the end of the next Character in 
 century they are seen to have taken advantage the fif t h 
 of their position and to have become so formid- 
 able on account of their piratical expeditions, that a fleet had 
 to be stationed in the Channel to resist them 2 . In 364 they 
 are said to have attacked Britain, and from that time onwards 
 their raids were probably more or less continuous, until the 
 island fell into their power. Their history seems to be very 
 similar to, and consequently may receive illustration from, the 
 better known one of the later Scandinavians ; in each there 
 is the development of a power that owed its strength largely to 
 skill at sea, and that, after using this skill for the acquisition of 
 plunder, at last found itself strong enough to make permanent 
 conquest. And the parallel between the Saxon and the Dane 
 seems to hold in respect to their characters; and again the 
 
 1 ' Cum Carausius (afterwards ' tyrant ' in Britain from 286 to 293) per 
 tractum Belgicae et Armoricae pacandum mare accepisset, quod Frar.ci et 
 Saxones infeslabant? Eutropius. 
 
 2 v. preceding note.
 
 54 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 better known picture of the Dane may help to supply details in 
 the less familiar picture of the Saxon. At any rate the main 
 outlines seem the same in both, if the following account of the 
 Saxon of the 5th century be compared with what we know 
 of the Dane from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and elsewhere. 
 A Roman provincial, Sidonius Apollinaris (born 430 A.D.), 
 writing to a friend, who had embarked as an officer in the 
 Channel fleet, which was looking out for the pirate-boats of 
 the Saxons, says : ' When you see their rowers, you may make 
 up your mind that every one of them is an arch pirate, with 
 such wonderful unanimity do all of them at once command, 
 obey, teach, and learn their business of brigandage. This is 
 why I have to warn you to be more than ever on your guard in 
 this warfare. Your foe is of all foes the fiercest 1 . He attacks 
 unexpectedly; if you expect him, he makes his escape; he 
 despises those who seek to block his path ; he overthrows 
 those who are off their guard ; he cuts off any enemy whom 
 he follows ; while, for himself, he never fails to escape when 
 he is forced to fly. And more than this, to these men a ship- 
 wreck is a school of seamanship rather than a matter of dread. 
 They know the dangers of the deep like men who are every 
 day in contact with them. For since a storm throws those 
 whom they wish to attack off their guard, while it hinders their 
 own coming onset from being seen from afar, they gladly risk 
 themselves in the midst of wrecks and sea-beaten rocks in the 
 hope of making profit out of the very tempest 2 .' 
 
 3. The sea-faring life, however, seems to have been 
 
 abandoned by the Saxons after they had settled 
 abandoned * n England ; for when the piracy of the earlier 
 after settle- times was repeated in later times by the Danes, 
 Britain. the English, like other nations, seem to have 
 
 been quite unprepared to offer resistance on the 
 sea, though more readily than others, as is seen particularly in 
 
 1 ' Hostis est omni hoste truculentior.' 
 
 2 Green's Making of England, pp. 16 17.
 
 Chapter IV. 55 
 
 Alfred's reign, they adopted the necessary means for meeting 
 the Danes on their own element 1 . 
 
 4. But it is with the language of the Saxons that we are 
 concerned, and it is, mainly, because the life of 
 
 the speaker is inseparable from his speech, that earHerWe to C 
 the points just noticed have been introduced, be seen in the 
 
 an. t. j-.- r i-r i u i .u later language. 
 
 1 hey shew conditions of life, which imply in the 
 language of the times before the coming to Britain a vocabulary 
 rich in terms connected with the sea, but which, at any rate for 
 some centuries after the coming, do not suggest the develop- 
 ment of the language in respect to such terms. We may now 
 try to see whether the language, as we know it from its earliest 
 specimens, in its condition as regards its nautical vocabulary, 
 is still the language of the old Saxon sea-rover, and not merely 
 that of the dweller in England, or of the seaman of a later time; 
 whether the language of Alfred still reflects the life of the fifth 
 century Saxon. Apart from their bearing on the early history 
 of the language, terms connected with the sea perhaps have a 
 general interest, which may justify a special notice. 
 
 5. We may begin with words denoting water, among which 
 we have water water, ea a river, flod flood, flat 
 
 (a-)float, lagu sea, water, mere mere, sea^ sa sea, 
 wlds& ocean, stream stream, w&g wave, y]> wave. 
 These words, however, are too widely spread among Teutonic 
 speeches to allow of any special inference with regard to any 
 one set of speakers. But besides these English had brim sea, 
 ocean, a form which is not found elsewhere, except it be in 
 Icelandic brim surf; geofon ocean, found besides only in O. Sax. 
 gefan ; holm water, ocean, not found elsewhere in this sense ; 
 garsecg ocean, not found elsewhere ; and hcef sea (Icel. haf\ 
 occurs in Beowulf. It is not, however, on the number of words 
 in this list that stress need be laid, but on the development in 
 the poetical vocabulary that is got by the combination of such 
 words. Thus in poetry are found the following compounds 
 1 v. Steenstrup's Vikingetogene mod Vest i del g^ Aarhundrede^ c. 14.
 
 56 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 water-flod, water-stream, wtzter-yfy, ea-stream, flod-~y\, lagu-flod, 
 lagu-stream, mere-flod, mere-stream, s&-flod, sa-holm, s&-stream, 
 sa-wag, sa-fy, wag-holm, wag-stream, fy-mere, brim-flod, brim- 
 stream, geofon-flod, geofon-fy. Yet more noticeable are the 
 figurative expressions used of the sea ; it is called bcfy-weg the 
 bath-way, lagu-fasten, six-fasten the water-fastness, the sea- 
 fastness ; its tossing waves suggest the terms y]>-gebland wave- 
 mingling, fy-gewinn wave-strife ; while from the living creatures 
 that haunt it are derived such names as hran-mere, hwal-mere 
 the whale-mere, hran-rad, swan-rdd the road of the whale and 
 of the swan, seolh-bcfy, fisces baty, ganotes bafy the bath of the 
 seal, of the fish, and of the gannet, hwales e]>el the whale's 
 native land. 
 
 6. In regard to words which denote the ship and its parts, 
 
 the language of to-day can bear witness to the 
 no ng d s s h ?ps. state of the early vocabulary, e.g. ship, boat, mast, 
 
 sprit, yard, sail, sheet, oar, rudder, helm are all 
 Old English terms. But here again it is the poetical vocabulary 
 that is remarkable. Besides some simple words, not used in 
 prose, denoting a ship, e.g. naca, far (cf. faran to go), lid 
 (cf. Ifyan to go), there are many compounds which are peculiar 
 to the poetic diction. Some point to the material of which 
 the vessel is made ; thus wudu is combined with words (many 
 of them already noticed) denoting water, and the terms brim- 
 wudu, flod-wudu, holm-wudu, sce-wudu, sund-wudu (swimming- 
 wood) are used for the ship ; bord (board), \el (plank) give 
 w&g-bord, y\-bord, ceofyel (keel-plank), wag-tyl. Others refer 
 to the living freight, and the ship is a house, e.g. geofon-hus, 
 mere-hus, holm-cern (am a house), y\-hqf (hof a house) ; and 
 Noah's ark is called mere-cist (cist chest). Others, again, and 
 among these are the most noticeable, express the motion of 
 the ship ; it is sa-flota, w&g-flota the sea- or wave-floater, s&- 
 genga the sea-goer, brim-, mere-, w<zter-}>isa the sea-dasher ; this 
 last epithet may receive illustration from the lines in the poem 
 on St Andrew :
 
 Chapter IV. 57 
 
 }>eos bat 
 fare)> famigheals fugole gelicost; 
 
 this boat 
 fares foamy-necked to (sea-) fowl likest; 
 
 a simile which occurs also in Beowulf: 
 
 flota famigheals fugle gelicost. 
 
 But the favourite metaphor is that which makes the ship a 
 steed, hengest or mearh, and it is called brim-, faro\- (shore), 
 mere-, s<z-, sund-, wteg-hengest, lagu-, s<z-, y\-mearh. 
 
 7. For the seaman, too, the poetry has terms peculiar to 
 it: bnm-mann; mere-fara (cf. sea-farer) ; brim-. 
 
 * v . Words de- 
 
 ea-, mere-, s&-, w&g-li^end; s&-, y\-Hda ; and for noting seamen 
 his course upon the water there are many names: 
 brim-, ea-, lagu , mere-, see-, y}>-ldd (lad a way, course) ; stream- 
 rdd (rdd a road) ; lagu-, s&-sl\ (si]> a journey) ; lagu-, mere-strat 
 (strat a street) ; flod-, flot-, holm-weg (weg a way). 
 
 8. Now these illustrations shew in that part of the voca- 
 bulary which is connected with sea- terms a ful- 
 
 .... , . -11 -i Inference 
 
 ness that is far more in keeping with the mode drawn from 
 
 of life among the Saxons which preceded, than 
 with that which followed, the settlement in 
 Britain. Among the Saxon sea-rovers there may well have 
 been poets, for as early as the time of Tacitus there were old 
 poems (antiqua carmina) among Teutonic peoples. Moreover 
 in favour of the early use of at least some part of the special 
 poetical vocabulary, that has been quoted, it may be noticed 
 that in the Old Saxon poem, the Heliand, forms occur which 
 are identical with, or parallel to, those in English poetry. 
 Thus among words for water these are common to the two 
 dialects: ea-, lagu-, mere-, sa- stream, sa-y]>; both use for a 
 ship naca, and for a sea-man sa-lfyend, w<zg-li]>end ; while 
 O. Sax. uses also a similar compound, not found in English, 
 lagu-lfyend. There seems, then, some ground for supposing, 
 that much of the material given above was used in the old sea-
 
 58 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 roving times by the Saxon poets, whose poems were preserved 
 in the memories of following generations, and that in the 
 vocabulary, which was thus handed down to later times, are 
 preserved the traces of the earlier life. 
 
 It may be added that, besides illustrating the special point 
 which has been considered, the words that have been given 
 have the further claim to notice, that later on they will serve to 
 illustrate some characteristics of the diction of the earliest 
 English poetry. Moreover, as has been said, in the light of 
 later times the nautical vocabulary of English at any period 
 in the history of the language may claim to be of special 
 interest. 
 
 9. An attempt has been made to connect the language of 
 Teutonic tne ^ ater ^ me w ^^ tne ^ Q f tne earlier, for the 
 
 settlements connection will shew that the language of those 
 
 in Britain. . ,-,,, ,-r f 
 
 earlier times, moulded by the life of its speakers, 
 was transferred with the speakers from Germany to Britain ; 
 and there, with no break in its continuity, though gaining a 
 more distinct individuality in its new home, it was to be known 
 during all succeeding stages of its development as English. 
 We may proceed now to notice the circumstances attending 
 the Settlement, to which it was owing that the language in 
 question was the language of this island. The middle of the 
 fifth century was a favourable time for an extension of the 
 operations which the sea-rovers of the continent had been 
 carrying on against Britain. The island had been abandoned 
 by the Romans, and was weakened by intestine war. Under 
 such circumstances Teutonic warriors, with the consent of a 
 British prince, gained a foothold in a part of Britain, where 
 four hundred years later the Scandinavian pirates, whose story 
 in so many respects is like that of the Saxons, are said first to 
 have remained through the winter in Kent : there, in the 
 case of each, the step preliminary to permanent occupation 
 was taken. For a knowledge of those by whom the occupa- 
 tion in the former case was effected we are mainly indebted
 
 Chapter IV. 59 
 
 to Bede's Ecclesiastical History and to the Anglo-Saxon 
 
 Chronicle 1 , and from these sources we may take the following 
 points as having a bearing upon language. Bede (Bk i. c. 15) 
 says : ' In the year of our Lord 440, Martian 
 
 . . ........ . ' Bede's Ec- 
 
 being made emperor with Valentiman ruled the 
 
 empire seven years. Then the nation of the f^ 84 "/ 7 ' Bk 
 Angles or Saxons... arrived in Britain with three 
 long ships, and had a place assigned them to reside in... in the 
 eastern part of the island.... The fertility of the country and 
 the cowardice of the Britons being known, a more considerable 
 fleet was quickly sent over. ...Those who came over were of the 
 three most powerful nations of Germany Saxons, Angles and 
 Jutes. From the Jutes are descended the people of Kent, and 
 of the Isle of Wight, and those also in the province of the 
 West-Saxons who are to this day called Jutes, seated opposite 
 to the Isle of Wight. From the Saxons, that is, the country 
 which is now called of the Old Saxons, came the East-Saxons, 
 the South-Saxons, and the West-Saxons. From the Angles, 
 that is, the country which is called "Angulus 2 ," and which is 
 said to remain desert to this day, between the provinces of the 
 Jutes and Saxons, are descended the East-Angles, the Midland- 
 Angles, the Mercians, all the race of the Northumbrians, that 
 is, of those nations that dwell on the North side of the river 
 Humber, and other nations of the English.' From the Chro- 
 nicle, which incorporates this chapter of Bede in an abridged 
 form, additional dates may be gained. Thus under the year 
 477 occurs the notice of the coming of the theAngio- 
 Saxons who afterwards were known as the South- Saxon chro- 
 Saxons (Sussex); under 495 the coming of 
 
 1 Neither authority is contemporary with the events described, but 
 Bede (d. 735), as will be seen from the account he gives of his method of 
 collecting the materials for his history, represents the best information of 
 his time, and no tradition seems to have remained that contradicts his 
 statements. 
 
 a Cp. Altred's Orosius: ' pact lond J>e mon Ongle haet,'
 
 6o Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 another body of Saxons, the founders of Wessex, is mentioned, 
 and with regard to the Angles it is recorded that Ida assumed 
 royal power in Northumbria in 547. For the settlements of 
 those Saxons who were afterwards known as the East-Saxons 
 (Essex), and of the Angles, both those of Norfolk (NorJ>-folc) 
 and Suffolk (SuJ>-folc) and those of Deira, no dates are given, 
 but they must have been made before Ida's kingship in 
 Bernicia. 
 
 10. We may now consider the bearing of the information 
 
 got from Bede and the Chronicle upon the 
 the preceding history of the language. It fixes a date for the 
 accounts on arrival of the first band of Teutons, and shews 
 
 language. 
 
 that within about a hundred years of that date all 
 the immigrant bands had established their settlements in the 
 country; consequently within that century the history of the 
 English language in England had fairly begun. Further these 
 immigrant bands were drawn from different tribes, occupying 
 different, though adjacent, territories on the continent, con- 
 sequently it was not a uniform speech that they brought, but 
 several closely connected forms of speech. The different tribes, 
 too, settled in different parts of the country, and their early 
 distribution is to be remembered in connection with later 
 times, when the great division of Northern, Midland, and 
 Southern, in the last of which is found a strongly marked 
 Kentish form, is distinguishable among English dialects. 
 
 11. The variety of elements among the invaders may have 
 
 been greater than is indicated by Bede's account, 
 
 Perhaps 
 
 Frisians took and there may have been contingents from other 
 Conquest! tribes than the three he mentions. For instance 
 the Frisians 1 , whose language shews the near 
 relationship of its speakers to the English, may have contri- 
 buted to the invading forces. But if we may judge by the 
 
 1 Procopius (6th cent.) says that Britain was occupied by Angles, 
 Britons, and Frisians.
 
 Chapter IV. 61 
 
 names on the map, it was certainly the Angles and the Saxons 
 who had the greatest share in the conquest of Britain, and 
 while no district bears a name that points to the Frisians, the 
 names of both Saxons and Angles may still be seen ; Essex, 
 Middlesex, Sussex, Wessex still preserve the one, England and 
 East Anglia the other. 
 
 12. While speaking of names that still bear witness to the 
 conquerors of Britain it may be noticed that 
 
 neither the country nor the language is called 
 
 after that division of them, whose royal family to the land 
 
 . . , .. . and to the 
 
 in the end became supreme, and in whose dialect language. 
 is written almost all the oldest literature : the 
 land is England (Engla land), not Sax-land or Saxony, the 
 language is English not Sexish. But the early political import- 
 ance of the Angles is seen in the case of a king like Edwin of 
 Northumbria as compared with his contemporary Cwichelm of 
 Wessex, and their early literary distinction is illustrated by the 
 names of Casdmon and Bede, the one the first English poet 
 whose name we know, the other one of the greatest, if not the 
 greatest, of the native scholars. Another circumstance may 
 perhaps have helped to give currency to the Angle name. 
 According to the story (told, for instance, in ^Elfric's homily 
 on Gregory) it was Angle captives in the Roman slave market 
 that aroused the interest of the future pope, and it was thus the 
 Angle race with which the island was associated in the minds 
 of the Latin missionaries. If to them the land was Anglia, 
 their influence might have helped to establish the name of the 
 Angles as that from which the name of the whole country 
 should be derived. 
 
 13. Two out of the three peoples mentioned by Bede have 
 written their names indelibly on the map of 
 
 _-. , , . . . ...... . . The Jutes. 
 
 England; with the third it has been otherwise. 
 As late as the beginning of the 8th century, there were, accord- 
 ing to Bede, men in Wessex who were known as of the race of 
 the Jutes, and the men of Kent were of the same stock. But
 
 62 Outlines of the History of tJu English Language. 
 
 the former were absorbed by the Saxons ; and the opportunity 
 for preserving the name of the Jutes, as that of the Saxons 
 was preserved by their neighbours of Essex and Sussex, was 
 neglected by the latter, who retained the Celtic appellation for 
 the district, which was the first to fall into the hands of the 
 Teutons. And though at the end of the 6th century the king- 
 dom of Kent was powerful, yet, having the Saxons upon its 
 borders, it was unable to expand as did the Angle and Saxon 
 powers, who could extend their territories at the expense of 
 the Celts ; and the Jutes, though the first to appear upon the 
 scene, in the end play only a subordinate part. There is, 
 however, one point in reference to them, which as having a 
 possible bearing upon language, seems to call for notice. 
 According to Bede their old home was to the north of the 
 district occupied by the Angles, in the peninsula of Jutland. 
 Jutland at a later time was Danish. The point to be con- 
 sidered, then, is whether the speech of the Jutes was a Scandi- 
 navian one. Now in the gth century and later many Danes 
 settled in England, and of their settlements left many evident 
 marks in local names, e.g. in those which contain the termina- 
 tion -by. If the language of the Jutes were very closely 
 connected with that of the Danes, we might expect to find in 
 the districts occupied by them similar traces ; but Kent does 
 not shew such names. We may suppose, then, that the lan- 
 guage of the Jutes was nearer to that of the Saxons than to 
 that of the Danes ; so that the main dialects introduced into 
 Britain by the immigrants were of the same division of the 
 Teutonic stock, and between the various forms of speech there 
 were no such great differences, as to make it probable that 
 if a fusion of the several elements should be effected it would 
 be (compare for instance the case of French and English 
 after the Norman Conquest) at the expense of extensive 
 change. 
 
 But the Teutonic speeches which had thus found a new 
 home were not left long to develop under such influences alone
 
 Chapter IV. 63 
 
 as had their sources within the island. Fifty years after (to 
 use the expression of the Chronicle) ' Ida feng to rice,' the 
 landing of Augustine took place, and with it began a period 
 in which once more the language of Rome could influence 
 language in Britain. To trace such influence will be the 
 work of the following chapter.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 The position of the Teutons in Britain secured before the end of the 
 6lh century the coming of Christianity to England its spread a 
 measure of its influence on the language learning in England before 
 the end of the 8th century libraries learning among the Celts and 
 its relation to the English the decay of learning in the Qth century 
 described by Alfred his attempts to promote education revival of 
 learning in the loth century Dunstan ^Elfric Latin charters 
 absence of foreign material in the language before the Norman Con- 
 quest the larger knowledge of the English due to Christianity 
 the consequent change of the language. 
 
 1. IT has been seen in the last chapter that before the 
 
 end of the 6th century the eastern side of 
 
 The assured . J 
 
 position of the Britain as far north as the Firth of Forth had 
 s^tdements in been settled by Teutonic peoples, whose settle- 
 Britain in the ments, moreover, were so far secure, that the 
 
 6th century. . 
 
 energies of the settlers were no longer absorbed 
 by struggles with the original inhabitants of the island, but 
 might be directed to the development of the several kingdoms 
 within their own borders, or to conflicts between rival king- 
 doms. It was at the outset of this career of development 
 that the influence of Christianity was brought to bear upon 
 the English. 
 
 2. The incident with which the story of the conversion 
 The coming of ^ e English begins is quite in keeping with 
 
 of Christianity the character of the people. Not only was 
 
 to England. ., ... r . _ 
 
 the captive of another race (cf. ivealh above)
 
 Chapter V. 65 
 
 enslaved, but in the struggles between the English themselves 
 the vanquished was at the absolute disposal of the victor ; even 
 in Christian times the captor sold his captive 1 . It is not sur- 
 prising, then, to learn that, probably as a result of war in North- 
 umbria, there were to be found at the close of the 6th century 
 slaves in the Roman market, who had come from Deira. They 
 were seen by Gregory, who, interested by their appearance, 
 engaged in the jesting conversation, which Bede records and 
 which yfClfric repeats 2 . His interest was so much aroused, that 
 he was eager to attempt the conversion of the captives' fellow- 
 countrymen; and though this plan could not be carried out, 
 yet later, after he had become Pope, he sent others to accom- 
 plish a task, which he had not been allowed to undertake him- 
 self. It was a little before 588 (the date of ^Ella's death) that 
 the meeting with the English slaves had taken place, and it was 
 in 596 that the mission, headed by Augustine, started for 
 England. Gregory's missionaries, deterred by what they heard 
 of those whom they were to convert, remained among the 
 Franks, until, encouraged by him, they in 597 crossed the 
 
 1 See the account in Bede's History (book IV. c. 22) of Imma, a 
 follower of the Northumbrian king, Ecgfrith, who after a battle (679) 
 between the Northumbrians and Mercians fell into the hands of a Mercian. 
 The quality of the captive being discovered by the captor the latter says : 
 ' You deserve to die, because all my brothers and relations were killed in 
 the fight, yet I will not put you to death.' In the end Imma was sold in 
 London to a Frisian. 
 
 a The punning in this instance may be called happy on account of the 
 information it preserves. " Interrogavit, quod esset vocabulum gentis 
 illius. Responsum est, quod Angli vocarentur. At ille, 'Bene,' inquit, 
 'nam et Angelicam habent faciem, et tales Angelorttm in coelis decet esse 
 coheredes. Quod habet nomen ipsa provincia de qua isti sunt adlati?' 
 Responsum est, quod Deiri vocarentur iidem provinciales. At ille, 
 'Bene,' inquit, ' Deiri, de ira eruti, et ad misericordiam Christi vocati. 
 Rex provinciae illius quomodo appellatur?' Responsum est, quod Aella 
 diceretur. At ille adludens ad nomen ait, ' Alleluia, laudem Dei Creatoris 
 illis in partibus oportet cantari.'" Bede's History, bk II. c. i. See also 
 Thorpe's edition of ylfric's Homilies, Vol. II. p. 120. 
 
 T. c
 
 66 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 Channel and landed in Kent. Here the conditions were not 
 unfavourable to the success of the undertaking. The power of 
 Kent was at that time considerable 1 . Its king, Ethelbert, had 
 married a French princess, who was a Christian ; and as she 
 maintained the practices of her religion, the idea of Christi- 
 anity could not have been entirely foreign to the king. In any 
 case, not long after Augustine's landing he was brought to 
 profess the new religion ; his .example naturally found many 
 followers, and Kent, as it had been the first to come under a 
 new political rule, was the first to come under the power of a 
 new religion. The first Christian Church among the English 
 was raised in Kent, and the chief town of the men of Kent 
 Cantwara burh, Canterbury is still the ecclesiastical capital of 
 England. 
 
 3. The influence of Christianity, which thus had begun to 
 be felt in Kent before the close of the 6th century, 
 
 The spread of . 
 
 Christianity in in the next century gradually was extended to 
 other parts of the country, and the order in 
 which the several parts came under it may be roughly shewn 
 by the following dates : 
 
 In 604 the East Saxons, to whom Augustine had sent 
 Mellitus, were converted 2 ; in 627 Edwin of Northumbria was 
 baptized 3 , and induced Eorpwald, king of the East Angles, in 
 632 to follow his example 4 ; in 634 Birinus was preaching in 
 
 1 ' Erat eo tempore rex ^Edelberctus in Cantia potentissimus, qui ad 
 confinium usque Humbrae fluminis maximi quo Meridian! et Septentrio- 
 nales Anglorum populi dirimuntur, fines imperii tetenderat. ' Bede I. 25. 
 
 2 An. 604. ' Her East-Seaxe onfengon geleafan and fulwihtes ba;5 ' in 
 this year the East Saxons received the faith and baptism, A. S. Chron. : 
 Bede n. 3. 
 
 3 An. 627. ' Her Edwine kyning wses gefulwad mid his >eode on 
 Eastron ' in this year king Edwin was baptized with his people at Easter, 
 \. S. Chron. See Bede n. 13 for the discussion which preceded the 
 change of faith. 
 
 4 An. 632. ' Her wses Eorpwald gefulwad,' A. S. Chron. See Bede II. 
 15 for Edwin's influence.
 
 Chapter V. 67 
 
 Wessex, with the result that in 635 Cynegils was baptized, and 
 in 636 Cwichelm, who a few years before had tried to get 
 Edwin assassinated, also accepted baptism 1 ; in 653 the Middle 
 Saxons received Christianity 2 ; in 655 Penda died, and the 
 Mercians became Christians 3 ; and, lastly, in 68 1 Wilfrid 
 preached successfully to the South Saxons*. Within about 
 a hundred years, then, from its introduction by Augustine, 
 Christianity had been accepted by all the English kingdoms. 
 4. In attempting to estimate the effect upon the language 
 of the converts, that was due to their acceptance 
 of another faith, it will not be enough to make influence of 
 out a list of Latin words, which were taken into S^angulje 
 the language before the Norman Conquest. Such should be 
 
 ,. r , r i measured. 
 
 a list would be a very imperfect measure of the 
 effect in question. For what we want to know is this : How 
 far was English as a medium for the expression of ideas affected 
 by the influences which were due to Christianity ? Now while 
 the literature, which preserves the language for us, bears con- 
 stant witness to such influences, yet from that particular form of 
 change in language, which consists in the adoption of foreign 
 material, the old English is comparatively free its vocabulary 
 has comparatively but few Latin words. Such change, then, in 
 this case is no measure of the importance of the influence to 
 which it was due. That in early times this kind of change was 
 
 1 An. 634. 'Her Birinus biscop bodude West-Seaxum fulwuht' in 
 this year bishop Birinus preached baptism to the West Saxons. 
 
 635. ' Her Cynegils wses gefulwad from Birino.' 
 
 636. ' Her Cwichelm wses gefulwad,' A. S. Chron. 
 
 2 An. 653. ' Her Middel-Seaxe onfengon under Peadan aldormen 
 ryhtne geleafan,' A. S. Chron. 
 
 8 An. 655. ' Her Penda forwearj>, and Mierce wurdon Cristne ' in this 
 year Penda perished (he was slain by Oswy), and the Mercians became 
 Christian, A. S. Chron. 
 
 4 ' Wilfrid... divertens ad provinciam Australium Saxonum, quae...eo 
 adhuc tempore paganis cultibus serviebat, huic verbum fide et lavacrum 
 salutis ministrabat,' Bede IV. 13. 
 
 52
 
 68 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 so slight is the more notable, that in later times it has been 
 made to such an extent as to bring about a characteristic 
 contrast between the two stages of the language. That the 
 slightness of the change, however, was not due to want of 
 acquaintance with the sources from which foreign words might 
 have been drawn, will be seen if the state of learning in the 
 early times be shortly noticed. 
 
 5. That Latin was studied with success by Englishmen 
 within a century of the landing of Augustine, we 
 
 Learning in , . , , , . 
 
 England in the have the evidence of Bede, who, speaking of 
 a?d? n n th7be- Theodore (ordained archbishop in 668') and his 
 ginning of the companion Adrian, says : ' As both of them were 
 well read both in sacred and in secular literature, 
 they gathered a crowd of disciples, and there daily flowed from 
 them rivers of knowledge to water the hearts of their hearers ; 
 and, together with the books of holy writ, they also taught 
 them the arts of ecclesiastical poetry, astronomy, and arith- 
 metic. A testimony of which is, that there are still living at 
 this day some of their scholars who are as well versed in the 
 Greek and Latin tongues as in their own, in which they were 
 born 2 .' Among the scholars for whom such proficiency is 
 claimed, the cases of Tobias, bishop of Rochester (d. 726), 
 and Albinus, who in 708 succeeded Adrian as abbot of the 
 monastery at Canterbury (d. 732), may be cited. Of the 
 former Bede says : ' He was a most learned man ; for he was 
 disciple to those teachers of blessed memory, archbishop 
 Theodore and Abbot Adrian, by which means, besides his 
 erudition in ecclesiastical and general literature, he learned 
 both the Latin and Greek tongues to such perfection, that they 
 were as well known and familiar to him as his native language 8 .' 
 Of the latter it is said : ' He was so well instructed in the study 
 of the Scriptures, that he knew the Greek tongue to no small 
 
 1 An. 668. 'Her peodorus mon hadode to ercebiscope,' A. S. Chron. 
 9 History, iv. t. 3 Ib. v. 23.
 
 Chapter V. 69 
 
 perfection, and the Latin as thoroughly as the English, which 
 was his native language 1 .' More distinguished, however, than 
 either of these was Aldhelm, successively abbot of Malmesbury 
 and bishop of Sherborne (d. 709), the author of a Latin poem, 
 De Laude Virginitatis, as well as of other Latin works. Of him 
 Bede writes : ' He wrote a notable book on Virginity, which, in 
 imitation of Sedulius, he composed in hexameter verse and 
 prose. He wrote some other books, as being a man most 
 learned in all respects, for he had a pure style, and was 
 wonderful for ecclesiastical and liberal erudition 2 .' Even if 
 allowance be made for the exaggeration of panegyric, the terms 
 in which Bede speaks of his contemporaries' attainments will 
 shew, that in the latter part of the 7th and the early part of the 
 8th century learning flourished in the south of England ; while 
 for its condition in the north it may be sufficient to recall the 
 name of Bede. In his case, too, as in that of Aldhelm, it is 
 not report only that has to be trusted ; their works remain to 
 shew the quality of their scholarship. 
 
 6. That during the 8th century learning continued to 
 flourish in the north is seen, if another famous 
 English scholar be called as witness. Alcuin, the north of 
 born about the time of Bede's death (735), was b^fore"^ end 
 educated at York under Egbert (archbishop from of the 8th 
 732 to 766) and under Ethelbert, Egbert's suc- 
 cessor. Ethelbert, on his accession, appointed Alcuin to the 
 place which he had himself occupied in the school, and en- 
 trusted to his care the library belonging to it. Alcuin later 
 lived in France as the friend and counsellor of Charlemagne, 
 and from a letter written in 796 at Tours to the latter we may 
 learn how the English scholar could look back to the favoured 
 conditions of his old home. ' I here feel severely,' he writes, ' the 
 want of those invaluable books of scholastic erudition which 
 I had in my own country, by the kind and most affectionate 
 
 1 History, V. 20. 2 Ib. V. 18.
 
 70 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 industry of my master, and also in some measure by my own 
 humble labours. Let me therefore propose to your Excellency, 
 that I send over thither some of our youth, who may collect for 
 us all that is necessary, and bring back with them into France 
 the flowers of Britain.' 
 
 7. It was very soon after the coming of Augustine that such 
 
 Libraries in flowers began to make their appearance in Britain. 
 
 England i n 601 Gregory, when despatching Mellitus and 
 
 before the end T- , j i i 
 
 of the 8th others to England, sent with them many books . 
 
 century. ^ n( j ^g E n gij s h themselves took care that their 
 
 number should be increased. Acca, bishop of Hexham (709), 
 by his diligence as a collector, formed a considerable library 2 . 
 Benedict Biscop, abbot of Wearmouth, Bede's master, made 
 five journeys to the continent, with the result that a numerous 
 collection of books was to be found in the monastery, where 
 Bede, speaking of himself, says, C I was given, at seven years 
 of age, to be educated by the most reverend abbot Benedict; 
 and spending there all the remaining time of my life, I wholly 
 applied myself to the study of Scripture.' The same diligence 
 was shewn by Egbert, as we are told by his scholar Alcuin 8 ; 
 from whom we may learn also, in part at least, what ' flowers 
 of Britain ' were to be found at York. His lines, dealing with 
 the books there, as giving a catalogue, though an imperfect 
 one, of one of the best libraries in England in the 8th century 
 may be quoted here : 
 
 Illic invenies veterum vestigia patrum, 
 quidquid habet pro se latio Romanus in orbe ; 
 
 1 'Gregorius misit... cod ices plurimos,' Bede I. 29. 
 
 2 ' Acca...historias passionis martyrum, una cum caeteris ecclesiasticis 
 voluminibus, summa i-ndustria congregans, amplissimam ac nobilissimam 
 bibliothecam fecit,' ib. V. 70. 
 
 3 Alcuin, in one of his poems, says of Egbert : 
 
 ' Non semel externas peregrine tramite terras 
 jam peragravit ovans, sophiae ductus amore; 
 si quid forte novi librorum aut studiorum 
 quod secum ferret, terris reperiret in illis.'
 
 Chapter V. /I 
 
 Graecia vel quidquid transmisit clara latinis; 
 Hebraicus vel quod populus bibit ore superno; 
 Africa lucifluo vel quidquid lumine sparsit. 
 Quod pater Hieronymus, quod sensit Hilarius, atque 
 Ambrosius praesul, simul Augustinus, et ipse 
 Sanctus Athanasius, quod Orosius edit avitus, 
 quidquid Gregorius summus docet, et Leo papa: 
 Basilius quidquid, Fulgentius atque coruscant. 
 Cassiodorus item, Chrysostomus atque Joannes. 
 Quidquid et Athelmus docuit, quod Beda magister, 
 quae Victorinus scripsere, Boetius, atque 
 historici veteres, Pompeius, Plinius, ipse 
 acer Aristoteles, rhetor quoque Tullius ingens: 
 quid quoque Sedulius, vel quid canit ipse luvencus, 
 Alcuinus et Clemens, Prosper, Paulinus, Arator, 
 quid Fortunatus vel quid Lactantius edunt, 
 quae Maro Virgilius, Statius, Lucanus, et auctor 
 artis grammaticae, vel quid scripsere magistri, 
 quid Probus atque Phocas, Donatus, Priscianusve, 
 Servius, Euticius, Pompeius, Comminianus. 
 Invenies alios perplures. 
 
 8. In speaking of learning in England in these early times 
 it should not be forgotten that it was not to the Learning 
 continent only that the English were indebted among Celtic 
 for their teaching. To the Celtic Christians of its relation to 
 both Scotland and Ireland the English, especially the En e lish - 
 in the north, after they had accepted Christianity owed much. 
 It was to the Scots, among whom he had lived in banishment, 
 that Oswald of Northumbria appealed 1 , when he needed a 
 bishop ; and in response Aidan came from lona (635), a man 
 whose ' course of life was so different from the slothfulness of 
 our times, that all those who bore him company, whether they 
 were shorn monks or laymen, were employed in meditation, 
 that is, either in reading the Scriptures, or learning psalms,' 
 and who 'if it happened, which was but seldom, that he was 
 invited to eat with the king, went with one or two clerks, and 
 having taken a small repast, made haste to be gone with them, 
 
 1 Bede III. 3.
 
 72 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 either to read or write 1 .' In Mercia, too, there were ecclesiastics 
 of Scottish race. From Ireland Fursey, who ' from his boyish 
 years had particularly applied himself to reading sacred books 2 ,' 
 came to settle among the East Angles. In the land he had 
 left were to be found scholars learned alike in sacred and 
 profane literature 8 , and many repaired thither to enjoy the 
 benefits of their teaching. In speaking of a pestilence which 
 raged in Ireland (664) Bede notes : ' Many of the nobility, and 
 of the lower ranks of the English nation, were there at that 
 time, who retired thither for the sake of Divine studies ; and 
 some of them chose to apply themselves to study, going 
 about from one master's cell to another. The Irish willingly 
 received them all, and took care to supply them with food, 
 as also to furnish them with books to read, and their teaching, 
 gratis 4 .' 
 
 9. These few notices may be sufficient to illustrate the 
 point, that before 800 there was enough know- 
 ledge of Latin among English scholars to enable 
 did not lead to them, if they had wished, to adopt into the 
 
 the introduc- * 
 
 tion of foreign native language Latin words ; that, consequently, 
 En3i mt0 it: was not to the unfamiliarity of English scholars 
 with Latin in the times which precede those to 
 which the earliest specimens of English literature belong, that 
 the language of that literature owes its freedom from foreign 
 material, a freedom which makes the earliest stage of English 
 so great a contrast with later stages, when knowledge of other 
 
 1 Bede in. 5. 2 /^ nl< ^ 
 
 3 At the time of the mortality (642) the infection reached a certain 
 scholar (in Ireland), a man learned in worldly literature, ib. III. 13. 
 
 4 Ib. ill. 27. Bede mentions by name 'two youths of great capacity, 
 of the English nobility,' Ethelhun and Egbert, as cases in point, and adds 
 that their example was followed later by a brother of the former, who, 
 after studying in Ireland, returned to England and became bishop of 
 Lindsey. Another instance of study in Ireland is that of 'Agilbert, by 
 nation a Frenchman, but who had lived a long time in Ireland, for the 
 purpose of reading the Scriptures.' Ib. III. 7.
 
 Chapter V. 73 
 
 languages was followed by wholesale borrowing from them. 
 Had the study of Latin been uninterruptedly pursued with the 
 diligence of the early scholars, the result, perhaps, would have 
 been different. But at the time when Alcuin was writing to 
 Charlemagne the letter quoted above, Danish ships had already 
 appeared off the English coast, and the gth century saw, very 
 largely in consequence of the Danish attacks, the decay of 
 learning in England. What the condition of the country in the 
 gth century was, how painful a contrast with that 
 of earlier times, may be told in Alfred's own . ^ arr !i" g 
 
 * in the gth 
 
 words. ' It has very often come into my mind,' century, 
 he writes in the preface to his translation of Aifred! ny 
 Gregory's Pastoral Care, 'what wise men there 
 formerly were throughout England, both of sacred and of 
 secular orders ; and how happy times there were then through- 
 out England; and how the kings... prospered both in war and 
 in wisdom ; and also the sacred orders how zealous they were 
 both in teaching and learning;... and how foreigners came to 
 this -land in search of wisdom and teaching, and how we should 
 now have to get them from abroad, if we were to have them. 
 So clean had learning fallen away in England, that there were 
 very few on this side the Humber who could understand their 
 rituals in English or translate a letter from Latin into English ; 
 and I believe that there were not many beyond the Humber. 
 There were so few of them, that I cannot remember a single 
 one south of the Thames, when I came to the throne....! 
 remembered also how I saw, before it had all been ravaged and 
 burnt, how the churches throughout all England stood filled 
 with treasures and books, and there was also a great many of 
 God's servants ; but they got very little good from the books, 
 for they could not understand anything of them, for they were 
 not written in their own language. As if they had said, " Our 
 forefathers loved wisdom, and through it they got wealth and 
 left to us. Their track may still be seen here, but we cannot 
 follow it out, and so we have lost both the wealth and the
 
 74 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 wisdom." When I remembered all this I wondered very 
 greatly at the good and wise men who were formerly through- 
 out England, and had completely learned all the books, that 
 they had not wished to turn any part of them into their own 
 language. But at once I answered myself and said: "They 
 did not suppose that men were ever to become so careless, and 
 learning so to fall away ; from that desire they left it alone, and 
 wished that the more wisdom might be in the land, the more 
 languages we knew." ' 
 
 10. Where Alfred recognised an evil, an attempt on the 
 
 first opportunity to remedy it naturally followed. 
 
 Alfred's T> r v 
 
 attempts to From the same Preface it may be seen that 
 promote edu- better times had already begun. He had found 
 
 cation. . . 
 
 scholars to help him in his translation, which was 
 made ' as I had learned from Plegmund my archbishop, and from 
 Asser my bishop, and from Grimbold my masspriest, and from 
 John my masspriest'; he could thank God that 'we now have 
 any provision of teachers': and he could propose a scheme of 
 education for his people. ' It seems to me better, if it seems so 
 to you (the bishop to whom the copy of the translation was 
 sent), that we turn into the language that we all know, some 
 books which are most needful for all to know, and cause, as we 
 easily may with God's help, if we have tranquillity, that all the 
 youth now in England of free men and of sufficient means be 
 put to learning while they are not fit for any other employment, 
 until the time that they can read English well ; and let those 
 be further taught in Latin for whom further teaching is wished, 
 and who are to be promoted to a higher rank.' 
 
 11. The more settled times of the loth century allowed 
 Revival of tne n P es f Alfred to be to some extent realized, 
 
 learning in the and the study of Latin was once more success- 
 fully prosecuted. According to ^Elfric (c. 1000) 
 this was largely owing to Dunstan (b. 925). In the preface to 
 his grammar ^Elfric refers to the necessity of teaching the 
 young, ' so that holy lore in our days may not grow cold and
 
 Chapter V. 75 
 
 faint, as happened in England some few years ago, so that no 
 English priest could compose or expound a letter in Latin, 
 until Archbishop Dunstan and Bishop ^Ethelwold 1 established 
 that teaching in monasteries.' It was for the youth of the 
 monastic schools that the grammar was intended 2 , and the 
 teaching of Latin may be further illustrated by the Latin 
 Colloquy, with its interlinear English gloss, which goes under 
 ^Elfric's name 3 , and by the Latin-English vocabulary which 
 generally follows the grammar. This contains the correspond- 
 ing Latin and English words for various groups of common 
 things, such as parts of the body, the house and its parts, &c. 
 As early as the 8th century collections of Latin words with the 
 English equivalents had been made 4 , sometimes arranged in 
 alphabetical order, thus taking a first step towards the com- 
 pilation of a Latin-English dictionary. 
 
 As a last instance of attention to Latin literature may be 
 noted the library that Leofric, bishop of Exeter (1050), 
 acquired for his church 8 . Besides others it contained ' Liber 
 pastoralis, liber dialogorum, liber Boetii de Consolatione, 
 Isagoge Porphirii, . . . liber Prosperi, liber Prudentii psicomachie, 
 liber Prudentii ymnorum, liber Prudentii de martyribus, . . . liber 
 Isidori etimologiarum,... liber Isidori de novo et veteri testa- 
 mento, liber Isidori de miraculis Christi,... liber Persii, Sedulies 
 boc, glose Statii...' 
 
 12. In the preceding remarks it has been chiefly in the 
 
 1 ^Lthelwold, bishop of Winchester (d. 984), was ^Elfric's teacher. In 
 the Latin preface to the grammar occurs the expression 'sicut didicimus 
 in scola Adelwoldi.' 
 
 2 ' Ego ^Elfricus has excerptiones de Prisciano minore vel majore vobis 
 puerulis tenellis ad vestram linguam transferre studui.' 
 
 3 The Colloquy will be found in Thorpe's Analecta Aiiglo-Saxonica, or 
 in the first volume of Wright's Vocabularies. 
 
 * See the two volumes of Wright's Vocabularies, or the edition of these 
 by Wulcker. 
 
 5 'pus fela Ledenboca he beget in to J>an mynstre,' Earle's Charters, 
 p.. 35 1.
 
 76 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 character of a literary language that Latin has 
 Latin been considered, the language in which were 
 
 written books that were read or composed by 
 the old English scholars. But from a rather different quarter 
 may be illustrated a familiarity with Latin during the whole 
 period under notice from the long series of charters written in 
 that language. The first of these, given by Kemble in his 
 Codex Diplomaticus Aevi Saxonici, and accepted by him as 
 genuine, is a charter of Ethelbert of Kent, dated 604, and from 
 that time onwards there is no period which shews the disuse of 
 Latin. 
 
 13. It will be seen from what has been said in the preceding 
 
 paragraphs, that the freedom from foreign ma- 
 Absence of , , . 
 foreign ma- terial, which continued to mark the language 
 
 SriSn^of in the I0th and IIth centuries, was not due to 
 ,Eifricand ignorance of Latin on the part of those who 
 wrote the best English. ^Elfric, as we have 
 seen, was a scholar, but in his works, which are the best 
 specimens of the prose of his time, there are very few words 
 borrowed from Latin. And it is the same with other writers. 
 All preferred to use native material, with the result that, in 
 respect to the proportion of the native to the foreign element 
 in the vocabulary, the earliest and the latest stages of the 
 language are in striking contrast with one another. 
 
 14. But though from the language of the literature that 
 The larger Christianity brought to the knowledge of the 
 
 knowledge of English, they may have taken few words, yet by 
 
 the English J / 
 
 due to christi- that literature they were introduced to a new 
 amty. world of thought, whose ideas called for expres- 
 
 sion. Nor was it only by a knowledge that Christianity 
 brought to them in their island home that their mental horizon 
 was widened. The door was opened to intercourse alike with 
 the Celtic Christians of Britain and Ireland, and with the 
 Christians of the continent. The examples of men like Aidan ' 
 1 See the life of Aidan, Bede ill. 5.
 
 Chapter V. 77 
 
 of lona were put before the English in their own land, or by 
 sojourn in Ireland they came to know a new life. To Gaul 
 and to Italy there was constant resort. Benedict Biscop 
 journeyed five times to the continent. Wilfrid of York, before 
 his settlement there, had lived in Gaul and Rome 1 . Alcuin 
 was the friend of Charlemagne. Englishwomen went to Gaul 
 for instruction 2 , and more than one English king went to Rome 3 . 
 The fervour of English Christianity led Englishmen to mis- 
 sionary effort among their heathen kinsmen on the Continent, 
 and Wictbert and Wilbrord went to preach to the Frisians 4 . 
 
 15. The conditions of knowledge, then, among the English, 
 whether that knowledge were gained by inter- 
 course with books or with men, must have been 
 very different from that which would have pre- language 
 vailed had Christianity not come to them, and ^d by S modi- 
 this difference implies that the language must Ration of 
 
 oo knowledge. 
 
 have been very different from that which would 
 have served their needs, had they remained outside the 
 Christian pale. If we could say how different, we should 
 get a measure of the influence exerted on the language by 
 Christianity. As it is impossible to say what the language 
 might have been, if it had been left to itself, it is impossible to 
 determine the difference just spoken of; but there are many 
 points in which the influence in question may be traced, and 
 these will be noticed in the following chapter. 
 
 1 See for Wilfrid's life, Bede V. 19. 
 
 8 The daughter of Earconbert (640) of Kent was in a monastery at 
 Brie, 'for,' says Bede, 'at that time but few monasteries being built in 
 England, many were wont to repair to the monasteries of the Franks, and 
 they also sent their daughters there to be instructed,' ill. 8. 
 
 3 An. 728. ' Her Ine ferde to Rome,' A. S. Chron. 
 
 737. ' Her For>here biscop and Fri)>ogi> cuen ferdun to Rome,' ib. 
 
 855. '^Ehelwulf cyning ferde to Rome, and J>3er wses xii monaj> wuni- 
 encle, and ha him hamweard for, and him Carl Francna cyning his dohtor 
 geaf him to cuene,' ib. 
 
 4 Bede iv. 9, 10.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Learning in England the Latin authors chiefly studied were the Christian 
 writers Latin of the Second Period Latin-English hybrids the Latin 
 element, except in special classes of words, really small changed con- 
 ditions of life implied by some of the Latin words expansion of the 
 native language parallel Latin and English words contrast of Old 
 English with Modern English in respect to the use of foreign material 
 illustration of this from translations of the Scriptures ecclesiastical 
 terms scientific terms terms of grammar of Astronomy other 
 classes of words the method by which the use of Latin words was 
 avoided importance of the influence of Christianity on the language. 
 
 1. IN the preceding chapter some illustration has been 
 in attempted of the extent to which, in the period 
 
 England between the coming of Augustine and the 
 
 Norman Conquest, learning, that had followed 
 in the train of Christianity, flourished in England. Though it 
 fell on evil days when the Danes were ravaging the country, 
 yet through a great part of the period the names of English 
 scholars may be pointed to as evidence that Latin was known 
 by those who were likely to mould the literary speech of 
 England. Much of the prose literature, as will be noticed 
 later, is translation from the Latin. The writer of the best 
 English prose, when the period was drawing to its close, was 
 ^Elfric, the compiler of a Latin-English Grammar. With such 
 a knowledge of Latin among Englishmen, the natural result 
 was, that one effect on their language, in which the influence of 
 Christianity may be traced, was the incorporation into it of 
 foreign material. This addition to the vocabulary is known as- 
 Latin of the Second Period.
 
 Chapter VI. 79 
 
 2. Before giving a list of the words that may be placed 
 under this head, it may be well to refer to some 
 
 _ J The Latin 
 
 of the notices given in Chapter v. From these authors 
 
 it will be seen, that, as might be expected, it was we^hT'" 6 ' 1 
 
 not the classical writers, who were the special Christian 
 
 , , _, . . writers. 
 
 objects of study; it was rather the Christian 
 writers of a later age, with whom the Christian scholars of 
 England were familiar. It was religious, rather than literary, 
 considerations, which made an author acceptable; even Alcuin, 
 according to his biographer, in later life saw the folly of reading 
 the lies of Virgil, and would neither study them himself, nor 
 permit his pupils to do so either 1 ; and the Latin, with which 
 the glossaries shew their compilers to have been brought in 
 contact, is not always such as finds a place in a classical 
 dictionary. 
 
 3. With this preface as to the character of the Latin with 
 which the English scholars were most familiar 
 
 we may proceed to give a list of words of Latin The Latin of 
 
 . . a , , ' . ..,,- the Second 
 
 origin , that made their way into English betore period, 
 about the middle of the eleventh century. 
 
 * Words which occur only in Latin-English Glossaries, or in glosses to 
 Latin works. 
 
 t Ecclesiastical words. Plant names. 
 
 J Words that occur only once or twice. For the reason of these 
 distinctions see 5. 
 
 English Latin 
 
 tabbed abbot abbatem 
 
 fabbodisse abbess abbatissa 
 
 1 'Legerat isdem vir Domini (Alcuin) libros juvenis antiquorum philo- 
 sophorum, Virgiliique mendacia, quae nolebat jam ipse nee audire, neque 
 discipulos suos legere, "sufficiunt, " inquiens, " divini poetae vobis, nee 
 egetis luxuriosa sermonis Virgilii vos pollui facundia." ' In the same spirit 
 Isidore of Seville (d. 636) forbade the monks under his control from 
 reading books written by heathen of the olden time. 
 
 2 Under this head are taken words borrowed by Latin from other 
 languages.
 
 8o Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 English 
 
 
 Latin 
 
 "accent 
 
 accent 
 
 accentus 
 
 *aebs 
 
 fir-tree 
 
 abies 
 
 faelmesse 
 
 alms 
 
 eleemosyna 
 
 fserce- 
 
 arch- (in cmpds) 
 
 archi- 
 
 sestel 
 
 book-mark 
 
 (h)astula 
 
 talbe 
 
 alb 
 
 alba 
 
 falter (-are) 
 
 altar 
 
 alt are 
 
 aluwe 
 
 aloes 
 
 aloe 
 
 amber 1 
 
 jar, measure 
 
 amphora (low Lat. ambia) 
 
 *amel 
 
 vessel for holy water 
 
 amula 
 
 ampelle (-ulle) 
 
 bottle 
 
 ampulla 
 
 ancor, ancra 
 
 anchor 
 
 anchor a 
 
 fancor, ancra 
 
 hermit 
 
 anachoreta 
 
 fantefn 
 
 anthem 
 
 antiphona 
 
 tapostata 
 
 apostate 
 
 apostata 
 
 tapostol 
 
 apostle 
 
 apostolus 
 
 aprotane 
 
 wormwood 
 
 abrotanum 
 
 armelu 
 
 wild rue 
 
 harmala 
 
 aspide 
 
 asp 
 
 aspidem 
 
 *atrum 
 
 ink 
 
 atramentum 
 
 tbse[d]zere, bsestere (not in West Saxon) baptist 
 
 baptista 
 
 balsam 
 
 balsam 
 
 balsamum 
 
 *basilisca 
 
 basilisk 
 
 basiliscus 
 
 belt 
 
 belt 
 
 balteus 
 
 Jbe-mutian 
 
 to exchange 
 
 mutare 
 
 berbene 
 
 verbena 
 
 verbena 
 
 bete 
 
 beet-root 
 
 beta 
 
 betonice 
 
 betony 
 
 betonica 
 
 tbiscop 
 
 bishop 
 
 episcopus 
 
 Jbises 
 
 day added in leap-year 
 
 bissextus 
 
 Jbissext 
 
 leap-year 
 
 bissextus 
 
 box 
 
 box-tree 
 
 buxus 
 
 Jbrefan 
 
 to epitomize 
 
 brevis 
 
 *bula 
 
 ornament 
 
 bulk 
 
 butere 
 
 butter 
 
 butyrum 
 
 *caefester 
 
 halter \ 
 
 
 tge-cafstrian 
 
 to bridle \ 
 
 cap is t rum 
 
 1 In this case the native English word may have helped to introduce 
 the Latin form. The mod. German eimer, a pail, has ein-par as its earliest 
 form, to which would correspond an Old English an-bser.
 
 Chapter VL 
 
 81 
 
 English 
 
 
 Latin 
 
 fcseppe 
 
 hood 
 
 cappa 
 
 Jcalc 
 
 shoe 
 
 calceus 
 
 calend 
 
 month, time 
 
 calendae 
 
 calic 
 
 cup 
 
 calicem 
 
 Jcama 
 
 muzzle 
 
 camus 
 
 camel (not in West Saxon) camel 
 
 camelus 
 
 camp 
 
 battle 
 
 campus 
 
 cancer 
 
 cancer 
 
 cancer 
 
 candel 
 
 candle 
 
 candela 
 
 fcanon 
 
 canon, rule 
 
 canon 
 
 tcanonic 
 
 canon (person) 
 
 canonicus 
 
 fcantere 
 
 singer 
 
 canto 
 
 fcantic 
 
 canticle 
 
 canticum 
 
 capitol 
 
 chapter 
 
 capitulum 
 
 *capun 
 
 capon 
 
 caponem 
 
 carcern 1 
 
 prison 
 
 career 
 
 caric(e) 
 
 dry fig 
 
 carica 
 
 carte 
 
 paper, document 
 
 charta 
 
 casere 
 
 emperor 
 
 Caesar 
 
 castel 
 
 village 
 
 castellum 
 
 cawel 
 
 cabbage 
 
 caulis 
 
 cealc 
 
 chalk 
 
 calcem 
 
 ceder 
 
 cedar 
 
 cedrus 
 
 cele)>onie 
 
 celandine 
 
 chelidonium 
 
 cel(l)endre 
 
 coriander 
 
 coriandrum 
 
 *cemes 
 
 shirt 
 
 camisia 
 
 *centaur 
 
 centaur 
 
 centaurus 
 
 centaurie 
 
 centaury (plant) 
 
 centaureum 
 
 ceren 
 
 sweet wine 
 
 carenum 
 
 cerfille 
 
 chervil 
 
 cerefolium 
 
 cetel 
 
 kettle 
 
 catillus 
 
 *+chor 
 
 dance, choir 
 
 chorus 
 
 ciepe 
 
 art ion 
 
 caepa 
 
 clese 
 
 cheese 
 
 caseus 
 
 ciest 
 
 chest 
 
 cista 
 
 *cilic 
 
 sack-cloth 
 
 cilicium 
 
 cimbal(a) 
 
 cymbal 
 
 cymbalum 
 
 ciper [-sealf] 
 
 henna ointment 
 
 cypros 
 
 1 This form seems to combine English tern, a house, with the 
 Latin. 
 
 T. 6
 
 82 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 English 
 
 
 Latin 
 
 circul 
 
 circle 
 
 circulus 
 
 [cirice 
 
 church 
 
 KVplO.KOV~\ 
 
 cires [-beam] 
 
 cherry-tree 
 
 cerasus 
 
 cisten 
 
 chestnut 
 
 castanea 
 
 *citere 
 
 harp 
 
 cithara 
 
 clauster, cluster 
 
 enclosed place, cloister 
 
 claustrum 
 
 tcleric 
 
 clerk 
 
 clericus 
 
 clus, cluse 
 
 confined place 
 
 clausum 
 
 c6c 
 
 cook 
 
 coquus 
 
 cod [-seppel] 
 
 quince 
 
 cydonia 
 
 coliandre 
 
 coriander 
 
 coriandrum 
 
 Jcolumne, columbe 
 
 column 
 
 columna 
 
 cometa 
 
 comet 
 
 cometa 
 
 consolde 
 
 comfrey 
 
 consolida 
 
 consul 
 
 consul 
 
 consul 
 
 Jcoorte 
 
 cohort 
 
 cohortem 
 
 copor 
 
 copper 
 
 cuprum 
 
 *ge-coronian 
 
 to crown 
 
 corona 
 
 Jcranic 
 
 chronicle 
 
 chronicus 
 
 fcreda 
 
 creed 
 
 credo 
 
 tcrisma 
 
 holy oil 
 
 chrisma 
 
 crisp, ciips 
 
 curly 
 
 crispus 
 
 cristalla 
 
 crystal 
 
 crystallus 
 
 cristalla 
 
 flea-bane 
 
 crystallium 
 
 crlsten 
 
 Christian 
 
 christianus 
 
 croh 
 
 saffron 
 
 crocus 
 
 *cruft, crufte 
 
 vault 
 
 crypta 
 
 Jcubit 
 
 cubit 
 
 cubitus 
 
 cucler 
 
 spoon 
 
 cochlear 
 
 cucurbite 
 
 goura 
 
 cucurbita 
 
 tcugele 
 
 cowl 
 
 cuculla 
 
 Jculpe 
 
 fault 
 
 culpa 
 
 culter 
 
 coulter 
 
 culter 
 
 cumb 
 
 coomb (measure) 
 
 cumba (?) 
 
 fcumpaeder 
 
 godfather 
 
 com pater 
 
 cuneglsesse 
 
 hound's tongue (plant) 
 
 cynoglossos 
 
 cuppe 
 
 cup 
 
 cuppa 
 
 *cwatern 
 
 ? 
 
 quaternio 
 
 cycene 
 
 kitchen 
 
 coquina 
 
 cyf, cyp 
 
 vase 1 . 
 
 cupa 
 
 *cylen 
 
 kiln 
 
 culina
 
 Chapter VI. 
 
 English 
 
 
 Latin 
 
 cyll, cylle 
 
 bottle 
 
 culeus 
 
 cymen 
 
 cummin 
 
 cuminum 
 
 cyrfette 
 
 gourd 
 
 cucurbita 
 
 declinian 
 
 to decline (in grammar) 
 
 declinare 
 
 *delfin 
 
 dolphin 
 
 delphinus 
 
 deofol 
 
 devil 
 
 diabolus 
 
 Jderodine 
 
 scarlet dye 
 
 teredinem 
 
 diacon 
 
 deacon 
 
 diaconus 
 
 dihtan 
 
 to compose, direct 
 
 dictare 
 
 *dinere 
 
 coin 
 
 denarius 
 
 disc 
 
 dish 
 
 discus 
 
 discipul 
 
 disciple 
 
 discipulus 
 
 domne 
 
 lord (as title) 
 
 dominus 
 
 draca 
 
 dragon 
 
 draco 
 
 dracent(s)e 
 
 dragon-wort 
 
 dracontea 
 
 Jdulmun 
 
 war-ship 
 
 dromunda 
 
 earc 
 
 ark, chest 
 
 area 
 
 ele 
 
 oil 
 
 oleum 
 
 elehtre 
 
 lupin 
 
 electrum 
 
 elpend 
 
 elephant 
 
 elephantus 
 
 engel 
 
 angel 
 
 angelus 
 
 eolone 
 
 elecampane 
 
 inula 
 
 Eotol 
 
 Italy 
 
 Italia 
 
 epact 
 
 epact 
 
 epactus 
 
 epistol 
 
 letter 
 
 epistola 
 
 fals 
 
 fraud 
 
 falsum 
 
 fann 
 
 winnowing-fan 
 
 van n us 
 
 ffant, font 
 
 font 
 
 fontem 
 
 fFariseisc 
 
 Pharisean 
 
 Pharisaeus 
 
 fefer 
 
 fever 
 
 febris 
 
 feferfuge 
 
 feverfew (plant) 
 
 febrifugia 
 
 fenix 
 
 fhenix 
 
 fenix 
 
 fers 
 
 verse 
 
 versus 
 
 fic 
 
 fig 
 
 ficus 
 
 *fifele 
 
 buckle 
 
 fibula 
 
 finugle, finol 
 
 fennel 
 
 foeniculum 
 
 *fi}>elere 
 
 fiddler 
 
 vidula (?) 
 
 flasce 
 
 flask 
 
 vasculam 
 
 *florisc 
 
 flowering 
 
 flora 
 
 *flytme 
 
 lancet 
 
 phlebotomum 
 
 forca 
 
 fork 
 
 furca 
 
 62
 
 84 Outlines of the History of the English Language, 
 
 English 
 
 
 Latin 
 
 foss 
 
 ditch 
 
 fossa . 
 
 *fossere 
 
 spade 
 
 fossorium 
 
 fullere 
 
 fuller, bleacher 
 
 fullo 
 
 gigant 
 
 giant 
 
 gigantem 
 
 gimm 
 
 gem 
 
 gemma 
 
 glsedene 
 
 gladdon (plant) 
 
 gladina (?) 
 
 Jglesan 
 
 to gloss, explain 
 
 glossa 
 
 grad 
 
 grade, step 
 
 gradus 
 
 grsef 
 
 style (for writing) 
 
 graphium 
 
 Igrammaticere 
 
 grammarian 
 
 grammaticus 
 
 hymele 
 
 hop-plant 
 
 humulus 
 
 idol 
 
 idol 
 
 idolum 
 
 impe 
 
 graft 
 
 impetus 
 
 in-segel, -sigel 
 
 seal 
 
 sigillum 
 
 lactuca 
 
 lettuce 
 
 lactuca 
 
 lacu 1 
 
 lake 
 
 lacus 
 
 Laeden 
 
 Latin 
 
 latinum 
 
 laewede 
 
 unlearned, lay 
 
 laicus 
 
 lamprede, lempedu 
 
 lamprey 
 
 lampreda 
 
 lauer, laur 
 
 laurel 
 
 laurus 
 
 tlegie 
 
 legion 
 
 legio 
 
 *lent 
 
 lentil 
 
 lentena 
 
 leo, leona 
 
 lion 
 
 leo, leonem 
 
 *leowe 
 
 league 
 
 leuga, leuca 
 
 fletania 
 
 litany 
 
 litania 
 
 lilie 
 
 lily 
 
 lilium 
 
 line 
 
 line 
 
 linea 
 
 lopestre, lopust 
 
 lobster 
 
 locusta 
 
 lufestice 
 
 lovage 
 
 lubestica 
 
 msegister 
 
 master 
 
 magister 
 
 fmsesse 
 
 mass 
 
 missa 
 
 magdala [-treow] 
 
 almond-tree 
 
 amygdala 
 
 *mamme 
 
 teat 
 
 mam ma 
 
 marma, marm-, marman [-stan] marble 
 
 marmot 
 
 fmartyr 
 
 martyr 
 
 martyrus 
 
 marune 
 
 horehound 
 
 marrubium 
 
 mealwe 
 
 mallow 
 
 malva 
 
 ^mechanise 
 
 mechanical 
 
 mechanicus 
 
 mentel 
 
 cloak 
 
 mantellum 
 
 1 But cf. the English verb leccan, to moisten.
 
 CJtapter VI. 
 
 English 
 
 
 Latin 
 
 mere-grot, x -grota 
 
 pearl 
 
 margarita 
 
 meter 
 
 metre 
 
 metrum 
 
 mil 
 
 mile 
 
 milia 
 
 *mil 
 
 millet 
 
 milium 
 
 Jmllitisc 
 
 military 
 
 miles 
 
 miltestre 
 
 harlot 
 
 meretrix 
 
 minte 
 
 mint 
 
 mentha 
 
 mor [-beam] 
 
 mulberry-tree 
 
 morus 
 
 mortere 
 
 mortar 
 
 mortarium 
 
 mul 
 
 mule 
 
 mulus 
 
 munt 
 
 mountain 
 
 montem 
 
 fmunuc, mynecen 
 
 monk, nun 
 
 monachus 
 
 Jmur 
 
 wall 
 
 murus 
 
 muscle 
 
 nmsse 
 
 musculus 
 
 must 
 
 new wine 
 
 mustum 
 
 *mutung 
 
 loan 
 
 mutuum 
 
 Jmydd 
 
 bushel 
 
 modius 
 
 mylen 
 
 mill 
 
 molina 
 
 fmynster 
 
 monastery 
 
 monasterium 
 
 myrre 
 
 myrrh 
 
 myrra 
 
 niep 
 
 turnip 
 
 napus 
 
 nard 
 
 spikenard 
 
 nardus 
 
 nefte, nepte 
 
 cafs mint 
 
 nepeta 
 
 fnon 
 
 ninth hour 
 
 nona (hora) 
 
 {not 
 
 mark 
 
 nota 
 
 *notere 
 
 scribe 
 
 notarius 
 
 fnunne 
 
 nun 
 
 nonna 
 
 toffrian 
 
 to offer 
 
 offerre 
 
 tofliite 
 
 oblation 
 
 oblata 
 
 olfend 
 
 camel 
 
 elephantem 
 
 *orc 
 
 the infernal regions 
 
 orcus 
 
 ore 
 
 vessel 
 
 urceus 
 
 orel, orl 
 
 garment 
 
 orale 
 
 organ 
 organe 
 
 song \ 
 musical instrument ) 
 
 organon 
 
 organe 
 
 marjoram 
 
 origanum 
 
 ostre 
 
 oyster 
 
 ostrea 
 
 1 This seems to be a case of 'popular etymology,' the foreign word 
 being represented by native material of very similar sound, which also 
 very fairly gives the meaning required ; a pearl may be called a 'sea-stone.'
 
 86 Outlines of the History of tJte English Language. 
 
 English 
 
 
 Latin 
 
 tpsell 
 
 cloak 
 
 pallium 
 
 *pal 
 
 pok 
 
 palus 
 
 palent, palendse 
 
 palace 
 
 palantium 
 
 palm 
 
 palm-tree 
 
 palma 
 
 panne 
 
 pan 
 
 pat(i)na (?) 
 
 tpapa 
 
 pope 
 
 papa 
 
 *paper 
 
 papyrus 
 
 papyrus 
 
 Jpard 1 
 
 leopard 
 
 pardus 
 
 tpart 
 
 part 
 
 partem 
 
 pawa, pea 
 
 peacock 
 
 pavo 
 
 persoc 
 
 peach 
 
 persicum 
 
 peru 
 
 pear 
 
 pirus 
 
 pervince 
 
 periwinkle 
 
 pervinca 
 
 gpetersilige 
 
 parsley 
 
 petroselinum 
 
 pic 
 
 fitch 
 
 picem 
 
 Jpihment 
 
 drug 
 
 pigmentum 
 
 pihten 
 
 part of a loom 
 
 pecten 
 
 pll 
 
 pointed stick 
 
 pilum 
 
 pile 
 
 mortar 
 
 pila 
 
 pilece 
 
 robe of skin 
 
 pellicia 
 
 pmian 
 
 to torment 
 
 poena 
 
 pin [-treow] 
 
 pine 
 
 pinus 
 
 pinn 
 
 pin 
 
 penna 
 
 pinsian 
 
 to consider 
 
 pensare 
 
 pipor 
 
 pepper 
 
 piper 
 
 pirige 
 
 pear-tree 
 
 pirus 
 
 pise 
 
 pea 
 
 pisum 
 
 *pisle 
 
 chamber 
 
 pisalis 
 
 pistol 
 
 letter 
 
 epistola 
 
 plsece, plaetse (not in West Saxon) open place 
 
 platea 
 
 plante 
 
 plant 
 
 planta 
 
 plaster 
 
 plaster 
 
 emplastrum 
 
 *platian 
 
 to cover with plates 
 
 platus 
 
 plum [-fe}>er] 
 
 down 
 
 pluma 
 
 plume, plyme 
 
 plum 
 
 prunus 
 
 polente 
 
 parched corn 
 
 polenta 
 
 pollegie 
 
 pennyroyal 
 
 pulegium 
 
 popig 
 
 poppy 
 
 papaver 
 
 1 But the word is hardly naturalized, and occurs only once : ' Da swiftan 
 tigres and "Sa syllican pardes. ' Translation of Basil's Hexameron.
 
 Chapter VI. 
 
 English 
 
 
 Latin 
 
 iporr 
 
 leek 
 
 porrum 
 
 port 
 
 port, town 
 
 portus 
 
 port 
 
 gate 
 
 porta 
 
 tportic 
 
 porch 
 
 porticus 
 
 post 
 
 post 
 
 postis 
 
 tprafost 
 
 provost 
 
 praepositus 
 
 Jpredician 
 
 to preach 
 
 praedicare 
 
 tpreost 
 
 priest 
 
 presbyter 
 
 tpriin 
 
 six o'clock, a.m. 
 
 prima 
 
 profian 
 
 to regard as 
 
 probare 
 
 prutene 
 
 southernwood 
 
 abrotanum 
 
 *puerisc 
 
 boyish 
 
 puer 
 
 pumic 
 
 pumice 
 
 pumicem 
 
 *punt 
 
 punt 
 
 ponto 
 
 Jpur 
 
 without blemish 
 
 purus 
 
 purpure 
 
 purple robe 
 
 purpura 
 
 *purs 
 
 purse 
 
 bursa 
 
 pyle 
 
 pillow 
 
 pulvinus 
 
 pyngan 
 
 to prick 
 
 pungere 
 
 pyretre 
 
 pellitory 
 
 pyrethrum 
 
 pytt 
 
 pit 
 
 puteus 
 
 raedic 
 
 radish 
 
 radicem 
 
 frseps 
 
 response (in church) 
 
 responsorium 
 
 fregol 
 
 rule 
 
 regula 
 
 trelic-, reliquias, //. 
 
 relic(s) 
 
 reliquiae 
 
 *renge 
 
 spider 
 
 aranea 
 
 rose 
 
 rose 
 
 rosa 
 
 rude 
 
 rue 
 
 ruta 
 
 rysc, rysce 
 
 rush (plant) 
 
 ruscus 
 
 sacc 
 
 sack 
 
 saccus 
 
 fsacerd 
 
 priest 
 
 sacerdos 
 
 sselmerige 
 
 brine 
 
 salmuria 
 
 sseppe 
 
 spruce fir 
 
 cf. sappinus 
 
 Sseternes [dseg] 
 
 Saturday 
 
 Saturni dies 
 
 sej>erige, saturege 
 
 savory (plant) 
 
 satureia 
 
 safine 
 
 sa-vine (plant) 
 
 sabina 
 
 salfige 
 
 sage (plant) 
 
 salvia 
 
 Jsallettan 
 
 to sing to the harp 
 
 psaltere 
 
 saltere 
 
 psalter, psaltery 
 
 psalterium 
 
 fsanct 
 
 saint 
 
 sanctus 
 
 sape 
 
 soap 
 
 sapo
 
 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 English 
 
 
 Latin 
 
 sceamol 
 
 bench 
 
 scamellum 
 
 scol, scolu 
 
 school 
 
 scola 
 
 serin 
 
 shrine 
 
 scrinium 
 
 scrofell 
 
 scrofula 
 
 scrofula 
 
 scutel 
 
 dish 
 
 scutula 
 
 fsealm 
 
 psalm 
 
 psalmus 
 
 sealtian 
 
 to dance 
 
 sal tare 
 
 seam 
 
 burden 
 
 sagma 
 
 seamere 
 
 beast of burden 
 
 sagmarius 
 
 segn 
 
 sign 
 
 signum 
 
 segne 
 
 drag-net 
 
 sagena 
 
 senep 
 
 mustard 
 
 sinapi 
 
 seoloc 
 
 silk 
 
 sericum 
 
 fseonojj 
 
 synod 
 
 synodus 
 
 *sescle 
 
 sixth fart 
 
 sextula 
 
 sester 
 
 jar, measure 
 
 sextarius 
 
 sicol 
 
 sickle 
 
 secula 
 
 Jsicor 
 
 secure 
 
 securus 
 
 Jside 
 
 silk 
 
 seta 
 
 sideware 
 
 zedoary 
 
 zedoarium 
 
 sigle 
 
 rye 
 
 secale, segale 
 
 socc 
 
 sock 
 
 soccus 
 
 *sole 
 
 sandal 
 
 solea 
 
 solor 
 
 upper room 
 
 solarium 
 
 solsece 
 
 heliotrope 
 
 solsequia 
 
 son 
 
 sound 
 
 sonus 
 
 spadu 
 
 spade 
 
 spatha 
 
 *spaldur 
 
 asphalt 
 
 asphaltum 
 
 *spelt 
 
 corn 
 
 spelta 
 
 spendan 
 
 to spend 
 
 expendere 
 
 splca 
 
 spikenard 
 
 spica 
 
 *spilseg 
 
 kind of snake 
 
 spilagius 
 
 sponge, spynge 
 
 sponge 
 
 spongia 
 
 spyrte 
 
 basket 
 
 sporta 
 
 stser 
 
 history 
 
 historia 
 
 Jfor-stoppian 
 
 to stop up 
 
 stuppare 
 
 strffil 
 
 bed 
 
 stragula 
 
 *stropp 
 
 strap 
 
 struppus 
 
 *stryta 
 
 ostrich 
 
 struthio 
 
 sutere 
 
 shoemaker 
 
 sutor 
 
 syrfe 
 
 service tree 
 
 sorbus
 
 Chapter VI. 
 
 89 
 
 English 
 
 
 tabule 
 
 table, tablet 
 
 fcefl 
 
 chess-board 
 
 taepped 
 
 carpet 
 
 ttempel 
 
 temple 
 
 temprian 
 
 to temper 
 
 teosol 
 
 die 
 
 ftermen 
 
 term 
 
 tigele 
 
 tile 
 
 tiger 
 
 tiger 
 
 tigrisc 
 
 of a tiger 
 
 timpane 
 
 timbrel 
 
 *titul 
 
 title 
 
 *torcul 
 
 wine-press 
 
 torr 
 
 tower 
 
 traht 
 
 exposition 
 
 Jtraisc 
 
 tragic 
 
 *trifet 
 
 tribute 
 
 trifulian 
 
 to grind 
 
 ttropere 
 
 a service-book 
 
 *truht 
 
 trout 
 
 tunece 
 
 tunic 
 
 *turl 
 
 ladle 
 
 turnian, tyrnan 
 
 to turn 
 
 turtle 
 
 turtle-dove 
 
 *ulm [-treow] 
 
 elm- tree 
 
 tymen 
 
 hymn 
 
 tymnere 
 
 hymn-book 
 
 ynce 
 
 inch \ 
 
 yndse 
 
 ounce f 
 
 ynne [-leac] 
 
 onion 
 
 ysope 
 
 hyssop 
 
 Latin 
 
 tabula 
 
 tabula 
 
 tapete 
 
 templum 
 
 temperare 
 
 tessera 
 
 terminus 
 
 tegula 
 
 tigris 
 
 tympanum 
 
 titulus 
 
 torcular 
 
 turns 
 
 tractus 
 
 tragicus 
 
 tributum 
 
 tribulare 
 
 troparium 
 
 tructa 
 
 tunica 
 
 trulla 
 
 tornare 
 
 turtur 
 
 ulmus 
 
 hymnus 
 
 hymnarium 
 
 uncia 
 
 unio 
 hyssopus 
 
 If to this list be added the words already given under the 
 head of Latin of the First Period 1 , a fairly complete collection 
 of the Latin material 2 to be found in the oldest English works 
 will be obtained. 
 
 1 Some of the words contained in the list perhaps belong to this Period. 
 
 2 Some of this Latin material may have come through a Celtic channel, 
 e.g. badzere, sacerd.
 
 9O Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 4. It should, however, be noted that the list in 3 is not 
 ^ tf a complete list of all words used in oldest English 
 
 English which contain Latin material; in it only one 
 
 English form is given to illustrate borrowing from 
 each Latin word. Now while in many cases this represents 
 the indebtedness of English, yet in others, and these are the 
 minority, derivatives were formed by the help of native material. 
 Thus connected with camp we have campian to fight, campung 
 fighting, cctnpa a warrior ; and camp occurs as the first element 
 01 words formed by combining it with the following native 
 ones : dam, ealdor, gefera, gimm, had, r&den, stede, w&pen, 
 werod> wig, wisa, wudu. Again, the Latin material in dictare 
 is seen not only in dihtan, but also in diht order, dihiend a 
 director, dihttrt an expositor, dihtnere a steward, dihtnian to 
 dispose, dihtnungt dihtung disposition. It will be seen, then, 
 that a complete list of words which shew Latin material will be 
 somewhat longer than that given in 3. 
 
 5. But when all allowance is made for this increase of 
 The their number, it will still be found that these 
 
 smaiinessof Latin derivatives form a very small part of the 
 element in Old English vocabulary ; and that not merely 
 ow English. f fom ^ p Omt o f v j ew o f tne j r num ber. For it 
 
 will be noticed that a great many of the words in the list play 
 a very subordinate part. Especially is this the case with words 
 that are found in the glossaries, or in glosses of Latin works ; 
 these are little more than Anglicised forms of Latin originals, 
 and though they may shew that Englishmen read Latin, they 
 can hardly be considered as having been living English words '. 
 Others, again, are suggested to a translator by his original; 
 they may be so far naturalized as to be inflected as native 
 \\ords, but they are not made so thoroughly English that they 
 
 1 For instance, the translator of Mt. xxi. 33 translates torctdar by 
 wm-Tprmj*; one glosser glosses it by wi*-trog> but another by tornd; 
 this single use hardly stamps the word tomtits a living English one in the 
 period under notice. See the words marked * in the list 3.
 
 Chapter VI. 91 
 
 can be used in any other than their original connection 1 . 
 A large number, further, belong to the special class of plant- 
 names 3 , a result, probably, of the connection between plants 
 and medicine, as may be inferred from the contents of the 
 medical works of the period. Yet another class, which natu- 
 rally is of considerable extent, is that which consists of technical 
 ecclesiastical terms 3 ; and though the words in this, and in the 
 preceding, class were living English words, yet the ground they 
 covered was a very small part of the field over which the 
 vocabulary of a language must spread itself. Again, some 
 of the words, which would not find a place under any of the 
 heads just given, occur very rarely*. Thus in the case of the 
 verb glesan and the verbal noun glesung, each occurs once and 
 in the same passage of ^Ifric's Grammar. In the case of other 
 words alongside the Latin forms existed native ones. Thus on 
 the same page of one of ^Elfric's Homilies what in one line 
 is spoken of as forca is in another called geafol', and while 
 rare instances of derivatives from Latin-Greek Gramma do 
 occur, yet the usual words for expressing the meanings be- 
 longing to such derivatives are formed with the native material 
 sicff (cf. Gfr. buch-.y/a&?). If these points be considered in 
 connection with the list in 3, it will be seen that the greater 
 part of the Latin material given in it is absorbed by a small 
 part of the vocabulary, and that the Latin material which made 
 
 1 E.g. the Latin technical terms consul, legio, coAors, used by Orosius 
 in his history, are adopted in Alfred's translation with their Latin meaning, 
 but they did not become English in the sense that they were used in refer- 
 ence to other than Roman institutions: consul, e.g., could not be used 
 with a modified sense, as in later times, and be applied to any English 
 official. So Alfred says of the term : ' consul, \>x\. we heretoga hata)> ' (we 
 call a consul heretoga) ; in the same way he explains coorte by truma (a 
 troop) : the currency in English of heretoga, and truma was very different 
 from that of consul and coorte. 
 
 8 See the words marked in the list. 
 
 8 See the words marked t in the list. 
 
 4 See the words marked : in the list.
 
 92 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 its way into anything like general use was really inconsiderable 1 . 
 In other words, most of the work that language had to do in 
 the old English times had to be done by old English material. 
 
 6. Before leaving the list attention may be called to the 
 
 possibility of getting from it information about 
 ^ changed conditions of English life in other than 
 from the list religious matters. Cutter and sicol may suggest 
 
 of changed . . . . . . . . 
 
 conditions of improvement in tillage and m harvesting ; mylen a 
 fe in Eng- better method of dealing with the grain that was 
 raised ; coc and cycene, panne and cetel point to a 
 culinary advance, while cuppe, disc, and ore may be evidence of 
 a more elaborate furniture for the table ; meat and drink, too, 
 were more varied, as pipor and senep, must and ceren, and the 
 number of fruits and vegetables which have foreign names, 
 seem to witness ; and other departments of life might be simi- 
 larly illustrated. And lastly, as a point concerning the lan- 
 guage, it may be noted that not a little of this Latin material is 
 still to be found in English 8 . 
 
 7. From what has been said in this and the preceding 
 Expansion chapter it will have been seen, that the amount of 
 
 of the native Latin introduced into English after the accept- 
 ance of Christianity is not at all an adequate 
 measure of the importance of the influences, flowing from the 
 new faith, which affected English thought, and consequently the 
 language in which that thought found expression. The in- 
 crease in the vocabulary due to such borrowing was compara- 
 tively slight; it must be, then, in the extended use of old 
 material that we are to look for the means by which the old 
 
 1 As a further illustration of the really slight infusion of Latin into 
 the language it may be noted how few verbs are due to Latin. Excluding 
 two or three which are connected with the Church the following are 
 nearly the only instances 01 verbs that are at all freely used: campian, 
 dihlan(-nian), pinian, pinsian, plantian, spendan, temprian, trahtian 
 (-nian), turnian (tyrnan). 
 
 2 But some modern English forms, which might seem to represent this 
 old Latin material, have come from French.
 
 Chapter VI. 93 
 
 Englishmen, unlike the Englishmen of later times, were able to 
 meet the demands that altered conditions of knowledge made 
 upon language. The last case noticed in 5 may serve to 
 introduce the point. There two instances are given in which, 
 though foreign material had been accepted, yet its meaning 
 could also be expressed by native. The tendency which is 
 thus suggested may be further illustrated by the following 
 examples : sErce- can be rendered by keah- p ara n e i 
 (high), and alongside &rce-biscop we find heah- words in Latin 
 biscop, while archangel is regularly given by heah- 
 engel. Alter, idol, tempel did not exclude wig-bed (weofod], 
 (deofol-} gild, hearh and alh ; for an offering lac could be used 
 as well as offrung: disciple is commonly translated by leorning- 
 cniht : the idea of the anchorite is expressed by an-setla (a solitary 
 settler), as well as by ancra : to preach is once given by pre- 
 dician, but the usual word is the native bodian (Mod. E. to 
 bode) : the daughter of Herodias is once called sealticge* but in 
 the translation of the Gospels, in the passage in which her 
 dancing is described (Mt. xiv. 6 : Mk vi. 22), the Latin saltavit 
 is rendered by tumbude (tumbled), while the Northumbrian gloss 
 uses the verb to play : the same gloss uses the latter verb 
 in Lk. vii. 32, the one instance in which the West-Saxon 
 version translates saltare by saltian : for a crown English 
 could use the word beak, a ring 1 (cf. Fr. bague), or with 
 an intensive prefix wuldor (glory), wuldor-beah, so though 
 coronian occurs, wuldor-beagian is in common use : epistol 
 (or pistol} does not exclude cerend-gewrit (errand-writ, writing 
 conveying a message) : the words connected with wlte, pun- 
 ishment, are more current than those derived from Latin 
 poena : feohtan, to fight, and its relatives exist alongside 
 the camp-forms : and though ^Elfric in his grammar sometimes 
 
 1 Cf. the description of the Danish queen when she appears wearing a 
 crown : 
 
 ' pa cwom Wealh]>eo foi"S 
 gan under gyldnum beage,' Beowulf 1163.
 
 94 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 uses words based on declinare, he also expresses the same ideas 
 by help of the native blegan (to bend). 
 
 8. In the case of the Latin derivatives referred to in the 
 
 preceding paragraph, it will be seen that, had the 
 tween'different l an g ua g e remained without them, its powers of 
 stages of Eng- expression would have been little affected ; native 
 
 lish in respect . . . , , , , . , T , 
 
 to the use of material might have done their work. In these 
 for tfriai instances, however, all we can say is that assist- 
 
 ance from Latin might have been dispensed with ; 
 but with respect to the great majority of cases, in which new 
 knowledge had to be put into words, we can say that such 
 assistance actually was dispensed with. In taking examples to 
 illustrate the point, we may begin with words belonging to 
 a section of the vocabulary in which the foreign material was 
 most likely to find a place that which is connected with 
 religion ; and, it may be remarked, both in these and in all the 
 other examples particular attention should be given to the 
 modern English words which translate them ; the comparison 
 of old and modern English, so far as this is possible with the 
 material in question, will give some idea of the contrast, 
 already more than once referred to, which is presented by the 
 two stages of the language. 
 
 9. Considering the excellent simplicity that characterizes 
 
 the diction of the Authorized Version, no source 
 from trans*!- for the supplying of words connected with re- 
 ligion is better suited to our purpose than the 
 translation of the Scriptures ; for the contrast in 
 that case will be with the purest form of a later time. It is 
 from the Bible, then, that the following words are taken, and 
 the list may be appropriately headed by terms denominating 
 that source, or parts of it : 
 
 Old English Modern English 
 
 J>a halgan gewritu the holy Scriptures 
 
 seo ealde the old ^ 
 
 seo niwe S 6 ^ 1163 the nw **"***
 
 Chapter VI. 95 
 
 Old English Modern English 
 
 godspel gospel 
 
 cneores-boc (generation book) Genesis 
 
 ut-faereld (out-journey) Exodus 
 
 J>enung-boc (service-book) Leviticus 
 
 getel (number, tale) Number: 
 
 seo sefter-SJ (second law) Deuteronomy 
 
 That the doctrines of religion might be presented to 
 Englishmen in their native speech is suggested by the 
 following : 
 
 ffi-fsestnes (SB law) religion 
 
 ge-cirrednes (cirran to turn) conversion 
 
 ge-wyscednes (wyscan to wish) adoption 
 
 ge-corennes (coren chosen) election 
 
 costnung (costnian to try) temptation 
 
 a-llesednes (llesan to loosen) redemption 
 
 died-bot (dffid deed, bot amends) repentance 
 
 halgung (halig holy) consecration 
 
 clffinsung (cleansing) purification 
 
 ge-halgung sanctification 
 
 d6m (doom) judgement 
 
 hadu (hal whole) salvation 
 
 ge-ni)>erung (nijjer down) damnation 
 
 The virtues, which Christianity recommended, had not in 
 all cases been held in high esteem by the heathen English, but 
 they can find names for them : e.g. 
 
 lufu (love) charity 
 
 miltsung (milde mild) compassion 
 
 ge-)>yld (t>olian to thole, endure) patience 
 
 ge-metgung (ge-met measure) temperance 
 
 Here, however, no better illustration can be found than is 
 furnished by the rendering of the passage (Mt. v. 3 n), 
 which tells who, according to the Christian ideal, are to be 
 accounted truly happy: they are described in none but English 
 words : 
 
 )>a gastlican J>earfan the poor in spirit 
 
 \>a. li)>an (lithe, Lat. has mites) the meek
 
 96 Outlines of tJu History of t/te English Language. 
 
 Old English Modern English 
 
 ]>a. mildheortan (milde mild, heorte heart) the merciful 
 >a clffinheortan the pure in heart 
 
 Hi gesibsuman (sib peace) the peacemakers 
 
 )>a J>e ehtnesse )>olia> those that are persecuted 
 
 J>onne hi wyria> eow (wyrian to curse) when they revile you 
 
 For the names of various classes, sects, officers, &c., that 
 occur in the Bible story, English could provide the material : 
 heah-faeder patriarch 
 
 witega prophet 
 
 godspellere evangelist 
 
 bocere (boc book) Scribe 
 
 writere 
 
 'sundor-halga (halig holy) Pharisee 
 
 1 rihtwisend Sadducee 
 
 si-gleawa (se law, gleaw -wise) lawyer 
 
 feorj>an dffiles rica (ruler) tetrarch 
 
 J>a man-fullan (man iniquity) the publicans 
 
 hundred-man centurion 
 
 licettere (licettan to feign) hypocrite 
 
 So, too, with terms relating to Jewish ceremonial or 
 history: 
 
 geteld (tent) tabernacle 
 
 (earc) t>e Drihtnes wedd on ys (ark) of the Covenant 
 
 onssegednes (on-secgan to sacrifice) sacrifice 
 
 gebed (cf. 6edes-man) prayer 
 
 ymb-snide circumcision 
 
 freols feast 
 
 Eastre (Easter) Passover 
 
 ge-samnung (samnian to collect) synagogue 
 
 gehat-land (gehat promise) land of promise 
 
 And that the story of the founder of Christianity might be 
 told in English may be suggested by the following words : 
 Hselend Saviour 
 
 A-liesend Redeemer 
 
 a-cennednes nativity 
 
 binn manger 
 
 1 The Latin is sometimes used : nom. Farisei, Saducei ; gen. -orum.
 
 Chapter VI. 97 
 
 Old English Modern English 
 
 smi> carpenter 
 
 fulwian to baptize 
 
 Jsegnian to minister 
 
 bodian to preach 
 
 big-spell parable 
 
 wundor miracle 
 
 ge-, ofer-hiwian to transfigure 
 
 Jrowung (suffering') passion 
 
 rod, galga cross 
 
 on rode ahon (to hang) to crucify 
 
 byrgen sepulchre 
 
 aj-rist (risan to rise} restirrection 
 
 a-stlgan to ascend 
 
 dema a judge 
 
 for-spreca an advocate 
 
 10. The technical vocabulary, which belonged to the new 
 ecclesiastical system, was treated in the same Ecciesiasti- 
 way; a few instances may be enough to illustrate cal terms, 
 the point : 
 
 ge-hadode menn (had order, -hood) men in orders 
 
 [biscop-] setl, -stol (seat, stool) (bishop's) see 
 
 [biscop-] scir (shire) a diocese 
 
 [preost-] scir parish 
 
 westen-setla (westen desert) hermit 
 
 gebed-hus (gebed prayer) oratory 
 
 J?egnung service 
 uht-sang (uht time before daybreak) nocturns 
 
 dsegred-sang (dseg-red dawn) matins 
 
 iefen-sang -vespers 
 
 waecce (watch) vigil 
 
 husel eucharist 
 
 J>rinnes Trinity 
 
 But a better idea of the capacity of English to express 
 ecclesiastical terms than is given by scattered instances like 
 the above, is gained from the fact, that so abstruse a doctrinal 
 exposition as the Athanasian Creed could be reproduced in 
 English. 
 
 T. 7
 
 98 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 11. It was, however, not only the demands of sacred 
 
 letters or of the Church that the language had to 
 
 Scientific meet, and met as we have tried to shew. Profane 
 
 terms. 
 
 learning made its claims, and these, too, were 
 satisfied by recourse to the native stock of words. In regard, 
 then, to the terms of science, attention may again be called 
 to the difference in the methods adopted by Old and Modern 
 English to meet the needs of a new knowledge. Thus while 
 the seven liberal arts, which were comprised in the course of 
 study that was made up of the two divisions, the trivium and 
 the quadrivium, have now foreign names, in the earlier time 
 their names were almost entirely English: 
 
 the trivium 
 
 stsef-croeft grammatica grammar 
 
 )>yl-crseft rhetorica rhetoric 
 
 flit-crreft dialectica logic 
 
 the quadrivium 
 
 tungol-gescead astrologia astrology 
 
 eor}>-gemet geometria geometry 
 
 rim-crseft arithmetica arithmetic 
 
 So, too, in other cases : 
 
 tungol-e (star-law) astronomy 
 
 Isece 2 -crseft (leech-craft) medicine 
 
 orj>anc-scipe (or}>anc skill) mechanics 
 
 And if we turn to the terms of the arts, whose names have 
 been given, they will be found to be quite in 
 
 Grammatical. . ' J 
 
 keeping with the titles under which they would 
 
 1 Son is the only Latin derivative in the seven names, and in place of 
 it the native swinsung, melody, is sometimes used ; all the rest is English : 
 st<zf, letter, \>yle, orator, flit, dispute, tungol, star, gemet, measure, rim, 
 rime, number, craft, art, gescead, reason. 
 
 2 lace, leech, is, if used now, applied to one who treats cattle.
 
 Chapter VI. 99 
 
 be grouped. Take, for example, the terms which occur in 
 yElfric's Grammar : 
 
 dEl (deal) part (of speech) 
 
 nama noun 
 naman speliend (noun's representative) pronoun 
 
 word verb 
 
 deel-nimend (part-taker) participle 
 
 fbre-setnes preposition 
 
 tid tense 
 
 ge-met mood 
 
 an-feald (one-fold) singiilar 
 
 \vij>-metenllc (metan to measure) comparative 
 
 axigendlic (axian to ask) interrogative 
 
 ge-wyscendlic (wyscan to wish) optative 
 
 So in Astronomy, when a better knowledge of the pheno- 
 mena of the heavens, than had belonged to the 
 English of the pre-Christian times, was brought Astronomical - 
 by those skilled in the construction of the Calendar, the techni- 
 cal terms were reproduced in English form: 
 
 efn-niht (even-night) equinox 
 
 hserfest (harvest) autumn 
 
 tid season, hour 
 
 sunn-stede (stede stead) solstice 
 
 tacn (token) sign (of the Zodiac) 
 
 12. If English writers, when dealing with subjects in which 
 the influence of Latin was naturally strongest, 
 as must have been the case in ecclesiastical or other classes 
 
 of words. 
 
 scientific works, could employ a vocabulary so 
 little dependent upon foreign material, as is shewn by the 
 instances given above, it was not likely that they would feel 
 their own language inadequate to their needs in other cases. 
 And while in later times, thanks to the political conditions of 
 the country, not only ecclesiastical terms, but also those con- 
 nected with government and law, were largely foreign, there 
 was little reason for a language, that could depend upon its 
 own ntaterial to deal with the first class, to seek help from 
 
 72
 
 ioo Outlines of tlie History of the English Language. 
 
 without in dealing with the other two, when government and 
 law were essentially English. And if in the special classes 
 referred to native material could be used, the same material 
 might very well serve the general purposes of language. 
 
 13. And it will be noticed that these general purposes 
 
 The method were served. The absence from the language of 
 
 by which the Latin words, in which any new knowledge might 
 
 use of Latin ' 
 
 words was have been expressed, does not imply the absence 
 avoided. of that k now i e( jge from the minds of the English. 
 
 It means only that instead of naturalizing a foreigner and em- 
 ploying him to do the work he had done in his old home, 
 a native was trained to do the work. Or, dropping the figure, 
 it means that instead of transferring a foreign word without 
 other modification than such change of form as fitted it for 
 grammatical treatment in English, the idea expressed by the 
 word was translated into English. A few comments upon 
 some of the words given above may further illustrate this 
 method. In some cases the circumstances of the English 
 themselves afforded so near a parallel to those which needed 
 description, that an English word was almost, if not quite, 
 ready to their hand. The idea, that the future might be known, 
 was not strange to them, so it is not surprising that the prophet 
 of the Bible should be rendered by an English word ; the same 
 by which it was rendered in the O. H. German (wizago). If 
 the Jewish story told of a government by judges, the English 
 dema was ready to express the Latin judex ; and they were 
 sufficiently familiar with an arrangement of persons by tens 
 to make hundred-mann a tolerably natural equivalent of centurio. 
 In other cases a general idea, which could be expressed in 
 English, had been specialized, and the same specialization was 
 applied to the native material. Verbum and tempus got special 
 senses in grammar, and these special senses were given to the 
 English words which had the same general sense as the Latin. 
 So with technical theological terms, such as redemption and 
 election ; and so in yet more technical words, e.g. Pharisee
 
 Chapter VI. 101 
 
 or synagogue. The former was one professing holiness, who 
 kept himself apart, and that idea was fairly expressed by com- 
 bining the two English words sundor, apart, and hdlga, a holy 
 man : the latter was literally, a gathering together, and this was 
 expressed by ge-samnung, ge having the force of together, 
 samnung= gathering. 
 
 14. If, then, in Old English we do not find the foreign words 
 that we ourselves use, it does not necessarily mean The import . 
 that at the earlier time Englishmen had not a anceofthe 
 knowledge of the things denoted by such words : exercised by 
 perhaps, even, they discerned those things more Christianity on 
 
 ' * the language. 
 
 readily, and to them sundor-halga suggested more 
 than does Pharisee to some of their descendants, and dad-hot, 
 to those who knew from experience the meaning of bot, was 
 somewhat more real than is repentance to some of us. Nor, 
 consequently, does it mean, that the influences, which, directly 
 or indirectly, may be attributed to Christianity, had affected 
 the language slightly. Such superficial traces as foreign words 
 were, indeed, comparatively few, but it is in the extended use 
 of native material that those influences are to be traced ; and 
 that their effect was great will be allowed, when it is seen that 
 this extended use made it possible for the language, with so 
 little addition from without, to express the ideas, which religion 
 and learning had brought to the knowledge of its speakers. 
 Later, when we have noticed the extent of the Old English 
 literature, we shall be better able to realise the importance of 
 the Christian influence. Meanwhile, in another chapter, we will 
 turn to consider a particular case, in which that influence seems 
 to have been in some respects inoperative, and to have left 
 uneffaced the stamp set upon the language by earlier times.
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Peculiarities of the poetic diction in Old English antiquity of poetry 
 among Teutonic peoples early specimens of Teutonic poetry poetry 
 a favourite form of entertainment held in high esteem Teutonic 
 words connected with poetry the survival of heathen ideals in Christian 
 poetry Old English poems, Beowulf, Battle of Brunanburgh, Battle of 
 Maldon, Judith, Si Andrew the language of the poems examined 
 Christian saints described as Teutonic warriors the old idea of the 
 relations between the lord and the follower preserved the old social 
 life the Old Saxon poetry like the Old English recurrence of phrases 
 and imagery vocabulary of poetry distinct from that of prose 
 alliteration loss of the poetic vocabulary. 
 
 1. IN a previous chapter 1 an attempt was made to draw 
 Peculiarities some conclusions from certain terms in Old 
 diction^n old English, which were peculiar to the vocabulary 
 English. o f poetry ; to shew that words, which had their 
 
 birth and early life among a people who were at home on the 
 sea, could yet remain in the vocabulary of poets, who no longer 
 belonged to a nation of seafarers 2 . If those conclusions were 
 correct, they would suggest, that the diction of poetry was to 
 some extent traditional, that it could survive change in the 
 modes of life and thought, which had been familiar to those 
 who first used it ; and in so doing could preserve some record 
 of an earlier time. How far such is the case in the poetry, 
 
 1 See Chap. iv. 48. 
 
 3 If the Old English poem, which goes under the name of The Seafarer, 
 expresses at all a general feeling, the sea must have been regarded very 
 differently by the poet's countrymen from what it had been by the Saxons
 
 Chapter VII. 103 
 
 whose subjects were supplied by Christianity, we will try to 
 shew by giving some examples of the way in which the material 
 obtained from that source was transformed by the language of 
 the poet into shapes quite other than those which it had in its 
 Christian moulds. As a preliminary to the attempt, however, 
 it may be well to say a few words about the cultivation of 
 poetry among Teutonic peoples. 
 
 2. To the antiquity of Teutonic poetry reference has been 
 already made, but the point may be noticed here Antiquity of 
 a little more in detail. Such poetry was to be Sffi,^ 10 ^ 
 found certainly as early as the time of Tacitus, peoples, 
 who in his Germania not only notes its existence, but also 
 mentions the subjects on which it was employed : 'In their 
 ancient songs, their only way of remembering or recording the 
 past, they celebrate an earth-born god, Tuisco, and his son 
 Mannus, as the origin of their race, as their founders V Else- 
 where he gives an instance, in which the songs had been 
 employed for the record of the past in respect to more recent 
 events. In speaking of the invincible hero, Arminius, he says 
 that he was still the subject of the songs of the barbarian 
 nations: 'Arminius... liberator haud dubie Germaniae.-.bello 
 non v'ictus...canttur adhuc barbaras apud gentes.' Annals, 
 bk n. c. 88. And that Arminius had listened to such songs 
 
 described, Chap. iv. 2. Such lines as the following could hardly have 
 been written in the 4th century : 
 
 For )>on him gelyfe'S lyt se >e ah llfes wynn 
 
 gebide'S in burgum bealosl)>a hwon 
 
 wlonc and wlngal hu ic werig oft 
 
 in brimla.de bldan sceolde. 
 
 little believeth he that hath life's delight, 
 suffers in cities misfortunes few, 
 elated and wine-flushed, how I weary oft 
 on the ocean-track must bide. 
 
 1 'Celebrant carminibus antiquis, quod unum apud illos memoriae et 
 annalium genus est, Tuisconem deum terra editum, et filium Mannum. 
 originem gentis conditoresque.' Germania, c. 2.
 
 IO4 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 in praise of earlier heroes, we might infer from the same 
 authority. For in describing the night before one of his battles 
 with the Romans it is said : ' Cum barbari festis epulis, laeto 
 caniu, aut truci sonore subjecta vallium ac resultantis saltus 
 complerent.' Annals i. 65. In later times and among other 
 tribes the poems are seen in the same character. Jordanes (6th 
 cent.), in his history of the Goths, referring to certain events 
 says : ' Quemadmodum et in priscis eorum carminibus pene 
 historico ritu in commune recolitur,' c. 4. Paul the Deacon 
 (8th cent.) speaking of the heroic character of Alboin, king of 
 the Lombards (d. 573), says he was still celebrated in songs: 
 'Ut hactenus etiam tam apud Bajoariorum gentem, quam et 
 Saxonum, sed et alios ejusdem linguae homines... in eorum 
 carminibus celebretur.' And it was such songs that, according 
 to Eginhard in his life of Charlemagne, the monarch collected : 
 ' Barbara et antiquissima carmina, quibus veterum regum actus 
 et bella canebantur, scripsit memoriaeque mandavit.' 
 
 3. If from such statements about Teutonic poetry we turn 
 Earl s eci to ^ earnest instances in which we can actually 
 mensofTeu- see Teutonic practice, these will be found to 
 shew exactly the character, that is attributed to 
 those ' antiqua, prisca carmina,' of which the authors quoted 
 above wrote from their own knowledge. Amongst the earliest 
 Scandinavian poetry is that which deals with religion, and by a 
 writer, who should have done for Scandinavians what Tacitus 
 did for Germans, might have been applied to the poems of the 
 Edda words very similar to those used by the Roman historian 1 . 
 Or turning from the myths of the gods to the history of men, 
 we may see how poets 2 recorded in their verse the achievements 
 
 1 Cf. in Beowulf: ( )>ier wass swutol sang scopes; ssegde se 'Se cuiSe 
 frumsceaft fira feorran reccan (there was the foefs song ; and he that could 
 relate the origin remote of men told the tale).' 
 
 2 Snorri in the preface to his history says that part of it ' er ritat eptir 
 fornum kva&um a soguljoftum, er menn hafa halt til skemtanar ser (is 
 written after old poems, that men have had for their entertainment)?
 
 Chapter VII. 105 
 
 of such heroes as Harold Fairhair, just as their predecessors 
 in the art had done in the case of Arminius or of Alboin. In 
 England, too, the old spirit had not died out in the loth century, 
 and the poems, which celebrate Athelstan's battle at Brunan- 
 burgh (937) and Byrhtnoth's battle at Maldon (991), were 
 links in the long chain of Teutonic poetry, that the ' smiths of 
 song" had been working at even before the days of Arminius. 
 Most of the chain is, indeed, lost ; and that so many links are 
 missing is not surprising. For in the earliest times, when a 
 poem depended for its perpetuation on its committal to 
 memory by successive generations 2 , a long duration could be 
 the lot of few ; and when, later, writing might have helped to 
 secure the permanence of such as survived, not many scholars 
 were found to carry into effect such an intention as that with 
 which Charlemagne has been credited; or who, like Snorri, 
 having gained from the old poetry the historic matter, which, 
 true to the old characteristic of Teutonic poetry, it contained, 
 would give some extract from the original to shew the authority 
 for a statement 3 . 
 
 4. From another side the permanence in the character- 
 istics of the poetry may be illustrated. Tacitus p oe try a 
 speaks of the 'laetus cantus' that was heard at favourite form 
 
 ... .......... , r of entertain- 
 
 the feasts of Arminius followers, and from men t. 
 English literature we may see, that at a much 
 
 1 Cf. Snorri, in the Ynglinga Saga, c. 6, who says that the first poets 
 were called Ij6$a smf&ir (smiths of songs). See below, 5. 
 
 2 Cf. the expression in Beowulf applied to the thane who celebrated 
 BeowulPs exploit. He not only could make verses on the event, which had 
 just taken place, but it is said of him that he was ' gidda gemyndig...eal fela 
 ealdgesegtna gemunde,' he had a memory stored with songs, and remem- 
 bered many old stories. One of such old stories is specially mentioned 
 the widely spread Saga of the Walsings. See Beowulf, 867 sqq. 
 
 H 3 A glance at the earlier part of the ' Heimskringla ' (translated under 
 the title 'The Sea-kings of Norway' by Laing, and again in 'The Saga 
 Library ' by Morris and Magnusson) will shew how often the old poetry is 
 appealed to and quoted by the author of that history.
 
 io6 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 later time poetry furnished a favourite entertainment 1 at the 
 feast. One of the earliest notices of the social life of England 
 we get in the life of Caedmon, the first English poet whose 
 name we know, and from it we may learn what poetry was for 
 the English. Bede, who tells Caedmon's story, says of him : 
 ' Having lived in a secular habit till he was well advanced in 
 years, he had never learned anything of versifying; for which 
 reason being sometimes at entertainments, when it was agreed 
 for the sake of mirth that all present should sing in their turns, 
 when he saw the harp come towards him, he rose up from 
 the table and returned home 2 .' Or turning to the poem of 
 Beowulf we may see, that an amusement, which pleased those 
 who sat with Caedmon in the abbey at Whitby, pleased equally 
 in the courts of kings; and at the feasts in king Hrothgar's 
 palace were heard 'hearpan sweg...sang scopes' (sound of harp 
 and song of poet], v. 89 8 . 
 
 5. Further the esteem in which poetry was held is marked 
 
 alike by the source to which legend assigned it, 
 inh?ghesteem. an( ^ ^7 tne character of those who practised the 
 
 art. It was, according to Scandinavian myth, 
 from Odin that poetry in the North had its origin: 'In 
 
 1 Cf. the second note to the last paragraph. 
 
 2 'In habitu saeculari usque ad tempera provectioris aetatis constitutus 
 nil carminum aliquando didicerat. Unde nonnunquam in convivio, cum 
 esset laetitiae causa ut omnes per ordinem cantare deberent, ille ubi ad- 
 propinquare sibi citharam cernebat, surgebat a media coena et egressus ad 
 suam domum repedabat.' Bede Hist. IV. 24. It was after one such occasion 
 that Csedmon's poetical gifts were discovered. 
 
 8 Cf. too, the following passages having reference to feasting : 
 Scop hwllum sang 
 hador on Heorote. 
 the poet at times sang 
 clear in Heorot (the name of the palace). 497 
 
 Hwllum cyninges l>egn 
 
 wel hwylc gecwae'S
 
 Chapter VII. 107 
 
 measures did he speak all things, even as that is now said 
 which is called Skald-craft. He and his temple-priests are 
 called Lay-smiths (Ij6da smictir; cf. German lied: O. English 
 /<?<?)>), for that skill began through them in the Northlands 1 .' 
 And the poetic vocabulary of the North preserved the legend 
 in many of its phrases 2 . It seems only the same feeling in 
 another form, that caused men to ascribe to miraculous agency 
 the poetic gift in Csedmon, which had been so late in disclos- 
 ing itself. Bede (in the chapter referred to in the preceding 
 paragraph) tells how the poet's first verses were made in a 
 dream, and that 'in the morning he came to the steward, his 
 superior, and having acquainted him with the gift he had 
 received, was conducted to the abbess, by whom he was 
 ordered, in the presence of many learned men, to tell his dream, 
 and repeat the verses, that they might all give their judgment 
 what it was, and whence his verse proceeded. They all 
 concluded that heavenly grace had been conferred on him by 
 our Lord.' And though the treasure might sometimes be 
 
 )>set he fram Sigemundes secgan hyrde 
 ellendaedum. 
 
 At times a king's thatte 
 
 all told 
 
 that he of Sigemund's valorous deeds 
 had heard say. 876 
 
 .Ner waes sang and sweg samod aetgaedere, 
 gomenwudu greted, gid oft wrecen, 
 }>onne healgamen Hro'Sgares scop 
 sefter medobence msenan scolde. 
 there was song and music joined together, 
 the harp struck, the lay oft recited, 
 when the hall-mirth (song) Hrothgar's poet 
 along the mead bench had to declare. 1067 
 
 Many illustrations also might be given from Scandinavian literature. 
 
 1 Heimskringla, in the Saga Library, I. 17. 
 
 2 See Vigfusson's Corpus Poeticum Bon-ale, II. 462.
 
 io8 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 placed in earthen vessels, as in the case of the inspired herds- 
 man of Whitby, yet the title of poet gave distinction to the 
 noblest: it was 'cyninges hegn' (a king's thane) who celebrated 
 the exploit of Beowulf, and the poets of Harold Fairhair were 
 among the bravest and most trusted of his followers. 
 
 6. From yet another quarter the position of poetry in the 
 
 early times might be illustrated from language. 
 wordsfcon - The words connected with it are many, and 
 
 some of them are widely spread among Teutonic 
 
 dialects. For example 
 
 Poetry. with 
 
 0. English 
 singan to sing 
 sang a song 
 leojj 2 a lay, song 
 leojnan to sing, recite 
 galan 2 to sing 
 gleo 2 glee, music 
 gleowian 2 to sing, play 
 gidd 2 a song 
 giddian 2 to sing 
 scop a poet 
 
 0. Saxon O.H. Ger. 
 
 Icelandic 
 
 singan 
 
 singan 
 
 syngva 
 
 sang 
 6 
 
 sang 
 leod (lied) 
 liudon canere 
 
 songr 
 ljo 
 
 lay 
 
 galan 
 
 gala to sing, chant 
 gly gladness 
 glyja to be gleeful 
 
 Gothic 
 siggwan 1 
 saggws 
 
 liuj>6n 
 
 scof 
 
 skald a pod 
 
 1 In Gothic the verb is also used of reading aloud, e.g. of reading in the 
 synagogue. In Luke iv. 16 the Gothic version has ' ussto)> siggwan bokos' = 
 surrexit legere. 
 
 2 The words will be better understood by seeing instances of their use, 
 so one or two passages are here given : 
 
 Leo\> waes asungen 
 
 Gleomannes gyd. Beowulf 1160 
 
 Leo\> and gyd are used here of the poem, dealing with incidents of Frisian 
 history, which had just been recited. 
 
 In the translation of Boethius, the metrical portions are translated into 
 prose, but are introduced by such expressions as: 'Da ongan wisdom 
 gliowian and giddode, ecte hfit spell ( = the prose) mid /?)*.' Verse 
 renderings were also made, in which the same introductory office is done 
 by such lines as : 
 
 Da ongon wisdom his gewunan fylgan, 
 
 gliowordum gol (p. of galait) gyd set spelle. Met. 7. i.
 
 Chapter VII. 109 
 
 Many derivatives and compounds might be added, in which 
 this material is found, and they would still further illustrate 
 the point in question 1 . 
 
 7. From what has been said, it will appear, that with the 
 English and other Teutonic peoples poetry was 
 a thoroughly native product, and had existed heathen ideals 
 among them long before they adopted Christi- in Christian 
 anity. One of its main themes had been war, 
 its heroes were warriors, the leader who was brave and liberal, 
 and the follower who was brave and loyal to the death; its 
 vocabulary was full of terms that described such subjects. But 
 the English were converted to a religion, whose founder declared 
 that the peacemakers were blessed, and that those who used 
 the sword should perish by the sword ; who enjoined that men 
 should love their enemies, and that if they were smitten on the 
 one cheek, they should turn the other also, a religion which 
 presented an ideal quite opposed to the feelings of the earlier 
 time. With saints and apostles for his heroes the poet might 
 seem to have had little use for much of the old vocabulary, and 
 it might have been expected to disappear from the Christian 
 poetry as completely, as in later times it did from every kind of 
 poetic literature. But the old ideals were so firmly fixed, that 
 not only did Christianity leave them unshaken in their old 
 domain, the secular poetry, but it even allowed them to 
 penetrate the religious literature ; and the hero of Bible story 
 or of church legend was described in the same terms as had 
 been used to describe the Teutonic warrior. As, in attempting 
 to illustrate this point, it will be necessary to refer to some of 
 
 1 It may be noted, as yet another illustration, that in the Old English 
 translation of Bede's Latin account of Cadmon the terms connected with 
 poetry are, with one exception, native words. Carmen is rendered by leo\>, 
 lco\<-song, and sotig; poema by leo\> ; cantare and canere by singan; ars 
 canendi by leo\>-craift and song-craft; verba pottica by scop-gereonl ; cartninis 
 mod^llatio by leo\>-songes s-winsung. The rendering of versus by fers is the 
 one exception.
 
 1 10 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 the Old English poems, it will be well to say a few words about 
 them to suggest their character. 
 
 8. The most important of them is Beowulf. From a brief 
 summary of its contents it will be seen that its 
 
 Some old . . .._... 
 
 English subject-matter is so independent of Christianity, 
 
 ^e^uif. tnat i' ma y ke taken as a fair representative of 
 
 the old native poetry. In its first canto the 
 poem tells how the Danish king, Hrothgar, causes a splendid 
 palace to be built, to which is given the name Heorot. This 
 is soon made a scene of slaughter, in consequence of the 
 attacks of a fiendish being called Grendel, who carries off at 
 one time no less than thirty of the king's thanes for the 
 purpose of devouring them in his retreat. For twelve years 
 these attacks are carried on, when a report of them at last 
 reaches the ears of Beowulf, a nephew of Hygelac, king of the 
 opposite territory of West Gothland. He determines to destroy 
 the monster ; and, accordingly, with a small retinue he crosses 
 to the Danish coast, where the announcement of his purpose 
 ensures his welcome. He and his companions, after feasting 
 with the king, are left to rest in charge of the hall. Here they 
 are visited by Grendel, who, after devouring one of the sleepers, 
 is attacked by Beowulf and defeated, but escapes with the loss 
 of an arm to his dwelling in the fens. The victory is followed by 
 feasting, and the victor is rewarded with rich presents. But the 
 following night the hall is the scene of a fresh attack. Grendel's 
 mother, eager to avenge her son, enters it, but is obliged 
 to fly, taking, however, with her a counsellor and friend of the 
 king. Beowulf is summoned to assist against this new danger, 
 and undertakes to seek and to destroy the enemy in her home. 
 He reaches the dreary lake, which she inhabits, plunges into it, 
 and after a long descent, reaches the bottom. Here a successful 
 encounter takes place, after which Beowulf returns to the king, 
 relates his exploit, and not long after embarks, laden with gifts, 
 for his own country. On the death of Hygelac, Beowulf ascends 
 the throne, and finds himself soon called upon to face new
 
 Chapter VII. in 
 
 difficulties. The country is troubled by a firedrake, which 
 guards a treasure hidden in a hill : the royal palace is de- 
 stroyed, and Beowulf sets out to do battle with the dragon. 
 In the fight he is wounded, but by the help of one of his 
 followers his antagonist is destroyed : the wound, however, is 
 mortal ; he lives long enough to give directions for his funeral 
 mound and then expires. 
 
 Equally independent of Christianity, as regards their 
 subjects, are two poems, recording events in 
 English history. One is given in the Anglo- B *2nanbL s h. 
 Saxon Chronicle under the year 937, and cele- 
 brates the battle of Brunanburgh, in which Athelstan gained 
 a victory over a united force of Danes, Welsh, and Scotch ; the 
 other commemorates a less successful encounter at Maldon in 
 991, when Byrhtnoth died fighting the Danes. 
 A band of these had sailed up the Blackwater to B Maido{. 
 Maldon, where they were met by Byrhtnoth. He 
 contemptuously rejected their suggestion that he should pur- 
 chase peace, and with disastrous courage allowed them to land 
 unmolested. After desperate fighting he fell, upon which some 
 of his followers fled, but the others declared their determination 
 to fulfil their duty to the dead lord, and carried out that deter- 
 mination. 
 
 The next poem to be noticed is the fragment on Judith. 
 Here, as the subject is from the Apocrypha, the 
 
 Judith. 
 
 origin of the poem is in a sense dependent upon 
 Christianity. But the scenes of the poem Holofernes' feast, 
 his death at Judith's hands, the defeat of the followers after 
 the death of their lord might easily be treated as though the 
 actors in them were the poet's kinsfolk. 
 
 For all the poems that have been described so far, the old 
 poetic vocabulary was quite appropriate. But in 
 
 . &t Andrew. 
 
 the last one to be spoken of the case is other- 
 wise. The poem, whose hero is St Andrew, tells how he was 
 divinely summoned to sail from Achaia to Mermedonia, where
 
 112 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 St Matthew was in the hands of the heathens ; how he fell into 
 the captivity from which his brother apostle had been saved by 
 his means ; how he suffered martyrdom ; and how in the end, 
 having effected the conversion of his persecutors, he returned. 
 In this poem the characters are so different from those which 
 appear in the others, that by a comparison of the language 
 used in the former with that used in the latter, the point 
 referred to at the end of 7 may be illustrated. 
 
 9. In the poem whose hero is St Andrew the key-note is 
 
 struck at the outset, and that it is the same note 
 
 guage ofthe as that heard in the poem whose hero is Beowulf 
 
 poems ex- w ju appear, if the opening lines of the two 
 
 ammed. r . 
 
 Christian poems be placed alongside one another. In the 
 former the poet recalls the fame of the apostles, 
 
 Teutonic as the poet of the latter does that of the warrior- 
 
 warriors. 
 
 kings of the Danes : 
 
 Hwset 1 ! we gefrunan 1 on fyrndagum 
 twelfe under tunglum tlreadige hcetiS 
 \>eodnes \>egnas no hira ]>rym alseg 
 J>onne cumbol hneotan 
 
 1 The somewhat stereotyped character of poetic formulae may be 
 illustrated by comparing the phrases here given with those used at the 
 beginning of other poems : 
 
 Hwat! we feor and neah gefrigen habbaft. Exodus. 
 
 Gefr&gn ic Hebreos eadge lifgean. Daniel. 
 
 Hwcet! me frod wita on fyrndagum 
 saegde. Poem in the Exeter Book. 
 
 Hsebbe ic gefrugnen, Jjsette.... Phenix. 
 
 Hwat ! ic )?ysne sang fand. Poem on the Apostles. 
 
 Hwat! we \>set hyrdon.... Juliana. 
 
 Hwcet! ic swefna cyst secgan wylle. Poem on the Cross. 
 
 Hw&t! ic flitan gefrcegn an. fyrndagum. 
 
 Dialogue of Solomon and Saturn. 
 
 Gefrignan, the verb often used in the above, means to learn by asking. 
 The exclamatory hw<zt (what) seems to suggest the address of a reciter to 
 his hearers.
 
 Chapter VIL 113 
 
 J>set wSron maere men ofer eor"San 
 frame folctogan and fyrdhwate 
 rofe rincas fyonne rond and hand 
 on herefelda helm ealgodon 
 on meotitdwange. St And. i n. 
 
 Ah ! we have heard in days of old 
 of twelve glorious heroes beneath the stars, 
 a prince's thanes : their glory failed not 
 in warfare, when ensigns crashed 
 
 they were famous men upon earth, 
 stout leaders and brave, 
 mighty warriors, when shield and hand, 
 on the battle field, guarded the helm 
 on the plain of fate. 
 
 Hwset 1 ! we Gar-Dena in geardagum 
 
 Jjeodcyninga Jsrym gefrunon 1 
 
 hu )>a seftelingas ellen fremedon. Beo. i 3. 
 
 Ah! we of the Danes' kings in days of yore 
 
 the glory have heard, 
 
 how these royal princes valour displayed. 
 
 In the first passage nothing is said of those whom it cele- 
 brates, that might not be the fitting praise of the warriors to 
 whom the second refers; and if its phraseology be taken in 
 detail, it will be seen that nothing is said, which is not actually 
 applied to such warriors. Tlr is a poetical word meaning 
 glory eadig = happy, blessed ; tir-eadig = glorious : heeled is a 
 poetical term for a man. The epithet finds its proper applica- 
 tion, when used of king Hygelac, who is called tir-eadig man 
 (Beo. 2189). The apostles are 'thanes of a prince'; it is the 
 same phrase, that describes Beowulf's followers, who attended 
 him on his expedition against Grendel's mother (Beo. 1627). 
 The glory (Iprj'm) which is mentioned in each passage is the 
 glory gained on the battle-field; such as Athelstan gained at 
 Brunanburgh when his foes 
 
 hlihhan ne borfton 
 Jjset hi beaduweorca beteran wurdon 
 on campslede cumbvlgehnastes. 49. 
 T. 8
 
 114 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 had no need to laugh, 
 
 because they in works of war better had proved 
 on the battle-field of the ensigns' 1 crash. 
 
 The apostles axe folc-togan, folk-leaders ; so are the warriors 
 of the Danes, who came to the palace after Grendel's defeat : 
 f>a wses on morgen mine gefraege 
 ymb \>3. gifhealle guftrinc monig 
 ferdon folctogan feorran and nean. 839. 
 then was at morn, as I have heard, 
 about the gift-hall many a warrior, 
 came the folk's leaders from far and near. 
 
 So are the leaders of the Assyrians, who were with Holofernes, 
 and Judith bids her countrymen 
 
 fyllan folctogan... fiege frumgaras. 194. 
 
 to fell the folk's leaders. . .fey chieftains. 
 
 The term fyrd was familiar to the English as applied to the 
 military service which was obligatory on all; the brave man 
 would be eager to take his part in such service, and fyrd-hw&t 
 (liwat keen, bold) was a fit epithet for the warrior. So of 
 Beowulf's followers it is said: 
 
 to sele comon 
 
 frame fyrdhwate feowertyne 
 
 Geata gongan ; gumdrihten mid 
 
 modig on getnonge meodowongas trsed. 1643. 
 to the hall came 
 
 stout and brave fourteen 
 
 of the Geats walking ; their lord with them, 
 
 proud in their midst, the mead-plains trade. 
 
 The next epithet in the passage, rqf, is used of Beowulf 
 himself, who is thus addressed by his one faithful follower, 
 when about to attack the firedrake : 
 
 scealt nu, dsedum rof, 
 se'Seling anhydig ealle maegene 
 feorh ealgian. 2668. 
 
 shalt thou, stout of deeds, 
 resolute prince, with all thy might 
 thy life protect.
 
 Chapter VII. 1 15 
 
 The phrase which gives the descriptive touch of the battle, 
 'the hand and shield" guarding the helm, may be compared 
 with king Hrothgar's words ' siSSan ic hond and rond hebban 
 mihte,' i.e. since I could bear arms, Beo. 656. And the battle- 
 field is meotud-wang, the field of fate ; for meotud, which comes 
 later to be applied to the Deity, seems to have the meaning at 
 an earlier time of fate ; so Beowulf says : 
 
 ealle wyrd forsweop 
 mine magas t5 metodsceafte. 2815. 
 
 The hero of the poem is represented after a fashion, which 
 the opening lines might lead us to expect. He receives the 
 divine command to proceed to Mermedonia, for the purpose 
 of freeing St Matthew from his captivity in that country, and 
 the command is thus expressed : 
 
 >u scealt... Jnn feorh beran 
 
 in gramra gripe, J>er J?e 2 gu'8gewinn 
 
 t>urh hae'Senra 2 hildewoman 
 
 beorna 2 beaducrseft geboden wyr'Se'S. 
 
 thou shall... thy life bear 
 
 into the grip of cruel foes, there to thee battle 
 
 by the heathens' 1 onslaught, 
 
 by the war-craft of warriors, shall be offered. 
 
 The apostle on whose behalf the saint is to make this 
 journey is said to be beadu-rdf* ', stout in war; while to the 
 saint are applied a number of terms indicative of his prowess. 
 He is nalas hild-lata, gearo gufte, not slow to battle, ready for 
 war, 233 ; beorn beaduwe heard, a warrior hardy in battle, 984; 
 
 1 hand and rond occurs again in v. 412. 
 
 2 6V5, hild, beadu are words, used in poetry only, meaning war, battle. 
 The first two are found in Icelandic in a personal sense, as names of two of 
 the Valkyrjar, Gunnr and Hildr. Something of this personal sense may 
 perhaps be traced in such expressions as 'Gif mec /&z7<a? nime, ' Beo. 452, and 
 ' Guft mme^,' Beo. 2536. 
 
 3 The same epithet is applied to Beowulf; his funeral monument is 
 called beadurofes been, Beo. 3161. 
 
 82
 
 1 16 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 eadig ^ oretta (463), dnr&d ^oretta (985), a blessed, resolute 
 champion; cempa collenferHS, a warrior bold, 538; hale hilde- 
 deor\ a hero brave, 1004; wlgendra hleo*, the warriors' shelter, 
 506. He describes himself and his companions as Christ's 
 'Tpegnas, gecoren to cempum' thanes, chosen as warriors, 323, 
 and the latter are called by him geonge giffirincas, young men of 
 war, 392. Elsewhere they are spoken of as beadurdfe 4 , 850; 
 and to the apostles he applies the term orettmcecgas, warriors 8 , 
 664. His martyrdom is thus foretold : 
 
 Nu J>u, Andreas, scealt edre gene'San 
 in gramra gripe ; is t>e giro 1 weotod 
 heardum heoruswengum 6 . 954. 
 
 now thou, Andrew, shalt at once venture 
 into the cruel ones' grip: war is allotted thee 
 with stern sword-strokes. 
 
 but he is comforted, and told not to flinch from 
 
 grim gar-gewinn 7 . 960. grim spear-strife. 
 
 1 Cf. Aras )>a be ronde rof oretta (Beowulf) 
 
 heard under helme. Beo. 2538. 
 
 2 Cf. )>a com ingan ealdor J>egna, 
 
 dsedcene mon, dome gewurj>ad 
 hale kildedeor. Beo. 1644. 
 It is Beowulf who is referred to. 
 
 3 Cf. Ic J>e..., 
 
 brego Beorhtdena, biddan wille, 
 eodor Scyldinga, anre bene 
 wigendra hleo. Beo. 429. 
 
 Elsewhere the Danish king is called eorla hleo (1035); Byrhtnoth is called 
 
 kale\>a hleo, B. of Maldon, v. 74. 
 
 4 V. note 3 on previous page. 
 
 6 To Beowulf and his followers is applied the same term : 
 J>a j>ser wlonc hsele^S 
 oretmacgas sefter ae'Selum frsegn. Beo. 332. 
 
 6 Grend el suffers heorusweng heardne, Beo. 1590. 
 
 7 When the Jews are pursuing the Assyrians it is said : 
 
 begnas on ]>a tid j>earle gelyste 
 gar-gewinnes. Jud. 308.
 
 Chapter VII. 117 
 
 In the terms used when speaking of the Deity the same 
 feeling may be traced. God and Christ are spoken of as helm 
 aftelinga 1 , helm or protector of princes, 277, 655. God is sige- 
 dryhten*, victory-lord, which is the title given to king Hrothgar 
 by the Danish coast-guard : Sigedryhten min, aldor East- 
 Dena, Beo. 391; tyoda baldor*, chief of nations, 547; fifes 
 brytta*, dispenser of life, 823 ; hcele'Sa wuldor, glory of heroes, 
 1465; ]>eoda rceswa 5 , counsellor of nations. Christ is afteling, an 
 atheling, a prince of the blood royal (cf. Edgar Atheling}; 
 burh-weard, the guardian of the city ; sigora weard z , the guardian 
 of victories. And the devil, when reviling Christ, is made to 
 say 
 
 bone Erodes ealdre besnyftede 
 forcom set campe cyning ludea 
 rices bersedde. 1328. 
 
 him Herod cut off from life, 
 
 undid at battle, the king of the Jews, 
 
 of rule bereft. 
 
 10. The transformation which foreign material underwent 
 before it found expression in the native verse is 
 
 The old idea 
 
 further illustrated by the poet s conception of of the relations 
 the relation between St Andrew and his disciples. ^(Tand the 
 In the poetry which dealt with native subjects follower pre- 
 the ideal that is seen in the Germany of Tacitus 
 might still be traced the liberal lord and the loyal follower. 
 
 1 So Beowulf is called helm lidmanna, seamen's helm, Beo. 1623, and 
 kings of Danes and Goths are helm Scyldinga (456) and helm Wedra (2462) 
 respectively. 
 
 2 Cf. the legend of Odin : 'Odin was a great warrior, ...and so victorious 
 was he,... that his men trowed of him that he should of his own nature ever 
 have the victory in every battle.' Heimskringla, in the Saga Library, 
 I. 12. 
 
 3 Holofernes is called gumena baldor, chief of men, Jud. 9. King 
 Hre'Sel is sinca baldor, lord over treasures, Beo. 2428. 
 
 4 Holofernes is sinces brytta, dispenser of treasure, Jud. 30. 
 
 5 The Assyrian nobles zx&folces raswan, Jud. n.
 
 Ii8 Otitlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 King Athelstan is beorna l beahgifa, a ring-giver of men; king 
 Hrothgar is sinces brytta, a dispenser of treasure, and impresses 
 upon Beowulf the need for liberality in a chief, by giving an 
 instance of the disastrous results that followed from a lack of 
 that virtue 2 ; Byrhtnoth is sinc-gifa, a treasure-giver; and in 
 the case of Holofernes the like terms are found ; he is sinces 
 brytta, gold-gifa, gold-wine gumena (wine, a friend). And it is 
 the spirit of the old time, that held it lasting infamy to survive 
 the lord who had fallen in battle, that animates Byrhtwold, the 
 follower of Byrhtnoth, when he says after the latter's death 
 
 fram ic ne wille 
 
 ac ic me be healfe minum hlaforde 
 be swa leofan men licgan }>ence. 
 
 away I will not, 
 but I beside my lord, 
 by the man I loved so, mean to lie. 
 
 And his comrades, as other passages from the poem would 
 shew, were of like mind. The same feeling appears in Wiglaf's 
 scorn of Beowulf's followers, who failed their chief in his time 
 of need 8 . 
 
 If now we turn to the Christian poem, we shall find that 
 the poet makes his characters speak as if they were fellow- 
 countrymen of Byrhtwold or of Wiglaf ; in the following passage 
 
 1 Beak, a ring, kept in French bague, is used of a bracelet, necklet, or 
 crown, as well as of a ring for the hand. Gifts often took such forms, 
 hence the epithet. For instance, in Egil's Saga it is said that after a battle, 
 in which Egil had fought among Athelstan's troops, the king gave him a 
 ring from his own hand. Egil's Saga, c. 55. 
 
 2 Hrothgar quotes the case of one who suffered because 
 
 nallas beagas geaf he gave not rings 
 
 Denum setter dome. 1720. to the Danes in due measure 
 
 and gives this advice to Beowulf 
 
 J>u }>e lair be }>on teach thyself by this; 
 
 gumcyste ongit. 1723. understand liberality. 
 
 That Beowulf followed the advice is seen later on, when his liberality is 
 spoken of in v. 2865. 
 
 8 See Beowulf, 2864 sqq.
 
 Chapter VII. 119 
 
 we have the language of Teuton warriors, not of eastern 
 Christians. When it is proposed to St Andrew's disciples 
 that they shall wait by the ship, while their master goes 
 alone on his dangerous mission, 
 
 edre j>a eorlas agefan ondsware, 
 
 )>egnas Jrohthearde... 
 
 ' H wider hweorfaj> we hlafordlease 1 , 
 
 geomormode, g5de orfeorme, 
 
 synnum wunde, gif we swicaj? }>e? 
 
 we bloj> lafte on landa gehwam, 
 
 folcum fraco'Se, J>onne fira beam, 
 
 ellenrofe, aeht besitta>, 
 
 hwylc hira selast symle gelseste 
 
 hlaforde set hilde, >onne hand and rond 
 
 on beaduwange, billum forgrunden, 
 
 set nlSplegan nearu Jrowedon 2 .' 401 414. 
 
 straightway the men returned answer, 
 
 resolute thanes.,. 
 
 ' Whither shall we turn lordless t 
 
 sad of soul, lacking all good, 
 
 sin-stained, if we fail thee ? 
 
 we shall be hateful in every land, 
 
 to all peoples infamous, when the sons of men, 
 
 valorous, sit discussing 
 
 which of them best ever followed 
 
 lord in war, when hand and shield, 
 
 on the war-plain, smitten with swords, 
 
 at the fell play suffered straits. ' 
 
 1 Cf. the words of Leofsunu, a follower of Byrhtnoth : 
 
 Ne >urfon me on Sturmere stedefaeste hseletS 
 wordum aetwltan nu mm wine gecranc 
 J>set ic hlafordleas ham srSie. 249. 
 
 2 The passage here quoted will serve well to shew how thoroughly 
 foreign material was converted into native in poetry, if the poetical and 
 prose renderings of the legend at this point are compared. The former 
 has been given, the latter runs simply thus, a mere translation: 'Gif we 
 gewltab fram J>e, J>onne beo we fremde eallum }>am godum J>e Jm us 
 gegearwodest ; ac we beoiS mid J>e swa hwier swa )>u faerest ' (if we depart 
 from thee, then shall we be strangers to all the good that thou hast prepared 
 for us ; but we will be with thee wheresoever thou goesi).
 
 1 20 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 11. And Teutonic life in other scenes than those con- 
 nected with war was by like transformation 
 
 solua iift reflected in the poetry. The follower who fought 
 
 with his lord in the field feasted with him in the 
 
 hall, and received of his treasure. When St Andrew is ready 
 
 to depart from Mermedonia it is said 
 
 t>set he J>a goldburg ofgifan wolde 
 secga seledream and sincgestreon 
 beorht beagselu. 1659. 
 
 that he the city stored with gold would give up, 
 men's glad life in the hall and the gathered treasure, 
 the bright hall where rings were dealt forth. 
 
 It is the language of the Beowulf, and it is Teutons that 
 the Saint is leaving. Heorot, the palace of the Danish king, 
 was 'beahsele beorhta,' 1177 ; it was there that Grendel 
 
 dogora gehwam dream gehyrde 
 hludne in healle, J>air waes hearpan sweg, 
 swutol sang scopes. 88. 
 each day he heard joyous life 
 loud in hall ; there was sound of harp, 
 clear song of poet. 
 
 And again, 
 
 scop hwllum sang 
 hador on Heorote: J>ser wses hsele'Sa dream. 497. 
 
 And of another hall less fortunate, it is said 
 seledream gesah (sank). 2252. 
 
 It was in Heorot that Queen Waltheow said to Beowulf 
 
 Ic |>e an tela / thee grant much 
 
 sincgestreona. 1226. of gathered treasures. 
 
 From the poet's language it might seem that the Saint was 
 another Beowulf, who, with a train of loyal followers, had done 
 deeds of warlike prowess, had shared the joyous life of another 
 Heorot, had earned the gifts that were distributed in 'gold- 
 burg' and 'beag-sele' as the reward of heroic bravery, and
 
 Chapter VII. 121 
 
 having done the appointed task, had left the scene of his glory 
 to return to his native land. 
 
 12. In an earlier chapter 1 the permanence of the poetic 
 vocabulary in the case of sea-faring terms was Qld Saxon 
 illustrated by a reference to the poetic vocabulary poetry like Old 
 of a kindred dialect the Old Saxon. Like il- 
 lustration may be got for some of the material noticed above 
 by again referring to the same dialect. Thus the epithet eorla 
 dryhten, lord of earls, which in the English poems that have 
 been quoted is given to Athelstan, to Hrothgar, and to Holo- 
 fernes, is in the Heliand applied to Christ 2 ; sigt-dryhten, as we 
 have seen, was used of the Deity and of an earthly king ; the 
 corresponding Old Saxon sigi-drohtin 3 is used of God. With 
 the title burh-weard, which the English poet gave to Christ, 
 may be compared the description of Solomon by the Old 
 Saxon, when he has to render ' Solomon in all his glory': 
 
 the burges ward, 
 
 Salomon the kuning, the habda sink mikil, 
 me'Som-hordas mest thero the enig man ehti, 
 welono gewunnan endi allaro giwadeo kust. 1679. 
 
 the city's ward, 
 
 king Solomon, -who had much treasure, 
 most of precious hoard, more of wealth 
 than any man, and choicest garments. 
 
 1 P- 57- 
 
 2 The residence in the wilderness which preceded the temptation is 
 thus described : 
 
 was im thar an thero enodi erlo drohtin 
 langa hwila. 1028. 
 was there in the desert the earls' lord 
 long while. 
 
 3 Christ, speaking of prayer, is made to say : 
 
 Than gi willean te iuwomo herron helpono biddean 
 that in sigi-drohlin sundeono tomea. 1577. 
 when ye will of your lord ask help, 
 that the victory-lord from sins free you.
 
 122 Outlines of the History of the English Langiiage. 
 
 And the same conception of Christ as is suggested by the 
 English form is found in the line 'Krist, liof liudio ward,' 
 Christ, dear guardian of men, 984. 
 
 Beowulf had chosen a band of followers for his expedition 
 
 Haefde se goda Geata leoda 
 cempan gecorene. Beo. 205. 
 
 had the good prince of the Geats 
 champions chosen 
 
 and such he addresses as ' swsese gesffias,' dear comrades. So 
 Christ ' samnoda gisffios,' 1204, and about him were 
 sulike gisfSos so he im selbo gikos. 1280. 
 such comrades as he himself chose. 
 
 The twelve disciples are his 'comitatus,' he their 'princeps,' 
 as it might have been among the Germans of Tacitus : 
 
 He im selbo gikos 
 twelibi gitalda treuhafta man 
 
 thea drohtin welda 
 
 an is gisi'Sskipea simblon hebbean. 1524. 
 
 He himself chose 
 true men twelve in number 
 
 that the lord would 
 in his company ever have. 
 
 For the loyal follower, Wiglaf, Beowulf is man-dry 'fiten 1 , the 
 lord whose man he was ; and Matthew's acceptance of Christ's 
 call is thus described : 
 
 He war$ im uses drohtines man, 
 kos im the kuninges thegan Krist te herron, 
 milderan medgebon, than er is man-drohtin 
 wari an thesero weroldi. 1201. 
 
 He became our lord's man, 
 the king's thane chose Christ as his chief, 
 a more liberal giver of treasure, than before his 
 worldly lord had been. 
 
 1 Geseah (Wiglaf) his mondryhten (Beowulf) 
 
 under heregrlman hset Jrowian. 2605. 
 Beowulf speaks of king Hygelac as 'mm mondrihtenj 436.
 
 Chapter VII. 123 
 
 And just as the English poet, when speaking of English life 
 in Byrhtnoth's home, says 
 
 )>onne we on bence beot ahofon, 
 on healle. Byrht. 214. 
 
 iv hen we on the bench made our boast, 
 heroes in hall 
 
 so the Old Saxon, when he has to represent a household scene, 
 suggested by Matt. v. 15, says 
 
 man lioht hoho skal 
 an sell settean, that thea gesehan mugin 
 alia giliko, thea thar inna sind, 
 helffios in halle. 1409. 
 
 the light on high must 
 in hall be placed, that they may see 
 all alike, that are therein, 
 heroes in hall. 
 
 13. In the passages that have been quoted the language 
 of poetry has been considered chiefly with refer- 
 
 , . ., c . Recurrence 
 
 ence to its tendency to maintain the form given O f phrases and 
 to it in earlier times, and so to preserve traces imagery in the 
 
 r poetry. 
 
 of the old ideals. The traditional character of 
 the poetical vocabulary, which thus seems to be shewn, may 
 receive further illustration, if the recurrence of phrases and 
 imagery be noted. The riming formula rand and hand, of 
 which examples are given above, is not uncommon; the 
 alliterative epithet of the sword brad and brunecg occurs in the 
 Beowulf and in the poem on the battle of Maldon 1 ; the same 
 simile for a ship is used in the Beowulf and in the Legend of 
 St Andrew 2 ; and, as will be seen in the following passages, the 
 
 Heo hyre seax geteah 
 brad brunecg. Beo. 1546. 
 
 Jja Byrhtno'S braed bill of scefte 
 brad and brunecg. B. of Maid. 163. 
 
 ~ P- 57-
 
 124 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 same imagery is employed in different poems to heighten the 
 effect of the description of the battle-field : 
 
 Dynedon scildas, 
 
 hlude hlummon: J>ses se hlanca gefeah 
 itrulf in walde, and se wanna hrefn, 
 wselgifre fugel ; wiston begen 
 Jjaet him j?a Jjeodguman J>ohton tilian 
 fylle on fsegum; ac him fleah on last 
 earn Stes georn urigfe'Sera 
 salowigpada sang hildeleo'S 
 hyrnednebba. Judith 204 111. 
 
 clashed shields, 
 
 loudly sounded; at which the lank wolf 
 was glad in the wold, and the dark raven, 
 slaughter-greedy bird; both knew 
 that for them the leaders meant to provide 
 plenty among the doomed; and in their track flew 
 the eagle eager for food, dewy-feathered, 
 sallow-coated, sang a war-song 
 the horny-beaked one. 
 
 Cyning and asfteling cy"$iSe s5hton 
 
 leton him behindan hra bryttian 
 
 salowigpadan and J>one sweartan hrefn 
 
 hyrnednebban and J>one hasupadan 
 
 earn seftan hwit esses brucan 
 
 grsedigne gufthafoc and J>aet grsige deor 
 
 wulf on wealde. Battle of Brunanburgh, 58 65. 
 
 king and prince sought their home, 
 left behind them dispensing the corses 
 the black raven with its sallow coat, 
 horny of beak, and the dusky-coated 
 eagle with tail white-tipped eating carrion, 
 greedy warhawk ; and that grey beast 
 the wolf in the wold. 
 
 J>a wear's hream ahafen hremmas wundon 
 earn Sses georn. Battle of Maldon, 106 7. 
 
 then was a cry raised, ravens wheeled round, 
 the eagle eager for carrion.
 
 Chapter VII. 125 
 
 14. As may be supposed, in vocabulary and in diction the 
 poetry is quite distinct from the prose. In the 
 
 c c , , , i j . The vocabu- 
 
 former are found words which are never used in i a ry of poetry 
 the latter. Of such the material in this Chapter ^ st < in f t from 
 
 J that of prose. 
 
 will afford illustration. For man or warrior we 
 have h(zle]>, rinc, beorn, oretta ; for a chief baldor, brego, eodor, 
 folc-toga, }>eod-guma, gum-drihten, man-drihten, beah-gtfa, gold- 
 gifa, sinc-gifa; the epithets applied to such are rof, tir-eadig, 
 fierd-hvv&t, beadu-rof, nalas hild-lata, hilde-deor, dtSd-cene, }>roht- 
 heard, ellen-rof; for war or battle we have beadu, hild, gu}>, gdr- 
 gewinn, cumbol-gehnast, rify-plega, cesc-plega ; the battle-field is 
 here-feld, meotud-wang ; the glory gained on it is ttr; the bird 
 of prey that hovers over it is gufy-hafoc. Beside the single term 
 in prose, sweord, the poetry can use bill, mece, and heoru ; gdr, 
 a spear, is poetical, while spere can be used in poetry and in 
 prose; cumbol and rand in like manner are poetical, while 
 words of corresponding meaning segn and stild are common. 
 Sine, again, is poetical while hord (hoard) is used in prose; 
 and gif-heall is the poetical compound which is applied to the 
 hall where gifts were distributed by the chief. 
 
 These few examples, with the addition of the words given 
 in Chap, iv. 1 , may serve to suggest that it was a vocabulary 
 which contained not a few practical synonyms and abounded 
 in epithets that denoted comparatively slight variations on 
 one theme. It was a vocabulary which made it possible for 
 the Old English poetry to present an idea, that would find 
 simple expression in prose, in an amplified form, by the 
 
 1 A few instances of words connected with war, which do not occur in 
 the passages quoted, may be added, to shew that the types seen in the sea- 
 terms are equally current in other cases. Thus the warrior is denominated 
 from the weapon he carries, e.g. <zsc-berend (<zsc a spear), gar-berend, 
 helm-berend, sweord-bercnd; arrows are hilde-nadran, war-adders; battle 
 is gar-mitting and sweorda gelac, swords' play. For similar, but more 
 elaborate forms in Scandinavian poetry, see Vigfusson and Powell's Corpus 
 Poeticum Boreale, II. 447 sqq
 
 126 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 gathering together of such synonyms and epithets. The con- 
 trast between the verse and prose renderings of the same 
 material has been illustrated above, and two other instances 
 may here be added to make the point clearer. Caedmon's 
 verses, which were the first that any Englishman is known to 
 have made, are preserved in a MS. of the first half of the 8th 
 century in the following form : 
 
 Nu scylun hergan * hefaenricaes uard 
 
 z metudas maecti end his modgidanc 
 
 uerc 3 uuldurfadur sue he uundra gihuaes 
 
 4 eci Dryctin or astelidse 
 
 he aerist scop aelda barnum 
 
 heben til hrofe *haleg scepen 
 
 tha middungeard ^moncynnas uard 
 
 *eci Dryctin sefter tiadse 
 
 firum fold[u] 1 frea allmectig 8 . 
 
 This is practically a rendering of the first verse of Genesis, 
 but the poetry expands the material by using many terms for 
 the single ' God' of the prose. The Deity is l the ward of the 
 kingdom of heaven, *metud ( = fate), *the glory-father, *the eternal 
 lord, 6 the holy creator, *the ward of mankind, ''the lord almighty. 
 Men, too, are <zlda barn and firas ; earth is middun-geard and 
 folde. 
 
 A later instance may be taken from the version of Boethius' 
 De Consolatione Philosophiae. The prose has simply : '-Da waes 
 sum consul, }?aet we heretoha hata)?, Boetius waes haten, se waes 
 in boccraeftum and on woruldbeawum se rihtwlsesta.' This in 
 the metrical rendering is thus expanded : 
 
 8 See Sweet's Oldest English Texts, pp. 1489. In Bede's History 
 the sense of these verses is thus given : ' Nunc laudare debemus auctorem 
 regni coelestis, potentiam creatoris, et consilium iilius, facta patris gloriae. 
 Quomodo ille cum sit aeternus Deus, omnium miraculorum auctor exstitit, 
 qui primo filiis hominum coelum pro culmine tecti, dehinc terram custos 
 humani generis omnipotens creavit.' Bede adds: 'Hie est sensus, non 
 autem ordo ipse, verborum quae dormiens ille canebat.'
 
 Cliapter VI L 127 
 
 }>a was ncra sum: on .ffome byrig 
 
 a/iefen /^eretoga: 7/laforde leof 
 
 t>set wses nhtwis nnc : nses mid A'omwarum 
 
 jincgeofa jella : .si&San longe 
 
 he wses for weorulde w/ls: weorftmynda georn 
 
 ^eorn $6ca gleaw : 2?oitius 
 
 se y&aele /fcatte se J>one /fcllsan ge>ah. 
 
 then of the great was one : in the city of Rome, 
 
 a leader exalted : loved of his lord, 
 
 it was a righteous man: not 'mong the Romans 
 
 was treasure-giver better : for long after : 
 
 he -was wise in this world's ways : eager for honour ; 
 
 a man skilled in books: Boethius 
 
 the hero hight : who gained such fame* 
 
 15. One further point (which the quotations will illustrate) 
 in reference to the poetry may be just noticed 
 
 , ...... ' - , ... . , Alliteration. 
 
 the kind of rime used. It will be seen that in 
 all the verses that have been given, there is alliteration, i.e. 
 certain stressed words in each verse begin either with the same 
 consonant, or with vowels (generally different ones). The 
 number of alliterating words may be two or three, but in any 
 case only one is found in the second of the half-verses into 
 which each verse is divided by a pause. The last extract, in 
 which the alliterative letters are italicized and the pause marked 
 by a colon (:), may be taken as an example of the kind of 
 rime, which was used in all the Old English poetry. 
 
 16. There is one point in connection with the special part 
 of the language, which has been considered in LOSS of the 
 this chapter, that, after reading the material poetic vocabu- 
 given in illustration, will probably have attracted 
 
 notice, viz. the complete disappearance from the later lan- 
 guage of all that was so characteristic of the earlier. While 
 most of the work to be done by modern English is done by 
 the English words in it, yet that element of the old speech, 
 which once was most highly prized, has long ceased to form 
 part of the living vocabulary of England. Poetry still holds its
 
 128 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 place in our literature, but its verse and its vocabulary are no 
 longer after the fashion of the early times. The chapter that 
 has attempted to give some idea of that fashion may fitly close 
 with words of Kemble, which may serve as a summary of the 
 conclusions that might be drawn from our examples. Speaking 
 of the Old English poetry he says it exhibits 'peculiarities 
 which belong to the poetical language in contradistinction to 
 that of prose, and which were kept up by tradition among 
 their scopas or poets. To this is owing the retention, even in 
 Christian works, of modes of expression, which must have had 
 their origin in the heathen feeling, and which in order to fit 
 them for their new application, are gradually softened down, 
 and gain less personal and more abstract significations. The 
 language of poetry is as distinct from that of prose among the 
 Anglo-Saxons as any two different dialects. It is in their 
 poems that the stubborn nationality of our forefathers shews 
 itself most thoroughly; their prose works are almost always 
 literal translations, and even if original are deeply imbued with 
 tramontane feelings, derived from the models most in vogue. 
 But the epic forms maintained themselves despite of the book 
 learning, which was so overprized, and even translations become 
 originals from the all-pervading Teutonic spirit, which was 
 unconsciously preserved in the forms and phrases of heathen 
 poetry.'
 
 129 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Decay of learning in England after the appearance of the Danes the out- 
 pouring from the ' populous north ' physical and political conditions of 
 Norway and Denmark Danish attacks on England and the settle- 
 ments which followed Alfred's treaty with the Danes a permanent 
 Scandinavian element in England Danish rule in England the 
 character of the Danes as shewn in their conflict with the English 
 Danish influence on language to some extent destructive Danish loan- 
 words not numerous, but many of them characteristic of their source 
 terms connected with law, with the sea, with war general terms 
 amount of indebtedness implied by the loan-words evidence from 
 Middle English literature of borrowing in earlier times Danish words 
 in the literature and in dialects the determination of a Scandinavian 
 origin for words used in English Danish characteristics in English. 
 
 1. IT has been noticed in a preceding chapter (ante, p. 69) 
 that at the close of the 8th century Alcuin, an 
 Englishman living in Gaul, could point to his le "*gn 
 native land as a storehouse, to which the scholars England in 
 
 . . . , , *.!. the Qth cen- 
 
 of his adopted country might have recourse to tury . 
 supply deficiencies, of which his acquaintance 
 with English libraries made him sensible ; and it was York in 
 particular that Alcuin must have had in his mind when he 
 thought of England and its learning. But before the end of 
 the pth century the state of learning in England had utterly 
 changed ; and as we know from Alfred (ante, p. 73), so far was 
 England from being a place to which men would come in 
 search of learning, that the English of his time had to look to 
 T. 9
 
 130 Outlines of the History of tJte English Language. 
 
 other lands for teaching ; and York was in the very part of the 
 country that had suffered most from the influences which 
 brought about the change. Even when Alcuin was writing of 
 
 'the flowers of Britain,' the cloud no bigger 
 an^eof the ar than a man ' s nan ^ which heralded the storm, 
 Danes in that was to destroy those flowers, had appeared. 
 
 Under the year 787 the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle 
 has the ominous entry, 'In Beorhtric's days (he died in 800) 
 came first three ships, and the reeve rode thereto and was for 
 driving them to the king's town, for he knew not what they 
 were, and he was slain. It was the first ships of Danish men 
 that visited the land of the English 1 .' A new influence had 
 begun to shew itself in England, which was to leave lasting 
 traces on the people and on the language, and which, as the 
 first notices of those who were to exert it might suggest, was 
 to work differently from those which had already operated; for 
 though in the case both of the Celts and of the Scandinavians 
 the English had a foe to deal with, the first were weak, the 
 second strong ; and though in the case of Christianity, as in 
 that of the Scandinavians, there was no lack of strength, the 
 former produced its effects by peaceful means, the latter made 
 their power felt by force of arms. 
 
 2. The story of which an account of the relations between 
 
 the Scandinavians and the English forms part 
 pouring'oVthe * s a ver ^ remarkable one. From lands of no 
 Scandina- great extent and apparently little favoured by 
 
 nature poured forth a human stream, that might 
 
 1 'On his (Beorhtric's) dagum cuomon merest iii scipu and J>a se gerefa 
 J>aerto rad and hie wolde drifan to hes cyninges tune )>y he nyste hwaet hie 
 waeron. and hiene mon ofslog. pset wseron )>a aerestan scipu Deniscra 
 monna t>e Angelcynnes lond gesohton.' This entry does not fix the date 
 of the incident which it mentions, but the ships appeared probably before 
 796, the date of Alcuin's letter. At any rate in some MSS. of the Chronicle 
 there are notices of attacks by the 'heathen' in Northumbria in the years 
 793 and 794; in the former year the church at Lindisfarne was destroyed.
 
 Chapter VIII. 131 
 
 well have been thought inexhaustible 1 , and that before it 
 ceased to flow had left hardly any part of Europe untouched. 
 From Iceland to Constantinople the Northmen were known, 
 and, like the Saxons of an earlier time, they became terrible 
 by their depredations. Of their dealings with other lands than 
 England this is not the place to speak ; but it will be remem- 
 bered that England in suffering from their attacks had but the 
 same fate as a great part of Europe. 
 
 Of the northern lands, which in the Qth, loth, and nth 
 centuries played so prominent a part in European 
 history, it is Denmark and Norway with which Physical and 
 
 " political con- 
 
 we are most concerned. The physical and poli- ditions of Nor- 
 tical conditions of these countries in some re- Denmark, 
 spects favoured the special development we 
 have to notice. In Norway the extent of land which could be 
 cultivated was small, and such land was to be found near the 
 coast. 'Norway,' said the Norwegian, Ohthere, to king Alfred, 
 'is very long and very narrow. All of it, that can be either 
 grazed or ploughed, lies by the sea, and even that is in some 
 places very rocky, and there are wild hills to the east running 
 parallel to the cultivated land 2 .' And what the same speaker 
 told of himself may suggest like conditions for others, who 
 lived in such a land. It was by the sea that he dwelt 3 , and 
 
 1 See the table given by Steenstrup (Normannerne I. pp. 214 7) of 
 the number of ships in Scandinavian fleets of the 9th century, and of the 
 numbers of the fallen in various battles during the same time. According 
 to the sources there quoted as many as 700 ships were to be found in one 
 fleet, and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle mentions another of 350 ships. The 
 losses, which were suffered, are on the same scale, 12,000 being the number 
 of the slain on one occasion. 
 
 2 Ohthere ssede ^set Norftmanna land wsere swybe lang and swyj?e smtel. 
 Eal \>xi his man after o'Sfte ettan oftSe erian ma?g, Jwt lift wift fta see ; and 
 J>tet is t>eah on sumum stowum swyfte cludig ; and licgaft wilde moras wrS 
 eastan and wift uppon emnlange \>xm bynum lande. Alfred's Orosius, 
 bk. I. c. i. 
 
 8 He cwaeS fast he bude on J>aem lande norjnveardum wib |>a Westsae. ib. 
 
 92
 
 132 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 on the sea he was at home. He was accustomed to whaling 1 , 
 and had made a voyage of discovery in which he had reached 
 the White Sea. To men so trained the sea became the high- 
 way to other more favoured lands, from which might be 
 obtained the wealth, that could not be acquired in their own. 
 In Denmark, too, though the country was not occupied by 
 barren hills, as was Norway, yet it was mostly by the water 
 that the population was settled, and the sea again was the road 
 to fortune. And in the political conditions that prevailed in 
 either country there would be many to whom that road would 
 prove attractive. In Norway, for example, before the country 
 was brought under the single rule of Harold Fairhair, there 
 were many small kingdoms. If, as was not unfrequently the 
 case, the ruler of one of these was dispossessed by a more 
 powerful neighbour, it was often to the sea that he betook 
 himself, and on it, or in the lands to which it bore him, sought 
 to mend his fortunes by rapine. What the sea was to the 
 Scandinavians may be suggested to us by their literature, the 
 statements of which, even if they be not exact, may at least be 
 taken as indicative of the feelings with which it was regarded 
 by them. For instance, the definition of the genuine sea-king 
 fits in well with the character that should belong to a race 
 whose ships were known on every coast in Europe. 'Many 
 sea-kings there were,' says the old Saga, 'who had many men 
 under them, and had no lands : but he alone had full right to 
 the name of sea-king, that never slept under sooty beam, and 
 never drank at chimney corner 2 .' And the numberless scenes 
 of seafaring life, which are preserved in their literature, would 
 
 1 He for for }?sem horswselum...ac on his agnum lande is se betsta 
 hwelhuntaj> ; )>a beot! eahta and feowertiges elna lange, and }>a msestan, 
 fiftiges elna langa ; J>ara, he ssede, >ast he syxa sum ofsloge syxtig on twam 
 dagum. Alfred's Orosius, bk. I. c. i. 
 
 2 Varu margir ssekonungar, J>eir er ret>u. IrSi miklu ok atti engi lond: 
 J>6tti sa einn meft fullu heita mega ssekonungr, er hann svaf aldri undir 
 sotkum asi, ok drakk aldri at arins horni. Ynglinga Saga, c. 34.
 
 Chapter VIII. 133 
 
 justify the application to the Scandinavians of the description 
 (quoted ante, p. 54) at an earlier time given of the Saxons 1 . 
 
 3. Those for whom the sea had so few terrors were not 
 likely to abandon any road upon it which was 
 once opened up, and if the entries in the Anglo- at ^c l s S f i 
 Saxon Chronicle during the second quarter of the lowed by per- 
 9th century be referred to, it will be seen that ^ttiement. 
 the appearance of the 'heathen men 2 ' became a 
 more and more prominent feature of English History. But 
 the entries deal with expeditions made during the summer for 
 the sake of plunder, and no attempt at gaining a footing in the 
 
 1 The light in which, what now would be looked upon as piracy, was 
 regarded among the Scandinavians may be slightly shewn by the following 
 quotations from one of the smaller Icelandic Sagas. Countless instances in 
 support of the inferences to be drawn from them might be collected. A 
 young man, who remains at home, is thus admonished by his father: 'The 
 doings of young men have got to be other than when I was young ; then 
 men were eager for some exploit, either to betake themselves to plundering 
 or get money and honour in doings that a man risked his life in. ...It was 
 the custom of mighty men, kings and earls, our equals, to go out plundering, 
 and get for themselves money and fame, and that money was not to be 
 reckoned an inheritance, nor was the son to take it after the father, but it 
 was to be laid in the grave with the man himself.' The son of the man so 
 addressed is represented as, while still in his teens, requesting to be thus 
 started in life: "'I want you to give me a ship and I will plunder during 
 the summer after the fashion of my kinsmen before me. '...Afterwards they 
 betook themselves to plundering and got on well in their viking-cruise... by 
 autumn they had taken five ships, all well equipped with weapons and 
 men.' " Vatnsdsela Saga. It may just be noticed, that in both passages 
 such piracy is spoken of as a regular practice, and that, too, in the case of 
 the best men. 
 
 2 Of the terms used to denote the Scandinavian marauders 'the heathen 
 (men) ' was current both in England and Ireland before those which 
 referred to the places from which they came. Thus in the first three annals 
 (793. 794) 832) of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, in which among the events 
 of the year an attack is recorded, the term is used ; in 833 Denisc occurs. 
 But as late as 942 the Northmen were still heathen to the Chronicler. The 
 term may deserve notice as illustrating the mental attitude of the English 
 to the Danes.
 
 134 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 country is recorded. The character of the attacks, however, 
 quite changes in the second half of the century, and with the 
 change comes the time, when Danish influence can become 
 strong in England, when, consequently, its influence upon the 
 language may be important. Under the year 851 the Chronicle 
 has the significant notice : ' Heathen men for the first time 
 remained through the winter 1 '; and soon after, in 855, a repe- 
 tition of this hitherto unusual practice is recorded : ' Heathen 
 men for the first time in Sheppey remained through the winter 2 .' 
 This wintering in England seems to have been the first step in 
 the direction of permanent settlement; and, as will appear 
 from the record of events during the period from 870 to 880 
 which is contained in the Chronicle, when the first step was 
 taken, it was not long before the end was reached. In 870 
 'King Edmund fought with the Danes, and they were victorious, 
 and slew the King, and got all the country.' In 874 'the army 
 (of the Danes) marched to Repton and took up winter quarters 
 there, and drove King Burhred over sea, and got all the 
 country.' In 875 'the army took up winter quarters by the 
 river Tyne, and got all the country.' In 876 'Healfdene divided 
 up Northumberland, and the Danes were ploughing and culti- 
 vating it for themselves.' In 877 'the army in autumn marched 
 into Mercia, and some of it they divided among themselves, 
 and gave some to Ceolwulf.' In 880 'the army marched from 
 Cirencester into East Anglia and occupied the country and 
 divided it among themselves.' 
 
 4. A practical summary of the proceedings just detailed is 
 
 The treaty furnished by the first article in the agreement 
 
 of Alfred with made in 878 between Alfred and Guthritm, 
 
 according to which the boundary between the 
 
 English and Danish districts lay along the Thames to the 
 
 mouth of the Lea, then along the Lea to its source, then 
 
 1 HcTeJ>ne men rcrest ofer winter soeton. 
 
 2 Ilcejme men merest on Sceapige ofer winter srctun.
 
 Chapter VI I L 135 
 
 directly to Bedford, then along the Ouse to Watling Street 1 . 
 But besides determining the limit of the district which had 
 come under Danish rule the Danelagh 2 the agreement in 
 other articles will throw some light upon the relations to one 
 another of the two races. In the second their equality in the 
 eye of the law is declared: 'If a man be slain, we all estimate 
 equally dear (i.e. the wergild is the same) English and Danish 3 '; 
 and in the fifth the intercourse between the two is regulated: 
 ' We all agreed that neither bond nor free may go to the Danes 
 without leave, no more than any of them to us. But if it 
 happen that from necessity any one of them wants to have 
 traffic with us, or we with them, that is to be permitted in this 
 wise ; hostages are to be given as a pledge of peace, and as 
 evidence that a man 'has a clean back' (i.e. is acting legally 4 ). 
 5. From what has been said it may be seen when Danish 
 influence became important, and in what parts 
 
 r i 1-1 i L r i A permanent 
 
 of the country it was likely to be most powerful; Scandinavian 
 something also may be learnt as to the status element in 
 
 J . . England. 
 
 of the new element in the population : in other 
 
 words, it may be seen that during the latter half of the Qth 
 
 ymb ure landgemsera. up on Temese & bonne up on Ligan. 
 & andlang Ligan o'S hire sewylm. bonne on gerihte to Bedanforda. bonne 
 up on Usan o'S Wsetlinga-strDet. Thorpe's Ancient Laws and Institutes of 
 England, vol. I. p. 152. 
 
 2 For the geographical sense of lag/i ( = law) in this word, compare the 
 similar use of log ( = law) in Icelandic, e.g. ^)rcenda-log=^\iQ jurisdiction of 
 the Thronds. So the word came to denote the district over which the 
 Danish jurisdiction was exercised. 
 
 3 Gif man ofslagen weorfte. ealle we Iretaft efendyrne. Engliscne & 
 Deniscne. to vin. healf-marcum. 
 
 4 Ealle we cwnedon...baet ne beowe ne freo ne moton in bone here (here 
 is regularly used in speaking of the Danes) faran butan leafe. ne heora 
 nan be ma to us. Gif bonne gebyrige baet for neode heora hwilc wr$ ure 
 bige habban wille. obbe we wiiS heora. mid yrfe & mid sehtum. baet is 
 to bafianne on ba wisan. bat man gislas sylle frifte to wedde. & to 
 swutulunge baet man wite J>aet man clsene bsec hoebbe (another MS. has: 
 boet man mid rihte fare). Thorpe, p. 154.
 
 136 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 century considerable numbers of those who spoke some form of 
 Scandinavian speech had settled on a footing of equality with 
 the English in the northern and midland parts of the country. 
 Thus a permanent influence had begun to work upon language 
 in England; for though in course of time the overlordship, 
 which Alfred had been forced to relinquish, was regained and 
 held by English kings, this did not involve the expulsion of 
 the Scandinavian element from the parts where it was settled. 
 So in speaking of the success which crowned the efforts of 
 Alfred's son to restore the English supremacy, the Chronicle 
 says under the year 924: 'And then was he chosen father and 
 lord by the king of the Scots... and by Regnald and Eadulf's 
 sons and by all who live in Northumbria, both English and 
 Danish and Northmen 1 .' And the names on the map of 
 England still tell not only of the presence at an early time of 
 Scandinavians in certain parts of the country, but also of their 
 permanent settlements s . 
 
 6. A period of permanent settlement had thus followed 
 
 upon one of mere plundering expeditions, but 
 in^nghmd! 16 ^^ secon d stage in the relations between the 
 
 English and the Scandinavians was not to be the 
 final one. During a great part of the loth century little is 
 heard of the Danish attacks ; but at its close, when unfortu- 
 nately for the country the throne was occupied by one whose 
 incompetence has earned for him the title of the Unready, they 
 began again. The third stage was then reached, and until 
 1042 a Danish dynasty ruled in England. 
 
 1 And hine geces J>a to foeder and to hlaforde Scotta cyning...and 
 Regnald and Eadulfes suna and ealle J>a \>e on Nor)>hymbrum bugea}>. 
 ?egj>er ge Englisce ge Denisce ge Norjmien. 
 
 2 The point may be illustrated by some numbers quoted from Taylor's 
 Words and Places. Of names denoting permanent settlement he estimates 
 that in Lincolnshire there are about 300; Leicestershire, Westmoreland, 
 Cumberland, and each of the Ridings have about 100 each; Norfolk, 
 Northampton, Notts, Lancashire about 50 each ; Suffolk, Derby, Cheshire, 
 Rutland about 12; Bucks, Bedford, Warwick, 6.
 
 Chapter VIII. 137 
 
 7. Before this date, then, for some 250 years the Danes 
 had been in a position to exercise an influence 
 upon England, and for much the greater part of racterofthe 
 the period their connection with the country P al ? es . as seen 
 
 J in their con- 
 had been such as to lead to the expectation that flict with the 
 
 their influence would be very strong. It is in 
 one respect only, in its effect upon language, that we want to 
 appreciate it; but to do this it is necessary to say a few words 
 about their proceedings. It is as a hostile army that they 
 presented themselves, and the most usual name applied to 
 them in the latter half of the gth century is se here, the army 1 . 
 As the entries of the Chronicle during the reigns of Alfred and 
 Ethelred will shew, their activity was irrepressible ; and their 
 methods of warfare fairly entitled them to the description 
 given of the early Saxons, 'hostis est omni hoste truculentior.' 
 Like the Saxons, too, they were heathen. For them the 
 churches and monasteries, where were gathered as well ma- 
 terial as literary treasures, had no sanctity, and from them the 
 peaceful churchmen and scholars, who had their homes in the 
 religious houses, could expect no quarter. Alfred remembered 
 how he had seen the churches throughout England filled with 
 treasures and books, but it was before the country was wasted 
 by fire and sword 8 . Of such devastation the Chronicle gives 
 example in the year before Alfred came to the throne, when 
 under the year 870 it notes, that the Danes destroyed all the 
 minsters they came to, amongst them Peterborough, which 
 they burned and sacked, slaying abbot and monks, and all that 
 they found there ; and the place, which before was very rich, 
 
 1 For the force of the word compare the Old English verb hergian, to 
 devastate, and in modern languages Danish harge and German ver-heeren, 
 which have the same meaning. 
 
 8 Ic gemunde hu ic geseah, aer 'Saem fte hit call forhergod wrere ond 
 forbaerned, hu fta ciricean giond call Angelcynn stodon im'Sma ond boca 
 gefylda. Pref. to translation of the Cura Pastoralis.
 
 138 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 they reduced to nothing 1 . Under the same year occurs the 
 notice of King Edmund's slaying, another act of the Danes, 
 the fuller description of which, to be found elsewhere, will 
 shew them in their character of 'hostis truculentusV Later 
 the Chronicle itself will furnish the details of a not less cha- 
 racteristic scene, the death of Archbishop ^Elfheah 3 ; while 
 from the lamentations of the martyred archbishop's contempo- 
 rary, Wulfstan 4 , a general idea may be got of the miseries into 
 which the country was plunged by its terrible foe. 
 
 8. The instances just given of the proceedings of the 
 Danes may suggest that in their presence in 
 influencToftne England may be found a sufficient cause for the 
 Danes on lan- decay of learning which Alfred regretfully re- 
 corded. In estimating Danish influence on the 
 language there will, then, be destructive and negative elements 
 to be taken into account. If learning had been continuously 
 cultivated with the success, which, as we have seen, marked 
 the earlier times, it might well have happened that foreign 
 
 1 Hi forcliclen ealle ba mynstre ba hi to comon. On ba ilcan tima 
 comon hi to Medeshamstede. beorndon and braecon. slogon abbot and 
 munecas. and call baet hi bser fundon. macedon hit ba ket aer wses fulrice. 
 ba hit wear's to nanbing. A graphic account of the events here so briefly 
 recorded by the Chronicle is given in Ingulfs Chronicle of Croyland. 
 This work may not be in all respects trustworthy, but the account in 
 question may be taken as fairly representing the methods of the Danes. 
 
 2 The Chronicle says simply : Eadmund cyning him (the Danes) wib 
 feaht. and ba Deniscan sige namon and bone cyning ofslogon. But the 
 Old English homily on St Edmund tells how he was bound by his captors 
 to a tree, and after long scourging was made the target for their javelins, 
 till, like St Sebastian, he was covered all over with the missiles. 
 
 3 yElfheah, who had fallen into the hands of the Danes, had incensed 
 them by refusing to promise them money, and forbidding others to ransom 
 him. His captors, drunk with wine that had been brought to them, led 
 him forth, and stoned him with bones and the heads of oxen (hine oftor- 
 fodon mid banum and mid hryftera heafdum), until a blow on the head from 
 an axe put an end to his martyrdom. A.-S. Chron., an. 1012. 
 
 4 See Wulfstan's Homilies, ed. Napier, especially pp. 156 sqq.
 
 Chapter VIII. 139 
 
 words would have made their way into the language in larger 
 numbers than was actually the case ; so that in contributing to 
 bring about the decay of learning the Danes may at the same 
 time have been contributing to the preservation of the 
 language from Latin elements. And not only was the culti- 
 vation of Latin neglected ; in those parts of the country where 
 the Danish element was most prominent the native speech also 
 suffered ; and, as we shall see later, the early specimens of the 
 Northern dialect shew a neglect of grammatical accuracy that 
 only at a much later date finds a parallel in the South. It is, 
 thanks to the Danes, apparently, that the North was the first 
 to start on that course, which under the pressure of other 
 disturbing influences was subsequently pursued elsewhere, and 
 which ended in leaving English almost flexionless. 
 
 9. If we turn now to the positive side, it will be seen 
 that contributions to early English from Scandi- 
 
 ' . The Danish 
 
 navian sources, like those from Celtic and Latin, loan-words 
 form an inconsiderable part of the total voca- not numerous - 
 bulary which has been preserved in the early MSS. It should 
 be noticed, however, that the determination of the Scandi- 
 navian element has from the nature of the case a special 
 difficulty. Scandinavian speech is so much more akin to 
 English than is either Celtic or Latin, that it is not always easy 
 to decide whether a word is to be assigned to the one or to the 
 other source. But even if some doubtful cases be considered 
 Scandinavian, and if the period, from whose literature the 
 words are drawn, be extended to the middle of the i2th 
 century, so as to include the latest MS. of the A.-S. Chronicle, 
 the list of words so obtainable is not a long one. And of these 
 borrowings, as of the Latin, it may be remarked, that in the 
 majority of cases they do not belong to the general current 
 speech; a considerable proportion of them maybe classed as legal 
 terms; some of them are found only in the literature of the North; 
 many appear only in the literature belonging to the latter part 
 of the period under notice. Hence it will appear that to the
 
 140 Outlines of tJie History of the English Language. 
 
 language of the Danes, notwithstanding the important part 
 they played in the history of England, the vocabulary of early 
 English, so far as it is known to us from those of its literary 
 remains which belong to times before the Norman Conquest, 
 owed no considerable part of its material. 
 
 10. In the case of Latin loan-words it was seen how they 
 
 mark the character of the source from which 
 
 loanwords** 6 tne y Came 5 ^ e same point, naturally, may be 
 
 characteristic observed in the case of the Scandinavian. So 
 
 of their source . . /- i n j- r > i 
 
 words con- the fondness of the Scandinavians for legal pro- 
 nected with cedure, which finds abundant illustration in the 
 
 law. 
 
 old northern literature, and is clearly enough 
 recognizable in England after the establishment of Norman 
 rule, may be traced in the following group of words, all of 
 them more or less terms of law or administration, and together 
 constituting the most considerable section of the borrowed 
 material 1 . 
 
 1 It is not merely on the ground of its likeness to a Scandinavian form 
 that a word finds a place in the list which follows ; but to give further reasons 
 in each case would be to go somewhat beyond the limits that proportion 
 would fix for this part of our subject. One or two words, however, may be 
 noted by way of illustration. Bryd-lop, before 1050, is found only in the 
 Northern specimens, being used in the Northern glosses of the gospels to 
 render nuptiae, which the West Saxon translation renders by gifta (pi.). 
 Of the two instances given in Bosworth's Dictionary of deselects, one is in 
 an nth century glossary; there it glosses inmunis, but is accompanied by 
 lafyleas, which is certainly English, as if it were not a very familiar word ; 
 the other is in a late charter belonging to the North of England. Grfy is 
 frequently used, but only in late Anglo-Saxon times. Thus it does not 
 occur in the Chronicle before 1002 ; and though an instance of its use may 
 be found somewhat earlier in the Laws, yet there it appears freely only in 
 the Laws of Ethelred and later. Lagu, again, is found only in Danish 
 times, <z being the English word. The position might be illustrated in this 
 instance by a comparison of the renderings of various versions of Matthew 
 xi. 13. In this passage the Latin lex is in the West Saxon rendered by a, 
 but in the I2th century modification of this translation lage is used; the 
 Icelandic has log-tt\&\, the Danish lov.
 
 Chapter VIII. 
 
 141 
 
 English. 
 bryd-lop marriage 
 
 clsec-leas/ra? (immunis) 
 crafian to demand (at law) 
 
 for-mal-l, frij^-mal v. mal 
 
 for- word 1 a stipulation 
 
 geatan to grant 
 
 grfyftace, truce 
 
 ham-socn 2 attacking an enemy in his 
 
 house 
 
 hamelian to mutilate 
 hand-fsestan to betroth 
 hand-fsestnung ratification 
 
 hus-ting a meeting, council 
 
 lagu law 
 
 lising afreedman 
 
 mal a case, an agreement 
 
 wij>er-mal a counter-plea 
 
 for-miiel an agreement 
 
 frij>-mal//. terms of peace 
 marc a mark ( = 8 ounces) 
 ora the eighth of a mark 
 
 rad-stefn a summons carried by a 
 
 mottnted person (?) 
 rsedes-mann a counsellor, steward 
 ran = aperta rapina 
 
 sac-leas innocent 
 sam-msele agreed (v. mal) 
 
 Scandinavian. 
 
 I. (Icelandic), D. (Danish). 
 
 I. brul-laup (= bruft-hlaup) ; D. 
 
 bryllup 
 
 I. klak-laust unhurt, scatheless 
 I. krefja; D. kraeve to claim (e.g. 
 a debt) 
 
 D. for-ord a condition, proviso 
 
 I. jata to grant 
 
 I. grift ; //. peace, truce 
 
 I. heim-sokn an attack on one's 
 
 house 
 
 I. hamla to maim, mutilate 
 I. hand-festa to pledge 
 I. hand-festninga//f^ r i?; D. haand- 
 
 fsestning a charter 
 I. hus-^ing a meeting, council, to 
 
 which a king, earl, or captain 
 
 summoned his people 
 I. log//, law ; D. lov 
 I. leysingr afreedman 
 I. mal a case, an agreement, terms 
 
 I. mork a mark 
 
 I. eyrir (//. aurar) the eighth of a 
 
 mark 
 I. stefna a summons 
 
 I. ra'Ss-ma'Sr a coimsellor, steward 
 I. ran (in law) any unlawful seizure 
 
 of property, robbery 
 I. sak-lauss innocent (in law) 
 cf. I. sam-mseli an agreement 
 
 1 In this case, and perhaps also in that of fore-wiard, the material may 
 be English determined by Scandinavian models. 
 
 2 Hame-sucken, the crime of assailing a person within his own house. 
 Jamieson's Scottish Dictionary.
 
 142 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 English. 
 sciftan to divide into shares 
 
 seht agreement ; seht agreed 
 
 stefnian to summon 
 
 J>ri)>ing a Riding (as in Yorkshire) 
 
 ut-laga an outlaw; other connected 
 forms are ut-lah, -lagian 
 
 waepen-getaec (a term for the district 
 which in Southern English was 
 called a hundred) a wapentake 
 
 wed-broj>er a confederate 
 
 Scandinavian. 
 I. skipta to divide (an inheritance, 
 
 &c.) 
 
 I. satt, soett agreement ; sattr agreed 
 I. stefna to summon ; D. stsevne 
 I. JmiSjungr a third part of a shire 
 I. ut-lagi an outlaw ; other forms 
 
 are lit-lagr (-laga), -laegja 
 I. vapna-tak 
 
 I. ve'S-bro'Sir a pledged brother, con- 
 federate 
 
 Words de- 
 noting ranks 
 or classes of 
 persons. 
 
 A smaller technical group is formed by words 
 denoting ranks or classes of persons : 
 
 bonda, hus-bonda a householder 
 
 eorl (as a title) an earl 
 
 heafdes-mann (as compared with 
 English heafod-mann) a captain 
 
 hofding a chief, ringleader 
 
 hold (as a title) 
 
 hus-carl a member of the king' 1 ! body- 
 guard 
 
 J>eonest-mann a liegeman 
 
 J>ra;l a thrall, slave 
 
 I. bondi, hus-bondi 
 
 I. iarl 
 
 I. hdfu'Ss-maSr 
 
 I. hofSingi 
 
 I. holdr an ovvner of allodial land 
 
 I. hiis-karl 
 
 I. hjonustu-ina'Sr 
 I. 
 
 Nautical 
 words. 
 
 Naturally there are words connected with 
 nautical matters: 
 
 [bat-]swegen a boatman 
 butse-carl a sailor 
 cnearr a kind of ship 
 ha an oar -thole 
 ha-sSta a rower 
 hamele a rowlock 
 li)> a fleet 
 
 li)>s-mann a sailor 
 scegf; a light, swift vessel 
 
 scegj^-mann a pirate 
 
 I. sveinn a lad 
 
 I. -karl 
 
 I. knorr a ship 
 
 I. har a thole 
 
 I. ha-seti an oarsman 
 
 I. hamla an oar-loop 
 
 I. lift a force by sea or land 
 
 li'Ss-ma'Sr a sailor or soldier 
 I. skeift a swift-sailing ship of war
 
 Chapter VIII. 143 
 
 English. Scandinavian. 
 
 snacc a swift-sailing vessel 1. snckkja a swift-sailing vessel; 
 
 D. snekke a bark 
 
 steores-mann (as compared with Swedish, styres-man a ruler- 
 English steor-mann) a steersman 
 weder-fbest weather-bound I. ve'Sr-fastr 
 
 There are but few, apparently, connected Terms con- 
 
 , nected with 
 
 with war: war> 
 
 arewe (carh is the English form) an I. or, pi. orvar 
 
 arrow 
 
 fylcian to draw up troops I. fylkja 
 
 .gengc. troops I. gengi 
 
 orrest battle I. orrosta 
 
 Other words, which from the more general General 
 character of most of them hardly call for classifi- words, 
 cation, are the following: 
 
 ceallian to ?// (clipian is the English I. kalla 
 
 word) 
 
 carl a male 1 I. karl 
 
 cnlf a knife (seax is the English I. krufr 
 
 word) 
 
 cost condition; modus I. kostr condition, terms 
 
 dreng a (Danish) warrior (used in I. drengr a gallant man 
 
 the Battle of Maldon) 
 drepan to kill (in English the word I. drepa to slay; D. drasbe 
 
 = to strike) 
 ge-eggian to egg on (the word is I. eggja to egg on, incite 
 
 used in the Northern gospels to 
 
 translate concitare, Mk. 15, n) 
 fe(o)-laga a fallow, partner" I. fe-lagi a partner, fellmv, mate 
 
 felageschipe partnership 
 
 1 English and Scandinavian use may be illustrated from the Chronicle 
 by the English ' wiepmen and wimmen' under 1123, and ' carlmen and 
 wimmen' under 1137. 
 
 2 After the division of the kingdom between Edmund and Canute they 
 were 'feolagan,' Chron. 1016.
 
 144 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 English. 
 
 gwrsum(a) a treasure, costly thing* 
 gra-scinnen of gray fur 1 
 hearma-scinnen of ermine skin 
 hittan to meet, come upon" 1 
 on lofte in the air, a-loft (lyft is the 
 
 English form) 
 ruling a villain, dastard 
 Norren Norwegian 
 Often, OwSen Odin (Woden is the 
 
 English form) 
 ride-soht fever (in Northern Gloss, 
 
 Mk. i, 31) 
 rot-fsest rooted, fixed (wyrttruma is 
 
 the English form for root) 
 sceot ready, quick (rimed is English) 
 scilian (scip of male) to pay off a ship 
 
 scinn skin, v. gra-scinnen 
 scripp a scrip, bag 
 sneedan to take a meal 
 
 sol (? 'or Latin!) sun (sunne is the 
 English word) 
 
 stor great 
 
 tacan to take (niman is the English 
 word) 
 
 taper-sex a small axe 
 
 tldung tidings (perhaps English 
 material influenced by Scandina- 
 vian use) 
 
 toft a toft, piece of ground 
 
 f>e(o)nest service 
 
 Jjrinna three 
 
 pur Thor ($>\\\\o\ is the English form) 
 
 Scandinavian. 
 I. gorsemi 
 I. skinn skin ; gra-skinn gi-ay fur 
 
 I. hitta to meet 
 
 I. lopt the air] a lopt a-loft 
 
 I. nijjingr 
 I. Norraenn 
 I. OSinn 
 
 I. ri5u-s6ttyi;zw, ague 
 I. rot-fastr 
 
 I. skjotr quick 
 
 I. skilja; cf. D. skille en af med 
 noget to rid one of something 
 
 I. skreppa; D. skreppe 
 
 I. snsefta to take a meal; snae'Si a 
 
 meal 
 I. sol ; D. sol 
 
 I. storr ; D. stor 
 I. taka 
 
 I. tapar-6x (from Russian) 
 I. tfSindi; D. tidende 
 
 I. topt a piece of ground 
 
 I. jjjonusta 
 
 I. Jjrennar 
 
 I. porr 
 
 1 Malcolm and his sweoster Margareta geafon him manega gDersama... 
 on scynnan mid prelle betogen, and on merSerne pyleceon, and graschyn- 
 nene and hearmascynnene, Chron. 1075. Gnegis the Old English form of 
 grey, and fell= skin. 
 
 2 Harold hytte hi ast Stemfordbrygge, Cfir. 1066. Another MS. has 
 the regular English word gemetle (met).
 
 Chapter VIII. 145 
 
 English. Scandinavian. 
 
 };weng a band (in Northern Gloss of I. jsvengr 
 
 Mt. 23, 5; Jnvang is the English 
 
 form) 
 
 witer wise, knowing I. vitr 
 
 wrang wrong (subst.) I. rangr wrong (adj.) 
 
 11. Some points connected with these lists have been 
 noted already in 9, as needing to be taken 
 into account when attempting to appreciate the in^tednefs 
 indebtedness of the language to Scandinavian, implied by the 
 
 .... . . . , , ^, , . lists of words 
 
 As an additional point it may be noticed that in given, 
 manycases the borrowed words occur very seldom, 
 the work they might have done, and which, in some instances, 
 they actually did afterwards, being done by native equivalents. 
 The point deserves notice more particularly in the case of 
 words placed in the last group. For example, the verb to call, 
 now and for a long time past so commonly used, occurs only 
 once ; the work of language in expressing its idea was done by 
 the native words clipian and tigan 1 . To egg (on), which also 
 occurs once, glosses concitare in the Lindisfarne Gospels, but 
 the English word used by the West Saxon translator of the 
 passage, to stir (up\ is the really efficient part of the vocabu- 
 lary. To take is found in the Chronicle in the second half of 
 the nth century, but up till then niman had done the work, 
 and for long afterwards was able to do it. So with other words. 
 
 1 The position of the verb call at different times may be roughly 
 illustrated in the following way. In the Authorized Version of St Matthew's 
 Gospel it occurs 2 1 times, but neither in the West Saxon version (c. 1000) 
 nor in the Northern Glosses (icth cent.) is there a single instance of its 
 use; in the West Saxon 17 of the 21 cases in the A.V. are rendered by 
 clipian (9), cigan (2), nemnan (6) ; in the Lindisfarne gloss the same three 
 verbs occur 20 times, and in the Rushworth gloss 19 times. Even in the 
 poem ( The Battle of Maldon} which contains the single instance of call, 
 clipian is used twice. These figures may illustrate the slight importance 
 in the early literature of the loan-word, call, as compared with that of the 
 native words (clipian or cigan}, while at the same time they suggest that 
 outside the literature the word must have been current. 
 
 T. 10
 
 146 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 Taking all these considerations into account, then, it would 
 seem that the early literature, especially if the period be not 
 extended beyond the middle of the nth century, in respect to 
 its vocabulary was little influenced by the language of the 
 Scandinavians. And, it may be added, in the majority of 
 cases such traces of this foreign influence, as the old vocabulary 
 could shew, have not proved permanent, and in the modern 
 literary language there remain from the lists given above only 
 crave, husting, law, shift, riding, outlaw; arrow; boat-swain, 
 steersman; husband, earl, thrall; call, knife, to egg (on), fellow, 
 hit, a-loft, skin, scrip, take, tidings, toft, wrong. 
 
 12. But the extent to which a Scandinavian element was 
 other evi- use< ^ ^ n ear ^y England is not determined by the 
 
 denceofioan- amount of it to be found in Early English litera- 
 ture. Naturally that literature belongs mainly 
 to the part of the country which was least influenced by the 
 Danes, so that little material has come down to us to shew 
 what was the condition of language in districts, where the 
 strength of early Danish influence is still marked by local names, 
 that bear witness to many a Danish settlement. Little as it 
 is, however, it affords evidence of a larger Scandinavian 
 element in the language of such districts than in that of the 
 South. And when from the more abundant material of later 
 times fuller knowledge on the point can be got, this difference 
 between the vocabularies of different parts of the country 
 becomes more apparent. Thus in Layamon's Brut (c. 1200), 
 the language of which keeps up much of the traditions of the 
 West Saxon literature, there are few Danish words, while in 
 the East Midland Ormulum, written about the same time, the 
 Danish element is considerable. So in other cases; like 
 difference of locality is accompanied by like difference of 
 vocabulary, a condition which is but a continuation of that 
 which must have prevailed in the earlier times of Wessex and 
 the Danelagh. 
 
 13. What has just been said about the Old and Middle
 
 Chapter VIII. 147 
 
 English periods might suggest, that words of Danish origin used 
 at any time in England do not all stand on the 
 
 ' Danish 
 
 same footing. Thus words that had been accepted words in the 
 
 literature a 
 in dialects. 
 
 by the most cultivated form of English, and literature and 
 
 are found in the literature of Wessex, are parts 
 of the Old English vocabulary in a sense somewhat different 
 from that in which words current only in the speech of Mercia 
 or of Northumbria can be so called. And though in the 
 Middle English period, when the pre-eminence of the South 
 was lost, all words found in the writings of any dialect might 
 have an equal claim to be called English, yet with the re-ap- 
 pearance of a pre-eminent form in the shape of the literary 
 speech everywhere current, the distinction also re-appears, and 
 the Danish element in Modern English, the cultivated speech 
 of the whole country, may be distinguished from the Danish 
 words that have only the local currency of a dialect. To give 
 a list of either group would take up too much space ; it will be 
 sufficient to refer the student to works in which these two 
 divisions are treated ; for the former Appendix IV. (Distribu- 
 tion of words) of Prof. Skeat's Etymological Dictionary may be 
 consulted; for the latter an article in Anglia xx. pp. 45 sqq. 
 ('A Contribution towards the Study of the Scandinavian element 
 in the English dialects'). 
 
 14. In connection with the lists just referred to it may be 
 repeated, that their determination is from the 
 
 The determi- 
 
 nature of the case difficult, and that not merely nation of a 
 because English and Scandinavian are nearly ^cand inavian 
 related. For it is to be remembered that a com- words found in 
 plete list of all the words found in Old English 
 MSS. does not contain all the words used in England during the 
 Old English period. These MSS. are but a part of the Old 
 English literature, so that we have not a complete record even 
 of the literary language, and the literary language was then, as 
 it is now, only a part of the whole language-material of the 
 country. If, then, in the English of later times a word is 
 
 10 2
 
 148 Outlines of tJte History of tlie English Language. 
 
 found, which resembles a Scandinavian form, but has no repre- 
 sentative in the known vocabulary of Old English, it does not 
 necessarily follow that such a word is borrowed from Scandi- 
 navian; the explanation may be simply, that the corresponding 
 Old English form is unrecorded. Various other considerations, 
 however, may help to decide the point. For instance, there 
 are Scandinavian peculiarities, whose presence in words marks 
 these as borrowed. Thus assimilation of sounds takes place in 
 a manner unknown in English ; e.g. the English ord, a point, 
 appears in Icelandic as odd-r; with this is connected oddi, 
 a triangle, used also of an odd number; such a consideration 
 might determine the character of odd as a borrowed word. 
 So, too, Scandinavian is the only branch of Teutonic that 
 suffixed the reflexive pronoun to the verb to get the force of 
 a middle or passive voice ; ba-sk and bu-sk, then, in which the 
 suffixed -sk occurs, may be fairly traced to Scandinavian. 
 Again, the use of same in English seems due to Scandinavian 
 influence. In Old English there is no adjective of correspond- 
 ing form, though the adverb same, in the phrase swa same= 
 similarly, is found; ilca and self did the work now done by 
 same, which occurs for the first time in the Ormulum, a work 
 which, as has been already noticed, contains many Danish 
 words. But in Icelandic sam-r or (in the more usual weak 
 declension) sami is as common a word as is ilca in English. 
 The change in the declension of he is a somewhat parallel case. 
 In Old English the plural forms (hie, nom.; hiera, gen.; him, 
 dat.) were from the same root as the singular, but later they 
 were displaced by th- forms (they, their, them). Now this use 
 is first established in the Northern dialect, so that in the i4th 
 century, while in the southern 'Ayenbite of Inwyt' the plural 
 is still hi, here or hare, ham, in the Northern ' Prick of Con- 
 science' it is Ipai, \air, ]>am. The probability of Danish in- 
 fluence, which such local distribution suggests, is increased on 
 turning to the declension of the corresponding pronoun in 
 Scandinavian; e.g. Icelandic has //- forms in the singular, but
 
 Chapter VIII. 149 
 
 \>- forms (}>ei-r, }>eirra, \eirn) in the plural; so that it would 
 seem that Scandinavian influence has brought about the sub- 
 stitution of a demonstrative form in place of the old regular 
 English hie, &c. Such slight instances may illustrate the point 
 noted above, that in the case of a modern English word, which 
 cannot be traced to an old English one, but which is like a 
 Scandinavian form, there are other considerations than mere 
 likeness to be taken into account in determining whether such 
 a word is borrowed or not. 
 
 15. But not only in additions to the vocabulary and in 
 a tendency towards simplicity in the grammar 
 
 . a Danish cha- 
 
 from the decay of the inflexional system may the racteristics in 
 Danish influence in English be traced. The En e lish - 
 earliest Scandinavian prose literature has characteristics, which 
 are not found in the earliest English, and it may be that some- 
 thing of the peculiar character of the Scandinavian has been 
 infused into English. For a statement of the point the follow- 
 ing quotation may serve. "The chief impression which is left 
 upon the mind by a course of reading in Icelandic prose is the 
 peculiarity and variety and fertility of the phraseology. This 
 is very striking when viewed in comparison with other Teutonic 
 languages, and not least so when contrasted with Anglo-Saxon. 
 The remarkable freedom and elasticity of Icelandic prose, 
 when compared with the straitness of Anglo-Saxon syntax, is 
 naturally calculated to suggest that the English language has 
 been quickened in its phraseological activity by Danish con- 
 tact; and when we examine the Icelandic phraseology with 
 much that appears in English in the Transition period, of 
 which Anglo-Saxon affords no adequate account, the idea is 
 
 greatly confirmed When we proceed a step further, and 
 
 compare the cast of many of our phrases with modern Danish, 
 the apprehension that our phraseology received a strong im- 
 pulse from the Danelagh gradually shapes itself into a settled 
 conviction 1 ." 
 
 1 Review of Cleasby and Vigfusson's Icelandic Dictionary, Quarterly
 
 150 Outlines of tJie History of the English Language. 
 
 But though before the middle of the nth century there 
 may have been much seed sown by the Danes, which was to be 
 quickened and bear fruit, yet in so far as Old English is known 
 to us from its literature it shews that the time of fruit had not 
 then fully come; and as with Celtic and with Latin, so with 
 Scandinavian, the Old English literature shews only a slight 
 indebtedness to foreign material. Of this literature, from which 
 we can get a knowledge of the oldest English, a short notice 
 will be given in the next chapter. 
 
 Review, October, 1875. The sentence which ends with a preposition is 
 more in accord with Icelandic usage than with Anglo-Saxon. In the 
 former such sentences are common, in the latter very rare. In the account 
 of the Norwegian Ohthere's voyage, which Alfred wrote down, an instance 
 occurs when he says the decoy deer were valuable 'for "Saern hy fo"$ Sa 
 wildan hranas mid? But just before he has used the regular Old English 
 construction, when he writes 'spedig on ftajm aehtum J>e heora speda on 
 bee's,' where as usual the preposition precedes the verb. To translate these 
 words 'wealth in the properly that their wealth consists of would not seem 
 unusual now.
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Object of the chapter general remarks on the Old English specimens, 
 variety of subjects treated in them, Christian influence strongly marked, 
 the language of Southern England mostly represented King Alfred 
 as a writer his translations, Gregory's Cura Pastoralis, Orosius' 
 History, Boethius' De Consolatione Philosophiae specimen of his 
 original composition Alfred and the Old English Chronicles speci- 
 men of these Annals other works associated with Alfred his influence 
 on later times ^Elfric and his writings specimen of his style 
 Wulfstan as a contrast to ^ilfric other Old English prose works 
 grouped according to subjects Glosses and Glossaries poetical litera- 
 ture Kentish, Mercian, and Northumbrian specimens the retention 
 of the Old English vocabulary in that of Modern English illustration 
 from the works of Alfred and ^Elfric the employment of the Old 
 English element by later writers illustrated. 
 
 1. IN briefly noticing here the Old English remains the 
 object will not be to estimate the literary merit 
 which any of them may possess, but to bring out ch p j t |r! Ol 
 some points connected with the language-material 
 they contain. Whether the subjects dealt with in the literature 
 were suited to artistic treatment, whether they were successfully 
 so treated, are questions beyond the scope of the present 
 chapter. And even in regard to language, it is not so much 
 the capabilities of the language, to be seen in the works of any 
 of the Old English writers, as the extent of the Old English 
 vocabulary, to which attention will be directed; it is not so 
 much the excellence of the instrument, as the material of
 
 152 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 which it is composed, that is to be considered. It is not, then, 
 only such remains as might come under the head of literature, 
 that need to be noticed; the glosses and glossaries, which 
 contribute to a knowledge of the vocabulary, must be taken 
 into account. 
 
 2. Of the total material, which on the grounds just given 
 
 may be brought within the limits of consideration, 
 marlTon'the one or two g enera ^ remarks may be made. In 
 oid English the first place, there is considerable variety in 
 vartetjToTsub- the subjects dealt with; in the literature, theology, 
 jects treated m history, biography, science, law, fiction, are all 
 
 represented; in the glossaries many different 
 
 classes of words are given ; and the variety in either case 
 
 implies a varied and extensive vocabulary. Next, and to this 
 
 Christian in- P omt reference has already been made at the 
 
 fluence strong- close of Chap, vi., from the character of the 
 
 subjects treated in the literature it will be 
 seen how much the literature depends upon Christianity; 
 while, from the nature of the case, the glosses and glossaries 
 shew the same influence, for they are all a direct recognition of 
 the scholarship that came with Christianity. And lastly it may 
 
 be noted that it is mainly from one part of the 
 ofutheV e n h country that the material is obtained from the 
 England south. In early times, both in political and 
 
 presented. literary respects, Northumbria had been impor- 
 
 tant ; later, however, Wessex became the chief 
 English power and the home of literature, and it is to Wessex 
 that most of the Old English remains belong. It is, then, in 
 the main, Southern English that is the representative of the 
 early times, and of its specimens a few words may now be said. 
 3. In speaking of the Early English prose the name that 
 
 deservedly claims to be first mentioned is that of 
 
 s a wr 
 
 is tra 
 
 lations. 
 
 as a writer King Alfred. Loving and valuing learning him- 
 his trans- se if ] ie desired that others should enjoy the 
 
 benefits of which learning was the source ; and
 
 Chapter IX. 153 
 
 with a generous confidence that English scholars would be 
 like-minded with himself, and would co-operate with him, he 
 set about doing his part towards giving effect to his desire 1 . 
 As a result of work, carried on as he himself says 'among 
 other divers and manifold occupations of the kingdom 2 ,' we 
 have some of our most valuable material for determining the 
 condition of Early English. For the benefit of the clergy, 
 whose lack of learning he deplored, he translated 3 the Cura 
 Pastoralis of Gregory, with the intention of 
 
 * The Cura 
 
 sending a copy of the translation to each epis- Pastorate of 
 copal city for preservation in the church there. re & r y- 
 Two MSS. of this work, one of them intended for Worcester, 
 have come down from Alfred's time, and their linguistic value, 
 
 1 In his practical adoption of the Christian injunction, ' Freely ye have 
 received, freely give,' and in the courtesy with which he gives credit to 
 others for a will as good as his own, the king shews himself a true Christian 
 gentleman. ' Ic cfe beblode 3aet 3u do, sw& ic gellefe &at 3w wille, Sxt 3u 
 de dissa worulddinga to 3aem gesemetige, swce 3ft oftost msege, 3set 3u 3one 
 wisdom 3e (Je God sealde 3ah - 3ier 3u hiene befaestan mrege. befteste. 
 Gedenc hwelc wltu us 3a becomon for 3isse worulde, 3a 3a we hit nohwa>3er 
 ne selfe ne lufodon, ne eac o3rum monnum ne lefdon : 3one naman anne we 
 lufodon 3sette we Cristne wseren, ond swl3e feawe 3a 3eawas, / bid thee 
 (the bishop to whom the copy of the translation was addressed) to do, as 1 
 believe that thou art willing, that is, to disengage thyself from these worldly 
 matters as often as thou canst, to the end that thou bestow, where thou canst, 
 the wisdom that God hath given thee. Consider what punishments would 
 come ^lpon us in regard to this world, when we neither loved it ourselves, nor 
 allaived it to other men; the name only of being Christians we should love, 
 and very few of the practices^ Preface to the translation of the Cura 
 Pastoralis. 
 
 2 Ongemang63rumraislicumondmanigfealdumbisgum clisses kynerices. 
 ib. 
 
 3 It is interesting to learn from Alfred himself how he worked. ' I 
 began to turn the book into English that is called in Latin Pastoralis, and 
 in English 'Herd-book,' sometimes word for word, sometimes sense for 
 sense, as I learned it from Plegmund my archbishop, and from Asser my 
 bishop, and from Grimbold my mass-priest, and from John my mass-priest. 
 After I had learned it then, as I understood it, and as I could most 
 intelligibly explain it, I turned it into English.'
 
 1 54 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 as shewing the actual condition of the language at the date of 
 
 writing, is evident. For the furtherance of knowledge in 
 
 another direction he translated the general his- 
 
 ofO h ro!5? iy tor y of O rosiusl > and of tbi s work a MS. (not 
 quite complete) dating from the Qth century has 
 been preserved. In the Orosius, as in the Pastoral Care, 
 Alfred is seen not only as a translator; he has contributed 
 original material which, besides being interesting from its 
 connection with him, is of considerable interest intrinsically. 
 The introductory geographical chapter of the original is sup- 
 plemented by a detailed account of Germanic Europe. In this 
 Alfred has incorporated the narratives of two travellers, one of 
 whom, Ohthere, a Norwegian of Halogaland, had sailed round 
 the North Cape and made his way into the White Sea; the 
 other, Wulfstan, had explored the Baltic. It is, then, to Alfred 
 that we owe the first specimens in a department of the litera- 
 ture the literature of Voyages and Travels which in later 
 times has been so extensive, and which has interested so many 
 readers 2 . To a third work of Alfred the trans- 
 soiatimuPkUo- lation of Boethius' De Consolatione Philosophiae 3 ' 
 softAiaeof an even stronger personal interest attaches 
 
 than to the two already noticed. From the 
 
 1 Orosius was a Spanish priest, who in 410 becoming acquainted with 
 Augustine was persuaded by him to write a historical work with the special 
 object of refuting the charge brought against Christianity of bringing ruin on 
 the Roman world. His work naturally found favour with the clergy, and 
 it is therefore not surprising that it takes its place among books that were 
 translated by one who acted under such direction as did Alfred, (v. pre- 
 ceding note.) 
 
 2 To all such readers the words which introduce the narratives in 
 question, " Ohthere ssede his hlaforde, ^Elfrede cyninge," and " Wulfstan 
 sx-de," may suggest scenes, in which the part of hearer, played by the king, 
 excites their sympathetic interest. 
 
 3 In this case the Christianity of the author translated was not in- 
 dubitable, as it was in the cases of Gregory and Orosius. But whether 
 Boethius was a Christian or not, his work was of such .a character that there 
 was nothing in it which the translator would consider inconsistent with
 
 Chapter IX. 155 
 
 character of the subject-matter of the original there was oppor- 
 tunity for a translator, who allowed himself such freedom as 
 was possible in the method that Alfred declares his own to 
 have been 1 , to introduce his own thoughts, and shew something 
 of his own inner life. How far translation was at times sub- 
 stituted for original composition the very interesting passage, 
 in which the king gives his ideas upon the duties of the kingly 
 office, will shew; and at the same time it may serve as a 
 specimen of early English prose. The original Latin has 
 simply : ' Turn ego, Scis, inquam, ipsa minimum nobis am- 
 bitionem mortalium rerum fuisse dominatum; sed materiam 
 gerendis rebus optavimus, quo ne virtus tacita consenesceret.' 
 In these words the king seems to recognize the brief statement 
 of his own case ; so quite in accord with his principle of giving 
 ' sense for sense ' (andgit of andgiete), instead of literally 
 rendering the words of Boethius, he states that case more 
 fully. 
 
 (On the italicized words see 15.) 
 
 past Mod 2 J>us cwaed: Eala, The Mind thus spoke: Ah, 
 
 Gaceadaristus*, hwret Reason, thou knowest that never 
 
 of Alfred's ^ u wast ^ xt me nse ^ re ^id covetousness and greed for 
 
 original seo gitsung and seo earthly power over-well please me, 
 
 composi- genuegSi ]>isses eor3- nor did I at all over-much long for 
 
 lican anwealdes for wel earthly rule, but tools, however, I 
 
 ne licode, ne ic ealles forswi&e ne did desire, and material for the work 
 
 girnde bisses eordlican rices, buton that was bidden me to do ; that was 
 tola ic wilnode J>eah and andweorces 
 to j?am weorce \>e me beboden wses 
 to wyrcanne; \>xt \vsss J>set ic un- 
 
 Christianity, and the translation is a Christian work. The earliest MS. of 
 the translation belongs to the loth century, and so is somewhat later than 
 Alfred's time. Its language differs somewhat from that of the Pastoral Care 
 and of the Orosius, and is thought to shew some of the peculiarities of the 
 Kentish dialect. 
 
 1 v. p. 153, n. 3. 
 
 2 The two persons of the dialogue, Boethius and Philosophy, are 
 represented in Alfred's translation by the Mind (Mod) and Reason 
 (Gesceadwisnes).
 
 1 56 Outlines of the History of ttie English Language. 
 
 Jracodlice and gerisenlice mihte steo- 
 ran and reccan ]>one atrwald \>e me 
 befcest waes. Hwaet fw wast J>aet nan 
 mon ne maeg naenne craeft cy&an ne 
 naenne anweald reccan ne stioran 
 buton tolum and andweorce. pset 
 bid aelces cneftes andweorc J>aet mon 
 J>one craeft buton wyrcan ne moeg. 
 pact bid j>onne cyninges andweorc 
 and his tol mid to ricsianne, J>set he 
 haebbe his lond fullmonnad ; he sceal 
 habban gebedmen and fyrdmen and 
 weorcmen. Hwaet |>u wast J>aette 
 butan >issan tolan nan cyning his 
 craeft ne maeg cy&an. paet is eac 
 his ondiveorc )>aet he habban sceal to 
 daem tolum J>am J>rim geferscipnm 
 biwiste. past is J>onne heora biwist : 
 land to bugianne, and gifta, and 
 wrepnu, and mete, and ealo, and 
 claj>as, and gehwaet J>aes Jv J>a fjre 
 geferscipas behofiad. Ne maeg he 
 butan Jnssum )>as tol gehealdan, ne 
 buton J>isum tolum nan )?ara Jnnga 
 wyrcan \>e him beboden is to wyrcenne. 
 For \>y ic wilnode andweorces }>one 
 anweald mid to reccentif, J>aet mine 
 crasftas and anweald ne wurden 
 forgitene and forholene. For t>am 
 aelc crasft and selc anweald bid sona 
 ftnealdod and forsugod, gif he bid 
 buton wisdome; for 3aem ne maeg 
 nan mon naenne craeft ford bringan 
 buton wisdome; for doem de swa 
 hwaet swa t>urh dysig gedon bid, ne 
 maeg hit mon naefre to crafte ge- 
 reccan. paet is nu hra&ost to 
 secganne, J>cet ic wilnode weorQfullia 
 to libbanne \>z. hwile \>e. ic lifde, and 
 oefter minum life \>xm monnum to 
 laefanne \>e asfter me waeren min 
 gemynd on godum weorcum 1 . 
 
 that honourably and properly I 
 might guide and direct the power 
 that was committed to me. Why, 
 thou knowest that no man can shew 
 forth any craft, or direct and guide 
 any power, without tools and ma- 
 terial. The material of every craft 
 is that, without which the craft can- 
 not be practised. This, then, is the 
 material of a king, and his tools to 
 rule with, that he have his land 
 full-manned; he must have men to 
 pray and men to fight and men to 
 work. Why, thou knowest that 
 without these tools no king can 
 shew forth his craft. That, too, is 
 his material that he must have in 
 addition to the tools, provision for 
 the three fellowships. This, then, 
 is their provision: land to inhabit, 
 and gifts, and weapons, and meat, 
 and ale, and clothes, all that the 
 three fellowships need. He cannot 
 without these preserve these tools, 
 nor without these tools do any of 
 the things that is bidden him to do. 
 Therefore I desired material where- 
 with to direct the power, that my 
 crafts and power should not get 
 forgotten and concealed. For every 
 craft and every power will become 
 obsolete and be passed over in 
 silence, if it is without wisdom ; for 
 no man can bring forth any craft 
 without wisdom; for whatever is 
 done by folly, that no man can ever 
 account as a craft. To be brief, I 
 desired to live honourably while I 
 lived, and after my life to leave to 
 the men that were after me a me- 
 morial of me in good works. 
 
 1 Boethius, Bk n. prosa 7.
 
 Chapter IX, 157 
 
 4. Besides these works, mostly, though not entirely, trans- 
 lations, which may certainly 1 be attributed to 
 Alfred, the Old English literature probably has th * ^^J. 
 to thank him for its most remarkable specimens ! ish chron- 
 of original prose the Chronicles. The relations 
 to one another of the MSS. seven in number in which these 
 are preserved, need not be discussed here 2 , but one point 
 connected with them deserves notice: viz., that as far as the 
 year 892 they all seem to have had a common original. 
 Further, the handwriting and the language of the earliest 
 part of the oldest MS. belong to about the end of the pth 
 century. Again, while for the years before the middle of the 
 Qth century the entries are for the most part brief, after that 
 date, and consequently in times of which Alfred had knowledge, 
 they become full, and seem to have been made not long after 
 the events which they describe had taken place 3 . These 
 conditions certainly favour the supposition, which is quite 
 in accordance with all that we know of him, that the common 
 original spoken of just above is closely connected with Alfred; 
 and in the absence of any direct evidence the views expressed 
 in the following passage will probably meet with general 
 acceptance. 'To whom are we to attribute this earliest form 4 
 of the national Chronicle ? I have no hesitation in declaring 
 that in my opinion the popular answer is in this case the right 
 
 1 Until recently the Old English version of Bede's Ecclesiastical History 
 was attributed to Alfred, but its latest editor, Dr Miller (in the Early English 
 Text Society's Publications, Nos. 95, 96, no, in), brings evidence to shew 
 that the ' most archaic of the MSS. originated in North Mercia, and belongs 
 to the loth century.' As a translation it differs very much from Alfred's 
 known work, often following the Latin with painful fidelity. 
 
 2 See Two Saxon Chronicles, ed. Plummer, the Introduction to Vol. II. 
 
 3 The first person is used by the writer of the Chronicle in the entry of 
 893 : On jjysum geare for se micla here j>e we gefyrn ymbe sprascon ; and 
 again in 897 : Ic "Sa geftungnestan nemde. 
 
 4 The original of the part, coming down to 892, which is common to all 
 the MSS.
 
 158 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 one: it is the work of Alfred the Great. I do not mean that 
 the actual task of compiling the Chronicle from the earlier 
 materials was necessarily performed by Alfred, though I can 
 well fancy that he may have dictated some of the later annals 
 which describe his own wars. But that the idea of a national 
 Chronicle as opposed to merely local annals was his, that the 
 idea was carried out under his direction and supervision, this 
 I do most firmly believe. And we may, I think, safely place in 
 the forefront of the Chronicle the inscription which encircles 
 Alfred's Jewel: Aelfred mec heht gewyrcan, 'Alfred ordered 
 me to be made 1 .' 
 
 5. The following extract, which is interesting 
 
 Old English , ,. ., . 
 
 prose uiustrat- as dealing with naval matters, may serve as a 
 ed from the specimen of Early English prose: it occurs under 
 the year 897: 
 
 py ilcan geare drehton J>a hergas In the same year the Danes in 
 
 on East-Englum and on Nordhym- East Anglia and in Northumbria 
 
 brum Westseaxna lond swide be harassed Wessex very much by the 
 
 dsem sudstaede mid staelhergum, ealra south coast with marauding bands, 
 
 swijmst mid dsem aescum J>e hie fela most of all with the ' asks ' (boats) 
 
 geara ser timbredon. pa het .rElfred that they many years before had 
 
 cyng timbran langscipu ongen da built. Then king Alfred gave orders 
 
 sescas ; }>a wseron fulneah tu swa to build long ships against the 'asks'; 
 
 lange swa )>a odru ; sume hsefdon they were well nigh twice as long as 
 
 .lx. ara, sume ma; )>a wseron aegder the others; some had 60 oars, some 
 
 ge swiftran ge unwealtran ge eac more ; they were both swifter and 
 
 hieran Jjonne J>a o3ru ; nseron naw- steadier and also higher than the 
 
 der ne on Fresisc gescsepene ne on others ; they were built neither on 
 
 Denisc, bute swa him selfum duhte Frisian nor on Danish lines, but as 
 
 1 Two Saxon Chronicles, ed. Plummer, vol. II. p. civ. For the con- 
 tinuations of the work so begun, as they are found in different MSS., seethe 
 same edition. It may be noted that Gaimar (i2th century) connects Alfred 
 with the Chronicle : 
 
 II fist ecrivere un livre Engleis, 
 
 Des aventures, e des leis, 
 
 Et de batailles de la terre, 
 
 Et des reis ki firent la guere.
 
 Chapter IX. 
 
 159 
 
 bast hie nytwyrdoste beon meahten. 
 pa set sumum cirre \>xs ilcan geares 
 comon \>xr sex scipu to Wiht, and 
 liser mycel yfel gedydon, segder ge 
 on Defenum ge welhwser be dsem 
 sseriman. pa het se cyng faran mid 
 nigonum to J>ara niwena scipa, and 
 forforon him >one mudan foran on 
 utermere. pa foron hie mid J>rim 
 scipum ut ongen hie, and J>reo 
 stodon set ufeweardum J>rem mudan 
 on drygum, wseron ha men uppe on 
 londe of agane. pa gefengon hie 
 t>ara hreora scipa tu set daem mudan 
 uteweardum, and )>a men ofslogon, 
 and bset an o'Swand ; on \>xm wseron 
 eac >a men ofslcegene buton fifum : 
 )>a comon for dy onweg 3e dara 
 ojjerra scipu asseton. pa wurdon 
 eac swide unedelice aseten ; }>reo 
 asseton on da healfe )>ses deopes 3e 
 da Deniscan scipu aseten wseron, 
 and )>a odru call on oj>re healfe, J>set 
 hira ne mehte nan to odrum. Ac 
 da )>set wseter wses ahebbad fela 
 furlanga from J>sem scipum, J>a eodan 
 da Deniscan from }>xm J>rim scipum 
 to Jjasm odrum f>rim >e on hira healfe 
 beebbade wseron, and hie J>a J>aer ge- 
 fuhton. pser weard ofslsegen...ealra 
 monna Fresiscra and Engliscra .Ixii. 
 and |>ara Deniscena .cxx. pa com 
 )>asm Deniscum scipum |>eh ser flod 
 to, ser >a Cristnan mehten hira ut 
 ascufan, and hie for dy ut odreowon ; 
 J?a wseron hie to >sem gesargode, 
 J>aet hie ne mehton Sud-seaxna 
 lond utan berowan, ac hira ]?asr tu 
 
 it seemed to himself that they could 
 be most serviceable. Then one time 
 that year there came six ships to the 
 Isle of Wight, and there did much 
 mischief, both in Devon and every- 
 where by the coast. Then the king 
 gave orders to go to the place with 
 nine of the new ships, and they 
 blockaded the mouth of the river 
 for them (the Danes), lying ready 
 for them outside. Then they (the 
 Danes) went with three ships out to 
 meet them, and three lay up the 
 mouth on dry ground, the men had 
 gone off up inland. Then they (the 
 English) took two of the three ships 
 outside the mouth, and slew the 
 men, and the one escaped; in that 
 too the men were slain except five : 
 they got away because the others' 
 ships grounded. They had got 
 grounded too very inconveniently; 
 three grounded on the side of the 
 water that the Danish ships were 
 aground, and the others all on the 
 other side, so that none of them 
 could get to the other. But when 
 the water was ebbed many furlongs 
 from the ships, then the Danes went 
 from the three ships to the other 
 three, that had been left high and 
 dry by the ebb-tide on their side, 
 and they fought there then. There 
 were slain of all the men Frisian 
 and English 62, and of the Danes 
 1 20. Then however the flood came 
 to the Danish ships before the 
 Christians could shove theirs out, 
 and so they rowed off out to sea; 
 they had been so wounded though, 
 that they could not row round 
 Sussex, but two of them the sea
 
 160 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 SK on lond wearp, and J>a men mon there cast ashore, and the men were 
 
 Isedde to Winteceastre to Jnem cynge, carried to Winchester to the king, 
 
 and he hie dser ahon het. And J>a and he gave orders to hang them 
 
 men comon on East-Engle J>e on there. And the men came to East 
 
 Jrern anum scipe wseron swide for- Anglia that were on the one ship 
 
 wundode. very severely wounded. 
 
 Only one entry intervenes between this record of Alfred's 
 activity and the notice of his death; the opening words of the 
 annal for 901 are : 'Her gefor yElfred Abulfing.' But the work 
 he had begun did not cease with his death; in different 
 religious houses, such as Winchester, Canterbury, and Peter- 
 borough, records seem to have been kept, and the Chronicle of 
 each house was from time to time brought up to date 1 , with the 
 result that we have the seven MSS. already referred to. That 
 which is connected with Peterborough shews the old practice 
 longest continued; the last of its annals occurs under the 
 date 1154, so that at least two hundred and fifty years lie 
 between the earliest and latest entries of the MSS. a Certainly 
 in the Chronicle and in his translations we may still see the 
 realization of Alfred's desire, that he might leave to the men 
 that were after him a memorial of himself in good works. 
 
 6. There are ctherworks than these just mentioned that have 
 been connected with Alfred's name, but which 
 
 Other works 
 
 associated for different reasons can hardly be considered to 
 
 with Alfred. be of e ^ ual j m p 0rtance w i t h tnem An English 
 
 translation of Augustine's Soliloquies and his letter 'Devidendo 
 deo' exists in a MS. of the i2th century, and concludes with 
 the words: Haer endiad da cwidas be ^Elfred kining alass of 
 baere bee be we hated... (Here end the sentences that king 
 Alfred selected from the book that we call...}. The correctness 
 
 1 See, for instance, the variety of hands in the MS. which is generally 
 supposed to have belonged to Winchester. Plummer's edition, vol. II. 
 p. xxv. 
 
 2 As interesting specimens of English prose, besides the account of 
 Alfred's reign, the account of his son, Edward's, of Ethelred's, and of 
 Stephen's may be cited.
 
 Chapter IX. 161 
 
 of the statement has been called in question by some scholars, 
 but its English editor, Cockayne, accepts Alfred's authorship; 
 in any case, however, so late a copy has not the interest which 
 belongs to a contemporary MS. In The Shrine 1 , where this 
 work is printed, the same editor gives an Old English Martyro- 
 logy, of which he says: 'We must conclude that this Martyrology 
 is of the age of Alfred ; it is further directly indebted to that 
 king himself, and doubtless composed under his direction.' It 
 is not necessary to say more on this point; for the main object 
 of the chapter, which is to suggest that the amount of material 
 contained in the Old English specimens is considerable, will not 
 be affected by doubts as to the authorship of any particular work. 
 
 7. But be the list of his works what it may, it was not by 
 them only that Alfred benefited English litera- 
 
 ture. The men that were after him had his infl^c^on 
 example to influence them, and in this way we latertimes 
 may connect with him the greatest of the Old 
 English prose writers. yElfric, in the preface to the first series 
 of his Homilies, gives as the reason for undertaking that work, 
 that for those who did not know Latin there were no books 
 containing Gospel teaching, except those 'that King Alfred 
 turned from Latin into English.' The need which Alfred had 
 recognised was still present, and the means which Alfred used 
 to meet it were those adopted by ^Elfric, whose aim may be 
 fairly described by the words which set forth that which Alfred 
 proposed to himself and to the scholars of his time, 'that some 
 of the books, that may be most necessary for all men to know, 
 that those we turn into the language that we all can understand.' 
 
 8. Naturally their different positions led Alfred and 
 to look in somewhat different directions 
 
 for such books. ^Elfric was a theologian, an writings. 
 
 1 The Shrine. A collection of occasional papers on dry subjects. 
 Rev. O. Cockayne, 1864 70. The Martyrology may also be found in the 
 E. E. T. Society's publications for 1900 (No. 116). The views of the 
 editor dift'er somewhat from those of Cockayne. 
 
 * /Elfric was a pupil of Athelwold, bishop of Winchester (d. 984). His 
 T. II
 
 1 62 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 ecclesiastic, and a teacher, and in all his writings one or 
 other character is apparent. Under the first head he is 
 represented by his Homilies^, of which he compiled three 
 series, each originally containing forty discourses ; by his 
 Biblical translations and adaptations, in which the following 
 parts of the Scriptures were more or less completely rendered 
 into English the Pentateuch, the books of Joshua, Judges, 
 Kings, Daniel, Job, Esther, Maccabees, (probably) Judith; 
 by his treatise on the Old and New Testament, which forms a 
 practical historical introduction to the Scriptures ; and (pro- 
 bably) by the Old English abridgement of Alcuin's work on 
 Genesis. As an ecclesiastic he is seen in the Pastoral Letter 
 
 first known work, written when he was a 'monk and mass-priest,' was 
 completed not long after 990, as it is dedicated to Archbishop Sigeric 
 (archbishop of Canterbury from 990 to 994). In later writings he speaks of 
 himself as abbot, and it was probably in the abbey of Eynsham, in Oxford- 
 shire, that he held this office. Before attaining this dignity he had lived for 
 some time at Cernel (Cerne Abbas in Dorset). The time of his death is 
 not known. 
 
 1 As descriptive of these three books of Homilies ^Elfric's own words 
 about them may be quoted : ' We translated in the two former books the 
 passions and the lives of the saints that the English honour with festivals. 
 Now it has seemed good to us that we should write this book (the third 
 series) about the passions and lives of the saints that monks in their services 
 honour amongst themselves.' With regard to the style in the three series 
 it may be noted that while in the first two alliteration is often used, the 
 third series is almost entirely metrical. Besides these collections there are 
 single tracts, similar in kind to the Homilies, which either certainly or with 
 great probability may be connected with ^Ifric. To the latter class belong 
 the translations of St Basil's Hexameron and of the same writer's Advice to 
 a Spiritual Son. While speaking of these works of ^Elfric it may be 
 remarked, that not only directly, by furnishing considerable specimens of 
 the language, have they been of service to the study of Old English, but 
 also indirectly. The reformers of the i6th century considered that his 
 writings enabled them to appeal to the example of the Early English Church 
 in support of their views on many points in which they differed from Rome, 
 and this led to the search for Anglo-Saxon MSS, and, as in the case of 
 Archbishop Parker, to the collecting of a considerable number which might 
 otherwise have been lost.
 
 Chapter IX. 163 
 
 which he wrote for Bishop Wulfsige, to be used by that prelate 
 in addressing his subordinate clergy, through whose ' froward- 
 ness the canon laws, and the religion and doctrines of holy 
 church were destroyed'; and in a similar composition made 
 for Archbishop Wulfstan. From ^Elfric the teacher we have 
 the first Latin-English Grammar, which he compiled for 
 the use of boys in the monastic schools; and the Latin- 
 English Glossary, which is found in seven out of the fifteen 
 existing MSS. of the grammar, is almost certainly by him 1 ; to 
 him, also, with great probability is attributed the Old English 
 abridgement of Bede's work De Temporibus, which, like the 
 grammar, may have served as a text-book in the monastic 
 schools. 
 
 If, now, we consider the variety and extent of the 
 subject-matter which is contained in the works that in 
 the preceding paragraph have been attributed to ^Elfric, we 
 may see how much it says for the development of the 
 native language-material, that almost exclusively by means 
 of such material was that subject-matter expressed. The 
 matter may have been obtained from Latin sources, but the 
 language of the source left little trace on the language of the 
 writer. 
 
 9. As a specimen of ^Elfric's writing may be given the 
 following passage, which at the same time, per- g ecimen 
 haps, may illustrate the feeling towards the of-ffiifnc's 
 secular clergy that was entertained by some of 
 the followers of Dunstan and Athelwold; it is taken from the 
 prefatory epistle to the translation of Genesis : 
 
 1 /Elfric's Latin teaching may be further illustrated by the interesting 
 Latin colloquy which seems to have been intended to take its place in the 
 schools alongside the Grammar and Glossary. In the MS. which gives 
 what seems the original form of the Colloquy the Latin text is provided 
 with English glosses, but as these are hardly the work of ^Elfric, the 
 composition does not call for notice when speaking of him as an English 
 author. 
 
 II 2
 
 164 Outlines of the History of tJie English Language. 
 
 (On the italicized words see 15.) 
 
 Nu j>incd me, {'jet J>Det weorc is 
 sw&e photic me 0dcfe senigum men 
 to tinderbeginnefine ; for J>an \e ic 
 ondrttde, gif sum dysig man J>as hoc 
 net o&fte raedan gehyrd, )>set he wille 
 wenan J>cet he mote lybban nu on 
 J>sere niwan a: swa swa J>a ealdan 
 ftederas leofodon \a on J>sere tide, 
 xr ]>an jv seo ealde a gesett wsere, 
 cft&e swa swa men leofodon under 
 Moyses <e. Hwilon ic wiste J>set 
 sum moessepreost, se \e min magister 
 woes on J>am timan, hrefde J>a boc 
 Genesis, and he cude be daele Lyclen 
 understandan ; \>a cwred he be J>am 
 heahfadere lacobe, }>oet he hsefde 
 feower wif. Ful sod he ssede, ac he 
 nyste ne ic \a git, hu micel todal 
 ys betweohx Jwre ealdan a; and Jcere 
 niwan.... pa nngelazredan preostas, 
 gif hi hwaet litles understandad of 
 ]>am Lydenbocum, }>onne Joined him 
 sona, ]>ret hi magon mare lareowas 
 beon, ac hi ne cunnon swa j>eah Jset 
 gastlice andgit Jjcerto, and hu seo 
 ealde ce waes getacnung toweardra 
 )>inga, 0dck hu seo niwe gecy&nis 
 refter Cristes menniscnysse waes ge- 
 fillednys ealra J>era ]>inga \e seo 
 ealde ffaySms getacnode towearde 
 be Criste and be hys gecorenum... 
 We secgad e&cforan-to, J>set seo boc- 
 is swifa deop gastlice to under- 
 standenne, and we ne writad na 
 mare buton J>a nacedan gerecednisse. 
 ponne }>incd dam ungel&redum, \>xt 
 call ]>xl andgit beo belocen on \>xre 
 anfi-aldan gerecednisse, ac hit ys 
 Fluid* feor J>am. 
 
 Now methinks that the work 
 (the translation of Genesis) is very 
 perilous for me or for any man to 
 undertake; for I fear, if some foolish 
 man reads this book or hears it read, 
 that he will suppose, that he may 
 live now in the new law, as the 
 patriarchs lived then, in the time 
 before the old law was instituted, or 
 as men lived under Moses' law. 
 Once I knew that a certain priest, 
 who was my master at that time, 
 had the book of Genesis, and he 
 could imperfectly understand Latin; 
 then he said about the patriarch 
 Jacob, that he had four wives. He 
 said what was quite true, but he 
 did not know, nor did I at that 
 time, how much difference there is 
 between the old law and the new.... 
 The unlearned priests, if they under- 
 stand some little out of Latin books, 
 then it seems to them at once, that 
 they can be great teachers ; but they 
 do not know however the spiritual 
 sense in these cases, and how the 
 old law was a symbolizing of things 
 to come, or how the New Testa- 
 ment after Christ's incarnation was 
 the fulfilment of all those things 
 that the Old Testament had shewn 
 symbolically were to happen con- 
 cerning Christ and his elect.... We 
 say, too, beforehand, that the book 
 is very deep to understand spiritually, 
 and we shall write no more but the 
 bare narrative ; then it will seem to 
 the unlearned, that all the meaning 
 is included in the simple narrative, 
 which is very far from being the 
 case.
 
 Chapter IX, 165 
 
 10. In Alfred and ^Elfric we have the representative 
 writers of the early and late stages respectively 
 of cultivated Old English, though each wrote in ^^f^~ 
 times, which from the same cause were adverse contrast with 
 to scholarship. That such adverse conditions 
 existed for Alfred we may learn from his writings, but in those 
 of ^Elfric there is little to suggest that the writer did not live in 
 times of peace 1 . The disasters of Ethelred's reign might have 
 given occasion to the best prose writer of the time to use all 
 the resources of the language in giving expression to the 
 thoughts that arose in him, but no such passage can be quoted 
 from yElfric. It is to his contemporary, Wulfstan, archbishop 
 of York, that we must turn for a preacher whom the circum- 
 stances of the time moved to speak, and the following passage 
 may at once serve as a specimen of a style different from that 
 of ^Elfric, and give a picture that will further illustrate the 
 relations of English and Dane referred to in a previous 
 chapter : 
 
 And hu mrcg mare scamu Jnirh And how can more shame through 
 
 Codes yrre mannuin gelimpan Jonne God's anger befall men than does us 
 
 us ded gelome for agenum gewyrh- again and again for our own deserts? 
 
 turn ? Deah jjrrela hwylc hlaforde Let but any thrall run away from a 
 
 aethleape, and of cristendome to wi- lord, and from being Christian turn 
 
 cinge weorcte, and hit jefter j>am eft pirate, and let it afterwards come to 
 
 geweorde \>xt wrcpngewrixl weorde pass that there happen crossing of 
 
 gemoene |>egenc and ]>r:ule; gyf weapons between thane and thrall ; 
 
 ]>rx\ brcne j^egen fullice afylle, liege if a thrall strike the thane down 
 
 ivgylde ealre his mrcgde; and gyf se dead, he (the thane) shall lie without 
 
 J>egen J>a:iie J>riul ]>e he xr ahte wergild paid to any of his kin; 'and 
 
 if the thane strike the thrall down 
 dead, that he before had owned, he 
 
 1 Only very slight evidence could be got from /Elfric's writings that the 
 Danes were ravaging England, such for instance as his remark on the 
 translation of the book of Judith : ' It is translated into English as an 
 example for you men, that you may defend your country against the foe that 
 attacks it'; or his illustration of justiini helium as 'war with the fierce 
 seamen or with other people that want to destroy the country.'
 
 1 66 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 fullice afylle, gylde begengylde. Ne 
 dohte hit nu lange inne ne ute, ac 
 \ros here and hete on gewelhwilcum 
 ende oft and gelome, and Engle nu 
 lange eal sigelease, and to swycte 
 geyrgde burh Codes yrre, and flotmen 
 swa strange )>urh Codes gebafunge, 
 beet oft on gefeohte an fysed tyne, 
 and twegen oft twentig, eal for 
 urum synnum. And oft brael brene 
 begen J>e ser wses his hlaford cnyt 
 swyde fseste, and wyrcj? him to ]>rrele 
 burn Codes yrre. Wala ctaere yrmfte 
 and wala }>3ere woruldscame be nu 
 habbaS Engle eal burh Codes yrre. 
 Oft twegen saemen octde bry drifad 
 ba drafe cristenra manna fram sx 
 to sae ut durh bas beode gewelede 
 togoedere us eallum to woruldscame, 
 gyf we on eornost senige scame 
 cudan. Ac ealne bsene bysmor be 
 we oft boliadwe gyldad mid weord- 
 scipe j>am ]>e us scendad; we him 
 gyldad singallice, and hy us hynad 
 dceghwamlice. Hy hergad and hy 
 bernad, rypad and reafiact, and to 
 scipe laedaci; and la hwset is aenig 
 oder on eallum bam gelimpum butan 
 Codes yrre ofer bas bede swutol 
 and gesene? 
 
 11. 
 
 shall pay a thane's wergild. It Las 
 not gone well with us now for a 
 long time past, but there has been 
 wasting and war in every quarter 
 often and often, and the English 
 now for long past have been un- 
 victorious, and have been made 
 faint-hearted through God's anger, 
 and the seamen (Danes) are so 
 strong through God's consent, that 
 often in fight one puts to flight ten, 
 and two often twenty, all for our 
 sins. And often a thrall binds fast 
 the thane that before was his lord, 
 and makes (him) his thrall, through 
 God's anger. Alas for the misery 
 and alas for the shame that the 
 English now have all through God's 
 anger. Often two seamen (Danes) 
 or three drive the droves of Christian 
 men from sea to sea out through 
 this people banded together to the 
 shame of us all, if we indeed could 
 feel any shame. But all the disgrace 
 that we often suffer we pay with 
 honour to those that put us to shame ; 
 we pay them continually, and they 
 humble us daily. They harry and 
 they burn, rob and reave, and carry 
 on board; and behold, is any other 
 thing in all that happens, except 
 God's anger over this people, mani- 
 fest and visible ? 
 
 Of other works than those already noticed little more 
 than the names can be given ; but a mere list of 
 them, if the character and variety of the subjects 
 they treat be considered, may serve both as a 
 further illustration of the influence of Christianity 
 on Old English literature, and as an indication of 
 the extent of the vocabulary they contain. 
 
 Other Old 
 English prose 
 works grouped 
 according to 
 subjects.
 
 CJiapter IX. 167 
 
 Religious and Ecclesiastical writings. 
 
 Biblical translation. The first fifty Psalms (of the re- 
 mainder there is a metrical rendering); the Gospels; the 
 Gospel of Nicodemus. 
 
 Homilies. The Blickling Homilies, a collection of nineteen, 
 preserved in a MS. at Blickling. 
 
 Ecclesiastical. A translation of the Benedictine Rule; 
 translations of Ecgbert's Confessional and Penitential ; an 
 English Indicia Monastcrialia (an account of the signs to be 
 used instead of speech, when the rule of the monastery imposed 
 silence). 
 
 Ecclesiastical Biography. The Life of St Guthlac. 
 
 Scientific writings. 
 
 Bridferth's Enchiridion, in which arithmetical, astronomical, 
 and grammatical points are treated. Bridferth taught in the 
 school at Ramsey, and is supposed to have been the best 
 English mathematician in the latter half of the xoth century. 
 
 Medical works. Translations of the Herbarium of Apuleius 
 and of the Medidna de Quadrupedibus of Sextus Placitus; 
 several books of prescriptions and recipes. These collections 
 are particularly noticeable as giving a very large number of 
 English plant-names 1 . 
 
 Legal documents. From the time of ^Ethelbert of Kent, 
 the first English king to receive Christianity, there are the laws 
 passed in the reigns of many of the English kings. These 
 contain a considerable technical vocabulary of legal terms. 2 
 
 Charters. There is a considerable number of these in 
 English as well as in Latin. As in either case the boundaries 
 
 1 The amount of material contained in these medical works will be seen 
 at a glance on turning to the edition of them by Cockayne, in the Master of 
 the Rolls Series, which occupies three volumes. 
 
 2 A comparison of the later with the earliest laws may shew how, 
 during the period in which the influences connected with Christianity were 
 operative, the language was steadily advancing from the stage it had 
 reached at the time when Christianity was introduced.
 
 1 68 Outlines of tlie History of the English Language. 
 
 of land, when that is the subject of grant, are given in English, 
 the charters contain many words denoting the natural features 
 of the country. 
 
 Wills. Of these there are several specimens. Enumerating, 
 as they do, the different articles of property, whose disposition 
 they determine, their vocabulary is often interesting. 
 
 Rural Economy. There is a short treatise on the rights 
 and duties of the several persons employed upon an estate, and 
 another on the office of a reeve. From the two may be gained 
 a pretty complete agricultural vocabulary. 
 
 Historical writing. Some fragments, dealing with native 
 history, are given by Cockayne at the end of the third volume 
 of his Leechdoms; and as a representative of ancient history 
 there is a translation of Alexander's epistle to Aristotle. 
 
 Fiction. This is represented by the translation of the story, 
 so long popular, Apollonius of Tyre. 
 
 Other writings. Short treatises on the interpretation of 
 dreams and on prognostics by the moon's age, and a number 
 of charms may illustrate the superstitions which were not 
 eradicated by Christianity ; the Dialogue of Salomon and 
 Saturn gives a sort of catechism of general knowledge ; and a 
 collection of proverbs offers some specimens of 'the native 
 mother-wit. 
 
 12. Besides these works, which give not only an English 
 vocabulary, but also the native construction, 
 Gtolaries anc triere are others which give only an English 
 vocabulary. These are the glosses to Latin 
 works, in which all or the more difficult Latin words were 
 accompanied by the English equivalents. Several MSS. of the 
 Psalms have been so treated, and the MS. at Lambeth Palace 
 contains, besides glosses to the Psalms, glosses to the Apostles' 
 and Athanasian Creeds, and to many of the ' songs ' (e.g. the 
 Song of Moses) found in the Bible; there are interlinear ver- 
 sions of a Hymnarium, of the Benedictine Rule, of the De 
 Consuetudine Monachorum, of the Liber Scintillarum, of
 
 Chapter IX. 169 
 
 Gregory's Dialogues; and glosses to works of Aldhelm and 
 Prudentius. 
 
 Lastly, there are the Latin-English glossaries 1 , one of which, 
 ^Elfric's, has already been mentioned. In some cases these are 
 arranged according to subjects, in others a nearer approach 
 has been made to the modern dictionary by arranging the 
 Latin words more or less in alphabetical order. 
 
 13. With the same general objects in view as those set 
 forth in the case of the above list of prose 
 specimens a brief mention may now be made of iia t ure. tlcal 
 the poems that have not already been noticed in 
 Chapter vn. Old Testament story furnishes material for Old 
 English verse from the books of Genesis, Exodus, and Daniel ; 
 to Christian sources were due Cynevvulf's Crist, and poems 
 whose subjects were The Harrowing of Hell, Doonfs-day, The 
 Dream of the Rood, The Departed Soul's Address to the Body ; 
 the heroes of the Church give occasion for poems on The Fates 
 of the Apostles, on St Juliana and St Guthlac, and for a 
 Menologium ; the legend of the finding of the Cross is the 
 subject of Cynewulf's Elcne; poems on The Phenix, The 
 Whale, and the Panther give a Christian application to mythi- 
 cal natural history; and metrical renderings of Scripture are 
 represented by a turning of the last hundred Psalms into Old 
 English verse, and by a similar treatment of the Lord's Prayer. 
 
 Of a secular character, though not without allusions to 
 Christianity, are poems on the various gifts, fates, and dis- 
 positions of men ; on the advice of a father to his son ; and 
 the verses in the Chronicle on Edmund, Edgar, Alfred, Ethelred's 
 son, and Edward the Confessor. Corresponding with the 
 Boethius, the Dialogue of Salomon and Saturn, and the col- 
 lection of Proverbs in the prose, may be placed the metrical 
 version of the metres in Boethius, the poetical Dialogue of 
 
 1 A reference to Wright's two volumes of Vocabularies, or to Wulcker's 
 later edition of the same, will shew the amount of English material which 
 is thus recorded with a Latin equivalent.
 
 170 Outlines of tlie History of the Englisli Language. 
 
 Salomon and Saturn, and a collection of Gnomic verses in the 
 poetry. Light literature is represented by a collection of about 
 eighty riddles in verse. 
 
 Freer from foreign influence than any of the preceding, and 
 better shewing the spirit of the native poetry, are the short 
 poems, The Wanderer, The Seafarer, The Ruin, Dear's Lament, 
 The Wife's Lament, and the fragment The Fight at Finnesburg. 
 
 A literature that contains so much as is given in the 
 above lists (which do not profess to be exhaustive) may, taking 
 all the circumstances into account, fairly claim to be spoken of 
 as considerable, and may be expected to afford material from 
 which a knowledge of the language, in which it is written, can 
 be gained. 
 
 14. It must be remembered, however, that this language 
 
 was not the form of speech everywhere current 
 Mercian, and i n England. It is the language of Wessex that 
 Northumbrian t ] iey represent. In other parts of the country 
 
 specimens. ' L * 
 
 different forms were to be found, and of them 
 specimens, though comparatively scanty ones, have been pre- 
 served. For instance, there are specimens of a Kentish dialect 
 in some charters, and in some glosses on the book of Proverbs; 
 the dialect of Mercia is seen in interlinear glosses of the Psalrns 
 and of some hymns ; in the dialect of the North are written 
 interlinear glosses of the Gospels and of the Durham Ritual, a 
 few verses of Bede, and some Runic inscriptions. There are 
 some other works which do not belong to Wessex, but those 
 mentioned may be enough to suggest the existence of dialects 
 and the comparative extent of the specimens belonging to 
 them. 
 
 15. In the preceding paragraphs an attempt has been 
 
 made to give some idea of the extent of the Old 
 tion h of r the n oid English specimens; the importance to Modern 
 English voca- English of the material they contain may be 
 
 bulary in that . , ... . , . . * 
 
 of Modern appreciated, if it be noticed how great an amount 
 
 English- Q f t j iat mater ial st in forms part of the vocabulary.
 
 Chapter IX. 171 
 
 The point may be illustrated by reference to the illustration 
 passages from Alfred's translation of Boethius ofTifred^n? 5 
 and from ^Elfric's preface to Genesis, which are ^ifric. 
 quoted in this chapter. In them, words no longer in use are 
 italicised, and it will be seen at a glance that such words are in 
 a minority. Moreover in the case of several even of these, 
 though no modern forms can be directly traced to them, yet 
 the material they contain is still living. This may be seen in 
 the following instances ' : 
 
 Alfred's version Modern English 
 
 an-wea/d cf. to wield (O. E. wealdan) 
 
 rice bishop-/-*? 
 
 \>Q-boden (pp.) to bid 
 
 be-fcest (pp.) fast (adj.) 
 
 ge-6cd-men beads- men 
 
 for-ealdod (pp.) old 
 
 dysig (noun) dizzy (adj.) 
 
 /z;-a3ost (spve.) rather (cpve.) 
 
 a/w]>-fullice worth-y 
 
 jElfric 
 
 \mder-6egiHHan to begin 
 
 o\\-drade to dread 
 
 heah-fader high , father 
 
 \.o-dal dole 
 
 /ar-eowas lore 
 
 and-^zV cf. to get 
 
 menmscnys man 
 
 g&-filled-i\ys filled 
 
 foran-lo be-fore 
 
 an-feald one, fold 
 
 The passages fairly represent Old English in respect to the 
 point under consideration, so it may be seen that much of the 
 material used by Alfred and ^Elfric is, of course with more or 
 less modification, used by Englishmen to-day. 
 
 1 Only the root parts of the words are noted, but the prefixes and suffixes 
 would equally illustrate the point.
 
 172 Outlines of the History of tlte English Language. 
 
 16. But the Old English appeals to later times not only 
 because so large a proportion of it is preserved 
 
 The employ- 
 ment of the by them, but also because so much of the work 
 
 lmfby h done by the language is done by the Old English 
 later writers element in it. A few figures quoted from the 
 Student's English Language will illustrate the 
 second point 1 . In the vocabulary of the English Bible sixty 
 per cent, of the words are native ; in that of Shakspere the 
 proportion is very nearly the same ; while of the stock of words 
 employed in the poetical works of Milton, less than thirty-three 
 per cent, are Anglo-Saxon. But when we examine the propor- 
 tions in which authors actually employ the words at their 
 command, we find that, even in those whose total vocabulary 
 embraces the greatest number of Latin and other foreign 
 vocables, the Anglo-Saxon still largely predominates. Thus : 
 
 Piers Ploughman, Introduction, contains 88 per cent, of Anglo-Saxon 
 
 words. 
 Chaucer, Prologue to Canterbury Tales, first 420 verses 88 per cent, of 
 
 Anglo-Saxon words. 
 
 Chaucer, Nonne Preestes Tale 93 per cent, of Anglo-Saxon words. 
 Spenser, Faerie Queene, bk. ii. Canto vii. 86 per cent, of Anglo-Saxon 
 
 words. 
 S. John's Gospel, A.V., chaps. I., iv. , xvn. 96 per cent, of Anglo-Saxon 
 
 words. 
 Shakspere, Henry IV.. Part I., Act ii. 91 per cent, of Anglo-Saxon 
 
 words. 
 
 Milton, L 1 Allegro, 90 per cent, of Anglo-Saxon words. 
 Addison, several numbers of Spectator, 82 per cent, of Anglo-Saxon 
 
 words. 
 Pope, First Epistle, and Essay on Man 80 per cent, of Anglo-Saxon 
 
 words. 
 
 Swift, John Bull, several chapters 85 per cent, of Anglo-Saxon words. 
 Johnson, Preface to Dictionary, 72 per cent, of Anglo-Saxon words. 
 Gibbon, Decline and Fall, vol. I. chap. vii. 70 per cent, of Anglo-Saxon 
 
 words. 
 
 1 The Student's English Language, by George P. Marsh, pp. 91-3. For 
 a much fuller list, and fora discussion of the points illustrated by the figures, 
 reference can be made to the lecture from which the quotation is made.
 
 Chapter IX, 173 
 
 Macaulay, Essay on Lord Bacon, 75 per cent, of Anglo-Saxon words. 
 
 Mrs Browning, Cry of the Children, 92 per cent, of Anglo-Saxon words. 
 
 Robert Browning, Bishop Blougrani's Apology, 84 per cent, of Anglo- 
 Saxon words. 
 
 Tennyson, The Lotus Eaters, 87 per cent, of Anglo-Saxon words. 
 
 Tennyson, In Memoriam, first twenty poems 89 per cent, of Anglo- 
 Saxon words. 
 
 Ruskin, Elements of Drawing, first six exercises 84 per cent, of Anglo- 
 Saxon words. 
 
 These figures may shew that, looking only to the vocabu- 
 lary, the Old English element is of the highest importance to 
 the modern speech, that, as Dr Morris says, 'in the works of 
 our greatest writers the English element greatly preponderates'; 
 while if the grammatical forms be also taken into account it 
 will be found that the Old English element is absolutely indis- 
 pensable, that, to quote the same writer, ' if we endeavour to 
 speak or write without making use of the native element 
 (grammar or vocabulary), we shall find that such a thing is 
 impossible.' The grammatical forms of modern English, indeed, 
 are all of them native, and it is of the older forms from which 
 they are derived, that a brief notice must now be given to 
 complete our survey of the earliest stage of the language.
 
 174 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 The Early West-Saxon vowel system and the development it shews the 
 common Teutonic vowel system changes in the consonant structure of 
 words which have already taken place in the oldest English doubling 
 of consonants loss of consonants early writing use of the Latin 
 alphabet use of Runes grammatical forms common to many lan- 
 guages the noun and its inflections in modern English inferences 
 that may be drawn from them scheme of Old English declensions 
 weak and strong declensions early loss and confusion of grammatical 
 forms continuousness of change later history of change different 
 conditions of Northern and Southern English prepositions instead of 
 case-endings declension of the adjective its case-endings preserved 
 by the pronouns comparison the conjugation of the verb strong 
 verbs scheme of these in Old English reduplication in verbs weak 
 verbs scheme of these in Old English traces of an earlier scheme 
 evidence from Gothic preterite-present verbs verbs in -mi presents 
 with infixed n mood person changes in conjugation since the Old 
 English period Anglo-Saxon and English. 
 
 1. IN attempting to trace the history of the language down 
 to the middle of the nth century it has so far been mostly to 
 the vocabulary that attention has been directed, to the introduc- 
 tion of foreign, and the loss of native words, or to the extended 
 use of the latter ; it has been to the modifications in the extent 
 and force, rather than to such as affect the form, of the 
 language-material that reference has been made. About these 
 latter a few words may now be said.
 
 Chapter X. 175 
 
 2. In Chap. n. the possibility of inferring for an English 
 word an earlier form than is to be found in any 
 English MS. was illustrated. We may. then, ,,? >he o arly 
 
 J ' West-Saxon 
 
 work back to earlier forms than those used by vowel system 
 Alfred, even though his be the earliest written veiop^ent" 
 ones we have. Now the vowel system of the which t 
 Early West-Saxon works, e.g. the Pastoral Care, 
 may be represented by the following symbols: 
 
 Short Long 
 
 a mann a stan (stone) 
 
 se set (a/) a} laidan (lead] 
 
 menn e fedan (feed] 
 
 e etan (to cat) I min (mine) 
 
 i in le hleran (to hear] 
 
 ie ieldra (elder) o mona (moon) 
 
 o gold u fit (out) 
 
 Q on y bryd (bride) 
 
 u sunu (son) ea cage (eye) 
 
 y cynn (kin) eo deop (deep) 
 
 ea earm (arm) 
 eo eorj>e (earth) 
 io mioluc (milk) 
 
 To trace in detail the development which is involved in 
 this scheme would be out of place here, but its character may 
 be suggested by considering a particular case. If the words 
 mann, at, net, $n, earm, ieldra, 5]>er, sefte, softe, gos, ges be 
 compared with corresponding forms in other Teutonic lan- 
 guages, it will appear that all originally had the same vowel, a. 
 Thus 
 
 English Gothic English Gothic 
 
 mrtiin manna z'eldra, altfza 
 
 tzt at Jj>er anj>ar 
 
 net nati s?fte (adj.) s^mfti ) 
 
 0n ana sJfte (adv.) samfto J er - 
 
 earm arms gos; ges; pi. gans; gensi; pi., O.H.Ger. 
 
 And the comparison will further suggest the conditions under 
 which change has taken place. Thus in net, ieldra, sefte, ges,
 
 176 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 the root-vowel has been influenced by the / (or /) of the 
 following syllable; in QH the nasal has affected the vowel, in 
 earm it is the r-combination ; in o\>er, softe, gos, a nasal has 
 disappeared before ]>,f, s respectively, and the vowel has been 
 lengthened in compensation ; in ieldra, sefte, ges, moreover, it 
 may be noted that the change is the result of more than one 
 influence. 
 
 3. This instance, as was said, may suggest the kind of de- 
 
 velopment, which has resulted in the Old English 1 
 
 T.he com- 
 mon Teutonic vowel system given above ; and may point to the 
 
 vowel system. -u-i'^ ^i i >.i r 
 
 possibility, thanks to the inferences that may be 
 drawn after comparison of parallel forms in English and other 
 Teutonic speeches, of constructing a simpler vowel system out 
 of which have grown the several systems of all those speeches. 
 The system so constructed would be approximately this : 
 
 short a, e, i, o, u 
 
 long a, x, e, I, 6, u 2 
 
 diphthongs ai, au, iu, eo. 
 
 4. With regard to the consonant framework of words also 
 
 there is a history of change to be inferred ; and 
 the'consonan t nere > as m tne case of the vowels, a few instances 
 structure of to suggest a condition which is too complicated 
 
 words which . . . . . 
 
 have already to describe 111 detail may 1)6 given. For ex- 
 taken place ample, the occurrence of doubled consonants is 
 
 in the oldest 
 
 English. not uncommon in Old English, e.g. hebban to 
 
 ?on U sonants! heave, webb web, secgan (cg=gg) to say, scieppan 
 to shape, tellan to tell. Now alongside these 
 may be placed forms, evidently containing the same root, in 
 which the consonants are single, hofon, they heaved, we/an, to 
 weave, sagu, a saw, saying, sceapen, shaped, talu, a tale. As 
 
 1 It is the system of the representative Old English dialect only that is 
 given. The other dialects shew somewhat different developments ; these, 
 however, need not be considered here. 
 
 2 The sounds of these vowels are approximately those in father, fare, 
 fate, feet, foe, food respectively.
 
 Chapter X. 177 
 
 has been said above, the vowel in some of these simpler forms 
 might suggest the influence that has brought about the doubling 
 in the fuller, for a when followed by i or / in the next syllable 
 becomes e. And the suggestion finds confirmation from the 
 Gothic, in which the forms corresponding to hebban and 
 scieppan are hafjan and skapjan. It will be noticed, however, 
 that in the instances given above the root vowel is short; 
 where the vowel was long the doubling did not take place. 
 Thus though deinan, to deem, on comparison with dom, doom, 
 suggests by its vowel the influence of the suffix, which may be 
 seen in the Gothic domjan, and in this respect resembles 
 hebban, &c., yet the /// remains single, as in the noun with 
 which it is connected. We have thus traced back the history 
 of our forms heave, deem, &c., beyond the point to which our 
 earliest MSS. will take us. 
 
 5. Again, there is nothing in English to suggest that the 
 consonant structure of any of the words other, 
 lithe, mouth has suffered loss ; the oldest forms, C0 nsonants. 
 d\>er, Ifye, mu\>, are practically the same as the 
 modern ; but on comparing respectively with Goth, antyar, or 
 Ger. cinder, with Ger. lind, with Goth, mutfys, or Ger. mund it 
 is evident that even the oldest English forms are but modifica- 
 tions of yet earlier, which all contained n. In like manner 
 the history of five and soft may be carried back beyond the 
 Old English fif and softe (adv.) by a comparison with Goth. 
 fimf, or Ger. fiinf, and with Ger. sanft (O. H. Ger. samfto) 
 respectively. The same tendency to reject a nasal is also 
 seen in housel (O.E. husel, the eucharist) and in goose (O.E. 
 gos), which correspond to Goth, hunsl and Ger. gans respec- 
 tively. 
 
 Out of common Teutonic material, by changes such as 
 those slightly indicated in the preceding paragraphs, was shaped 
 that form of speech which we find in the oldest English 
 specimens ; and the instances just given, taken in connection 
 with what has been said in Chap, n., may suggest the history 
 
 T. 12
 
 178 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 that lies behind the oldest English forms we know from 
 English MSS. 
 
 6. It is to the spoken forms of words that reference has 
 
 been made ; but of the written forms also it may 
 
 writing Use ^ e sa ^ tnat ^ or tnem there is a history before 
 
 of the Latin the times of the earliest MSS. In these MSS. a 
 
 alphabet, of .. .. , T . , , , . 
 
 Runes. form of the Latin alphabet, shewing marks of 
 
 Irish modifications, was used; but before this 
 was adopted under Christian influence, the English, like other 
 Teutonic peoples, had been acquainted with letters 1 . Con- 
 cerning the origin of Runes there has been much discussion, 
 but the most probable supposition seems to be that which 
 connects them with the Latin forms. The Runic alphabets 
 differ from one another both in the number and in the shape of 
 their characters, but only as the developments of a common 
 original might do. In England after the acceptance of 
 Christianity the native alphabet was not generally used, but it 
 was not entirely given up ; and even a Christian poem, such as 
 the inscription on the Ruthwell Cross, could be written with 
 Runes. Some of its symbols, too, were for special reasons 
 retained after it had yielded to the Latin ; the Runes for m and 
 d, whose names were man and day respectively, were used 
 sometimes (e.g. in the Durham Ritual) instead of writing those 
 words ; and the sounds th and w, for which the Latin alphabet 
 did not furnish convenient symbols, were represented by the 
 Runes J> 2 and p. That the Runes survived, though they were not 
 
 1 Native words denoting letters were rune, run-stafas, boc-stafas (cf. 
 Ger. buch-stabe). The material found in the first two expresses also the 
 ideas of -whispering, secrecy, counsel, e.g. O.E. riinian, later English roun, 
 Ger. raunen to whisper, O.E. ge-ryne mystery, Gothic runa mystery, 
 counsel, ga-riini counsel. It may be noted also that ivrite is a native 
 word, with the original meaning to cut; taken along with the stafas (staves) 
 of the compounds given above, it indicates what were the methods of the 
 early time in the matter of writing. 
 
 2 The Runic alphabet can hardly be said to have completely died out 
 so long as the can be written y e ) for the first symbol here is an imperfect 
 representation of the Rune J>.
 
 Chapter X. 179 
 
 generally used, may be seen, too, from an Old English poem, 
 in which each stanza is accompanied by a Runic letter and deals 
 with the thing which is denoted by the name of the letter 1 . 
 From this poem and from other instances of the Runic alphabet 
 it will be seen that the order of the letters was quite different 
 from that of the Latin; the first six are f, u, th, 0, r, c; the 
 word they form is now sometimes used as the name of the 
 collection of symbols at whose head they stand. 
 
 7. The same general point that has been noted in regard 
 both to the native English vocabulary and to the 
 
 i_... i r Grammatical 
 
 native alphabet, viz. that each is an instance of forms common 
 one among many similar developments of a t man y 
 
 . . , L , , languages. 
 
 single original, may be noted also in regard to 
 the native grammatical forms. These, as they are found in the 
 oldest English specimens, are indeed full, as compared with 
 those of modern times ; but even they are only fragments of a 
 yet earlier system, whose condition may be learnt by a method 
 similar to that which shews what has been the earlier form of 
 the vocabulary. Comparison of the declensions and con- 
 jugations used in the related languages will shew the earlier 
 system to which each later one may be traced back. The 
 subject is far too wide to be adequately treated here ; but, as in 
 other cases, something may be attempted by way of suggesting 
 the history which belongs to the grammatical forms that emerge 
 in the oldest English. And as a preliminary to this attempt 
 attention may be directed to the modern grammatical forms, 
 
 1 The names of the Runic letters, like those of the Hebrew, were 
 significant words. Thus the name of the first letter, f, wasytf 
 so the first verse of the poem is : 
 
 Feoh byS frofur fira gehwylcum 
 
 sceal Jjeah manna gehwylc miclum hit daelan 
 
 gif he wile for drihtne domes hleotan. 
 
 Money is a comfort for every man 
 
 yet every man must give it liberally 
 
 if he will in the sight of the Lord gain glory. 
 
 12 2
 
 i8o Outlines of tJie History of tJie English Language. 
 
 with the view of shewing that by a process like that which must 
 be employed in the case of the oldest, the history of the period 
 which lies between the two stages may, at any rate in part, be 
 written. The examination will further serve to shew the 
 significance, in regard to the history of our grammatical forms, 
 of some common English words. 
 
 8. To begin with the noun. A slight consideration of the 
 
 modern English will bring out a state of tilings 
 
 and h it s nOUn which appears somewhat irregular, and which if 
 
 inflections in there were neither records of earlier forms of the 
 
 modern . . - . . 
 
 English. language, nor other languages with which to com- 
 
 pare it, might be difficult to explain. Thus, in 
 the declension of the great majority of nouns two cases only 
 can be distinguished, nominative and genitive, the latter having 
 an inflection (e)s; and the plural nominative is distinguished 
 from the singular by an inflection of the same form, (e)s. But 
 some few nouns, and those native ones, do not conform to 
 these rules. Among plurals there are men, feet, mice, where 
 there is only an internal change ; oxen, children, brethren as 
 well as brothers, where a quite different inflection is used; 
 sheep, deer, swine, where singular and plural are alike. The 
 genitive, too, in certain words seems exceptional. For instance, 
 in the names of the days of the week while in the first compo- 
 nent of Tues-day, Wednes-fay, Thurs-day the ordinary genitive 
 -s is found, in Sun-day, Mon-day, Fri-day, which are formed in 
 exactly the same way, the first two, moreover, formed with 
 words, which when used alone take the usual inflection (sun's, 
 Mcon's), the s does not appear. And the same discrepancy 
 may be noticed on comparing Lord's day with Lady-day. 
 Words, too, which may be claimed as current English, though 
 not quite in the same sense as are those already given, might 
 supply further illustration. So as examples of the #-plurals might 
 be noted kine, which, though in comparison with cows it is felt 
 to be archaic, is yet familiar from its use in the Bible ; een used 
 in some dialects, that are not unrepresented in literature,
 
 Chapter X. 181 
 
 instead of eyes; and housen, which is also a dialect form, 
 though with less pretence than een to be a literary word. Now 
 the occurrence of these and the other ^-plurals may fairly be 
 taken to suggest, that a declension, of which oxen (that shews 
 no other plural form) is a representative, once existed alongside 
 a declension which made its plural in (e}s; while the occur- 
 rence of double forms like een, eyes, of which the latter is the 
 usual one, suggests that the present meagre condition of such a 
 declension is due to the fact that nouns once belonging to it 
 passed over to its rival. These suppositions find confirmation 
 on turning to a related speech, German, where -plurals are 
 found in abundance. Moreover from a comparison of English 
 and German forms it may be inferred, that in the former the 
 termination (e)n has not unfrequently disappeared, e.g. though 
 all German infinitives have the inflection en, no English verb 
 has it. This particular case of loss, then, may suggest an 
 explanation of the apparently anomalous genitives, given 
 above, in Sun -day, Mon-fay; viz. that just as the English verb 
 mean is the equivalent of Ger. mein-en, so the mon of Mon-<\a,y 
 may be the shortening of a genitive which once had a suffix of 
 the same form as the verb had. And the supposition is 
 confirmed by comparison with German, which still has en as 
 a genitive suffix for many nouns. 
 
 9. From an examination of modern forms, then, it might be 
 possible to establish thus much for the earlier 
 
 ,, . . , j . ,. . r i Inferences 
 
 grammar, that it had two distinct types of de- that may be 
 clension, one in which j-suffixes were used in the dra w from 
 
 modern words. 
 
 genitive singular and in the nominative plural, 
 the other which had ^-suffixes in those cases. Further details 
 might be similarly worked out, if other apparently anomalous 
 forms, Fri-day, sheep, feet, children, were considered ; but it is 
 not necessary to illustrate the point further. The significance 
 in a rather different direction of one other word, however, may 
 be noted. Modern English seems to know no other case- 
 ending than that of the genitive ; but the existence of whilome
 
 1 82 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 [=at (former) times] alongside while suggests a dative suffix for 
 the plural ; and again German, with dative plurals in , would 
 confirm the suggestion. 
 
 10. If, now, instead of taking the modern we were to take 
 
 Scheme of tne ^ est English grammatical forms we should 
 
 old English still have for consideration the case of a system 
 
 declensions. , , , , r r 11 T *.i_ 
 
 which is but a remnant of a fuller one. In the 
 case of the modern an attempt has been made to shew that by 
 means of modern forms alone it might be possible to recon- 
 struct in part a fuller system, of which they are but fragments ; 
 by dealing with the oldest forms in the same way it should be 
 equally possible to reconstruct a system of which they in their 
 turn are but imperfect representatives. In order that we may 
 have material for illustrating the history of our grammatical 
 forms, both before and after the point which is marked by the 
 oldest English, the following declensions are here given : 
 
 A. I. fisc ; m. fish : col ; n. coal : word ; 
 wund ; /. wound. 
 
 n. word'. cearu;_/". care: 
 
 Sing 
 
 N. 
 
 fisc 
 
 col 
 
 word 
 
 cearu 
 
 wund 
 
 
 G. 
 
 fisces 
 
 coles 
 
 wordes 
 
 ceare 
 
 wunde 
 
 
 D. 
 
 fisce 
 
 cole 
 
 worde 
 
 ceare 
 
 wunde 
 
 
 A. 
 
 fisc 
 
 col 
 
 word 
 
 ceare 
 
 wunde 
 
 Plur. 
 
 N. 
 
 fiscas 
 
 colu 
 
 word 
 
 ceara (-e) 
 
 wunda (-e) 
 
 
 G. 
 
 fisca 
 
 cola 
 
 word a 
 
 ceara 
 
 wunda 
 
 
 D. 
 
 fiscum 
 
 colum 
 
 word urn 
 
 cearum 
 
 wundum 
 
 
 A. 
 
 fiscas 
 
 colu 
 
 word 
 
 ceara (-e) 
 
 wunda (-e) 
 
 i a. ende; m. end: cynn ; n. kin: rice; 
 wylf ; /. she-wolf. 
 
 n. power: hell; f. hell: 
 
 Sing. 
 
 N. 
 
 ende 
 
 cynfn] 
 
 rice 
 
 helfl] 
 
 wylf 
 
 
 G. 
 
 endes 
 
 cynnes 
 
 rices 
 
 belle 
 
 wylfe 
 
 
 D. 
 
 ende 
 
 cynne 
 
 rice 
 
 helle 
 
 wylfe 
 
 
 A. 
 
 ende 
 
 cyn[n] 
 
 rice 
 
 helle 
 
 wylfe 
 
 Plur. 
 
 N. 
 
 endas 
 
 cynfn] 
 
 ricu 
 
 hella (-e) 
 
 wylfa (e)- 
 
 
 G. 
 
 enda 
 
 cynna 
 
 rica 
 
 hella 
 
 wylfa 
 
 
 D. 
 
 endum 
 
 cynnum 
 
 rlcum 
 
 helium 
 
 wylfum 
 
 
 A. 
 
 endas 
 
 cyn[n] 
 
 rica 
 
 hella (-e) 
 
 wylfa (-e)
 
 Chapter X. 
 
 183 
 
 I b. beam; m. barrtnv, grove: melu; n. meal: sceadu; /. shadow; 
 meed ; mead, meadow. 
 
 Sing. N. beam 
 
 G. bearwes 
 
 D. bearwe 
 
 A. beam 
 
 Plur. N. bearwas 
 
 G. bearwa 
 
 D. bearwum 
 
 A. bearwas 
 
 2. wine; m. friend: wyrm; m. ivonn: Engle;//. Angles: sife; n. 
 
 melu 
 
 sceadu 
 
 rnsed 
 
 melwes 
 
 sceadwe 
 
 mcedwe 
 
 melvve 
 
 sceadwe 
 
 meed we 
 
 melu 
 
 sceadwe 
 
 mcedwe 
 
 melu 
 melwa 
 
 sceadwa (-e) 
 sceadwa 
 
 maidwa (-e) 
 msedwa 
 
 melwum 
 
 sceadwum 
 
 msedwum 
 
 melu 
 
 sceadwa (-e) 
 
 mcedwa (-e) 
 
 sieve : benc ; /. bench. 
 
 Sing. N. 
 
 wine 
 
 wyrm 
 
 sife 
 
 benc 
 
 G. 
 
 wines 
 
 wyrmes 
 
 sifes 
 
 bence 
 
 D. 
 
 wine 
 
 wyrme 
 
 sife 
 
 bence 
 
 A. 
 
 wine 
 
 wyrm 
 
 sife 
 
 benc 
 
 Plur. N. 
 
 wine, and -as 
 
 wyrmas Engle 
 
 sifu (-a) 
 
 ben:e, and -a 
 
 G. 
 
 wina 
 
 wyrma Engla 
 
 sifa 
 
 banca 
 
 D. 
 
 winum 
 
 wyrmum Englum 
 
 sifum 
 
 bencum 
 
 A. 
 
 wine, and -as 
 
 wyrmas Engle 
 
 sifu (-a) 
 
 bence, and a 
 
 3. sunu ; m. son : feld 
 
 ; m. field: duru ; f. door: hand 
 
 ; /. hand. 
 
 Sing. N. 
 
 sunu 
 
 feld 
 
 duru 
 
 hand 
 
 G. 
 
 suna 
 
 felda, and -es 
 
 dura 
 
 handa 
 
 D. 
 
 suna, -u 
 
 felda, and -e 
 
 dura, -u 
 
 handa 
 
 A. 
 
 sunu 
 
 feld 
 
 duru 
 
 hand 
 
 Plur. N. 
 
 suna 
 
 felda, and -as 
 
 dura, -u 
 
 handa 
 
 G. 
 
 suna 
 
 felda 
 
 dura 
 
 handa 
 
 D. 
 
 sunum 
 
 feldum 
 
 durum 
 
 handum 
 
 A. 
 
 suna 
 
 felda, and -as 
 
 dura, -u 
 
 handa 
 
 B. i. guma; m.man: tunge;/. tongue: cage; n.eye: i a. lengu (-o) ; 
 
 /. length 
 
 Sing. 
 
 N. 
 
 guma 
 
 tunge 
 
 cage 
 
 lengu (-0) 
 
 
 
 G. 
 
 guman 
 
 tungan 
 
 eagan 
 
 lengu (-0), 
 
 and -e 
 
 
 D. 
 
 guman 
 
 tungan 
 
 eagan 
 
 lengu (-0), 
 
 and -e 
 
 
 A. 
 
 guman 
 
 tungan 
 
 cage 
 
 lengu (-0), 
 
 and -e 
 
 Plur. 
 
 N. 
 
 guman 
 
 tungan 
 
 eagan 
 
 lenge (-a) 
 
 
 
 G. 
 
 gumena 
 
 tungena 
 
 eagena 
 
 lenga 
 
 
 
 D. 
 
 gumum 
 
 tungum 
 
 eagum 
 
 lengum 
 
 
 
 A. 
 
 guman 
 
 tungan 
 
 eagan 
 
 lenge (-a) 

 
 184 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 C. fot; /. foot: hnutu; /. nut: boc; /. book: broker; m. brother 
 freond ; m. friend : cild ; n. child. 
 
 N. 
 
 fot 
 
 hnutu 
 
 boc 
 
 G. 
 
 fotes 
 
 hnute 
 
 bee, an 
 
 D. 
 
 fet 
 
 hnyte 
 
 bee 
 
 A. 
 
 fot 
 
 hnutu 
 
 boc 
 
 N. 
 
 fet 
 
 hnyte 
 
 bee 
 
 G. 
 
 fot a 
 
 hnuta 
 
 boca 
 
 D. 
 
 fot um 
 
 hnutum 
 
 bocum 
 
 A. 
 
 fet 
 
 hnyte 
 
 bee 
 
 N. 
 
 brobor 
 
 
 freond 
 
 G. 
 
 bro)>or 
 
 
 freondes 
 
 D. 
 
 brewer 
 
 
 friend, freonde 
 
 A. 
 
 bro^or 
 
 
 freond 
 
 N. 
 
 bro}>or, brojru 
 
 
 friend, freondas 
 
 G. 
 
 brojjra 
 
 
 freond a 
 
 D. 
 
 broj>rum 
 
 
 freondum 
 
 Plur. 
 
 Sing. N. brobor freond cild 
 
 cildes 
 cilde 
 cild 
 
 Plur. N. broK>r, brojru friend, freondas cildru, cild 
 
 cildra 
 cildum 
 A. broj>or, broj>ru friend, freondas cildru, cild 
 
 11. We may now try to work out the earlier history of one 
 
 or two of these oldest English forms. Take, for 
 
 Some points instance, the declension of euma (B i) ; it shews 
 
 in the earlier . . . , . v ' 
 
 history of the no inflection in the singular which can compare 
 
 grammlatTcai w ' tn tnose f fi sc (A J ) > th ere is nothing but an 
 forms. The unchanging ^//-termination. The plural, too, in 
 
 weak declen- -111 t- 
 
 sion. nom. and ace. shews the same ending ; the 
 
 genitive, however, has an addition to the -form, 
 gumen-a, which is like that of the same case in the declension, 
 oi fisc -fisc-a. This might suggest that in earlier times other 
 cases may have used the same endings in both declensions. 
 If, now, we turn to a cognate speech, Gothic, and compare the 
 inflections of the same two words, we shall find their gen. pis. 
 related as in English guman-e, fisk-e; but in Gothic it is not 
 the gen. pi. only that suggests comparison, for the gen. sing, is 
 gumin-s, the nom. ace. pi. guman-s, while the same three cases 
 of fisk all shew an ^-inflection. By the help of Gothic we are 
 certainly carried back a step in the life of the oldest English 
 declension. And if older forms than the Gothic be compared
 
 Chapter X. 185 
 
 the work of reconstruction may be carried yet further. The 
 Latin forms of guma and fisc are homo and piscts, whose gen. 
 pis., homm-um, pisci-um, shew the same agreement in the 
 inflection as do Gothic guman-e, fisk-e ; but in Latin it is not 
 only in this case that the inflections seem the same for the two 
 words, for the gen. sing, is homin-is, pisc-is, the nom. ace. pi. 
 /iomin-es, pisc-es respectively. And this may shew that in gen. 
 sing, gumin-s and fisk-is, we have, quite as much as in gen. pi. 
 guman-e and fisk-e t the same inflection in each word ; and the 
 same may be said of the nom. and ace. pi. Further, though 
 Gothic in the dat. and ace. sing, gumin, guman is without 
 inflection, while fisk-a and fisk are corresponding cases, Latin 
 homin-i, pisc-i, homin-em, pisc-em will suggest that in these cases 
 also the inflections were once the same for both words. 
 Passing then from the Latin through the Gothic we get the 
 history of the Old English declension. With one exception, 
 the gen. pi., its proper inflections have been gradually worn 
 off, and it has been reduced to the stem form to which those 
 inflections were attached. The declension of these #-stem 
 nouns is commonly called the weak declension. 
 
 12. We may turn now to the more complex case of the 
 nouns given under A, and try to recognize indica- 
 tions of the system which they represent. In 
 speaking of the development of the vowel system 
 the modifications produced in one sound by another that follows 
 it have been noticed. Thus original a followed by / or j 
 becomes e; u under the same influence becomes y, but 
 followed by a becomes o. If, then, we find in nouns these 
 modifications, even though the modifying cause is no longer 
 present, we have a suggestion that as well as consonant stems 
 (e.g. guman-} we have vowel stems. Moreover in certain words 
 a vowel is left to shew the character of the formation : e.g. 
 sun-u, win-e (earlier -z) may suggest u- and /- stem nouns 
 respectively. Again, in speaking of the consonants it was noted 
 that after a short vowel a consonant followed by j was doubled
 
 1 86 Outlines of the History of the EnglisJi Language. 
 
 and they disappeared. If, then, a noun occurs with a changed 
 short vowel and a doubled consonant there is a suggestion of 
 a /(rt)-stem. The same stem-ending, too, after a long root 
 syllable should be left as e. Applying these remarks to the 
 interpretation of some part of the scheme given under A we 
 may note that the o in col and word points to the a-stem ; 
 while the y and doubled n of cynn point to the /a-stem. To 
 the same stem point the root e and final e of end-e, and the 
 final e of r'tc-e. To the /-stem belongs win-e-, and the y of 
 icyrm, which though a long syllable, has no final e, as end-e 
 has, points to a stem in i. Sun-u still shews the stem vowel. 
 If, now, as before, we compare English with related speeches, 
 we shall find the suggestions confirmed. Thus the oldest 
 Scandinavian form of the Old English eorl is eril-a-r, shewing 
 the a of the stem ; while gast-i-r, Old English giest (guest) 
 equally shews the / of the stem ; and Gothic shews three forms 
 of dative plural, fisk-am, gast-im, sun-urn. The latter speech, 
 too, will illustrate the /a-stem in its declension of kun-i 
 (O.E. cynn}, which makes its gen. kun-jis, dat. pi. kun-jatn. 
 These few instances 1 may serve to shew that the Old English 
 forms suggest what their earlier history has been, and that by 
 help from other speeches the suggestions may be tested and 
 supplemented, so that their history may be written. 
 
 13. One or two other points, that in view of the later history 
 
 of our declensions are of interest, may be men- 
 an^confusion. ti n ed. In connection with the later rejection of 
 
 inflections it may be noted, that both Gothic and 
 Icelandic in many of their nouns shew a termination for the 
 
 1 It is only the two main groups of declensions that have been touched 
 on ; the smaller declensions, collected together in C, might be treated in 
 the same way ; but in regard to their significance in the history of our 
 inflections it must be enough in their case to point out, that, with the 
 exception of the frconJ form (in which the interest attaches rather to the 
 -nd suffix than to the case-endings), they are all more or less preserved in 
 modern English.
 
 Chapter X. 187 
 
 nominative, e.g. Goth, fisk-s, lco[.fisk-r (cf. Lat. piscts); but no 
 English noun shews such a termination. Again, in connection 
 with the later confusion of declensions it may be noted how an 
 z'-stem noun, met-e, is treated in the plural as if it belonged to 
 the tf-stem declension, and makes its plural met/as; and the 
 two plural forms of win-e, wine and winas, shew the early 
 tendency to assimilation which has resulted in our modern (e)s. 
 The same is seen in the u stem noun feld, and in the -fid stem 
 freond. As explaining anomalous plurals like sheep, deer, it 
 may be noted that the short syllable col makes its pi. colu, but 
 the long syllable, word, has pi. and sing, alike. A reference to 
 Gothic, where a termination a (waurd-a) is used whether the 
 syllable be long or short, shews that this is a rule that English 
 had developed from the simpler stage marked by Gothic. To 
 these instances drawn, with one exception, from the A group 
 may be added one taken from the B group, that furnished by 
 nouns like lengn(-o). The e suggests the early presence of an 
 /-suffix, and a reference to Gothic, in which the form is lagg-ei 
 ('=*), confirms the suggestion. The true character of the 
 declension may also be learnt from that language, which shews 
 the genitive in -eins, dat. ace. in -ein. It is, then, a consonant- 
 stem declension, but in Old English it has already lost all its 
 distinctive forms. Moreover, thanks to the change of its final 
 vowel, the words belonging to it were readily confused with 
 those of the feminines in the A group, and often passed over 
 to their declension. 
 
 14. What has been said will be enough to bring out two 
 points in the early history of our declensions; that 
 inflections were lost, with the result that different ne ^"f c^ang!^. 
 cases were no longer distinguished, e.g. the sin- 
 gular of guma was reduced to two forms guma, gitman ; and 
 that there was a tendency to assimilate the inflections of the 
 various declensions to those of a particular declension, e.g. the 
 plurals winas, freondas, assimilated to fiscas, take the place of 
 wine, friend. Thus both the continuousness of change and its
 
 1 88 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 constancy of direction may be shewn ; for it is just these two 
 points that are prominent in the history of the declensions 
 during the period between the oldest and modern English. 
 
 15. It is naturally in the language of that part of England 
 
 Later history which was most troubled by the Danes that 
 
 of change, change may first be marked. The point may 
 
 different con- . J . 
 
 ditionsof be illustrated by the following short comparisons 
 
 souThera and of the West Saxon and Northumbrian renderings 
 English. of the same material : 
 
 West-Saxon. Northumbrian. 
 
 Dines lichamaw leohlfcet is J>in cage loehtfaet lichomas is ego 
 
 lucerna corporis est oculus. 
 
 D<?t mot of J>ines brotSwr eaga ftone mot of ego bro]>res iSines 
 
 festucam de oculo patris tui. 
 sawk forwyrd saukr loswist 
 
 animae detrimentum. 
 
 Here it will be noticed that in Northumbrian a noun of the 
 weak declension, lichama, makes its genitive in s, while another, 
 cage, has dropped the n of the dative, thus going far towards 
 the obliteration of the declension. In the case of another 
 declension, that of brc&ur, the same assimilating influence is at 
 work, and the es suffix for the genitive is introduced here also. 
 Among nouns, too, of the A group the suffix of masculine or 
 neuter nouns is substituted for that of the feminine, and for 
 sawk is written sauk.r. Neglect of gender may also be seen in 
 the use of a masculine adjective Aone with a neuter noun, mot. 
 
 After the Norman Conquest the grammar of Southern 
 English in its turn suffered, but it was long before it overtook 
 that of the North in the course of simplification. Thus in the 
 Middle English dialects the two are still contrasted: 
 
 Southern. Northern. 
 
 A large number of nouns with No plurals in -en, except eghen, 
 
 -en plurals. oxen, hosen, schoon. 
 
 Genitive plural in -ene as late as No genitive plural in -ene.
 
 Chapter X, 189 
 
 Plurals children, brethren, ken Childer, brother, kuy (ky), fiend, 
 
 (kmi) cows, hondai (lionde). 
 
 Genitive of feminine nouns in -e. Genitive of femininenounsin-^5 1 . 
 
 By the North the modern stage was already reached ; 
 it had practically carried out the two sweeping changes 
 which were to convert the oldest English declensions 
 into the modern ones; the weak nouns were turned into 
 strong, and of the many subdivisions of the latter one form 
 only was used, that which had the inflexions in -s for genitive 
 singular and nominative plural. The same course was after- 
 wards followed by the South, and thus was reached the point 
 of simplification, towards which the system of declension had 
 been moving long before we know it in its oldest English 
 form. 
 
 16. It has been mostly change in respect to types of declen- 
 sion to which attention has been directed, but 
 another point calls for notice. The single type p^po^tioas 
 to which nearly all others were conformed was instead of 
 
 1.1 j ,. . case-endings. 
 
 not completely preserved ; its case distinctions 
 were lost. This made it necessary to extend a use already 
 known to the language, and to employ much more largely 
 independent words, prepositions, to mark the relations, which 
 it had been the office of case-endings to mark. A similar use 
 in French, which had already suffered the losses that English 
 was to suffer, might help to determine the English practice, so 
 that even where a case-ending remained, the same relation 
 could be expressed by means of a preposition. So influenced 
 by French de the genitive relation might be expressed by the 
 use of of, as well as by the inflection, though this case did not 
 stand in the same need, as did the dative, of help from a 
 preposition. As a result, then, of changes in its grammatical 
 system, the language has changed its character, and while Old 
 English is synthetic, modern English is analytic. 
 
 1 Morris and Skeat's Specimens (Introduction).
 
 190 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 17. The adjective in the matter of declension has a history 
 
 very similar to that of the noun, and may be 
 
 sion of the" 1 treated more briefly. Looking to the Old English 
 
 adjective, its forms we shall find that all adjectives, when used 
 
 case-endings . ' 
 
 preserved by with a demonstrative, can shew inflections parallel 
 ins> to those of weak nouns of corresponding gender 
 (v. B i, supra) ; while a more or less perfect correspondence 
 with the subdivisions according to vowel stems given under A 
 may be traced; e.g. swet-e with e< J, and final e may compare 
 with end-e, with e < a, and final e ; cuc-u (quick) may compare 
 with sun-u. The tendency to pass from one declension to 
 another marks the adjective as well as the noun ; and the loss 
 of distinctions is seen in the uniformity introduced by the later 
 West-Saxon grammar into the nominative plural, where the 
 single termination -e is used in the place of -e; masc., -a; 
 fern., -u ; neuter with short roots, or no termination with long 
 roots. In the Middle English dialects the adjective inflections, 
 like those of the noun, are best preserved in the Southern, but 
 in the end the same simplicity prevails everywhere, and the 
 adjective, going beyond the noun in the rejection of termina- 
 tions, becomes uninflected as regards gender, number and case. 
 The one inflection it retains marks a relation, with which the 
 noun is not concerned, i.e. degree. And here it will be noticed 
 that modern English, though at first sight simple, suggests 
 that simplicity results from a disregard of earlier distinc- 
 tions. Elder by the side of old y first compared with former 
 suggest that the suffix of comparison must once have con- 
 tained /', while other cases in which the vowel of the positive 
 remains unchanged suggest that there must have been a 
 second suffix in which * did not occur. That such was 
 the case may be seen from Gothic, where the comparative 
 of old is afy-iza, but that of blind is blind-oza. But though 
 in modern English the adjectives may be able to contribute 
 very little towards a reconstruction of early declensions, yet 
 modern English still preserves nearly all their old inflections.
 
 Chapter X. 
 
 191 
 
 And this will be seen on comparing the following declen- 
 sions : 
 
 A J asc. Fern. Neut. 
 
 Masc. Fern. Neut. 
 
 Sing. 
 
 N. 
 
 god 
 
 god 
 
 god 
 
 he 
 
 heo 
 
 hit 
 
 
 G. 
 
 godes 
 
 godre 
 
 godes 
 
 his 
 
 hire 
 
 his 
 
 
 D. 
 
 god um 
 
 godre 
 
 godum 
 
 him 
 
 hire 
 
 him 
 
 
 A. 
 
 godne 
 
 gode 
 
 god 
 
 hine 
 
 hie 
 
 hit 
 
 Instrumental 
 
 gode 
 
 
 gode 
 
 \>y instrumental of demonstrative 
 
 Plur. 
 
 N. 
 
 gode 
 
 goda 
 
 god 
 
 )>a "I 
 
 
 
 
 G. 
 
 godra 
 
 godra 
 
 godra 
 
 J>eera ( 
 
 plural of demonstra- 
 
 
 D. 
 
 god u m 
 
 godum 
 
 godum 
 
 J>wm | 
 
 tive 
 
 
 
 A. 
 
 gode 
 
 g5da 
 
 god 
 
 K J 
 
 
 
 The inflections of the adjectives and the pronouns were to 
 a great extent the same ; hence though the modern adjective 
 has lost its inflections they are still to be found in such 
 pronominal forms as his, her; him, whom, her; their; them. 
 Even a case that was going out of general use in the early 
 time, the instrumental, leaves a trace in the before compara- 
 tives ; and a still earlier termination, that already had been lost 
 to the ordinary adjective in the Oldest English, is kept down to 
 modern times in the t of //, that and what. This last point 
 may be illustrated by comparing Gothic allata, the neuter of 
 alls, and ]>ata, the neuter of the demonstrative, with the 
 corresponding Old English call and \<zt. It will be seen, then, 
 that though the adjective itself cannot now suggest even so 
 much of an earlier history as can the noun, yet the declensional 
 system of the earlier time in its case has left no less mark 
 upon the modern speech than has that of the noun. 
 
 18. Turning now to the verb we shall find, that, as with 
 declensions so with conjugations, the present The con- 
 condition of the language at first sight seems to jugation of the 
 be one in which there are a few general rules, 
 though to these there may be a few exceptions. The case of 
 the verb is somewhat more complicated than that of the noun ; 
 the latter is concerned with but three modifications, the former 
 with four, mood, person, number, tense. However in the first
 
 192 Outlines of tJie History of tJie English Language. 
 
 three of these there is pretty general uniformity ; the singular 
 of the subjunctive present is distinguished from that of the 
 indicative by the absence of person-endings, in the plural of 
 the same tenses there is no distinction. In the indicative the 
 present singular shews the person-endings -st and -s or -th in 
 the 2nd and 3rd person respectively, the past has an ending 
 for the 2nd person only, while in the plural both tenses are 
 without person-endings; in the subjunctive both tenses remain 
 unchanged throughout. These practically appear to be general 
 rules. With respect, however, to the fourth modification 
 tense it is at once seen that there is not a single rule which 
 expresses the relation between the present and the past. For 
 the majority of verbs, indeed, one rule, with slight variations 
 for special phonetic conditions, might serve, to the effect that 
 the past is formed from the present by the addition of a dental. 
 But there is an important minority of native English verbs, too 
 numerous to be looked upon as mere exceptions to the above 
 rule, in which a totally different method is employed. Love ; 
 loved; p. t. ; loved; pp.: drive ; drove ; p. t. ; driven; pp., .shew 
 the same effect produced by different means ; in the latter case 
 the characteristic mark of the conjugation is the series of 
 vowels t, <?, z, seen in the three parts of the verb ; a different 
 note, as it were, is struck to indicate the respective modifica- 
 tions, which in the other case are indicated by the added 
 dental. There are, then, two main groups of which the two 
 verbs given above may be taken as types, the strong conjugation 
 represented by drive, the weak by love ; and we may turn to 
 notice each separately with the object of recognizing the 
 history of each as it is written on the speech of later or of 
 earlier times. 
 
 19. Taking first the strong verbs we may almost observe 
 
 their history in one point being written. Such 
 ve^bs ng forms as driv-en, bor-n, sung, double forms like 
 
 writt-en and writ, both used in literature, or like 
 tor-n and tore, where one only is as yet considered correct, will
 
 Chapter X. 193 
 
 tell the story of the suffix -en, and establish it as a part of all past 
 participles at an earlier time. Again, though now it may seem 
 to be the rule that in the past tense the singular and plural 
 shew the same vowel, I drove, we drove, &c., yet the commonest 
 of English past tenses may suggest that this rule has not always 
 been in force. Was, were, thanks perhaps to the circumstance 
 that their real character is obscured by the losses which the 
 strong verb to which they belong has suffered,' and notwith- 
 standing that analogy has often led to the use of you was, have 
 been able to maintain a distinction between the vowels of the 
 singular and plural. And that this distinction was not peculiar 
 to the verb in question is suggested by other modern verbs 
 which do not conform to general rules. Take for instance the 
 case of shall. Here as regards meaning we have a present 
 tense, but as regards form the rule of that tense, which 
 requires a termination for the third person, is not followed; 
 shall, according to form, is a past tense. Its past tense is 
 shoul-d, which is not formed from shall, but from shoul; and 
 this is conceivable if shall, in its true character of past tense, 
 had, like was, a different vowel () in its plural. Another 
 auxiliary, can, is a parallel case. Again, a rather less familiar 
 word, the verb to wit, may illustrate the point. Wist as the 
 past tense of a present wot, whose infinitive is wit appears 
 irregular in several respects. But the irregularity of the vowels 
 would be explained away, if here the case is the same as that 
 of shall, and wot, being really a past tense, has had a different 
 vowel, /, in its plural, which appears in wist. There are at least 
 suggestions, then, in the modern grammar that not from three 
 parts only of the verb, but from four, has the characteristic 
 vowel series of a strong verb been taken. Thus from was, 
 were; shall, shoul; wot, wit we might infer that to write, wrote, 
 written must once have belonged a fourth form, that of the 
 past tense plural, writ. Further the indifferent use of sang and 
 sung as the past tense of sing would be quite in keeping with 
 an earlier sang in the singular, sung in the plural. Moreover 
 
 T. 13
 
 194 Outlines of the History of the English Language, 
 
 was, were will suggest that even the consonant structure of the 
 verb might be affected, and taken along with [for-]/<?r, the 
 past participle of [for-]/<?.$v?, will shew which parts of the verb 
 were modified. 
 
 20. In the case of the verb, then, as in that of the noun, 
 Scheme of t ^ ie mo ^ern grammar tells of the fuller system 
 
 strong verbs in from which it has decayed. The oldest form of 
 the verbal scheme, that is found in English, may 
 be represented by the following instances, and this, too, will 
 point to a yet earlier : 
 
 (i) vowel-series a, o, o, a: 
 
 infin. f. sing. p. flur. p. p. 
 
 faran to fare for foron faren 
 
 (a) vowel-series e, (e)a, u, o: 
 
 helpan to help healp hulpon holpen 
 
 (3) vowel-series e, x, x, e : 
 
 cwej>an to say cwae)> cwaklon cweden 
 
 (4) vowel-series e, x, x t o : 
 
 beran to bear baer bseron boren 
 
 (5) vowel-series I, a, i, i: 
 
 drifan to drive draf drifon drifen 
 
 (6) vowel-series eo or u, ea, u, o : 
 
 leosan to lose leas luron loren 
 
 bugan to bow beag bugon bogen 
 
 (7) verbs which though shewing a variety of vowels in the infinitive 
 and past participle shew e or eo throughout the past tense : 
 
 Isetan to let let leton 1st en 
 
 healdan to hold heold heoldon healden 
 
 21. On examining verbs which are included in this scheme 
 
 we may, as in the case of the modern verbs noted 
 
 Reduplica- , _ . . - .. . 
 
 tion in verbs. above, find suggestions of an earlier history. 
 Thus among verbs belonging to class 7 we may 
 see some remarkable forms, ffdtan, the material of which 
 may be said still to survive in hight, has for its past tense 
 heht as well as het ; leort as well as let is found as the past
 
 Chapter X. 195 
 
 tense of l&tan; and leolc is the past tense of Idcan, to play. 
 Here we have a suggestion of tense formation differing some- 
 what from that shewn, e.g. by drdf, drifon, and one whose 
 characteristic mark may be suggested by a comparison of 
 ht-ht, feo-lc with /za/an, /aVan respectively. At least it may be 
 noticed that in each of these the initial sound of the root, h, I 
 respectively, followed by a vowel, precedes the consonant part 
 of each ht, Ic respectively. English by itself could hardly speak 
 decisively; but on turning to Gothic the full form, of which 
 English preserves only scanty traces, may be found. In that 
 dialect heht appears as hai-hait, let as lai-lot, and there are 
 besides many verbs of the same reduplicating type, which for the 
 most part are found in English as verbs which might be placed 
 in class 7. As, then, modern were suggests a distinction no 
 longer living, but which may be established on turning to the 
 older grammar, so heht, etc. in the older grammar may suggest 
 a formation no longer recognized, but which may be established 
 by reference to another language. And, moreover, if the com- 
 parison be carried beyond the bounds of Teutonic speech, and 
 e.g. the reduplicating verbs in Latin be noted, we shall see, as 
 might be expected, that grammatical forms, as well as vocabu- 
 lary, are common to the great family. 
 
 22. We may now try to shew that weak verbs, for whose 
 conjugation there is now a simplicity of rule 
 comparable with that for the declension of 
 nouns, will, like nouns, still suggest a more complex system. 
 Though now salve and love seem to belong to the same con- 
 jugation as heal and fill, yet that such was not always the case 
 is suggested by the fact, that while the two former shew just 
 the same vowels as the nouns with which they are connected, 
 the two latter shew vowels that have undergone a regular change 
 from those shewn in the connected adjectives whole and full. 
 And the same kind of change is seen on comparing tell with 
 /a/<?, deem with doom, and in many other instances. There is 
 at least a suggestion then, that there were two conjugations, 
 
 132
 
 196 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 one in which the material used in building up the verb forms 
 could produce such change as that just noted, the other in 
 which that material was not used; a two-fold division which 
 may find a parallel in such different comparatives as fu//-er 
 from /u//, and eld-er from old. Moreover tell, p. told, com- 
 pared with well, p. welled, seek, p. sought, compared with deem, 
 p. deemed may suggest that of the conjugation in which change 
 of root-vowel takes place there is a subdivision containing 
 verbs that admit such change only in the present. 
 
 23. As representatives of the oldest scheme which English 
 Scheme of offers for the weak verbs the following may be 
 
 p. part. 
 wered 
 seted, setft] 
 framed 
 or fremmed 
 demed 
 sended, send 
 teald 
 soht 
 boht 
 sealfod 
 ha:fd 
 lifd 
 
 A glance at this scheme will shew how far its leading 
 features are preserved in the modern speech ; and we may now 
 try to find in it suggestions for its earlier history. 
 
 24. In the case of all the infinitives in (i), (2), (3) it will 
 be noticed that the vowels in the root-parts may 
 
 1 races ol * J 
 
 an earlier have undergone the change, which the form of 
 
 the termination in the case of werian might lead 
 us to expect ; it is the change already noted in the /a-stem 
 nouns. Among those nouns it was also noticed that when the 
 root-syllable was short, the final consonant was doubled, and to 
 
 weak verbs in cnvfn 
 Old English. 
 
 
 infm. 
 
 p. tense 
 
 (i) 
 
 werian to wear 
 
 werede 
 
 
 settan to set 
 
 sette 
 
 or 
 
 fremian to perform 
 fremman 
 
 framed e 
 or fremde 
 
 
 deman to deem 
 
 demde 
 
 
 sendan to send 
 
 sende 
 
 (2) 
 
 tellan to tell 
 
 tealde 
 
 
 secan to seek 
 
 sohte 
 
 (3) 
 
 bycgan to buy 
 
 bohte 
 
 (4) 
 
 sealfian to salve 
 
 sealfode 
 
 (5) 
 
 habban to have 
 
 hrefde 
 
 
 libban to live 
 
 lifde 
 
 and lifian 
 
 and lifode
 
 Chapter X. 197 
 
 this a parallel is found in sett-an, tell-an, bycg-an. The sug- 
 gestion seems to be, then, that all these infinitives must have 
 had the termination which wer-ian alone clearly keeps. 
 Further, as in the past tense of the verbs in (i) the changed 
 vowel is everywhere present in the root, the e in wer-z-de, 
 which represents the vowel producing the change, at an earlier 
 time may have occurred in all; and it may even have been 
 present in the verbs of (2), if we suppose that it was lost before 
 the period when the change was effected. Thus we might sup- 
 pose a conjugation which has an infinitive in -tan, and in the 
 past tense connects the root with a dental suffix by the vowel e 
 (earlier /), as the form which has developed into the varieties 
 of (i) and (2) in Old English. Now in Gothic, 
 
 , - , ,- Evidence 
 
 where the change of vowels and the doubling from Gothic of 
 of consonants had not been worked out as in scheme three 
 English, we may find the case thus supposed conjugations 
 
 ,, . TT i j- / of weak verbs. 
 
 actually existing. Verbs corresponding (or simi- 
 lar) to the English ones given above appear in that language in 
 the following forms : 
 
 infin. p. tense /). part, 
 
 (1) wasjan wasida wasij>s 
 satjan satida satins 
 tamjan tamida tamij>s 
 domjan domida d5mi}>s 
 sandjan sandida sandijjs 
 
 (2) saljan salida salij>s 
 sokjan s5kida sokij>s. 
 
 Again, it will be noticed that though verbs which belong to 
 (4) have a suffix of the same form as werian has, yet an earlier 
 difference is suggested by the fact, that sealfian shews no 
 change in its root vowel, while werian has changed a to e, 
 The formation of the past tense, too, supports the suggestion, 
 o being used in the one, e in the other. Gothic will make the 
 point clear by its verb salbon, p. salboda, and will establish the 
 earlier form of this second conjugation of weak verbs. But
 
 198 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 the scheme thus constructed for two conjugations offers no 
 place in it for the verbs in (5), which in some respects seem 
 to shew a mixture of characteristic marks from each. Thus, in 
 respect both to the doubled consonant of the infinitive and to 
 the form of the past tense habban resembles tellan, while in the 
 unchanged a of the infinitive it resembles sealfian. Libban, too, 
 in the double character of its forms might suggest that with the 
 verbs a change, similar to that already noted in speaking of the 
 old declensions, had taken place, and verbs might have passed 
 from one conjugation to another. Now turning to Gothic 
 such a third conjugation is found for these two verbs : viz. 
 haban, p. habaida: liban, p. libaida. We may see, then, that 
 in an earlier time than that of Oldest English the weak verbs 
 were distributed among three conjugations, which may be dis- 
 tinguished by the connecting vowels used in forming the past 
 tense, as for instance in the Gothic was-i-da, salb-v-da, hab-ai- 
 da l . Such distinctions may find a parallel in the infinitives of 
 Latin verbs. 
 
 25. To one or other of the two classes, strong and weak, 
 
 almost every English verb may be assigned. But 
 prfs^ntverbs. there are a few remarkable instances of verbs, and 
 
 among them some of the most frequently used in 
 the language, which belong partly to one, partly to the other 
 class. Thus can, may, shall distinguish themselves from the 
 ordinary verb by shewing no inflection in the 3rd person of 
 what in meaning is a present tense : they shew in fact the 
 form of a past tense of the strong type ; while in their past 
 tenses they adopt the method of formation among weak verbs, 
 that of adding a dental. Dare, too, is peculiar; it has a 
 double conjugation, in the 3rd person pres. dare or dares, in 
 the past tense durst or dared. Its true character, which would 
 
 1 The verb to buy, given above under (3), has a form for its p. tense 
 in Gothic (bauhta), which places it outside the main groups of weak verbs 
 even in that speech. Here it is enough to speak of those main groups, so 
 no more than a mere reference to the form is made.
 
 Chapter X. 199 
 
 class it with can, has been misunderstood, and it has been 
 forced into the weak conjugation. Must has suffered even 
 more than dare, for its present tense mote (still to be heard in 
 the formula of the Freemasons) is practically obsolete, and it, 
 though doubly a past tense, can do the work of a present. 
 Ought, again, is the past tense of owe, but it has been deprived 
 of its true present, which, like may, was an old past; like 
 must it can now be used as a present, and owe, like dare, joins 
 the ranks of weak verbs. The Old English forms will confirm 
 the suggestions offered by the modern, as e.g. when can, shall, 
 dare shew u instead of a in the plural ; and a comparison with 
 other languages may throw further light upon such apparently 
 exceptional forms. E.g. the Gothic form of (/) will seems to 
 shew that this apparently present indicative is the past of the 
 optative. To these instances, all of them words in constant 
 use, may be added the practically obsolete wit, wot, wist. 
 It occurs in the Authorized Version, but it is treated even 
 there as dare is now treated, and its true past form for the $rd 
 person, wot, gives way to wotteth*, as if it were an ordinary 
 present. But the Old English wdt, pi. witon, though having 
 the present meaning / know, will shew that it is a past form 
 with which we have to deal, and other languages will offer like 
 evidence. The early history, then, of the group is, that past 
 forms have acquired a present meaning (e.g. wdt=\ saw, there- 
 fore I know), and for such past forms, now detached from their 
 originals, new forms have been constructed and associated 
 with them to form a complete conjugation. From the peculiar 
 constitution of their conjugation these verbs are called some- 
 times preterite-presents, sometimes strong-weak 2 . 
 
 1 My master wotteth not what is with me in the house. Gen. xxxix. 8. 
 
 8 Besides the peculiarity of conjugation, common to the group, there 
 are many points of interest in the conjugations of individual members of 
 the group, e.g. -wist (earlier wts-se) from wit-ta; could (earlier cfi\e) from 
 cun-\a; shall (O.E. scealt), where the old termination of the 2nd pers. sing, 
 p. indie, of strong verbs is kept.
 
 2OO Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 26. But not only the prominent features of the conjugational 
 
 . system are suggested by Modern English, and 
 more clearly by the earliest stage; details, which 
 have left but faint traces, are still to be recognized. For 
 example am ( - a-m) is the only verb now that shews a termi- 
 nation for the first person, though in the oldest stage, where 
 the peculiarity is of course more striking, since the pres. indie, 
 ends regularly in a vowel, three other verbs, do, go, be are 
 sometimes found with the same ending. The explanation is 
 got by reference to the two kinds of present 
 wtthinfixed-n seen ^ n Greek, e.g. <?/mi and tithemi alongside 
 tupto ; in am we have a verb in mi. Again, 
 though as a rule the consonant framework of a strong verb is 
 the same throughout, the present of stood is stand. But we 
 have a parallel formation in Latin vineo, vici, &c., and in stand 
 we may still see that formation of the present in which an n 
 was infixed in the root. 
 
 27. With regard to the suggestiveness of the modern forms 
 
 in regard to mood little need be said. The 
 unchanging present singular of the subjunctive 
 points to the absence of person-endings, and the one verb 
 which maintains the old distinction of vowel between the sing, 
 and pi. of strong pasts were points to the fact that the past 
 subjunctive had the vowel of the pi. indie., not that of the 
 singular. Of the earlier distinctions marking person and 
 number modern speech can say little. Nor is even the oldest 
 stage very suggestive. In no tense are the 
 persons distinguished in the plural, though the 
 plural is distinguished by its termination from the singular. 
 One point, already referred to, which suggests earlier history is 
 found in such forms as sceal-i, mih-\. (=mayest) in contrast 
 with w&r-e, all 2nd p. indie, sing, of strong verbs : these may 
 shew the true character of this verbal form, and, in fact, a 
 reference to Gothic bears out the suggestion. And it is mostly 
 by reference to other speeches that the earlier condition of
 
 Chapter X. 201 
 
 English must be learned. Thus the distinction of three 
 persons in the plural, which is found in Gothic and Icelandic, 
 points to the earlier condition of English. 
 
 28. But leaving the earlier history of conjugation we may 
 briefly note what changes have taken place in the . 
 
 transition from old to modern English. As re- changes in 
 gards the two great classes of verbs there has 
 
 been a change somewhat parallel to that which English 
 has affected the two great classes of nouns; there 
 has been a tendency for verbs to pass from the strong to the 
 weak class. The conjugation of the verb is another instance 
 of the tendency to set up one rule instead of many for gram- 
 matical forms ; and as the rule of the weak verbs was more 
 easily recognized, and more easily applied, it was the one 
 chosen. It is but rarely that a new verb can be fitted into any 
 of the strong verb groups, while it easily adopts the conju- 
 gation of the weak. It follows, then, that the disproportion 
 between the numbers of the two classes is constantly increasing 
 in favour of the weak, and this favours the feeling (as may be 
 noticed in the practice of children) that this class should be 
 the only one '. In other respects, too, the same tendency is 
 seen. Were, noticed above as the and p. indie, sing., and all 
 corresponding forms in strong verbs, have given way to wast, 
 &c., with a formation like that of weak verbs. Very largely, 
 though fortunately not entirely, the indicative usurps the place 
 of the subjunctive. All terminations for person or number, 
 but those of the 2nd person sing. pres. or past, and the 3rd 
 pres. indie, sing, have disappeared. The elaborate structure 
 of conjugation, like that of declension, has almost crumbled 
 away, and the only direction in which extension shews itself 
 
 1 It is rare that analogy leads to a reversal of the usual direction of 
 change. Wear, however, by analogy (cf. bear, tear) is from a weak made 
 into a strong verb. Sometimes, too, in attempting to be funny a writer 
 allows analogy to betray him i to a quite unintended accuracy, e.g. when 
 glode is made the past tense of glide,
 
 202 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 in the verb is, again as in the noun, in the use of independent 
 
 words: the noun uses prepositions, and the verb uses auxiliaries. 
 
 29. As we are now to leave the consideration of the oldest 
 
 stage of the language a few words may be said 
 Angio-SaTon as to the name most appropriate to that stage. 
 E n n d gsh Should it be called Old (or Oldest) English, or 
 
 Anglo-Saxon? On the one hand it is to be 
 noticed that in speaking of the language the writers of the time 
 use the word English ; both Alfred and yElfric describe them- 
 selves as translating into English, and from their time onwards 
 it is the name given to the language by those who use it. 
 On the other hand Anglo-Saxon is a term used of the people by 
 themselves, more especially in reference to southern England, 
 to which part the old literature mostly belongs; and it is a 
 common practice to apply the same term to a people and to 
 their language. As far at least then as concerns the repre- 
 sentative form of the older speech Anglo-Saxon has some claims 
 to recognition. Moreover, this stage has such strong character- 
 istics in its almost unmixed vocabulary and comparatively highly 
 inflected grammar, that by them it is marked off from succeed- 
 ing stages, in which foreign words were introduced in ever 
 increasing numbers, and in which inflections rapidly decayed. 
 As a name for the cultivated speech of England down to the 
 middle of the nth century, or even later, the term Anglo- 
 Saxon may be of use. But it is not without disadvantages. 
 Especially it tends to obscure the continuity in the life of the 
 language, and to give to one stage of it the character almost 
 of a foreign speech. The use of the name, English, through- 
 out, on the other hand, marks the unbroken development, 
 which, though proceeding more rapidly at some times than at 
 others, connects the earliest and latest stages of the language. 
 If the true relation between these stages is borne in mind, the 
 use of Anglo-Saxon in the sense given to it above may be 
 convenient, but if this relation is in danger of being forgotten, 
 it is certainly better to speak of Old or Oldest English.
 
 203 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Traces of foreign influence in English before the Norman Conquest slight 
 difference between conditions of Norman influence and those of earlier 
 influences the term Norman-French Latin in Gaul its character 
 the Franks in Gaul they adopt the language of the conquered the 
 Northmen in France they adopt the language of France Norman 
 influence in England before 1066 the Norman Conquest fusion of 
 Norman and English French in England a mark of race a mark of 
 class use of French in the i4th century disuse of French after 1350 
 in schools among the upper classes as an official language Latin 
 of the Third Period loss of old words limitation in the use of old 
 material English after 1066 the position of English dialects con- 
 tinuous series of English writings the English Chronicle in 1 154 the 
 Southern dialect c. 1200 the Ancren Riivle Layamon's Brut the 
 East Midland dialect the Ormulum the Southern dialect c. 1300 
 Robert of Gloucester's Chronicle its vocabulary its grammar the 
 East Midland dialect Robert of Brunne's Handlyng Synne the 
 Northern dialect the Northumbrian Psalter the Kentish dialect 
 the Aycnbite of Inwyt literary English of the latter half of the I4th 
 century specimen from Chaucer foreign element in its vocabulary 
 Old English element grammatical forms contrasts between the 
 language of literature in the nth and in the I4th centuries. 
 
 1. WITH the conquest of England by the Normans came 
 a new set of influences making for change in The traces of 
 English speech. Before however attempting to ^[^"1"" 
 consider the extent to which such influences English before 
 
 . i n, j the Norman 
 
 were operative, it may be well to remind our- conquest are 
 selves of the degree to which on earlier occasions slight.
 
 2O4 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 English speakers had shewn themselves susceptible to foreign 
 influence. Celtic speech, the language of the conquered 
 natives, had lived alongside English, the language of the 
 conquering intruders, for centuries, but had produced little 
 impression upon it. Latin, the language of the Church and of 
 scholars, had been in use for a not much shorter period, but 
 few Latin words had been adopted. The Danes had made 
 settlements in the country two centuries before the Normans 
 came, and in the end ruled in England; but, though in parts 
 of the country a comparatively considerable number of Danish 
 words might be used, the literary language of England 
 remained to the end practically the language of Alfred. The 
 differences between the various forms of speech in different 
 parts of the country might be more strongly marked than they 
 had been when the Teutonic invaders settled in different parts 
 of Britain, but the vocabulary of the most cultivated form of 
 English speech in the first half of the nth century, still for the 
 most part depended upon the original Teutonic material, and 
 its grammar still for the most part preserved the old forms. 
 As regards language, then, the English, though not refusing all 
 change, had yet shewn themselves little disposed to allow their 
 native forms to be ousted by foreign competitors. 
 
 2. The case, which on the appearance of the Normans 
 presented itself for determination, was an inter- 
 
 The differ- . . . ,,,,, 
 
 ence between estmg variation on those which had been already 
 under whfch" worked out without materially affecting the Teu- 
 Norman in- tonic character of the language. English could 
 
 fluence was 
 
 exercised and hold its ground, though a quite distinct speech, 
 influences 3 " 11 " Celtic > existed in the country along with it; but 
 then the speakers of the latter were a conquered 
 race. It could still hold its ground, when the Danes ruled 
 England; but then English and Danish were very near akin, 
 and the rule was not for long. Latin, as a spoken language, 
 never came into competition with it. The question that asked 
 for answer in 1066 was, what would become of English, when 

 
 Chapter XL 205 
 
 a speech, quite distinct from it, was spoken by rulers of 
 England whose rule was to be permanent? 
 
 3. And here it may be noted that the very name given to 
 that distinct speech suggests how for similar Deriv ationof 
 questions the answers had been worked out in the term' Nor- 
 earlier times; answers, which thanks to the 
 Norman Conquest were to prove of lasting interest to English. 
 For a language Norman-French whose name is built up from 
 words that point to two races of the Teutonic stock, the North- 
 men and the Franks, yet shews only faint traces of Teutonic 
 speech, and finds its place among the derivatives from Latin. 
 To explain this want of correspondence between the name and 
 the character of the language we must go back to the Roman 
 colonization of Gaul. The Celts of that country, unlike their 
 kinsmen of Britain, almost entirely gave up their native speech, 
 and adopted a form of Latin. Their knowledge 
 of Latin was not, however, gained by studying _SchaM?ter! 
 the great writers or by listening to the talk of 
 educated Romans, but rather by intercourse with soldiers and 
 colonists. It is not, then, to the vocabulary of classical Latin 
 that we are to look for much of the material from which was 
 formed the speech of Gaul, nor are we to suppose that in such 
 speech the grammatical accuracy of classical Latin was pre- 
 served 1 . It is not from the same word that the terms denoting 
 the knightly classes of Rome and of France are derived; 
 though each class owes its title to the same characteristic, 
 yet for the Roman eques and the French chevalier the titles 
 are derived from different sources 2 . 
 
 1 A rough parallel to the relation between the literary Latin and the 
 form which gave rise to the Romance language in Gaul may perhaps be 
 found in the relation between the language of Longfellow or Lowell and 
 the colloquial speech given in the works of Bret Harte. 
 
 2 The point illustrated by the use of eqims and caballus is an important 
 one; it marks the character of the Latin that was the source of the Romance 
 speech of Gaul ; in so far, then, as that speech affected English, it becomes 
 of importance to English.
 
 2o6 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 The language, which by the end of the first century after 
 
 Christ had supplanted Celtic, was in course of 
 
 The Franks t j me subjected to a foreign influence, for Gaul 
 
 adopTthe " became the land of the Franks. A case like 
 
 language of ^j. gp^^ o f above presented itself for determi- 
 
 the conquered. 
 
 nation, that of a conqueror living with the 
 conquered from whom he differed in both race and speech, 
 and it was settled by the conqueror accepting, though with 
 a slight admixture of his own, the language of the conquered. 
 The Franks, then, at the end of the loth century spoke a 
 Romance speech. 
 
 One case thus determined, circumstances connected with 
 
 the first element of the name we are noting, led 
 mln in^rlnce to ^ e occurrence of another. The Northmen 
 they adopt who had ravaged France not less than England, 
 
 the language -,-, , , , . , 
 
 of France. at length, as in England, obtained a permanent 
 
 footing there. As at the end of the Qth century 
 the English king had yielded part of his territory to the Danes, 
 so at the beginning of the loth the French king yielded up 
 Neustria to Rollo and his followers. Again it was a question 
 what would be the outcome of the competition between the 
 different languages of conquering and conquered, and again it 
 was with the language of those who had been defeated that 
 the victory rested. In the middle of the nth century the 
 Scandinavian speech of the original conquerors of Normandy 
 was no longer that of their descendants; a form of Romance 
 speech, naturally with characteristics that distinguished it from 
 forms current in other localities, had taken its place. Thus 
 the language, whose name might seem to imply merely a 
 mixture of Teutonic elements, is one in which few traces even 
 of Teutonic influence are to be found, and the material which 
 made its way from Norman-French into English can be spoken 
 of as Latin of the Third Period. 
 
 4. Though the year 1066 is conveniently prominent as 
 a date for marking the beginning of this period, yet it should
 
 Chapter XL 207 
 
 be noted that before this an opportunity to exert an influence 
 upon English had not been wanting to Norman- 
 
 , , . - Norman in- 
 
 French. Ethelred had married a daughter of fluencein 
 the ducal house of Normandy, and the success fj l be ~ 
 of the Danes in England had driven the sons 
 of the marriage into exile at the Norman Court. Naturally 
 Edward looked not unkindly upon the country where he had 
 found asylum, and something of Norman influence may well 
 have been felt in England during his reign. But the Conquest 
 took place so soon after his death that it is unnecessary to mark 
 off the contributions of this preliminary period from those 
 which in such large numbers were made when the Normans 
 were settled in England. 
 
 5. Passing, then, to the time of the Conquest we find 
 the case presenting itself of two quite distinct 
 speeches current in the same country, the one congest 1 3 " 
 that of a foreign conqueror, the other that of the 
 conquered natives. The previous record of the two peoples 
 as regards language was, as we have seen, somewhat different; 
 the conquerors were speaking a language that to their fore- 
 fathers less than 200 years before had been a foreign speech, 
 the conquered were speaking a language that, from times 
 before those in which they had been the conquerors of the 
 country, they had preserved almost intact. To an English- 
 man, who in 1066 might have been concerned for the fate of 
 his native language, a consideration of the earlier circumstances 
 of English and Normans might have afforded some consolation ; 
 for while the latter had shewn a readiness to adopt a foreign 
 speech, and that too one whose speakers they had defeated, 
 the former had shewn a tenacity in their hold upon their native 
 speech, which whether they were conquerors or conquered never 
 failed. Before noticing how far the hope which such a con- 
 sideration might have inspired, was realized, a few words may be 
 said as to the fusion of the two races; for with that fusion came 
 the working out of a language common to the resultant nation.
 
 208 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 At first the two races were antagonists ; but signs of approach 
 may be seen when William II, at the time of 
 
 Fusion of } . . 
 
 Normans and his accession, is assisted by the English against 
 Robert with his Norman supporters. Like cir- 
 cumstances attended the accession of Henry I, whose mar- 
 riage with one of the Old English royal stock marked a policy 
 that favoured union. His rule, too, during which order was 
 enforced in the case of both Norman and English tended to 
 weld together the two elements; while the very anarchy of 
 Stephen's time might help to confound distinctions of race. 
 The case of Stephen's successor, who was descended from both 
 the Old English and Norman royal families, may, if the author 
 of the Dialogus de Scaccario is to be trusted, be taken as 
 typical of the condition prevailing among a considerable part 
 of his subjects. The writer speaking of Henry's times says 
 the two races had become so mixed by intermarrying that, 
 leaving the villein class out of account, it was hardly possible 
 to decide who was of English, who of Norman race 1 . And in 
 keeping with this statement is the changed significance which 
 comes to belong to the terms English and Norman when con- 
 trasted. It is not so much difference of race that is marked, 
 as difference of country; the native of England, whatever his 
 descent, is English, the native of Normandy is Norman ; and 
 this conception of the contrast implied was confirmed by the 
 loss of the foreign possessions of the English kings. How all 
 classes were being compacted into one people the proceedings 
 connected with Magna Charta may shew; while yet later, and 
 under circumstances which brought union and not dissension 
 between king and people, a sense of national unity was fostered 
 by the wars with Scotland and with France. And so it came 
 
 1 lam cohabitantibus Anglicis et Normannis, et alterutrum uxores 
 ducentibus vel nubentibus, sic permixtae sunt nationes, ut vix discerni possit 
 hodie, de liberis loquor, quis Anglicus quis Normannus sit genere; exceptis 
 duntaxat ascriptitiis qui villani dicuntur, quibus non est liberum obstantibus 
 dominis suis a sui status conditione discedere.
 
 Chapter XL 209 
 
 about that within three hundred years of the conquest of 
 England by Normandy a poet who used the dialect of Northern 
 England could write thus of the two countries and of the 
 English king: 
 
 Of Ingland had my hert grete care 
 When Edward founded first to were. 
 
 pe Franche men war frek to fare 
 Ogaines him with scheld and sperej 
 
 pai turned agayn with sides sare, 
 And al J'aire pomp noght worth a pere. 
 
 A pere of prise es more sum tyde 
 pan all ]>e boste of Normondye. 
 
 ]?ai fled, and durst no dede habide, 
 And all J'aire fare noght wurth a flye. 
 
 ffor all }>aire fare J>ai durst noght fight, 
 For dedes dint had ]>ai slike dout; 
 
 Now God help Edward in his right, 
 Amen, and all his redy rowt. 
 
 (LAURENCE MINOT.) 
 
 6. Turning now from the peoples to follow the fortunes of 
 their languages ; to begin with we have a con- Frenc h i n 
 dition in which these were distinctive of race. England a 
 
 r.ii , i . ,, i mark of race, 
 
 I he necessary intercourse between those who 
 lived in the same country would naturally have as a result, that 
 some of either race would become more or less acquainted 
 with the language of the other; but for some time the natural 
 speech of the Norman was Norman-French, as that of the 
 Englishman was English. But from the first the relative posi- 
 tions of the two races must have tended to make the use of French 
 distinctive in another way. French was the language of the 
 higher class because the race to which it belonged formed the 
 most important element in that class. And when the distinction 
 of race had become obscured, distinction of class remained, and 
 
 T. 14
 
 2io Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 one point that marked the higher from the lower was the use of 
 French. That at the end of the i3th century 
 French held its position in England by a tenure, 
 which had somewhat changed from that of the 
 earlier time, may be seen from the lines of Robert of Gloucester, 
 with which he concludes his account of the Norman Conquest 
 
 pus com, lo ! Engelond into Normandies bond. 
 
 & }>e Normans ne cou]>e speke J>o bote hor owe speche, 
 
 & speke French as hii dude atom & hor children dude also teche. 
 
 So \at heiemen of ]>is land \at of hor blod come, 
 
 Holde\ alle \>ulke speche \>at hii of horn name. 
 
 Vor bote a man conne Frenss me tel\> of him lute; 
 
 Ac lowe men holde\> to Engliss &= to hor owe speche jute. 
 
 Ich wene t>er ne be}> in al be world contreyes none, 
 
 pat ne ho3dej> to hor owe speche bote Engelond one. 
 
 Ac wel me wot uor to conne boj>e wel it is, 
 
 Vor }>e more J>at a man can J>e more wurjje he is. 
 
 And that French was regarded rather as a foreign speech at 
 this time, even by those of the class that had used it since the 
 Conquest, is shewn by the terms in which Edward I. addresses 
 the Archbishop and Clergy in the summons to the Parliament 
 of 1295. The country was then at war with France, and an 
 appeal was made to the patriotism of the clergy by telling how 
 the French king had threatened that, if he were successful, he 
 would utterly destroy the English tongue 1 . 
 
 In the 1 4th century the position of French is yet more 
 
 Use of clearly defined by the words of a contemporary 
 
 French in the writer. Higden (d. 1363), whose Polycronicon 
 
 I4th century. , /. , 
 
 comes down to the year 1342, says (to quote the 
 translation of 1385): 'Chyldern in scole, a3enes ]>e usage and 
 manere of al oj>er nacions, bu}> compelled for to leue here 
 
 1 Rex Franciae...praedictis fraude et nequitia non contentus, ad expug- 
 nationem regni nostri classe maxima et bellatorum copiosa multitudine 
 congregatis, cum quibus regnum nostrum et regni ejusdem incolas hostiliter 
 jam invasit, lingiiam Anglicam, si conceptae iniquitatis proposito detestabili 
 potestas corresponded!, quod Deus avertat, omnino de terra delere proponit.
 
 Chapter XL 211 
 
 oune longage, & for to construe here lessons & here Binges 
 a Freynsch, & habbe]?, subbe be Normans come furst into 
 Engelond. Also gentil men children bu}> ytau3t for to speke 
 Freynsch fram tyme >at a buj> yrokked in here cradel, & 
 conne}> speke and playe wi}> a child hys brouch; and op- 
 londysch men wol lykne hamsylf to gentil men, & fondej? wib 
 gret bysynes for to speke Freynsch, for to be more ytold of 1 .' 
 From this it is evident that English was the natural speech of 
 all living in England, and that French was a foreign one to be 
 deliberately acquired. And that such was the light in which 
 the two were regarded may be shewn by an extract from the 
 Cursor Mundi (c. 1320), whose author says: 
 
 pis ilke boke is translate 
 
 Unto Engliss tung to rede 
 
 For }>e luue of Englijs lede, 
 
 Englis lede of meri Ingeland 
 
 For }>e comen to understand. 
 
 Frenkis rimes here I rede 
 
 Comunli in ilka stede; 
 
 pat es most made for Frankis men, 
 
 Quat helpes him }>at non can cen. 
 
 Of Ingl and J?e nacione 
 
 Er Englijs men in comune, 
 
 pe speche J>at men may mast wid spede 
 
 Mast to speke J>arwid war nede; 
 
 Seldom was for ani chance 
 
 Englis tong preched in France, 
 
 Gif we J>aim ilkan J>air language 
 
 And ]>an do we non uterage. 
 
 To lewid and Englis men I spell 
 
 pat understandis quat I can tell. 
 
 The feeling here expressed is somewhat like that which in 
 later times might have been felt by a patriotic Russian, who 
 
 1 Pueri in scholis, contra morem caeterarum nationum, a primo Norman- 
 norum adventu derelicto proprio vulgari, construere Gallice compelluntur ; 
 item filii nobilium ab ipsis cunabulorum crepundiis ad Gallicum idioma 
 informantur. Quibus profecto rurales homines assimilari volentes, ut per 
 hoc spectabiliores videantur, francigenare satagunt omni nisu. 
 
 142
 
 212 Outlines of tJte History of the English Language. 
 
 protested against the use of French by the higher classes of 
 his countrymen. It is not the preference given to one of two 
 languages, where both have a right to exist, that is the subject 
 of complaint, but the preference given to a foreign over the 
 native language. 
 
 That in the first half of the I4th century French occupied 
 
 Disuse of sucn a positi 011 i n England as has been indi- 
 
 French after cated was soon to lead to very important results. 
 
 schootTand Having no stronger hold upon the country than 
 
 among the t h e precarious one which fashion gave, it was 
 
 upper classes, 
 
 unable to withstand the strong anti-French feel- 
 ing produced by the wars of Edward III., and rapidly lost 
 ground. So the translator of Higden, quoted above, finds 
 it necessary when writing in 1385 to append this very signifi- 
 cant note to the statement of his original: 'pys manere (the 
 manner described in the previous extract) was moche y-used 
 tofore be furste moreyn (1349), & ys sefye somdel ychaunged. 
 For lohan Cornwel, a mayster of gramere, chayngede J>e lore 
 in gramerscole, & construccion of Freynsch into Englysch; 
 & Richard Pencrych lurnede J>at manere techyng of hym, & 
 oj?er men of Pencrych; so ]?at now, ]>e 3er of oure Lord a 
 J>ousond J>re hondred foure score & fyue, of J>e secunde kyng 
 Richard after J?e conquest nyne, in al J>e gramerscoles of 
 Engelond childern leuej? Frensch and construe]? & lurne]? an 
 Englysch, and habbe}> ]?erby avauntage in on syde & des- 
 avauntage yn ano]?er; here avauntage ys, }?at a lurne]? here 
 gramer yn lasse tyme J?an childern wer ywoned to do dis- 
 avauntage ys, J>at now childern of gramerscole connej> no more 
 Frensch ]?an can here lift heele, & }>at ys harm for ham, & 
 a scholle passe ]?e se & trauayle in strange londes, & in meny 
 caas also. Also gentil men habbej? now moche yleft for to 
 teche here childern Frensch.' The writer, no doubt, thought 
 it unnecessary to remark that the 'oplondysch men' also ceased 
 to cultivate French. Significant, too, of the transition are the 
 words of Sir John Maundeville in the preface to his book of
 
 Chapter XL 213 
 
 travels, written in the middle of the century: 'I have put this 
 boke out of Latyn into Frensche, and translated it a>en out of 
 Frensche into Englyssche, that every man of my nacioun may 
 understonde it.' 
 
 Nor was official recognition of the change wanting. By 
 a statute of 1362 the previous practice of con- 
 ducting pleadings in the law courts in French f a s n g" a f cial 
 was altered, and it was ordered that the pleadings 
 should henceforth be in English. The reason for this step, 
 according to the preamble of the statute, was that great ' mis- 
 chiefs arose, because the laws, customs and statutes of the 
 realm were not commonly holden and kept in the same realm, 
 for that they were pleaded, shewed and judged in the French 
 tongue, which is much unknown in the realm'; it was conse- 
 quently considered advisable that customs and laws should 
 appear in the tongue used in the realm. 
 
 Before the end of the i4th century, then, it had been 
 settled that of the two languages which confronted one another 
 in 1066, the national speech of the people, who had grown 
 from the fusion of the two races that spoke them, should be 
 the one that before 1066 had been able to hold its own in the 
 island against all comers ; and in the works of Chaucer and of 
 Wicklif at once came ample proof that English was worthy of 
 the title which once more it had vindicated for itself, that of 
 a national language. 
 
 7. But though the language which had been adopted by 
 the Normans in the home of their first conquest 
 
 . , ... Effects of 
 
 was not destined to meet with a like acceptance French on 
 from the people of the country to which after En hsh - 
 a second conquest they transferred it, yet it survived there long 
 enough to produce a strong, and, to a very great extent, a last- 
 ing impression on the language of England. For after its 
 coming the older practice of the native speech in respect both 
 to vocabulary and to grammar was revolutionized. English 
 was no longer the language of the most powerful and the most
 
 214 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 cultivated, as it had been in the days of Alfred and of ^Elfric ; 
 it could not resist the imposition upon it of the terms most 
 characteristic of a dominant class, terms connected with govern- 
 ment and law, with the Church, with sports and with war ; and 
 as it was no longer the language of scholars, its grammatical 
 accuracy decayed in the home of ^Elfric of Winchester, as 
 before his time it had decayed in the home of Alcuin of York. 
 8. When speaking of Latin of the First and Second Periods, 
 it was possible within moderate limits to give the 
 contributions to the language which fall under 
 those headings. But to Latin of the Third 
 Period belongs so large a number of words that no list of them 
 can be attempted, and only certain points of contrast with the 
 earlier cases can be noted. In the first place the new material 
 was not so much as had been the case before an enlargement 
 of the resources of the vocabulary. On the one hand the intro- 
 duction of French words often meant the exclusion of native 
 ones : cyne-lic, cyne-stol, cyne-helm, cyne-gierd were 
 words' replaced by royal, throne, diadem or crown, 
 
 sceptre ; dema, sacu by judge, case or suit ; in the 
 language of religion dse,d-bot, mildheortnes, gifu give way to 
 penance, mercy, grace; fri]> and sibb, wig, sige,fierd are displaced 
 by peace, war, victory, army ; and the great council of the 
 nation is not the witena gemot, the meeting of its wise men, but 
 Parliament, an assembly of speakers. On the other it meant 
 the use of two words, which at first denoted approximately the 
 same thing, e.g. arms as well as weapons, battle andyf^/*/, county 
 and shire, people and folk. 
 
 Further, the adoption of French words marked the abandon- 
 ment of the old plan in accordance with which 
 
 Transference _ _ r 
 
 instead of native material had been used to translate the 
 
 new idea expressed by a foreign word; such 
 usage as gave to the language words like bocere and sundor-hdlga 
 died out, and the borrowing which gave scribe and pharisee 
 took its place. The language, then, had turned aside from the
 
 CJiapter XL 215 
 
 course, which earlier it had followed, to pursue a track in which, 
 less and less depending upon its own resources, it more and 
 more lost the singleness of vocabulary which once had marked 
 it. The Norman Conquest broke down the barriers which 
 foreign languages had found so difficult to surmount, and 
 opened free way for the numberless foreign elements which 
 since have found a place in English. 
 
 9. So far it has been rather the negative side of the case 
 that has been noticed, and the fortunes of French 
 have been followed until they reach the point at I0 ^ nglish after 
 which all chance of its becoming the language of 
 England is lost. We must now turn to the positive side and 
 try to notice how from Old English speech in the main was 
 worked out a language, which thus from the nature both of 
 its vocabulary and grammar properly retained the old name, 
 English. 
 
 It has been seen that before the Norman Conquest among 
 the different forms of English speech, one, that 
 
 The position 
 
 of Wessex, was preeminent. To Wessex be- of English 
 longed political supremacy, and in its dialect the dialects< 
 greatest part of the Old English literature that has come down 
 to us is written : of the others only scanty specimens remain. 
 But after the fall of the English power no English dialect had 
 the same advantage over its fellows as had been got by the 
 speech of Alfred and of ^Elfric j very much the same case pre- 
 sented itself, though from a different cause, as earlier times had 
 offered, when various English kingdoms were still contending 
 for supremacy; once more it was a question what form of 
 English should become the representative English speech. Of 
 the language conditions which existed during the period which 
 elapsed before the question so put received its answer, we must 
 now try to gain some idea. Naturally the characteristics of the 
 earlier times continued to mark the later. The grammar of the 
 South remained fuller than that of the North, so much so that 
 the Kentish Ayenbite of Inwyt (1340) shews inflections that
 
 216 Outlines of the History of tJie English Language. 
 
 two centuries before had been discarded by the Northern 
 writers. The vocabulary of the North shews the influence of 
 the Scandinavians in the numerous words it contains adopted 
 from them, while the vocabulary of the South shews few such 
 words. On the other hand the vocabulary of the South shews 
 much stronger marks than does that of the North of the later 
 Norman influence ; there are far more French words in the 
 former than in the latter. The preservation of earlier distinc- 
 tions, too, may be noted. In the i4th century the dialect of 
 Kent is still distinguished from other Southern speech ; and 
 north of the Thames the earlier grouping of Northumbrian and 
 Mercian is continued by the distinction of Northern from East 
 and West Midland dialects. And not only by difference of 
 grammar and vocabulary were dialects marked, the forms, 
 whether spoken or written, of words were different. How the 
 conditions we are trying to realize struck a contemporary may 
 be seen by the following extract from a work already quoted, 
 Higden's Polycronicon, as translated by John of Trevisa : 
 ' Englysch men, bey3 hy hadde fram be bygynnyng bre maner 
 speche, Souberon, Norberon, & Myddel speche (in the myddel 
 of be lond), as hy come of bre maner people of Germania, 
 nobeles, by commyxstion & mellyng furst wib Danes & after- 
 ward wib Normans, in menye be contray longage is apeyred 
 (corrupta), & som useb strange wlaffyng, chyteryng, harryng 
 & garryng, grisbittyng (boatus et garritus)...U.yt semeb a gret 
 wonder hou} Englysch, bat ys be burb-tonge of Englysch men 
 and here oune longage & tonge, ys so dyuers of soun in bis 
 ylond, & be longage of Normandy ys comlyng (adveniitia) of 
 anober lond, & hab on maner soun among al men bat spekeb 
 hyt ary}t in Engelond. Nobeles ber ys as meny dyuers maner 
 Frensch yn be rem of Fraunce as ys dyuers manere Englysch 
 in be rem of Engelond. Also, of (de) be foreseyde Saxon tonge 
 bat ys deled a bre... men of be est wib men of be west, as hyt 
 were undur be same party of heuene, acordeb more in sounyng 
 of speche ban men of be norb wib men of be soub ; berfore hyt
 
 Chapter XI. 217 
 
 ys bat Mercij, ]?at bu}? men of myddel Engelond, as hyt were 
 parteners of }?e endes, undurstondeth betre }?e syde longages, 
 Nor]?eron & Souberon, ]?an Norberon & Souberon under- 
 stonde]? eyber ober. Al be longage of be Norbumbres, & 
 specialych at 3ork, ys so scharp, slyttyng & frotyng, & unschape 
 (ita stridet incondita), ]>at we Souberon men may bat longage 
 unnebe (vix) undurstonde. Y trowe bat bat ys bycause bat 
 a bub ny3 to strange men & aliens bat spekeb strangelych, & also 
 bycause }'at be kynges of Engelond woneb alwey fer fram bat 
 contray: For a bub more yturnd to ]>e sou]? contray; & 3ef 
 a go]? to J>e nor]? contray, a go]? wi]? gret help & streng]?e. pe 
 cause why a bu}? more in J>e sou]? contray ]?an in ]?e nor}? may 
 be, betre cornlond, more people, more noble cytes, & more 
 profytable hauenes/ The end, to which the original of this 
 passage had pointed, had been reached when (in 1385) the 
 translation was made. For it was from neither of the extremes, 
 Nor]?eron and Sou]?eron, that the representative speech of 
 England had come ; the North was far from the political and 
 social centre of the kingdom, *]?e kynges of Engelond wone)? 
 alwey fer fram ]\at contray'; and as that centre was no longer 
 Winchester, but London, it was not given to the speech of 
 Wessex to regain its old supremacy. It was in a dialect of 
 ' myddel Engelond ' where lived the ' parteners of the ends ' 
 that Chaucer wrote, and in his writings the East Midland 
 attained the dignity of a national language. 
 
 10. From the period between the Norman Conquest and 
 the writing of the Canterbury Tales has come 
 
 . . , . . The material 
 
 down a fairly continuous series of works, in which from which a 
 the Northern and Midland forms of English gjSS^J 
 speech are as well represented as is the Southern, be gained from 
 
 TT ^U 1 c \ lo66 to I40- 
 
 rrom these works a few specimens may now be 
 taken in order to shew both some of the marks by which the 
 speeches of different localities are distinguished from one 
 another, and some of the changes which these speeches under- 
 went during the period in question.
 
 218 Outlines of tJte History of the English Language. 
 
 The Conquest, fortunately, does not mark a break in the 
 continuity of the linguistic record. Of the four MSS. of the 
 Chronicle which were carried on until 1066, one ends with 
 that year, and two others make their last entries under the 
 years 1070 and 1079 respectively; but the fourth, that con- 
 nected with Peterborough, is not closed until the accession of 
 Henry II. is recorded. A brief examination of a passage from 
 this final entry will shew something of the condition of the 
 East Midland dialect about a hundred years after the Con- 
 quest : 
 
 On J?is gaer waerd J>e king Stephen ded & bebyried J?er his 
 wif & his sune wseron bebyried set Fauresfeld. 
 
 The English . i 
 
 Chronicle of J>aet mmstre hi makeden. pa Ipe king was ded. 
 ]?a was ]?e eorl beionde sse. & ne durste nan man 
 don o]?er bute god for ]?e micel eie (awe) of him. pa he to 
 Engleland com. )>a was he underfangen (received) mid micel 
 wurtscipe. & to king bletcaed in Lundene on Ipe Sunnendasi 
 beforen midwinterdaei. & held J>ser micel curt. 
 
 Here, as regards vocabulary, there is little to indicate 
 foreign influence; but the one instance of a French word is 
 characteristic, and while in noi it is said that the king 'heold 
 his hired] in 1154 the king holds his curt 1 . Change, however, 
 in the use of English material may be noticed, and the fate of 
 two English words is foreshadowed by the abandonment both 
 of the regular phrase in the early entries, when the death of 
 a king is recorded, e.g. 'Eadweard forA-ferde,' and of another 
 English verb, sweltan, e.g. 'Willelm swealt on Normandige.' 
 Bless, too, tends to displace hallow, cf. the entry under 1042: 
 
 1 The passage in its slight use of foreign words is characteristic of the 
 Chronicle. Morris (Grammar, Appendix III, 'words of Norman-French 
 origin in the English Language before 1300') gives only fourteen Norman- 
 French words from the Chronicle. In the same Appendix are given words 
 of this class occurring in other English works before 1300, and the student 
 is referred to the material there collected to get an idea of the general 
 indebtedness of English to Norman-French during the period covered.
 
 Chapter XL 219 
 
 'Her waes ^Edward gehalgod to cyng'; and make is used in 
 a way that deprives work of part of its force, and may 
 help to drive timbrian out of the language 1 . Short as the 
 passage is, then, it will suggest three main classes of change 
 loss of old material, change in the use of old material, 
 introduction of new material. Change of form is also to 
 be seen; e takes the place of other vowels in terminations, 
 suno. for sunu; makeden for macodon ; beionde, Engfeland, 
 snnn&n, beforen for begeond&n, Engl&land, sunnan, foforan; 
 diphthongs are simplified, the dead and heold of the Mercian 
 Psalter are ded and field in our passage; the tendency to 
 assimilation is shewn in the substitution of ]>e for se in the 
 masculine of \at. In the matter of inflections considerable 
 progress has been made towards modern English: the neglect 
 of case-endings may be seen from the following contrasts: 
 
 on J>is gaer for on J?issum geare 
 
 set Fauresfeld Jjset minstre set Fauresfelda J>aem minstre 
 
 for }>e micel eie ,, for J>am miclan ege 
 
 mid micel wurtscipe ,, mid miclum weorj>scipe 
 
 on }>e sunnendoei on |>am sunnandaege 
 
 to Engleland to Englalande 
 
 to king ,, to cyninge 
 
 and number is not marked in 
 
 waeron bebyried for wseron bebyrigde. 
 
 In construction, too, modern tendencies are to be seen. 
 The use of the passive, 'J>e king ward bebyried] instead of the 
 active with the indefinite man, may be contrasted with this 
 latter use in the entry of 1066: 'Se cyng Eadward fordferde, 
 and June mann bebyrgede? The omission of the relative in 'the 
 minster (which) they made' is quite usual in modern English, 
 but was rare in the old, where the regular construction is 
 that of the following verse, 'J>a burh }>e Adames beam ge- 
 timbrodon' (Gen. xii. 5) ; this now might be rendered 'the city 
 
 1 Mynster -wyrcan, mynster timbrian are usual phrases of Old English, 
 neither is now used.
 
 22O Outlines of tJie History of tJie English Language. 
 
 Adam's children were building,' and the omission of the 
 relative would not attract notice. And the increasing use of 
 the prepositional phrase instead of inflection gives us the quite 
 modern form 'for the micel eie of him' in place of one in 
 which the genitive his would be used: cf. the old and modern 
 renderings of John vii. 13: 
 
 Ne spree nan man openlice for No man spake openly for fear of 
 
 \ara hidea ege. the Jews. 
 
 Finally it may be noted that modern English uses nearly 
 all the material contained in the passage. The adverb *\>a and 
 the verb which is contained in under-fangen have quite dis- 
 appeared; hi has yielded to they; ward, infin. weor]>an, the 
 corresponding form of which is still so much used in German, 
 has now a very slender hold on English in 'Woe worth the day'; 
 the common word awe is rather from the Scandinavian form 
 of a word cognate with eie (earlier ege), than from eie itself; and 
 \>er can no longer be used as a relative, but with these excep- 
 tions the language is almost that of to-day. 
 
 11. Language, however, in other parts of England at the 
 same time was by no means equally suggestive 
 
 TheAncren r , _ ./, ^. r * 
 
 Riwieand of modern English; and even fifty years later 
 
 the Southern a southern writer used grammatical forms already 
 abandoned in the dialect of the chronicler. 
 This may be seen in the following extract from The Ancren 
 Riwle, a work composed soon after 1200 for the instruction of 
 the sisters of a religious house in Dorset: 
 
 Uorjn was ihoten a Codes half Therefore it was ordered on the 
 
 i3en okle lawe )>et put were euer part of God in the old law that 
 
 iwrien ; & 3if eni unwrie put were, a pit should be ever covered, and if 
 
 & best feolle berinne, he hit schulde there were any uncovered pit, and 
 
 3elden bet bene put unwreih. pis a beast fell therein, he should pay 
 
 is aswuctedredlich word to wummen for it, that uncovered the pit. This 
 
 bet scheaweS hire to wepmonnes is a very dreadful saying for a woman 
 
 eien. Ileo is bitocned bi be J>et that shews herself to a man's eyes. 
 
 unwriedbene put : be put is hire veire She is betokened by the person that
 
 Chapter XI. 221 
 
 neb, & hire hwite swire, & hire uncovers the pit : the pit is her fair 
 hond, 3if heo halt ford in his eih- face, and her white neck, and her 
 sihde. Best is )>e bestliche mon J>et hand, if she holds it forth in his 
 ne J>enchet> nout of God, ne ne nole]> eyesight. A beast is the brutish 
 nout his wit ase mon ouh to donne. man that thinks not of God, nor 
 
 uses his wit as one ought to do. 
 
 That in this passage, though we are nearer in time to the 
 modern speech, we are further in fact from it than in the 
 previous specimen, will probably be felt at once, and a brief 
 examination of the work makes it easy to account for the 
 impression. As regards vocabulary, there is again slight trace 1 
 of foreign influence. Best and bestlich shew French material 
 displacing the native riieteiP and metenlic, and law, which is 
 of Scandinavian origin, turns out the native aJ 3 . Change in 
 native words, too, is seen in scheaweA; the verb to shew 
 (sceawian) earlier, like German schauen, meant to look; here it 
 has taken the place of old at-tewan, which consequently ceases 
 to be used. Ouh, again, which denoted possession as in <nv-n, 
 is encroaching upon shall, and is coming to denote obligation, 
 as in ough-t. Lastly it will be noticed that much of the 
 material has been either lost or so changed that it is not readily 
 connected with modern English. 2-hoten, i-wrien, swtfye, 
 ivcepmon, swire, note\, have entirely disappeared; heo (the true 
 feminine of he) for which the chronicler was already using sees, 
 has, except in dialects, been replaced by she; half, ylden, neb, 
 ouh are left in be-half, yield, nib or neb, owe, but the old meanings 
 side, pay, face, ought, are so different from the present, that the 
 
 1 But it will be seen from a glance at the lists given by Morris (v. ante 
 p. 218, n.) that the proportion of French words is much greater in the 
 Ancren Riivle than in the Chronicle. The ecclesiastical character of the 
 former work may partly explain this. 
 
 2 The reference in the passage is to Exod. xxi. 34, where the old West 
 Saxon version translates jumentuni by nielen. 
 
 3 For the change from < to law Lk. x. 26 in the versions of c. 1000 
 and c. 1150 may be noted; the former has: Hwret is gewriten on j?a;re K\ 
 the latter: Hwset is gewriten on )>are lage.
 
 222 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 connection of the earlier and later forms is obscured; and dred- 
 lich has been an unsuccessful competitor of dred-ful. In their 
 vocabularies, then, the two passages illustrate the same general 
 changes, but the later has less in common with modern English 
 than the earlier. And this distinction is yet more definitely 
 marked in the grammatical forms. Thus in contrast with the 
 earlier the later shews the following inflections : 
 
 i den olde lawe (dat.) representing in dsem ealdan lage (the feminine 
 
 gender of lagu is however not kept) 
 Jjene put (ace.) J>one pyt 
 
 wummen (dat.) wifmen (wimmen) 
 
 eien (dat. pi.) eagum 
 
 eihsihde (dat.) eagsihde: 
 
 The definite declension of the adjective is marked in \e 
 bestliche mon, hire veire neb, hire hwite swire, i den olds, laive 
 (cf. for }>e micel eie in the Chronicle). 
 
 In pronouns the old he, heo, hit contrasts with he, sex, it, 
 of the Chronicle, and the instrumental of the demonstrative is 
 kept in Uor]>i. It will be seen, then, that the grammar of 
 the Ancren Rhvle is hardly further removed from Old English 
 than the grammar of the Chronicle is from modern English. 
 
 One other kind of difference between the two dialects may 
 be just noted difference of form. Thus the old a of gehaJen 
 in the Chronicle (1154) appears as o in the ihoten of our 
 passage, and in bitocned; eo of the old preterites, heold, feoll, is 
 kept in feolle while the Chronicle has held; and v takes the 
 place of /in \or and veire, while /remains in the other dialect. 
 
 12. The different characters of the two dialects, the one 
 
 suggestive of the past, the other of the future, 
 
 illustration of P resent a contrast that may justify a further 
 
 the Southern attempt to illustrate some of the language con- 
 
 rn'on^Brotr 1 " ditions i n those dialects early in the i3th 
 
 century. To that period belong the Brut of 
 
 Layamon and the Ormulum. Layamon, who was a priest 
 
 living in Worcestershire, wrote a metrical chronicle, based
 
 Chapter XI. 223 
 
 mainly on the Anglo-Norman chronicle of Wace 1 , dealing with 
 British history from fabulous times down to the end of the 7th 
 century. Two texts of the work exist, one of which is about 
 fifty years later than the other; it is from the earlier (c. 1205), 
 that the following lines are taken: 
 
 And ich wulle uaren to Aualun And I will fare to Avalon 
 
 To uairest alre maidene to fairest of all maidens 
 
 To Argante J^ere quene to Argante the queen 
 
 & heo shal mine wunden and she shall my wounds 
 
 makien alle isunde make all sound 
 
 al hal me makien all whole me make 
 
 mid halewei3e drenchen make me to drink of balm. 
 
 And seocte ich cumen wulle And after I will come 
 
 to mine kineriche to my kingdom 
 
 and wunien mid Brutten and dwell with Britons 
 
 mid muchelere wunne with much delight 
 
 yEfne J?an worden Lo at those words 
 
 ]>er com of se wenden there came moving from sea 
 
 Jat wes an sceort bat liden it was a short boat sailing 
 
 sceouen mid uSen driven with the waves 
 
 and twa wimmen berinne and two women therein 
 
 wunderliche idihte wonderfully arrayed 
 
 and heo nomen Ar3ur anon and they took Arthur anon. 
 
 How the old language was still able to supply the author's 
 needs is shewn by the fact, that with one exception haleweiy, 
 which if not English is at any rate Teutonic all the words of 
 this passage may be found in the Old English dictionary. And 
 in respect to the absence of foreign material the extract is no 
 unfair representative of the whole poem, for though the earlier 
 text extends to nearly 30,000 lines, not 50 words of French 
 origin are to be found in it 2 . That the poet was hardly less 
 
 1 ' Boc he nom...)>a makede a Frenchis clerc Wace wes ihoten.' 
 
 2 The later text, which is rather shorter than the earlier, contains, 
 besides about 30 French words common to both, about 40 others, so that 
 in the 57,000 lines of the two there are scarcely 100 French words. This 
 will shew how very slightly the vocabulary of at any rate one part of England 
 had been affected by French so long after the Conquest as the first half of 
 the i 3th century.
 
 224 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 faithful to the old grammar than to the old vocabulary will 
 appear from the following comparisons. 
 
 Layatnan. Old English 
 
 alre maidene (gen. pi.) ealra ma-gdena 
 
 Jjere quene (dat. fern.) )>Dere cwene 
 
 mine wunden alle isunde (ace. pi.) mine wunda(-e) ealle gesunde 
 
 to mine kineriche (dat. neut.) to minum cynerice 
 
 mid Brutten (dat. pi.) mid Bryttum 
 
 mid muchelere wunne (dat. foi.) mid mycelre wynne 
 
 }>an worden (dat. pi.) ]>am wordum. 
 
 mid uden (dat. pi. ) mid ydum 
 
 idihte (nom. pi.) gedihte 
 
 ich /, heo she, heo they ic, heo, hie 
 
 In the verbs the infinitive ending -an remains in the -en 
 of uaren, drenchen, cumen, wenden, li&en, and the ending -tan is 
 distinguished from this in makien, wuiiitn. The terminations 
 are still kept in wull-e, nom-en, sceou-en=Q\fa\ wille, noin-on, 
 scof-en. In two instances only is an inflection absent, viz. 
 uairesffcegrost-Vim, and hal hal-\\o.; and twice besides strict 
 grammar is neglected, wund-Qn is made weak instead of strong, 
 and the feminine form of the numeral is used with wimmen; 
 but as the feminine pronoun (seo wifman, Judges iv. 21) is 
 found with the word before the Conquest, this latter instance 
 need not be pressed. Hardly anywhere in the passage has the 
 language broken with the past, and in its unmixed vocabulary 
 and well preserved inflections there is little to suggest the 
 modern English, which draws its words from many sources and 
 has its grammar simple. 
 
 13. To about the same time belong Layamon's Brut and 
 
 the Ormulum, a collection of metrical homilies 
 
 MidiancTdia- by Orm (or Ormin), of whom little more is known 
 
 lect the than that j ie was an Augustinian canon. In the 
 
 Ormulum. 
 
 matter of vocabulary the two works are alike in 
 the slightness of the French element, but they differ in the 
 extent to which they shew Scandinavian influence ; in the 
 Ormulum a large number of Danish words have worked to the
 
 Chapter XL 225 
 
 surface, as was to be expected in the dialect the East Midland 
 used by the writer. A short extract may be enough to 
 illustrate the contrast between different forms of contemporary 
 English : 
 
 & bi j>att allterr stoden a33 
 
 >att follkess 1 hali3domess, 
 J?att wserenn inn an arrke j>aer 
 
 wel & wurrj>like 2 3emmde. 
 & tser oferr J>att arrke wass 
 
 an oferrwerrc wel 3 timmbredd, 
 & tser uppo J>att oferrwerrc 
 
 ]>e33 haffdenn liccness 4 metedd 
 off Cherubyn, & haffdenn itt 
 
 o twe33enn stokess metedd. 
 & att te minnstre-dure wass 
 
 an allterr J>ser wij>]>uten; 
 & bi J>att allterr wass J>e 5 lac 
 
 o fele wise 6 3arrkedd 
 Jmrrh preostess, alls uss se33j> soj> boc, 
 
 off Aaroness chilldre. 
 
 In the language of Layamon we are still close to the Old 
 English grammar ; in the language of Orm we are already close 
 to the Modern English grammar. With the exception, among 
 nouns, of childre (which represents the old cildnt\ and, among 
 verbs, of the past plurals w<zren, hafden, stoden, and the plural 
 participle ymde (not ymed\ there is nothing to differentiate the 
 inflectional system of the passage from that of modern English. 
 The nouns which follow prepositions governing the dative have 
 the same form as the nominative (e.g. oferwerc in vv. 6, 7) ; the 
 accusative after the verb has no termination in the old feminine 
 licneS) and the relation of this word with Cherubyn is marked by 
 a preposition, not as of old by the genitive 7 . The old demon- 
 strative has given the two forms ]>e, Ipat, but neither takes 
 
 1 relics. 2 kept. 8 built. 
 
 4 painted. 5 sacrifices. c prepared. 
 
 7 The contrast between the old and the modern on this point may be 
 
 T - 15
 
 226 Outlines of the History of the English Language, 
 
 inflection for case or gender; ]>e is for a dative feminine in 
 att te (-]>e) minstre dure, and for the neuter nominative in 
 ]>e lac : ]>at is for the gen. neut. in ]>at folkes, for dat. neut. in 
 bi \at alter, for dat. fern, in ofer }>at arke. In the same way an, 
 which in the phrase in an arke should be dat. fern, is undis- 
 tinguished from the nom. neut. in an oferwerc, Tive}en, also, 
 has lost its old dative twam, and is no more distinguished in 
 its cases than is the noun stokes, with which it agrees 1 . It 
 drops the aspirate ; they is already used instead of the old hie, 
 and their, them can be used in the other cases. That instead 
 of older ]>e is used as an indeclinable relative, and in v. 3 refers 
 to a plural masculine. Even so short an extract as that given 
 may shew that little change remained to be made in the 
 grammar in order to reach the simplicity of modern English. 
 
 And the evidence of the Ormulum as to the condition of 
 language in the district to which it belongs is all the more 
 valuable from the fact, that its author shews himself to have 
 been to a remarkable degree concerned for linguistic accuracy. 
 He carefully marked quantity by doubling a consonant after 
 a short vowel, when the consonant was final, e.g. wass, or was 
 followed by another consonant, e.g. werrc haffden ; when the 
 consonant came between vowels, it remained single, e.g. fete. 
 His interest in the matter is shewn by the appeal he makes to 
 anyone who should transcribe his work : 
 
 he loke well )>att he 
 An bocstaff write twi33ess, 
 
 shewn by comparing the A.S. and A.V. renderings of the same passage: 
 
 Ne wirce ge eow nane andlicniss- Lest ye make you... the likeness 
 
 a nanes nytenes nefugeles. of any beast, the likeness of any fowl. 
 
 Deut. iv. 16, 17. 
 The Ormulum here is exactly on a level with the A.V. 
 
 1 The contrast between the Brut and the Ormulum may here be 
 illustrated. In the former Leir says: Ich habbe iseuen hit (the kingdom) 
 mine twam dohtren. Again, while the former is on a level with Old 
 English, the latter is at least as modern as the Authorized Version.
 
 Chapter XL 227 
 
 Egghwser J>aer itt uppo \>iss hoc 
 
 Iss writenn o )>att wise 
 Loke he well |>att het write swa, 
 
 Forr he ne ma33 nohht elles 
 Onn Ennglissh writenn rihht te word, 
 
 patt wite he well to sp}>e. 
 
 14. If now we pass from 1200 to 1300 and take specimens 
 of works that were written about the later date, 
 we may see something of the language conditions 
 
 . 
 
 of the time, and may get an approximate idea of * "Gloucester's 
 the course which must have been followed by the 
 two dialects in the interval. The first specimen is taken from 
 the metrical chronicle of Robert of Gloucester, which was 
 written at the close of the i3th century, and, as the surname of 
 its author suggests, in a southern dialect. The passage occurs 
 in the account of William the Conqueror : 
 
 Game of houndes he louede inou & of wilde best, 
 
 & is forest & is wodes & mest \>e niwe forest, 
 
 pat is in SouJ>hamtessire vor Jnilke he louede inou, 
 
 & astorede wel mid bestes & lese mid gret wou. 
 
 Vor he caste out of house and horn of men a gret route, 
 
 & binom hor lond, je, Jritti mile & more J>eraboute, 
 
 & made it al forest & lese J>e bestes uor to fede. 
 
 Of pouere men deserited he nom lutel hede. 
 
 peruore )>erinne vel mony mischeuing, 
 
 & is sone was berinne issote Willam, J>e rede king; 
 
 & is o sone, j>at het Richard cajte J?er is de)> also. 
 
 & Richard, is o neueu brec J>ere is nekke )>erto, 
 
 As he rod an honte]> & parauntre is hors spurnde. 
 
 pe unrijt ido to pouere men to such mesaunture turnde. 
 
 It may be inferred from a comparison of this passage with 
 any of like extent in Layamon's Chronicle, that 
 during the i3th century French words had been ary> 
 
 admitted into the language of the south-western parts of 
 England in considerable numbers. In the fourteen lines given 
 above occur best, forest, astorede, route, pouere, deserited, 
 
 iq 2
 
 228 Outlines of the History of tJie English Language. 
 
 mischeuing, ca^te, neueu, paraunture, mesaunture* ; and it will 
 be noted that, practically, none of this material has since been 
 abandoned. The language, as has been noticed, was differ- 
 ently affected by such borrowings; e.g. deer and. wood remained 
 alongside beast and forest (cf. Sherwood forest) ; while poor has 
 displaced the old earm and ]>earfa, and heir with its fellows 
 turns out old ierfe-numa, -weard, &c. But in either case it 
 meant that the borrowing of foreign words was the admitted 
 practice of the language, while the vocabulary of Layamon is 
 almost as exclusively English as is that of ^Elfric 2 . 
 
 The grammar, too, is completely changed from that of 
 Layamon. The distinction of cases is lost ; bestes 
 is the accusative after fede, and the dative after 
 mid; phrases with of take the place of the genitive, game of 
 houndes, a route of men ; gret has the same uninflected form 
 when dat. neut. in mid gret wou, and when ace. fern, in a gret 
 route ; the weak declension of the adjective, however, seems 
 marked in \>e rede king, in the final e of rede. The definite 
 article has the same form with the masc. nom. Qpe king), the 
 neut. nom. (}>e unrijt), the fern. ace. (Deforest), and the ace. pi. 
 (Jv? bestes) ; the indefinite article is equally flexionless in a (ace. 
 fern.) route; the relative \at refers to a masculine antecedent 
 in 1. ii, to a feminine in 1. 3. The old infinitive form with 
 which the extract from the Ancren Riwle ends to donne is 
 replaced by uor to fede : instead of the dative, as in Layamon, 
 ' ne do lp\i him nan unriht,' a preposition without case distinc- 
 tion is used ' ]>e unriht ido to pouere men? The grammar of the 
 south has given up the tradition which Layamon had preserved, 
 and, like the earlier Ormulum, Robert of Gloucester's Chronicle 
 is everywhere suggestive of modern English. 
 
 1 See the Appendix in Morris's Grammar already referred to for the 
 extent of the French element in Robert of Gloucester. 
 
 - Besides the French element there is also a trace of Scandinavian in 
 cast.
 
 Chapter XL 
 
 229 
 
 Robert of 
 Brunne's 
 ' Handlyng 
 Synne.' 
 
 15. Naturally a contemporary East Midland work is not 
 less suggestive in the same direction. In the 
 following specimen, taken from Robert of 
 Brunne's (Bourn in Lincolnshire) Handlyng 
 Synne 1 , little change would be needed to make 
 it English of the present time : 
 
 Fro }>at tyme }>an wax Pers 
 
 A man of so feyre maners, 
 
 A mylder man ne myjt nat be 
 
 Ne to ]>e pore more of almes fre ; 
 
 And reuful of herte also he was, 
 
 pat mayst J>ou here 2 lere yn J>ys 3 pas. 
 
 Pers mette upon a day 
 
 A pore man by J>e way, 
 
 As naked as he was bore, 
 
 pat yn J>e se had alle 4 lore. 
 
 He come to Pers 5 J>ere he stode, 
 
 And asked hym sum of hys gode, 
 
 Sumwhat of hys clojjyng, 
 
 For )>e loue of heuene kyng. 
 
 Pers was of reuful herte, 
 
 He toke hys kyrtyl of, as 6 smert, 
 
 And ded hyt on J>e man aboue 
 
 And bad hym were hyt for hys loue. 
 
 In this passage it is not traces of modern English that 
 have to be sought, it is traces of the old. The Scandinavian 
 fro is used instead of from, the verb wax is still strong, the 
 double negative can be used, reuful has its old sense pitiful^ 
 lere, properly to teach, is like the corresponding Danish word 
 used with the meaning of learn, alle keeps the plural e, lore 
 is the old loren, ]>ere still has a relative force, heuene seems to be 
 
 1 This is a translation, made in 1303, of William of Waddington's Le 
 Manuel des Pechiez. The translator in another of his works speaks of 
 himself thus : 
 
 Of Brunne I am, if any me blame, 
 Robert Mannyng is my name. 
 
 2 learn. 3 passage. * lost. 5 where. 6 smartly, quickly.
 
 230 Outlines of the History of tJie English Language. 
 
 the old gen. pi. heofona, and do on (later don) = io put on; this 
 list about exhausts the differences that separate the passage 
 perceptibly from Modern English. Amongst the rest which 
 is so modern, one form is specially to be noted, the of at the 
 end of the clause 'he took his kirtle off' ; compare with this the 
 Old English 'Da dyde heo of hire reaf,' Gen. xxxviii. 14; it is 
 very rare to find the preposition at the end of the clause in Old 
 English; it is a construction common in Scandinavian and in 
 Modern English; moreover of the verb itself very much the 
 same remark may be made. 
 
 16. Two only of the main divisions of English have so 
 
 The North- ^ ar been noted; each has its special claims to 
 
 em Dialect consideration; the one from its relations to the 
 
 the North- , , , , , ,. , - 
 
 umbrian speech of the old literature, the other from its 
 
 Psalter. relations to Modern English. But the third, 
 
 the Northern, no less than the Southern, has claims to notice 
 derived from the past; for in Northern English, Csedmon and 
 Bede wrote long before Alfred and yElfric were representatives 
 of English literature. To illustrate some of the points which, 
 as may be seen from the writer of the Polycronicon, were felt 
 to distinguish in a very marked way Northern from both Mid- 
 land and Southern dialects the following specimen is given 
 from a Northumbrian Psalter. According to Professor Skeat it 
 represents the Northumbrian dialect of the latter half of the 
 thirteenth century. 
 
 Psalm xiv. 
 
 i. Lauerd, in \\ telde wha sal wone? 
 
 In ]n hali hille or wha reste mone? 
 i. Whilke }>at incomes wemles, 
 
 And ai wirkes rightwisenes ; 
 
 3. pat spekes sothnes in hert his, 
 
 And noght dide swikeldome in tung his, 
 Ne dide to his neghburgh iuel ne gram; 
 Ne ogaines his neghburgh upbraiding nam. 
 
 4. To noght es lede lither in his sight, 
 And dredand Lauerd he glades right.
 
 Chapter XL 231 
 
 He J>at to his neghburgh sweres, 
 And noght biswikes him ne deres. 
 5. Ne his siluer til okir noght es giuandj 
 Ne giftes toke ouer underand. 
 pat does ]>ese night and dai, 
 Noght sal he be stired in ai. 
 
 Higden remarks that southern men had some difficulty in 
 understanding northern men because the latter differed so from 
 the former in 'sounyng of speche.' To illustrate this point 
 very slightly the southern forms of words occurring in the 
 passage are put by the side of their northern equivalents: 
 
 N. S. (Robert of Gloucester) 
 
 Lauerd, \\a\\ (old a.) Umerd, h01i 
 
 wha (old hwa) ho, wo 
 
 sal (tf/rfsceal) ssal 
 
 lu'Ile, 1/ther (old y) hul, luther 
 
 whilke (old hwilc) wuche 
 
 wirkes (old wyrceb) wurcheth 
 
 no^/zt, right (old h) no3t, rijt 
 
 dide (old dide) dude 
 
 nam (a before nasal) nom 
 
 silver (old seolfor) sulver 
 
 negh- burgh (old neah-gebur) neihebur (the Ancren Riwle) 
 
 He also speaks of the Danish influence; this may be seen 
 in the use of mone (Icel. munu shall), /// ( = to), okir (Icel. okr; 
 the English form would have initial w) usury; and in the -and 
 termination of the present participle (Icel. -andi), instead of 
 -inde or -ing, as in the South. And the participle was not the 
 only part of the verb which in this conjugation of the North 
 must have struck a Southern ear. In the present tense, for 
 example, the one inflexion -es of the North corresponds to -sf, 
 e]> in the singular, and to -e}> in the plural of the South; and 
 in the imperative plural again the North has -es, the South -e]>. 
 The person-endings must have occurred so frequently 1 , that 
 
 1 It may be noted that in the short passage from John of Trevisa the 
 -e\? termination occurs 15 times, and in the Northern Psalm -es occurs 
 8 times.
 
 232 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 in this one particular the speaker of one dialect would on hear- 
 ing the other be constantly struck by a sense of strangeness. 
 17. From these imperfect suggestions of a contrast between 
 North and South we must turn to notice very 
 
 The Kentish , . , .. 
 
 dialect the briefly a contrast, of as long standing as the 
 Ayenbiteof other, between different parts of the South. 
 
 Inwyt. ' r 
 
 Before the Conquest the dialect of Kent differed 
 from that of Wessex, and still in the i4th century Kent had 
 a distinct dialect, as may be seen from the following short 
 specimen. It is taken from a work whose authorship, title, 
 and date are thus given by its writer: ' pis boc is dan Michelis 
 of Northgate, y write an Englis of his O3ene hand bet hatte 1 : 
 Ayenbyte of inwyt 2 . And is of be bochouse of saynt Austines 
 of Canterberi . . . bis boc is 3 uolueld...ine be yeare of cure 
 Ihordes beringe 1340.' 
 
 be bridde Codes heste. 
 
 And ine be stede of be sabat bet wes straytliche yloked ine 
 be yalde Ia3e, zet holi cherche bane zonday to loky ine be newe 
 Ia3e. Vor oure Ihord aros fram dyabe to lyve bane zonday. 
 An beruore me ssel hine loky and urebie zo holyliche and by 
 ine reste of workes, and yeue hem more to godes seruise, and 
 benche ane his sseppere and him bidde and bonky of his 
 guode. And huo bet brekb bane zonday and be obre heje 
 festes, bet byeb yzet to loky ine holy cherche, zenejeb dyad- 
 liche, uor he deb aye be heste of god, bote yef het by uor zome 
 nyede .bet holi cherche granteb. Ac more zene)eb be ilke 
 bet dispendeb bane zonday and be festes ine zenne. 
 
 That this dialect, which has much in common with that of 
 Robert of Gloucester, is yet distinct from it, may be seen from 
 comparing the following forms: 
 
 Kent. R. of G. O. E. 
 
 yald old eald 
 
 Ihord louerd hlaford 
 
 1 is called. 2 Remorse of conscience. 8 completed.
 
 Chapter XL 233 
 
 Kent. R. of G, O. E. 
 
 (dya]> de]> deaf> 
 
 /dyad ded dead 
 
 ssel ssal sceal 
 
 urejne fruflien (Layamon) friSian 
 
 by (to be) be beon 
 
 3eue 3iue giefan, gifan 
 
 guod god god 
 
 huo ho, wo hwa 
 
 he3e heie heage 
 
 bye}> bej> beo)> 
 
 cherche chirche cyrice 
 
 zene3e)> sunege]? (Ancren Riwle) syngian 
 
 zenne sunne synne 
 
 nyede nede nled, nead 
 
 and all the initial z's of Kentish are s's with Robert of 
 Gloucester'. 
 
 Before leaving this specimen of Kentish English one point 
 in regard to its vocabulary may be noted. The work was 
 translated from the French for the benefit of those who did not 
 know that language, and intended for the ordinary layman; 
 as the author says: 
 
 Nou ich wille ]>et ye ywyte hou hit is y-went, 
 pet )>is boc is y-write mid engliss of kent. 
 pis boc is y-mad uor lewede men 
 Vor uader and uor moder and uor o)>er ken. 
 
 Yet in the short quotation given above five words of French 
 origin are used, straytliche, seruise, festes, grantefy, dispende\, 
 and the first is so much at home in English that it has a native 
 suffix. So that the Kentish dialect, even if it retained more of 
 the old grammar than others, was not freer from foreign words 
 than they were. 
 
 1 There is not space to dwell upon the grammatical forms preserved in 
 the Kentish dialect. As in other Southern works they are fuller than those 
 of even earlier Northern and Midland specimens; for an account of them 
 the student is referred to the preface of Dr Morris's edition of the Ayenbite 
 in the E. E. T. Society's Publications.
 
 234 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 18. It was very soon after the Ayenbite of Inwyt was 
 
 Literary written, that, according to John of Trevisa, 
 
 English in the French ceased to be used in England. For 
 
 latter half of .... , 
 
 the i 4 th some three centuries, in one form or another, it 
 
 century. ^ liyed j n the countr y. j t had been the 
 
 language of a conquering race, and the language of the upper 
 classes; but, notwithstanding the advantages such positions 
 conferred, it had never superseded any of the forms of native 
 speech that it found when it first came. All these in varying 
 degrees had felt its influence, but all were living with un- 
 diminished vitality, when it ceased to be the natural speech of 
 any born in England. With its disappearance came a time 
 when the competition for literary supremacy was once more 
 between native candidates only; and this time it is not in the 
 dialect of Wessex, but in the East Midland dialect, that the 
 greatest English works are written. What form this language 
 had taken in the latter half of the i4th century as a result of 
 
 shaping processes, whose gradual working the 
 frorn e cha e u n cer: previous specimens have slightly illustrated, may 
 
 be to some extent shewn by a short considera- 
 tion of a few lines of Chaucer: 
 
 Whan that Aprille with his schovvres swoote 
 
 The drought of Marche hath f creed to the roote, 
 
 And bathed every veyne in swich licour, 
 
 Of which vertite engendred is theyftwr; 
 
 Whan Zephirus eek with his swete breethe 
 
 Enspired hath in every holte and heethe 
 
 The tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne 
 
 Hath in the Ram his halfe cours i-ronne, 
 
 And smale fowles maken melodic^ 
 
 That slepen al the night with open eye, 
 
 So priketh hem nature in here corages'. 
 
 Thanne longen folk to gon on pilgrimages, 
 
 And palmers for to seeken stratmge strondes, 
 
 To feme halwes, kouthe in sondry londes; 
 
 And specially from every schires ende 
 
 Of Engelond, to Caunterbury they wende,
 
 Chapter XL 235 
 
 The holy blisful martir for to seeke, 
 
 That hem hath holpen whan that they were seeke. 
 
 Turning first to the vocabulary, we may notice that about 
 nine-tenths of the material is genuine Old English; vocabu 
 
 that in the remaining one-tenth, one word, martir, lary foreign 
 had been used in Old English, another, root, is 
 Scandinavian, the others are French : the passage, then, is 
 fairly representative of the constituent elements of the language. 
 With regard to the foreign material we may note first, that it 
 has proved permanent ; no part of it has since been lost by the 
 language ; and next, that it illustrates the different directions in 
 which such material influenced the vocabulary. There were 
 Old English equivalents for all but one of the foreign words 
 used in the passage ; the permanent adoption of the latter led 
 either to the rejection, or to the restriction, of the former. 
 Rejection may be seen in the following cases : 
 
 French O. E. 
 
 pierce byrlian 1 
 
 vein aedre (cf. Ger. ader) 
 
 engender a-cennan a 
 
 inspire on-or3ian (or, on-ablawan) 3 
 
 tender mearu 4 
 
 melodic swinsung 
 
 pilgrimage sel}>eodignes 5 
 
 strange ad^eodig 
 Scandinavian O. E. 
 
 root wyrt-truma 6 
 
 1 Chaucer uses this word : That with a spere was thirled his brest boon. 
 Knighfs Tale, 1852. 
 
 2 Done cwild de se suderna wind acenSi : the mortality that the southern 
 wind generates. 
 
 3 On-ordian translates inspirare; but cf. Gen. ii. 7: God on-ableow 
 (inspiravit) on his ansine lifes ordunge. Orod = breath . 
 
 4 Cf. Mark xiii. 28: His twig bid mearu (ramus tener). 
 
 5 Cf. Ps. cxviii. 54: On stowe (el&eoditrnysse minre in loco peregrinationis 
 meae. /l]>eodig = of another people. 
 
 6 Cf. the O. E. and Icel. versions of Mt. iii. 10: Ys seo oex to J>aera 
 treowa wyrtruman asett : Er oxin sett til rotar vidanna.
 
 236 Outlines of tfie History of the English Language. 
 
 On the other hand, restriction is shewn in the following : 
 
 French O. E. Mod. E. 
 
 licour wseta wet 
 
 virtue maegen main 1 
 
 flower blostm blossom 
 
 cours ryne run 
 
 nature ge-cynd kind 
 
 corage heorte heart 
 
 special(-ly) syndrig(-lice) sundry 
 
 A third case is illustrated by palmer, where no English 
 word was in use ; here a new expression was given to the 
 language. 
 
 But it is not only by the presence of foreign material that 
 change in the vocabulary is marked : the native 
 
 Change in , , . , , 
 
 the old Eng- material is used otherwise than in the old speech, 
 lish element. The i nterrogat i ve f orms acquire a force, which 
 
 previously belonged only to the demonstratives, and are used 
 as relatives ; the original neuter, that, becomes indeclinable and 
 takes the place of the old indeclinable, ]>e, which disappears : 
 thus the correlative whan that (v. i and whan v. ^)...thanne 
 (v. 12) is used instead of the older \onne (}>e) . . .\onne, and 
 a new group of relatives is developed. With now does the 
 work of mid (cf. Ger. mit), which is consequently lost ; with 
 his showres, with his breethe, with open eye, would all have 
 taken mid*. The verb longen has suffered a change, which 
 finds a parallel in the case of like ; formerly it meant to cause 
 desire in the person (ace.), in the passage it means to have 
 desire, and the person is in the nominative ; impersonal verbs 
 were disappearing. In every a strengthened form of each (aefre 
 
 1 Cf. Him mcegen of code virtue had gone out of him, Mk. v. 30. 
 
 2 For the substitution of with for mid cf. the old rendering in Exod. 
 xxi. 6: tnrlian e are wzV/aele, and Chaucer's line quoted above under tyrlian; 
 and for the loss of distinction which is involved note the two words in the 
 following : He geseah aenne wer w/3 fyrde standan mid atogenum swurde 
 vidit vine/ft stantem contra se, evaginatum tenentem gladium. Jos. v. 13.
 
 Chapter XL 237 
 
 selc) has been developed ; aghwilc, which had the sense of 
 every, has been lost, and each is used differently from the old 
 alc\ 
 
 If now we turn to the grammar we shall find there is little 
 to distinguish it from that of modern English. 
 Among nouns, one form is established in the 
 genitive ; for the old fern, stir, gen. sclr-e, now has 
 gen. schir-es : it is the same with the plural, where the old neuter 
 land, pi. land, now has pi. lond-es, just the same asfowl-es (old 
 fugol-as), and the old weak halg-an is now halw-es ; foreign 
 words, too, have the same inflexion. The adjective, when not 
 used with a demonstrative, is uninflected in the singular ; swich, 
 which, every, al, open have nothing to distinguish them as oblique 
 cases ; even though used with the, holy and blisful are equally 
 undistinguished : and the definite article is the throughout. All 
 this points to modern English. There are, however, traces of 
 the past; the -es of the genitive and of the plural is still 
 a distinct syllable more often than at present ; though even 
 here it may be noted that corages would still be a word of three 
 syllables, and that palmers is already a dissyllable. But it is 
 under the form of a final e that the old inflections are found 
 chiefly to be linked to the language of Chaucer. How many 
 originally different terminations are gathered under this one 
 head may be shewn by comparing the forms of the passage 
 with old English equivalents : 
 
 Nouns. 
 
 O. E. Chaucer 
 
 sunn-e (ivk. fern.) sonne 
 
 [rot]-e \ root-e 
 
 braed-e I breeth-e 
 
 t]-e\ 
 
 ;3-e 
 
 t-e 
 
 holt-e holt-e 
 
 > oat, 
 
 haea-e heeth-e 
 
 eag-an ey-e 
 
 end-e J ende 
 
 1 Cf. Mt. xii. 25, in several versions: ALlc bus, West-Saxon: agJiwik 
 bus, Rushworth Gloss: every house A.V., all translating omnis domus.
 
 238 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 Adjectives and Pi" o nouns. 
 
 O. . Chaucer. 
 
 swot-e\ swoot-e 
 
 smal-e smal-e 
 
 Y pi. straung-e 
 
 cufl-e I kouth-e 
 
 seoc-e | seek-e 
 
 s\vet-e, sing. sweete 
 
 seo geong-e (uik.fem, nom.} \>e yong-e 
 
 his healf-an (wk. masc. ace.} his half-e 
 
 hier-a (gen. fl.) her-e 
 
 How near this final e was to being lost is suggested by its 
 omission in the weak holy and blisful, and in the plural sondry; 
 and how near Chaucer's forms were to the modern is shewn by 
 noting how much depended upon so slender a thread as the 
 unaccented final e. 
 
 With regard to the verbal forms it will be noticed that the 
 plural ending of the present, -en, is for the most 
 
 Change in . ' 
 
 the form of part kept ; but its uncertain tenure seems sug- 
 words ' gested by wend-e; and the infinitive is in like 
 
 case, for both seek-en and seek-e occur, and that, too, as repre- 
 senting the old to secanne. The same uncertainty is seen with 
 the strong participles i-ronne (= ge-runnen) and holpen. 
 
 Lastly, change in the form of the old material may be illus- 
 trated by the following comparisons : 
 
 Chaucer Old English Chaucer Old English 
 
 schowres 
 
 schires 
 
 drought 
 
 swich 
 
 which 
 
 i-ronne 
 
 fowles 
 
 It will be seen, then, even from this brief notice of the 
 specimen taken, that cultivated English of the latter half of the 
 1 4th century presents at least two important contrasts with 
 
 scuras 
 
 night 
 
 niht 
 
 scire 
 
 eye 
 
 cage 
 
 drugoj' 
 
 halwes 
 
 halgan 
 
 swilc 
 
 sondry 
 
 syndrig 
 
 hwilc 
 
 -ly (adv. suffix} 
 
 -lice 
 
 ge-runnen 
 
 holy 
 
 halig 
 
 fugolas 
 

 
 Chapter XL 239 
 
 cultivated English of the first half of the nth. The latter had 
 been kept almost free from the intrusion of foreign words, the 
 former has them in such considerable numbers as to shew that 
 their entrance had become comparatively easy : in the one 
 continuous cultivation had preserved grammatical forms, the 
 . other had reached the dignity of a literary speech after centuries 
 of neglect, during which grammatical forms had been lost 
 beyond recovery. In the language of Chaucer, then, is fore- 
 shadowed the mixed vocabulary and the simple grammar of 
 Modern English.
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Important events in the i5th century: geographical discoveries, the fall of 
 Constantinople, the invention of printing specimens of ijth cen- 
 tury English, Occleve's Governail of Princes, Pecock's Represser, 
 Malory's Morte Darthur effects of printing classical learning in 
 England in the i6th century influence of modern languages on 
 English in the i6th century Ascham's criticism of English Wilson 
 on English style excessive use of foreign words the locality of the 
 best English description of the Court satires on the abuses in lan- 
 guage masque by Sidney Shakspere's Love's Labour's Lost Spenser's 
 attempt to revive obsolete words style in English writers Euphuism 
 its popularity extract from Euphues Drayton on Euphuism 
 good English in the i6th century Lord Berners' translation of 
 Froissart's Chronicle Tyndal's translation of the New Testament 
 Sir T. More's Confutation of Tyndal North's Plutarch Sidney's 
 Apologie for Poetrie. 
 
 1. IN the works of Chaucer the material whose preparation 
 we have tried to trace was used by a 'maker,' who was able to 
 shew its capabilities; and English in the hands of Chaucer 
 proved as well fitted to be the language of literature that should 
 rank with the highest, as another vulgar tongue, Italian, had 
 done in the hands of Dante. There were to be many years of 
 further preparation before the language of England was used 
 by writers whose works were to give them a place in English 
 literature by the side of Chaucer; of that preparation we may 
 now try to get some idea. 
 
 2. The 1 5th century by no means carried on the intel- 
 important lectual activity of the i4th. The wars with 
 
 events in the France, and the civil wars which followed them, 
 were not favourable to literary cultivation; reli- 
 gious freedom was suppressed ; and there were no successors
 
 Chapter XII. 241 
 
 to fill the places of Chaucer and Wiclif. But though during 
 a great part of it there might be little at home to further the 
 development of the language, there were events occurring out- 
 side England that were to have most important consequences 
 for English. With the bolder navigation which Qeogra- 
 the use of the compass made possible came, on phicai dis- 
 the one side, the discovery of the new route to 
 the East by the Cape of Good Hope, which in the end gave to 
 western countries the commercial position once belonging to 
 the Italian cities; on the other, the discovery of America. 
 Constantinople was taken by the Turks, and its 
 fall was followed by the migration westwards of st f^ t " n opie? n " 
 Greek scholars, at whose coming the study of 
 the Greek classics revived. Printing was invented; and for 
 times in which new conceptions of the material 
 world were quickening intellectual life, in which O f Anting" 
 the power to express ideas was amplified by the 
 opening up of new stores of language, a fit means was provided 
 for making the new conditions far-reaching in their effects. 
 How soon the old order gave place to new may be felt on 
 contrasting writings of the i5th century with those of the i6th; 
 the former are medieval, the latter are modern. To illustrate 
 this point so far as it relates to the earlier period, and to gain 
 at the same time some idea of the course followed by the 
 language before it came under the influences referred to above, 
 we may take two specimens from works that belong to the age 
 of manuscripts, and a third which may represent the transition 
 from that age to the age of printing. 
 
 3. At the end of the last chapter the condition of the 
 language in the last years of the i4th century 
 was briefly illustrated by means of a few lines of^jth^ntury 
 from Chaucer; the verses in which his death is English: 
 lamented by one who had known him, and who 
 speaks of him as ' my maister dere ' will furnish an example of 
 early i5th century English. From The Governail of Princes 
 
 T. 16
 
 242 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 by Occleve (c. 1370 c. 1454) are taken the following lines 
 (c. 1420): 
 
 O maister dere and fader reverent, 
 
 My maister Chaucer, floure of eloquence, 
 
 Mirrour of fructuous entendement, 
 
 O universal fader in science, 
 
 Alias! that thou thyne excellent prudence 
 
 In thy bedde mortalle myghtest not bequethfe]. 
 
 What eyled dethe, alias! why wold he sle the? 
 
 Alias ! my worthy maister honorable, 
 This londes verray tresour and richesse, 
 Dethe by thy dethe hath harme irreperable 
 Unto us done ; hir vengeable duresse 
 Dispoiled hath this londe of the swetnesse 
 Of Rhetoryke fro us; to Tullius 
 Was never man so like amonges us. 
 
 Also who was hyer in philosofye 
 
 To Aristotle in our tunge but thow? 
 
 The steppes of Virgile in poysye 
 
 Thou folwedest eke, men wote wele ynow. 
 
 That combreworld that thee my maister slow 
 
 Wolde I slayne were ! dethe was to hastyfe 
 
 To renne on the and reve the thy lyfe. 
 
 She myght han taryed hir vengeance a while, 
 
 Til that som man hade egalle to the be. 
 
 Nay, lete be that ! she knewe wele that this yle 
 
 May never man forth brynge like to the, 
 
 And hir office nedes do mote she ; 
 
 God bade hir so, I truste as for the beste, 
 
 O maister, maister, god thy soule reste. 
 
 As regards vocabulary the specimen is perhaps too short to 
 allow of a general conclusion being drawn ; but it may be 
 noted that the French element, especially in the first two 
 verses, is so considerable as to suggest that any change taking 
 place was in the direction of using foreign words more freely. 
 
 As regards the grammatical forms the passage seems to 
 shew a further step in the way of simplification. In the extract
 
 Chapter XII. 243 
 
 from Chaucer the final <?'s were found to be notable as pre- 
 serving the old grammatical tradition ; but here their character 
 is changed, and in many instances they do not point back to 
 older terminations. Thus dethe is both nominative and dative, 
 but Chaucer has it only in the latter case ; the adjectives and 
 participles like, hastyfe, done, slayne are all properly without 
 the final e in Chaucer; and the same may be said of the 
 strong past tenses knewe, mote, bade ; the imperative lete be is 
 I at be in the earlier writer. The final e occurs, too, without 
 the justification of an earlier termination in eke, ivele, the eek 
 and wel of Chaucer. On the other hand the e is correctly 
 written, and pronounced, in soule (ace.), wote (pi.), reste (subj. 
 pr.), were (subj. p.), renne, reve, brynge (infins.), and in beste 
 (dat.). In tunge the e might seem, as in Chaucer, to be the 
 remnant of the old -an, but it does not, as in Chaucer, form a 
 syllable ; in bequeth, where it should appear, and where the rime 
 calls for its pronunciation, it is not written : while in hastyfe, 
 where it is pronounced, it is grammatically incorrect. These 
 instances seem to shew that the significance of the older forms 
 was becoming less and less appreciated, and thus the way was 
 prepared for their disappearance. The point may further be 
 illustrated by comparing men ivote with Chaucer's we w\ten ; 
 in the latter the old distinction between the vowels of sing, and 
 pi. is preserved, in the former the modern practice is reached, 
 which uses the vowel of the singular throughout. 
 
 The date of the next passage is about 1450. It is from 
 The Represser of over much blaming of the clergy, by 
 Reginald Pecock (c. 13950. 1460): 
 
 Where is it groundid expresseli in scripture, J>at men mowe 
 lete schaue her berdis ? and how dare ]?ei so lete, si]?en it can 
 not be founde expresseli in holi scripture J>at J>ei ou3ten so 
 lete, and namelich si]?en it is founde in holi scripture ]?at men 
 leten her berdis growe wi]?oute schering or schauyng, and also 
 si]?en it was J>e oolde usage ]?oru3 al J?e world in cristendom ? 
 where is it in holi scripture groundid bi wey of comendyng or 
 
 16 2
 
 244 Outlines of tJte History of the English Language. 
 
 of allowaunce J>at men schulden or mi3ten lau}we ? For to >e 
 contrarie is euydence in holi scripture, Mat. v e . c., where it is 
 seid ]ms : Blessid ben }>ei \at moornen, for \ei schulen be coun- 
 fortid ; and also, Gen. xviij 6 . c. sara }>e wijf of Abraham was 
 punyschid, for ]?at sche lav^ed behinde )?e dore of }>e tabernacle, 
 where is it also groundid in holi scripture ]?at men my3ten 
 alloweabli or schulden pleie in word bi bourding, or in deede 
 by rennyng or leping or schuting, or bi sitting at )?e merels, or 
 bi casting of coitis ? and }it ech of )>ese deedis mowe be doon 
 & ben doon ful vertuoseli & merytorili. 
 
 In the case of the noun and the adjective there is not much 
 that needs to be referred to the old grammar for its ex- 
 planation ; the older usage, however, is found in the plurals 
 of nouns, where the suffix is still a syllable, herd-is, deed-is ; 
 dor&, as in Chaucer, still shews a trace of the old dative (dur-a.), 
 deede keeps the old e of the oblique cases, which made its way 
 later into the nominative; and the weak declension of the 
 adjective seems to be preserved in ]>e oold-t usage. Otherwise 
 there is nothing that would appear strange to a modern reader. 
 In the pronouns, Jier (the old hiera) is still used for the gen. pi. 
 to the nominative \ei; but the modern lpes-Q is substituted for 
 old }>as. It is in the verbs only that the grammar is con- 
 servative. Thus the infinitive retains its termination in the 
 modified form -e, lete, grows, lau^wQ, pleio. ; the pres. indie, pi. 
 has the old E. Midland -en, moorn-en, be-n.; the past pi. also 
 keeps its termination in let-er\, ##3 /-en, //3/-en, schuld-en, and 
 in the pret. pres. schul-tn, mozv-en. Moreover the distinction 
 of vowel between sing, and pi. is maintained in schul-e\\ (schal, 
 sing.) and mowe (mat, sing.). But even in the verb the modern 
 forms are coming into use ; the sing., dare, has displaced the 
 old pi. durron, the strong lowgh of Chaucer gives way to the 
 weak /<z3-ed, and the double form of the p. part, of strong 
 verbs is very nearly reached in found-e, alongside doon.. In 
 Pecock we are still, however, nearer to Chaucer than to 
 Shakspere.
 
 Chapter XII. 245 
 
 The third specimen brings us to the age of printing. It is 
 from Le Morte Darthnr, which was completed by 
 its author, Sir Thomas Malory, in 1469, and was 
 printed by Caxton in 1485 : 
 
 And whan kynge Arthur sawe hym, thenne he said, 'wel- 
 come, my systers sone ; I wende thou haddest ben dede, and 
 now I see the on lyue, moche am I beholdynge unto almyghty 
 Jhesu. O fayre neuewe, what ben these ladyes that hydder 
 be come with you.' 'Sir,' said Sir Gawayne, 'alle these ben 
 ladyes for whome I haue foughten whenne I was man lyuynge, 
 and alle these are tho, that I did batail for in ryghteous quarel, 
 and god hath gyuen hem that grace at their grete prayer, by 
 cause I dyd bataille for hem, that they shold brynge me hydder 
 unto yow ; thus moche hath god gyuen me leue for to warne 
 yow of youre dethe, for and ye fyghte as to morne with syre 
 Mordred, as ye bothe haue assygned, double ye not, ye must 
 be slayne ; and for the grete grace and goodenes that almyghty 
 Jhesu hath unto yow, and for pyte of yow and many more other 
 good men there shalle be slayne, God hath sente me to yow of 
 his specyal grace to gyue yow warnynge, that in no wyse ye do 
 bataille as to morne, but that ye take a treatyce for a moneth 
 day and profer yow, so as to morne to be putte in a delay e.'... 
 Thenne syr Gawayne and al the laydyes vaynnysshed....Than 
 the kyng comaunded syr Lucan de butlere and his broder syr 
 Bedwere with two bysshoppes with hem, and charged theym, 
 in ony wyse and they myght, take a traytyse for a monthe day 
 wyth Syr mordred. 
 
 It would seem from this passage that at the beginning of 
 the age of printing the modern form of grammar is practically 
 reached. In the case of many inflections the consciousness of 
 their grammatical value, which was felt in Chaucer's time, was 
 no longer present, and the old system, as far as they were con- 
 cerned, was dead; in the case of others they are reduced 
 almost, if not quite, to their modern forms. How little import- 
 ance attaches to distinctions which once were significant may
 
 246 O itt lines of tlie History of the English Language. 
 
 be seen from the following examples : kynge and kyng for the 
 nominative, batail and bataille for the accusative, dede the nomi- 
 native of the strong adjective, whome where even the oldest 
 English is Jnvam, sawe the p. indie, sing, of a strong verb, slayne, 
 sente p. parts, in the singular ; and alongside the old form alle 
 (pi.) occurs al the lay dyes. Again, though wende seems to keep 
 the full suffix -de of the weak verbs, it appears as an exception ; 
 sayd, dyd, shold (pi.), must (pi.), charged, &c. shew the modern 
 contraction. Other instances that shew the modern forms 
 prevailing are the plural verbs be, haue, do, take, prefer, fyghte 
 as against the single plural in n, ben. Further shalle as a plural 
 marks the rejection of the old shul-en (O. E. sculon). In the 
 pronouns, too, while tho (O. E. \a), the true plural of that, and 
 hem (dat. pi. of he) point to the past, yet the modern use is 
 found in these, they, their and them. These details will be 
 sufficient to suggest the character of the grammar in the latter 
 part of the i5th century, and to shew that in the earliest 
 printed books there is not a much fuller system of inflections 
 than in the latest. 
 
 4. With the establishment of the printing-press in England 
 came a new era for the language. On the one 
 primfng 5 hand limitations were removed, which had neces- 
 sarily existed when the reproduction of any work 
 depended upon the slow labours of the scribe. Printing made 
 it easy to give to the whole country the works of the great 
 writers, and this made it possible for all parts of England to 
 become familiar with their language. It consequently tended 
 to subordinate all local forms of speech to the one form that 
 was used in the literature ; and so, for our purpose, it is no 
 longer necessary, as was the case for the times before Chaucer, 
 to consider the different forms of English to be found in 
 different localities; the language of literature becomes the 
 representative English language. On the other hand, it intro- 
 duced fixity where before change had had free play. While in 
 the time of MSS. writing was to a great extent phonetic, with
 
 Chapter XII. 247 
 
 printing came the stereotyping of forms ; the form of the printed 
 word no longer varied, as that of the written one had done, to 
 suit the variation of pronunciation which was due to difference 
 either of place or time. So printed works do not call for notice, 
 as do the MSS., as shewing the phonetic condition of the language. 
 But while change in respect both to the grammatical system and 
 to the written forms of words was drawing near to its end, the 
 change which affected the vocabulary was becoming more and 
 more marked. As well from intercourse with books, both in 
 ancient and in modern tongues, as from intercourse with men 
 of other nations, Englishmen became acquainted with fresh 
 stores of language material, and from them drew largely. On 
 these fresh acquisitions and the use made of them, not always 
 wisely, a few words may now be said. 
 
 5. Early in the i6th century interest in classical learning, 
 which had been awakened and maintained in 
 Italy by the Greek scholars who journeyed west- learnfng^n 
 wards in the troublous times which preceded and ^ n 5 land inthe 
 followed the fall of Constantinople, was shewing 
 evidence of its presence in England. Wolsey, of whom Erasmus, 
 himself for a time Professor of Greek at Cambridge, said that 
 ' he recalled to his country the three learned languages, without 
 which all learning is lame,' in the college which he founded at 
 Oxford made special provision for the teaching of the two 
 classic tongues and established in the University a professorship 
 of Greek. But the intimate connection of the new learning 
 with the great religious struggle of Henry VIII's reign, though 
 giving a special interest to the history of that learning, was not 
 favourable to its general advancement; and when the Reformers, 
 setting up the Scriptures as the one authority for the decision 
 of religious questions, felt the importance of studying the New 
 Testament in Greek, many of the followers of the old faith 
 set their faces as well against the new opinions, as against 
 the new learning from which those opinions gained support. 
 The University in which Erasmus had taught went so far as
 
 248 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 to proscribe his Greek Testament, and threatened with severe 
 fine any of its members found with that book in their possession. 
 When the country had moved somewhat further from Rome, 
 matters, indeed, mended ; and in the same University Greek 
 was taught by scholars of some eminence, Smith and Cheke, 
 the latter the first Regius Professor (1540). But though the 
 king might be inclined to favour learning, his reign had been 
 too disturbed to permit it to flourish; and it is not surprising 
 to find that when more settled times were reached under his 
 successor, a review of the conditions prevailing should give 
 little satisfaction to scholars. Ascham, in a letter dated 1550, 
 laments the ruin of grammar schools ; and in a sermon 
 preached the same year at Cambridge the condition of the 
 University is thus described : ' Formerly there were in houses 
 belonging to the University of Cambridge, 200 students of 
 divinity, many very well learned, which be now all clean gone 
 home, and many young toward scholars and old fatherly 
 doctors not one of them left. 100 also of another sort, that, 
 having rich friends, and being beneficed men, did live of 
 themselves in hostels and inns, be gone away or else fain to 
 creep into colleges and put poor men from bare livings. These 
 both be all gone, and a small number of poor, godly, diligent 
 students, now remaining only in colleges, be not able to tarry 
 and continue their studies for lack of exhibition and help.' 
 It was not till late in Elizabeth's reign that the Universities 
 recovered, but still the i6th century throughout offers individual 
 instances of learned men. To names already mentioned may 
 be added those of Cranmer, Ridley, Pole, Colet, the founder of 
 St Paul's School, Lilly, its first master, Sir Thomas More, Roger 
 Ascham ; and Henry and his children were all learned. It was 
 the age, too, of learned ladies ; Lady Jane Grey read Plato in 
 the original; and of Queen Elizabeth Ascham says, 'She readeth 
 here now at Windsore more Greeke every day, than some Pre- 
 bendaries of this Church doth read Latin in a whole weeke.' J 
 1 In Prof. Raleigh's Introduction to The Book of the Courtier (in the
 
 Chapter XII. 249 
 
 6. It was not only the classical languages that were in- 
 fluencing English. Intercourse with foreign coun- influence of 
 
 tries gave occasion to the introduction of foreign modern lan- 
 guages on 
 
 words and idioms, and English writers, who now English in the 
 for the first time were observing their own th century, 
 language critically, can tell of the results. The following 
 passage from the preface to Ascham's Toxophilus (1545) is of 
 interest, not only as having a bearing upon the point under 
 consideration, but as giving at the same time both an apprecia- 
 tion 1 of English in the middle of the i6th century by a con- 
 temporary, and a specimen of its use by a scholar whose work 
 was intended to be a model of style : 
 
 ' If any man woulde blame me, eyther for takynge such a 
 matter in hande, or els for writing it in the 
 
 . Ascham s 
 
 Englyshe tongue, this answere I may make hym, criticism of 
 that whan the beste of the realme thinke it En e hsh - 
 honest for them to use, I one of the meanest sorte, ought not 
 to suppose it vile for me to write : And though to haue 
 written it in an other tonge, had bene bothe more profitable for 
 my study, and also more honest for my name, yet I can thinke 
 my labour wel bestowed, yf with a little hyndraunce of my 
 profyt and name, maye come any fourtheraunce, to the pleasure 
 or commoditie, of the gentlemen and yeomen of Englande, for 
 whose sake I tooke this matter in hande. And as for y e Latin 
 or greke tonge, euery thing is so excellently done in them, that 
 none can do better: In the Englysh tonge contrary, euery 
 thinge in a maner so meanly, bothe for the matter and 
 handelynge, that no man can do worse. For therein the 
 
 series of Tudor Translations) the student will find the neo-classic influence 
 on language treated in a very interesting manner. 
 
 1 Not the least notable point in this passage is the apology for the use 
 of English, which is made by a writer, who was not dead when Shakspere 
 was born. As a somewhat parallel case might be quoted the apology by 
 Dante for using Italian in his Convito, when the capabilities of the language 
 were so soon to be shewn in the Divine Comedy,
 
 250 Outlines of the History of tJie English Language. 
 
 least learned for the moste parte, haue ben alvvayes most redye 
 to wryte. And they whiche had leaste hope in latin, haue 
 bene most boulde in englyshe : when surelye every man that is 
 moste ready to taulke, is not moost able to wryte. He that 
 wyll wryte well in any tongue, muste folowe thys council of 
 Aristotle, to speak e as the comon people do, to thinke as wise 
 men do. Many English writers haue not done so, but usinge 
 straunge wordes as latin, french and Italian, do make all 
 thinges darke and harde. Ones I communed with a man 
 whiche reasoned the englyshe tongue to be enryched and 
 encreased therby, sayinge : Who wyll not prayse that feaste, 
 where a man shall drinke at a diner, bothe wyne, ale and 
 beere? Truely quod I, they be all good, euery one taken by 
 hym selfe alone, but if you putte Malmesye and sacke, read 
 wyne and white, ale and beere, and al in one pot, you shall 
 make a drynke, neyther easie to be knowen, nor yet holsom 
 for the body. Cicero in following Isocrates, Plato and 
 Demosthenes, increased the latine tongue after an other 
 sorte.' 
 
 7. Not long after this was written appeared Wilson's 
 
 Arte of Rhetorike (1553). From it we may see 
 E^iishlt^ie. tnat ^e requisites for a good style were already 
 
 recognized, and by some writers, in the judge- 
 ment of its author, were already acquired : ' When we have 
 learned usuall and accustomable words to set forth our mean- 
 ynge, we ought to join them together in apte order, that the 
 eare maie delite in hearynge the harmonic 1 . I know some 
 Englishemen, that in this poinct have such a gifte in the 
 Englishe as fewe in Latine have the like; and therefore delite 
 the wise and Learned so muche with their pleasant composi- 
 tion, that many rejoice when they maie heare such and thinke 
 
 1 The definition of style implied in these words is practically the same 
 as that given by Swift, ' proper words, in proper places, make the true 
 definition of a style.'
 
 Chapter XII. 251 
 
 much learnyng is got when thei male talke with them.' But 
 though Wilson can speak more favourably of 
 
 * Excessive 
 
 English composition than Ascham had done, use of foreign 
 yet both equally condemn the excessive use of 
 foreign words by injudicious writers. So Wilson tells us that, 
 'Some seke so far for outlandishe English, that they forget 
 altogether their mother's language and yet these fine English 
 clerks will saie they speke in their mother tongue, if a man 
 should charge them for counterfeyting the king's English. He 
 that cometh lately out of France, will talke Frenche Englishe 
 and never blush at the matter. Another choppes in with 
 English Italianated, and applieth the Italian phrase to our 
 English speaking...! know them that thinke Rhetorike to 
 stand wholie upon darke wordes ; and he that can catche an 
 ynkehorne term by the tail, hym they compt to be a fine 
 Englishman, and good rhetorician.' That the number of those 
 who could 'chop in with English Italianated' was likely to 
 increase, may be inferred from a comment made later 1 by 
 Ascham upon books 'of late translated out of Italian into 
 English and sold in every shop in London ' : ' There be moe 
 of those ungratious books set out in printe within these fewe 
 rnonethes, than have been scene in England many score yeares 
 before.' And that the abuses, against which both Ascham and 
 Wilson had protested, continued, may be seen from the occur- 
 rence of a like protest in Puttenham's Art of Poesie, published 
 in 1589, 'We finde in our English writers many wordes and 
 speaches amendable ; and ye shall see in some many inkhorne 
 termes so ill affected, brought in by men of learnyng, as 
 preachers and schoolemasters : and many straunge termes of 
 other languages, by secretaries and marchaunts and travailours, 
 and many darke wordes, and not usual nor well-sounding, 
 though they be daily spoken in court.' 
 
 8. It is, perhaps, the last words of the passage that 
 
 1 In the Scholemaster, published 1570.
 
 252 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 suggest the most serious danger to the language; for, as may be 
 The locaiit scen ^ v an ther quotation from the same writer, 
 of the best " it was particularly in the Court that the best 
 English was to be sought : ' This part (language) 
 in our maker or Poet must be heedyly looked unto, that it be 
 naturall, pure, and the most usuall of all his countrey : and for 
 the same purpose rather that which is spoken in the kings 
 Court, or in the good townes and cities within the land, then 
 in the marches and frontiers, or in port townes, where 
 straungers haunt for traffike sake, or yet in Universities where 
 schollers use much peevish affectation of words out of the 
 primative languages, or finally, in any uplandish village or 
 corner of a Realme, where is no resort but of poore rusticall or 
 uncivill people... neither shall he take the termes of Northern- 
 men, such as they use in dayly talke, whether they be noblemen 
 or gentlemen, or of their best clarkes all is a matter : nor in 
 effect any speach used beyond the river of Trent, though no 
 man can deny but that theirs is the purer English Saxon at this 
 day, yet it is not so Courtly nor so currant as our Southerne 
 English is, no more is the far Westerne man's speach : ye shall 
 therefore take the usuall speach of the Court, and that of 
 London and the shires lying about London within LX. myles, 
 and not much above. I say not this but that in every shyre of 
 England there be gentlemen and others that speake but 
 specialy write as good southerne as we of Middlesex or Surrey 
 do, but not the common people of euery shire.' But that some 
 even of the language spoken in Court should incur the critic's 
 censure is not remarkable, if the foreign influences, that in 
 Elizabeth's time were brought to bear upon it, be remembered. 
 Which they were likely to be may be learned from Ascham, 
 who tells not only of the queen's classical attainments, 
 but also of 'her perfect readines in Italian, French, and 
 Spanish ' ; and that such an example produced the effect that 
 might be expected, appears from the description given of the 
 court by Harrison, who wrote a few years before the publication
 
 Chapter XIL 253 
 
 of Puttenham's work: 'This further is not to be omitted, to the 
 singular commendation of both sorts and sexes 
 of our courtiers here in England, that there are 
 very few of them which have not the use and 
 skill of sundry speeches, besides an excellent veine of writing 
 beforetime not regarded. Truly it is a rare thing with us now 
 to heare of a courtier which hath but his own language. And 
 to say how many gentlewomen and ladies there are that beside 
 sound knowledge of the Greek and Latin tongues, are thereto 
 no less skilful in Spanish, Italian, and French, or in some one 
 of them, it resteth not in me ; sith I am persuaded that, as the 
 noblemen and gentlemen do surmount in this behalf, so these 
 come very little or nothing at all behind them for their parts.' 
 And a little further on, speaking of the ancient ladies of the 
 Court, he says, 'Some spend their time in continual reading 
 either of the Holy Scriptures, or histories of our own or foreign 
 nations about us, and divers in writing volumes of their own, 
 or translating of other men's into our English and Latin 
 tongues. Finally to avoid idleness such order is taken that 
 every office hath either a Bible, or the book of the Acts and 
 Monuments of the Church of England, or both, besides some 
 histories or chronicles, lying therein, for the exercise of such as 
 come unto the same ; whereby the stranger that entereth into 
 the court of England upon the sudden shall rather imagine 
 himself to come into some public school of the universities, 
 than into a prince's palace, if you confer the same with those 
 of other nations.' If this be a fair description of the Court, it 
 is small wonder if there, as in other less favoured places, words 
 were 'dayly spoken,' to which a critic like Puttenham might 
 object. 
 
 9. That alongside a judicious freedom in the adoption of 
 foreign words, which should enrich the language, . 
 
 was to be found a license that threatened it with the abuses in 
 corruption, may be better realized perhaps by 
 turning to the pictures, or rather caricatures, drawn by great
 
 254 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 artists in language, than by reading the censures of critics. 
 Sidney and Shakspere both directed their satire against the 
 affectations of the time. The critic had complained of the 
 ' inkhorne termes ' of the schoolmasters, and the satirists bring 
 
 the offenders on the stage. In a masque by 
 Sj ^ n a e sque by Sidney, presented before the queen, Rombus, 
 
 a village schoolmaster, is introduced speaking 
 thus, after the queen is supposed to have parted by her 
 presence a contest between two shepherds for the affections 
 of the Lady of the May : ' Now the thunder-thumping love 
 transfused his dotes into your excellent formositie, which have 
 with your resplendent beames thus segregated the enmity of 
 these rurall animals : I am, Potentissima Diva, a schoolmaster, 
 that is to say a Pedagogue, one not a little versed in dis- 
 ciplinating of the juvenall frie, wherein (to my laud I speak it) 
 I use such geometrical proportions as neither wanted man- 
 suetude nor correction... The puritie of the veritie is that a 
 certaine Pulchra puella, elected and constituted by the inte- 
 grated determination of all this topographicall region as the 
 soverayne Ladie of this Dame Maies month, hath been quod- 
 admodo hunted, as you would say, pursued by two, a brace, a 
 couple, a cast of young men, to whom the crafty coward Cupid 
 had, inquam, delivered his dire-dolorous dart.' In his com- 
 plaint Puttenham joins preachers and schoolmasters, and 
 inveighs also against travellers for their use of strange words. 
 Shaks ere's ^ n ^ (n ' e ' s Labours Lost Shakspere presents to us 
 Loves Labour's all three classes, and an extract from a scene in 
 
 which appear Holofernes, the schoolmaster, Sir 
 Nathaniel, the curate, and Don Armado 1 , the Spanish knight, 
 will illustrate the comment of the critic : 
 
 1 Don Armado is thus spoken of by the king : 
 
 Our court you know is haunted 
 With a refined traveller of Spain, 
 A man in all the world's new fashions planted, 
 That hath a mint of phrases in his brain.
 
 Chapter XII. 255 
 
 Hoi. Satis quod sufficit. 
 
 Nath. I praise God for you, sir : your reasons at dinner have been 
 sharp and sententious ; pleasant without scurrility, witty without affection, 
 audacious without impudency, learned without opinion, and strange without 
 heresy. I did converse this quondam day with a companion of the king's, 
 who is intituled, nominated, or called, Don Adriano de Armado. 
 
 Hoi. Novi hominem tanquam te: his humour is lofty, his discourse 
 peremptory, his tongue filed, his eye ambitious, his gait majestical, and his 
 general behaviour vain, ridiculous, and thrasonical. He is too picked, too 
 spruce, too affected, too odd, as it were, too peregrinate as I may call it. 
 
 Nath. A most singular and choice epithet. 
 
 ( Takes out his table-book.") 
 
 Hoi. He draweth out the thread of his verbosity finer than the staple 
 of his argument. I abhor such fanatical phantasms, such insociable and 
 point-devise companions ; such rackers of orthography, as to speak dout, 
 fine, when he should say, doubt;... neighbour vocalur nebour ; neigh 
 abbreviated ne. This is abhominable (which he would call abominable) : 
 it insinuateth me of insanie: ne intelligis, domine? to make frantic, lunatic. 
 
 Nath. Laus Deo, bone intelligo. 
 
 Hoi. Bone? bone, for bene: Priscian a little scratched; 'twill serve. 
 Enter ARMADO. 
 
 Arm. (to flol.) Monsieur, are you not lettered?... Do you not educate 
 youth at the charge-house on the top of the mountain? 
 
 Hoi. Or mans, the hill... I do, sans question. 
 
 Arm. Sir, it is the king's most sweet pleasure and affection, to con- 
 gratulate the princess at her pavilion in the posteriors of this day ; which 
 the rude multitude call the afternoon. 
 
 Hoi. The posterior of the day, most generous sir, is liable, congruent, 
 and measurable for the afternoon: the word is well culled, chose: sweet, 
 and apt, I do assure you, sir, I do assure. 
 
 Arm. Sir, the king is a noble gentleman; and my familiar, I do 
 assure you, very good friend : for what is inward between us, let it pass : 
 I do beseech thee, remember thy courtesy ; I beseech thee, apparel thy 
 head : and among other importunate and most serious designs, and of 
 great import indeed, too, but let that pass: for I must tell thee, it will 
 please his grace sometime to lean upon my poor shoulder, and with his 
 royal finger thus dally with my excrement, with my mustachio; but sweet 
 
 And Biron says of him : 
 
 Armado is a most illustrious wight, 
 
 A man of fire-new words, fashion's own knight.
 
 256 Outlines of the History of tlte English Language. 
 
 heart, let that pass. By the world, I recount no fable : some certain special 
 honour it pleaseth his greatness to impart to Armado, a soldier, a man of 
 travel, that hath seen the world; but let that pass. The very all of all is, 
 but, sweet heart, I do implore secrecy, that the king would have me 
 present the princess with some delightful ostentation, or show, or pageant, 
 or article, or fire-work. Now, understanding that the curate and your 
 sweet self are good at such eruptions, and sudden breaking out of mirth, as 
 it were, I have acquainted you withal, to the end to crave your assistance 1 . 
 
 Fortunately, as the names of the two writers just quoted 
 may remind us, there were opponents of license strong enough 
 to prevent the disastrous results, which, if unchecked, it would 
 have caused, and the language was not left at the mercy of 
 those, who, according to Moth's description, 'had been at a 
 great feast of languages, and stolen the scraps,' or who, as 
 Costard expressed it, 'had lived long on the alms-basket of 
 words.' 
 
 10. But it was not only against new and foreign words, 
 rashly introduced by the injudicious, that the 
 verdict was given by 'use and custome,' those 
 
 revive obsolete < onely umpiers of speach ' as Puttenham calls 
 them. The influence of so great a writer as 
 Spenser was unable either to obtain a more favourable judge- 
 ment for the old and native words, which he attempted to 
 recover from the neglect into which they had been allowed to 
 fall, or to secure general acceptance for words which had only 
 a local currency. In the letter to Gabriel Harvey, prefixed to 
 The Shepheartfs Calendar and dated 1579, Spenser's friend, 
 Edward Kirke, speaks of English very much as Ascham had 
 done before; those who had found it defective, he says, 'patched 
 
 1 Love's Labour's Lost, Act v. sc. i. The whole play may serve to 
 illustrate the difference between the use and the abuse of their opportunities 
 by those who, to use Moth's words in the same scene, 'had been at a great 
 feast of languages.' As a testimony to the justness of the ridicule aimed in 
 the passage at the practice of introducing Latin, may be quoted the remark 
 put into the mouth of a character in Chapman's An humerous dayes mirth, 
 (published r 599) : ' Now must I say, Lupus est in fabula, for these latine 
 ends are part of a gentleman and a good scholler.'
 
 Chapter XIL 257 
 
 up the holes with peces and rags of other languages, borrowing 
 here of the French, there of the Italian, every where of the 
 Latine ; not weighing how il those tongues accorde with them- 
 selves, but much worse with ours : so now they have made our 
 English tongue a gallimaufray, or hodgepodge of al other 
 speches.' Holding such a view he naturally was of opinion 
 that ' it is one special prayse of many, which are dew to this 
 Poete, that he hath laboured to restore, as to theyr rightfull 
 heritage, such good and naturall English words, as have ben 
 long time out of use, and almost cleane disherited.' But 
 Puttenham, when he laid down the rules: 'Our maker at these 
 dayes shall not follow Piers plowman nor Gower nor Lydgate 
 nor yet Chaucer, for their language is now out of use with 
 us; neither shall he take the termes of Northern-men,' shewed 
 as sound a judgement in matters of language as he did when 
 he censured the inkhorn terms and other foreign eccentricities 
 of those who threatened to make of English the 'gallimaufray' 
 which Kirke had called it. That in each case the justice of the 
 judgement received practical recognition from the writers who 
 really represented the language of literature is seen, in the one 
 by the ridicule poured on pedantry by Sydney and Shakspere, 
 in the other by such a criticism of Spenser's style as is implied 
 in Daniel's lines, 
 
 Let others sing of knights and Palladines 
 
 In aged accents, and untimely words; 
 
 or by that directly expressed in Ben Jonson's dictum, ' Spenser 
 in affecting the ancients writ no language.' As a result, then, 
 the language neither restored the words that it had already 
 rejected, nor without discrimination admitted the new words, 
 that many were ready to thrust upon it. 
 
 11. The writers who have so far been referred to as throw- 
 ing light upon the condition of the vocabulary t . 
 may remind us, that a point, which between English 
 the time of the Norman Conquest and that of wnters - 
 Chaucer is not very prominent, becomes in the i6th century 
 T. 17
 
 258 Outlines of tlie History of the English Language. 
 
 of much more importance. As regarded its grammatical forms 
 and the methods by which its vocabulary should be enlarged 
 the character of the language was settled, and competition 
 between different dialects was at an end, so that the general 
 conditions under which all writers worked were the same, and 
 the time had come, when the advance of the language was to 
 be marked by the increasing skill with which it was used by 
 the most competent. And from this point of view the language 
 for the first time becomes an object of consideration by con- 
 temporaries. As we have seen, in the judgement of Ascham 1 , 
 who still had something of the scholar's contempt for a vulgar 
 tongue as a medium of literature, English style was of the 
 worst. But very soon after this opinion was published, as 
 appears from a passage already quoted 2 , a more favourable and 
 juster estimate was formed by one who certainly understood 
 the true principles on which style must rest. And the pro- 
 gress made by English in the estimation of great Englishmen 
 may be shewn by contrasting with Ascham's verdict that of 
 Sir Philip Sidney, 'For the uttering sweetly and properly 
 the conceit of the mind, which is the ende of speeche, 
 that English hath equally with any other tongue in the 
 world.' 3 
 
 12. It was with style as with the vocabulary ; in a time of 
 superabundant vitality there were many devia- 
 
 Euphuism : r * 
 
 tions from the line which a perfect taste would 
 have directed the users of the language to follow, and in some 
 cases it was long before they were abandoned for the better 
 path. The most notable instance was Euphuism. In 1581 
 Lyly published a romance in two parts, the first called Euphues, 
 The Anatomy of Wit, the second, Euphues and his England. 
 From the description which at the outset the author gives of 
 a hero, who was to become the master of many scholars, some 
 idea may be gained of the teaching of the new school: 'This 
 
 1 6. * 7. a An Apologiefor Poetrie.
 
 CJiapter XII. 259 
 
 young gallaunt of more witte then wealth, and yet of more 
 wealth then wisdome, seeing himselfe inferiour to none in 
 pleasant conceits, though himselfe superiour to all his in 
 honest conditions, insomuch that he thought himselfe so apt 
 to all thinges that he gave himselfe almost to nothing but 
 practising of those thinges commonly which are incident to 
 these sharpe wittes, fine phrases, smooth quippes, merry tauntes, 
 using jestinge without meane, and abusing mirth without 
 measure.' The alliterative jingle and the antithetical see-saw, 
 which are characteristics of the style, repel the modern reader, 
 but earlier were accounted beauties, and Lyly's work became 
 very popular. Webbe, in his Discourse of English hs popularity< 
 Poetrie (1586), speaks of Lyly as one 'who hath 
 deserved most high commendations, as he who hath stepped 
 one step farther in eloquence, than any since he first began 
 the witty discourse of his Euphues ;...in my judgement I think 
 the learned will yield him that verdict which Quintilian giveth 
 of both the best orators, Demosthenes and Tully, that from 
 the one nothing may be taken away, and to the other nothing 
 may be added.' But it was at Court, amongst fashionable 
 people that Euphuism met with the warmest reception. In 
 the republication of six of Lyly's plays in 1632 it is said in the 
 address ' To the Reader,' that ' Our nation are in his debt tor 
 a new English which hee taught them. Euphues and his 
 England began first that language. All our ladies were then 
 his schollers, and that beautie in court who could not parley 
 Euphuisme, was as little regarded as shee which now there 
 speaks not French.' The influence exerted by the book is so 
 remarkable that an extract for the further illustration of its style 
 may be given : 
 
 Friend and fellow, as I am not ignorant of thy present 
 weakenes, so I am not privie of the cause: and 
 although I suspect many things, yet can I assure E ^ p X hues! fr m 
 myself of no one thing. Therefore my good 
 Euphues, for these doubts and dumpes of mine, either remove 
 
 17 2
 
 260 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 the cause, or reveale it. Thou hast hetherto founde me a 
 cheerefull companion in thy myrth, and nowe shalt thou finde 
 me as carefull with thee in thy moane. If altogether thou 
 maist not be cured, yet maist thou bee comforted. If 
 ther be any thing that either by my friends may be procured, 
 or by my life atteinecl, that may either heale thee in part, or 
 helpe thee in all, I protest to thee by the name of a friend, 
 that it shall rather be gotten with the losse of my body, then 
 lost by getting a kingdome. Thou hast tried me, therefore 
 trust me : thou hast trusted me in many things, therfore try 
 me in this one thing. I never yet failed, and now I will not 
 fainte. Be bolde to speake and blush not : thy sore is not so 
 angry but I can salve it, the wound not so deepe but I can 
 search it, thy grief not so great but I can ease it. If it be 
 ripe it shalbe launced, if it be broken it shalbe tainted, be 
 it never so desperat it shalbe cured. Rise therefore Euphues, 
 and take heart at grasse, younger thou shalt never be : plucke 
 up thy stomacke, if love it selfe have stoung thee, it shal not 
 stifle thee. Though thou be enamoured of some Lady, thou 
 shalt not be enchanted. They that begin to pine of a con- 
 sumcion, without delay preserve themselves with cullisses, he 
 that feeleth his stomack enflamed with heat, cooleth it eft- 
 soones with conserves, delayes breede daungers, nothing so 
 perilous as procrastination. 
 
 13. Fortunately it came to be recognized that there were 
 
 better guides than Lyly. In the year in which 
 f P b7ttelTa C ste. Webbe's eulogy was published died Sir Philip 
 
 Sidney, who according to Drayton ' did first 
 reduce Our tongue from Lillies writing then in use.' And 
 though even in 1632 some, like Edward Blount, the book- 
 seller, might still think the nation in Lyly's debt for a new 
 English, a better judge in matters of language than such had 
 already emphatically repudiated the obligation. Drayton 
 (1627), in the lines on Sidney, continues, after those just 
 quoted, with this description of 'Lillie's writing':
 
 Chapter XII. 261 
 
 "Talking of Stones, Stars, Plants, of Fishes, Flyes, 
 Playing with words, and idle similies, 
 As th' English, Apes and very Zanies be 
 Of every thing, that they doe heare and see, 
 So imitating his ridiculous tricks, 
 They spake and writ, all like meere lunatiques." 
 
 And the existence of a taste which appreciated what was 
 truly excellent is shewn at a rather earlier time in Peacham's 
 Compleat Gentleman (1622). In the chapter, 'Of style, in 
 speaking and writing,' the author says, 'Let your stile bee 
 furnished with solid matter, and compact of the best, choice, 
 and most familiar words ; taking heed of speaking or writing 
 such words as men shall rather admire than understand... 
 To helpe yourself herein make choice of those authors in 
 prose who speake the best and purest English. I would 
 commend unto you the Life of Richard III., written by 
 Sir T. Moor; the Arcadia of Sir P. Sidney; Sidney, whom 
 Du Bartas makes one of the four columnes of our language ; 
 the essays and other pieces of the excellent master of 
 eloquence, my Lord of St Albanes, who possesseth not only 
 eloquence, but all good learning, as hereditary both by father 
 and mother. You have then M. Hooker, his Ecclesiastical 
 Policy; Henry IV. and Edward IV., well written by Sir J. 
 Hayward ; that first part of our kings by M. Samuel Daniel, 
 and Sir Robert Cotton's short view of the long life of 
 Henry III.' 
 
 14. So far it has been rather to such points as by their 
 undue prominence most easily attract notice 
 
 . . .. Good and 
 
 that attention has been directed. They bear bad English 
 witness to the influences that were at work in the l6th 
 
 . century. 
 
 upon the language, but shew them working 
 without due control, and often with unhappy results. We 
 may now turn to some more favourable specimens of English, 
 in which, though the same influences may be traced, their 
 operation was kept within due bounds.
 
 262 Outlines of tlie History of the English Language. 
 
 15. To the first quarter of the i6th century belongs Lord 
 Berners' translation of Froissart's Chronicle 
 Bernels' ( T 5 2 3)> ^ which Marsh says, 'This translation 
 
 translation of is doubtless the best English prose style which 
 chronicle. 8 na d yet appeared, and, as a specimen of 
 picturesque narrative, it is excelled by no pro- 
 duction of later periods. It is executed with great skill, for 
 while it is faithful to the text, it adheres so closely to the 
 English idiom, that it has altogether the air of an original 
 work.' The following specimen, if compared with the last 
 passage that was used to illustrate the prose of the i5th cen- 
 tury, will be felt to mark a very distinct advance. It gives an 
 account of a very well-known scene at the battle of Crecy. 
 
 " The valyant kyng of Behaygne, called Charles of Luzen- 
 bourge, sonne to the noble emperour Henry of Luzenbourge, 
 for all that he was nyghe blynde, whan he understode the order 
 of the batayle, he sayde to them about hym, 'where is the 
 lorde Charles my son ? ' his men sayde, ' sir, we can nat tell, 
 we thynke he be fightynge ; ' than he sayde, ' sirs, ye are my 
 men, my companyons and friends in this journey. I requyre 
 you bring me so farre forwarde, that I may stryke one stroke 
 with my swerde ; ' they sayde they wolde do his commaunde- 
 ment, and to the intent that they shulde nat lese hym in the 
 prease, they tyed all their raynes of their bridelles eche to other 
 and sette the kynge before, to accomplysshe his desyre, and so 
 thei went on their ennemyes ; the lorde Charles of Behaygne 
 his sonne, who wrote hymselfe kynge of Behaygne and bare the 
 armes, He came in good order to the batayle ; but whanne he 
 sawe that the matter went awrie on their partie, he departed, 
 I can nat tell you whiche waye ; the kynge his father was so 
 farre forwarde, that he strake a stroke with his swerde, ye, and 
 mo than foure, and fought valyantly. And so dyde his com- 
 pany, and they adventured themselfe so forwarde, that they 
 were there all slayne, and the next day they were founde in 
 the place about the kyng, and all their horses tyed eche to other."
 
 Chapter XII. 263 
 
 The first impression that this passage will produce on 
 one who reads it after looking at the extract from the Morte 
 Darthur is, that the modern period of the language has begun. 
 There are but three native words which need reference to an 
 earlier time for their explanation : mo (O. E. ma), lese (O. E. 
 leosari) instead of lose, strake (O. E. strdc, p. tense of strlcan) 
 instead of struck ; bare instead of bore is too familiar to call for 
 remark ; the three French words journey, partie, adventure are 
 not used quite as they are now; in the pronouns, them (to them 
 about hym) still has the demonstrative force which is now 
 transferred to those, ye and you still have their proper force as 
 nominative and oblique cases, each, other still preserve the true 
 construction, but with all these uses we are familiar from the 
 Authorized Version; the uncertainty of the subjunctive (we 
 thynke he be fightynge) has not been quite lost yet ; and per- 
 haps the only phrase that seems strange is, ' thei went on 
 their ennemyes.' And not only is the material of the passage 
 that of modern times, but the proportion of native to foreign 
 words is such as may be found in the best writers to-day ; there 
 are about 240 words, and of these (excluding proper names) 
 less than 30 are foreign. In the structure and arrangement of 
 the clauses, also, it differs little from good modern prose ; so 
 near is it, that we may well claim for Lord Berners' transla- 
 tion that it should not fall under the sweeping condemnation 
 passed by Ascham on English writers. 
 
 16. A very important specimen of the language, that 
 belongs to about the same time as the preceding, 
 is Tyndal's translation of the New Testament, translation 
 Its importance will be seen, when it is noticed f the New 
 
 ' . Testament. 
 
 how closely our Authorized Version, which more 
 than any other English book has been familiar to the speakers 
 of English, agrees with it. By way 01 contrast to this agree- 
 ment, and as illustrating the change that the language had 
 undergone in the interval between 1389 and 1526, the transla- 
 tions of Wicklif and Tyndal are placed side by side.
 
 264 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 Mark XV. i. 
 
 WlCKLIF. 
 
 TYNDAL. 
 
 I. And anon the morwe maad, 
 the hijeste prestis, makinge counceil 
 with the eldere men, and scribis, 
 and al the counceil, byndinge Jhesu, 
 ledden, and betooken to Pilat. 
 i. And Pilat axide him, Art thou 
 kyng of Jewis? And he answeringe 
 seith to him, Thou seyst. 3. And 
 the hijeste prestis accusiden him in 
 manye thinges. Pilat forsothe eft- 
 soone axide him, seyinge, Thou an- 
 swerest not ony thing? Seest thou, 
 in how manye thinges thei accusen 
 thee? 5. Forsothe Jhesus more 
 no thing answerede, so that Pilat 
 schulde wondre. 6. Forsoth by a 
 solemne day he was wont to leeue to 
 hem oon bounden, whom euere 
 thei axiden. 7. Forsoth there was 
 he that was seid Barabas, that was 
 bounden with sleeris of men, and 
 that hadde don manslaujtre in 
 sedicion. 8. And whanne the 
 cumpany hadde stije up, he began 
 for to preye, as he euermore dide 
 to hem. 9. Sothely Pilat answerede 
 to hem, and seide, Wolen 3e I leeue 
 to 3ou the kyng of Jewis? 10. Soth- 
 li he wiste, that the hi3este prestis 
 hadden taken him by enuye. n. 
 Forsothe the bischopis stireden the 
 cumpenye of peple, that more he 
 
 schulde leeue to hern Barabas 
 
 15. Sothli Pilate willinge for to do 
 ynow to the peple, lefte to hem 
 Barabas, and betook to hem Jhesu, 
 smyten with scourgis, that he 
 schulde be crucified. 
 
 And anon in the dawnynge heelde 
 the hye prestes a counsell with the 
 seniours, and the scribes, and also 
 the whole congregacion, and bounde 
 Jesus, and ledde hym awaye, and 
 delyvered hym to Pilate. And 
 Pilate axed, Arte thou the kynge off 
 the Jewes ? And he answered and 
 sayde unto hym, Thou sayest yt. 
 And the hye prestes accused hym off 
 many thynges. Pylate axed hym 
 agayne, sayinge, Answerest thou 
 nothynge? Beholde, howe many 
 thinges they lay unto thy charge. 
 Jesus yett answered never a worde, 
 so that Pilate merveled. Alt the 
 feast Pilate was wont to delyvre att 
 their pleasure a presoner, whomso- 
 ever they wolde desyre. And there 
 was one named Barrabas which laye 
 bounde with them that caused in- 
 surrection, and in the insurrection 
 committed murther. And the people 
 called unto hym, and began to 
 desyre off hym, according as he had 
 ever done unto them. Pylate an- 
 swered them, and sayd, Wyll ye 
 that I loose unto you the kynge off 
 the Jewes? For he knew, that the 
 hye prestes had delyvered hym of 
 envy. Butt the hye prestes had 
 moved the people, that he should 
 rather delyvre Barrabas unto them .... 
 Pylate willinge to content the peo- 
 ple, loused Barrabas, and delyvered 
 Jesus scourged for to be crucified. 
 
 Two points worth noting with respect to Tyndal's version
 
 Cliapter XII. 
 
 265 
 
 are brought out by a comparison of these two renderings. One 
 is its superiority as a translation ; instead of reproducing, as the 
 earlier does, the idioms of its original, it uses English idioms. 
 The other is that it is a translation from the Greek, not from 
 the Latin. The first point may be illustrated by the following 
 instances : 
 
 WlCKLIF. 
 
 LATIN. 
 
 TYNDAL. 
 
 GREEK. 
 
 v. i. makinge, 
 
 pres. parts. 
 
 heelde, bounde 
 
 pres. parts. 
 
 byndinge 
 
 
 
 
 2. Thou seyst 
 
 tu dicis 
 
 Thou sayest jtf 
 
 i> Xys 
 
 3. To accuse in 
 
 accusare in 
 
 To accuse of 
 
 verb with ace. 
 
 many things 
 
 multis 
 
 
 
 5. So that Pilat 
 
 ita ut miraretur 
 
 So that Pilate 
 
 wore Oavfjutfew 
 
 schulde wondre 
 
 Pilatus 
 
 merveled 
 
 rbv ntXarof 
 
 7. He that was 
 
 qui dicebatur 
 
 One named 
 
 6 \ey6[j.ei>os 
 
 said 
 
 
 
 
 9. Wolen 3e I 
 
 vultis dimittam 
 
 Wyll ye that I 
 
 GtXere diro\vffu 
 
 leeue 
 
 
 loose 
 
 
 ii. That more he 
 
 ut magis dimit- 
 
 That he should 
 
 'iva /M\\OV diro- 
 
 schulde leeue to 
 
 teret eis 
 
 rather delyvre 
 
 \vff-g avToiis 
 
 hem 
 
 
 unto them 
 
 
 15. To do ynou 
 
 satisfacere 
 
 To content 
 
 TO IKO.VOV woiijffai 
 
 As evidence of the second point might be taken : 
 
 6. By a solemne per diem festum Att the feast Kara, toprty 
 day 
 
 15. smyten with flagellis caesura scourged tf>paye\\<bffas 
 
 scourgis 
 
 But the most noteworthy point is brought out by com- 
 parison, not with an earlier, but with a later Version the 
 Authorized. In this, though several editions of the New 
 Testament came out between 1526 and 1611, Tyndal's transla- 
 tion is preserved almost word for word ; such is the case with 
 the passage given above. Consequently in Tyndal's work we 
 have a specimen of English which has been familiar to every 
 generation of Englishmen since it was written, and has never 
 ceased to be regarded by the best writers as among the noblest 
 monuments of the language.
 
 266 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 17. As an example of original prose may be taken a 
 
 passage from the writings of Tyndal's antagonist, 
 
 More's c- 33 Sir Thomas More. It is from The Confutation 
 
 aunswere (1532), and contains a 
 curious little piece of information about the 
 adverbs of negation and affirmation. Commenting upon the 
 verse, which in Tyndal's version runs, ' Arte thou a prophete ? 
 And he aunswered, no,' More, with a bitterness which did not 
 lend dignity to his style, remarks : 
 
 'I woulde not here note by the way, that Tyndal here 
 translateth no for nay, for it is but a trifle and mistaking of the 
 englishe worde : sauing that ye shoulde see that he, whych in 
 two so plain englishe wordes, and so commen as is naye and 
 no, can not tell when he should take the tone, and when the 
 tother, is not, for translating into englishe, a man very mete. 
 For the use of those two wordes in aunswerring to a question 
 is this. .Aft 1 aunswereth the question framed by the affirmative. 
 As for ensample, if a manne should aske Tindall hymselfe: 'ys 
 an heretike mete to translate holy scripture into englishe?' 
 Lo, to thys question, if he will aunswere trew englishe, he 
 muste aunswere nay and not no. But and if the question be 
 asked hym thus, lo: 'Is not an heretyque mete to translate 
 holy scripture into english ? ' To this question, lo, if he wil 
 aunswer true english, he must aunswere no & not nay. And a 
 lyke difference is there betweene these two aduerbes, ye and 
 yes. For if the questeion bee framed unto Tindall by thaffirm- 
 aliue in thys fashion : ' If an heretique falsely translate the newe 
 testament into englishe, to make hys false heresyes seeme the 
 worde of Godde, be hys bookes worthy to be burned?' To 
 this question asked in thys wyse, yf he wil aunswere true 
 englishe, he must aunswere ye and not yes. But nowe if the 
 question be asked hym thus, lo, by the negatiue : 'If an 
 heretike falsely translate the newe testament into englishe, to 
 
 1 More here makes exactly the same mistake for which he censures 
 Tyndal.
 
 Chapter XIL 267 
 
 make hys false heresy es seme the word of God, be not his 
 bokes well worthy to be burned?' To thys question in thys 
 fashion framed, if he wyll aunswere trew englyshe, he maye not 
 aunswere ye, but he must aunswere yes, and say, ' yes, mary, 
 be they, bothe the translacion and the translatour, and al that 
 wyll holde wyth them.' " 
 
 Of this passage it may be said that it represents the per- 
 manent growth of the language ; there is not a single word in 
 it, that could not still be used ; and even if a modern writer 
 might in a few cases choose other words to express the same 
 matter, he would yet be familiar with More's language, for it is 
 the language of the Authorized Version. Except might be 
 used instead of saving, but v. Amos ix. 8 ; fit instead of mete, 
 but v. i Cor. xv. 9; example for ensample, but v. Phil. iii. 17; 
 but and if occurs in Mt. xxiv. 48 ; be, not are, in a question in 
 Lk. xxii. 52; ivhich referring to a personal antecedent is too 
 common to need a parallel, and the inflection -eth is invariably 
 used. The order of the words, too, and the structure of the 
 paragraph are almost modern. 
 
 With such works in existence as those from which the last 
 three extracts have been made it seems remarkable that 
 Ascham should have spoken of the English language as he 
 does, and have rated so low what had been done in it. But 
 the passage (already quoted, p. 249) in which his views are 
 expressed is written in a style which seems to shew the writer 
 to be rather on the by-path that was to lead to Euphuism, 
 than on the direct road of real progress on which Lord Berners 
 and Tyndall and More were moving. Instead of the sim- 
 plicity which is found in them, there is in Ascham much of the 
 artificiality that is characteristic of Lyly ; e.g. the elaborate 
 balance of antithesis is worked out by both. So the passage 
 from Ascham may serve as an introduction to the second half 
 of the 1 6th century, in which, as we have seen, there were not 
 a few writers and speakers whose practice might have justified 
 the application to them of words that seem out of place when
 
 268 Outlines of tlie History of the English Language. 
 
 they appear to include in their censure the best writers who 
 preceded the date of its publication. 
 
 18. Of the ephemeral abuses in matter of language which 
 were prevalent in the latter half of the i6th 
 ptutarcA* century enough has already been said, and we 
 
 may now try to illustrate the judicious use, that 
 contributed to real progress, by specimens from two works, 
 each in its own way worthy of note. The first is the trans- 
 lation of Plutarch's Lives, made by Sir Thomas North (1579) 
 from the French version of Amyot, and notable as being the 
 source from which Shakspere derived his knowledge of Roman 
 history. The following passage from the life of Coriolanus 
 may shew North's style: 
 
 So Martius being a stowte man of nature, that never 
 yelded in any respect, as one thincking that to overcome 
 allwayes, and to have the upper hande in all matters, was a 
 token of magnanimitie, and of no bare and fainte corage, 
 which spitteth out anger from the most weake and passioned 
 parte of the harte, much like the matter of an impostume : 
 went home to his house, full fraighted with spite and malice 
 against the people, being accompanied with all the lustiest 
 young gentlemen, whose mindes were nobly bent, as those that 
 came of noble race, and commonly used for to followe and 
 honour him. But then specially they floct about him, and 
 kept him companie, to his muche harme : for they dyd but 
 kyndle and inflame his choller more and more, being sorie 
 with him for the injurie the people offred him, bicause he was 
 their captaine and leader to the warres, that taught them all 
 marshall discipline, and stirred up in them a noble emulation 
 of honour and valiantnes, and yet without envie, praising them 
 that deserved best. 
 
 If the practice of later times may be taken as a test of 
 judicious use, the language of this passage certainly satisfies the 
 test ; there is hardly a word in it that is not still current. But 
 while the passage shews that there was abundance of excellent
 
 Chapter XII. 269 
 
 material at hand, it shews at the same time that among those 
 who had the good taste to use such material, the power to use 
 it skilfully was sometimes wanting. In the next specimen we 
 may see as well the excellence of the material as the skill in its 
 use. The extract that follows is from Sidney's g . dne , s 
 Apologu for Poetrie (c. 1581), of which Marsh Apoiogiefor 
 says, that in style and diction it was the best 
 secular prose yet written in England : 
 
 Certainly I must confesse my own barbarousnes, I neuer 
 heard the olde song of Percy and Duglas, that I found not my 
 heart mooued more then with a Trumpet : and yet is it sung 
 but by some blinde Crouder, with no rougher voyce, then rude 
 stile : which being so euill apparrelled in the dust and cob- 
 webbes of that unciuill age, what would it worke trymmed 
 in the gorgeous eloquence of Pindarl In Hungary I haue 
 scene it the manner at all Feasts, and other such meetings, to 
 haue songes of their Auncestours valour; which that right 
 Souldier-like Nation thinck the chiefest kindlers of braue 
 courage. The incomparable Lacedemonians did not only carry 
 that kinde of Musicke euer with them to the field, but euen at 
 home, as such songs were made, so were they all content to 
 bee the singers of them, when the lusty men were to tell what 
 they dyd, the olde men what they had done, and the young 
 men what they wold doe. And where a man may say, that 
 Pindar many times prayseth highly victories of small moment, 
 matters rather of sport then vertue : as it may be aunswered, 
 it was the fault of the Poet, and not of the Poetry ; so indeede, 
 the chiefe fault was in. the tyme and custome of the Greekes, 
 who set those toyes at so high a price, that Phillip of Macedon 
 reckoned a horse-race wonne at Olimpus among hys three 
 fearefull felicities. But as the unimitable Pindar often did, 
 so is that kinde most capable and most fit, to awake the 
 thoughts from the sleep of idlenes, to imbrace honourable 
 enterprises. 
 
 Of this passage we may fairly say that it ia worthy of one
 
 270 Outlines of the History of tJie English Language. 
 
 who held that 'for the uttering sweetly and properly the conceit 
 of the mind, that English hath equally with any other tongue in 
 the world.' It was written about the time that Lyly was giving 
 the nation a new English, and shews that fortunately there was 
 an old English which might prevent those of true taste from 
 desiring the new, for they could rightly say of it that the old 
 was better. 
 
 To give further specimens, taken from the great writers 
 of the Elizabethan age, is unnecessary. The progress of the 
 language up to the point reached in such prose as Sidney's 
 has been slightly illustrated, and the sources from which the 
 vocabulary was drawing fresh material have been pointed out. 
 The student who wishes to realise the position, that had been 
 attained by English at the beginning of the i7th century, 
 must look not merely to brief extracts, but must read the 
 literature in which its powers are shewn by the great masters 
 of language.
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 The language of the early part of the i;th century classical studies 
 Burton his Anatomy of Melancholy Sir Thomas Browne's Vulgar 
 Errors its scientific vocabulary Milton's Areopagitica its vocabu- 
 lary its style Dryden's Essay of Dramatic Poesie modern in 
 vocabulary and style writers of the first half of the i8th century 
 Addison and Swift on words from foreign languages Johnson and his 
 style example of Addison's style Johnson's criticism of it contrast 
 to it shewn by Johnson's style in the Rambler influence of Johnson 
 on the language of his time his influence not permanent English in 
 the iQth century the earlier history of the language indicated by its 
 present form. 
 
 1. FROM the times of EHVabeth to our own there has been 
 no break in the line of great writers ; and their 
 works, considered as literature, might call for a The lan - 
 
 guage of the 
 
 fuller notice than do those of all their prede- early part of 
 cessors. But while the history of the literature century, 
 during this period would have to deal with a 
 subject whose noteworthy material was always growing in 
 volume, the history of the language, at least so far as its 
 outlines are concerned, finds less to record than had been 
 the case in earlier times. As regards grammatical forms, 
 hardly any change remains to be noticed ; and as regards 
 vocabulary, the admission of new words continues after the 
 same fashion as had prevailed in the latter part of the i6th 
 century. Greater facility, indeed, is gained by the later writers
 
 272 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 in the management of their material, and the stately and some- 
 times involved style of the earlier gives place to one which has 
 more freedom and clearness. Detailed examination, e.g. of a 
 play of Shakspere, will of course shew both constructions that 
 are not now usual, and words either not used at all or not used 
 with their present meanings; but most readers of Shakspere 
 are willing to dispense with grammatical notes, and are satisfied 
 with but few references to a dictionary of archaic words. We 
 still to a great extent possess the language of Shakspere. By 
 this it is not meant to be implied that no important changes 
 have been made in the language since 1600. Changes, by 
 modification of old material or acquisition of new, of such 
 magnitude have been going on, that all changes of thought 
 that have taken place since that date have found adequate 
 expression in the language. But when dealing only with the 
 outlines of its history such changes may be more briefly 
 indicated than is the case with some of perhaps less import- 
 ance in the earlier stages of its development; and again it 
 is to the literature that the student must turn to get a proper 
 appreciation of the subject. 
 
 2. If classical studies had been prosecuted in the last 
 quarter of the i6th century because of royal 
 
 Continuation .1 1-11 IT 
 
 of classical example, they were not likely to be discontinued 
 studies in the j n tne fi rst q uart er of the 1 7th for want of similar 
 
 ijrth century. ' 
 
 encouragement from a king, who 'at his de- 
 parture' from the Bodleian Library 'brake out into that noble 
 speech, If I were not a king, I would be an University man.' 
 And Burton, who quotes this saying, may be appealed to as an 
 instance, which by presenting the case in a somewhat extreme 
 form, may the more easily illustrate the point. How wide was 
 the reading of the author of The Anatomy of Melancholy (1621) 
 may be seen by the endless Latin quotations it contains. The 
 following passage may serve both as a specimen of English 
 written by a scholar, and as an illustration of a scholar's 
 familiarity with Latin:
 
 Cliapter XIII. 273 
 
 But in the mean time, how doth this concern me, or upon 
 what reference do I usurp (Democritus) his 
 
 Burton and 
 
 habit? I confesse, indeed, that to compare The Anatomy 
 myself unto him for aught I have yet said, were f Melancho ''y- 
 both impudency and arrogance. I do not presume to make 
 any parallel, Antistat mihi miliibus trecentis, parvus sum, nullus 
 sum, altum nee spiro, nee spero. Yet thus much I will say of 
 my self, and that I hope without all suspition of pride, or self- 
 conceit, I have lived a silent, sedentary, solitary, private life, 
 mihi 6 musts in the University, as long almost as Xenocrates 
 in Athens, ad senectam fere to learn wisdom as he did, penned 
 up most part in my study. For I have been brought up a 
 student in the most flourishing colledge of Europe, augustissimo 
 collegia, and can brag with lovius, almost, in ea luce domicilii 
 Vacicani, totius orbis celeberrimi, per 37 annos multa opportuna- 
 que didici; for 30 years I have continued (having the use of as 
 good Libraries as ever he had) a scholar, and would be 
 therefore loth, either by living as a drone, to be an unprofit- 
 able or unworthy Member of so learned and noble a societie, 
 or to write that which should be any way dishonourable to 
 such a royal and ample foundation. Something I have done, 
 though by my profession a Divine, yet turbine raptus ingenii 
 out of a running wit, an unconstant, unsettled mind, I had a 
 great desire (not able to attain to a superficial skil in any) to 
 have some smattering in all, to be aliquis in omnibus, nullus in 
 singulis, which Plato commends. 
 
 It will be noticed that the writer of this passage, though as 
 a scholar in a University he belonged to a class of which 
 Puttenham had complained that its members 'used much 
 peevish affectation of words out of the primative languages,' is 
 certainly not chargeable with this fault of his predecessors. 
 His familiarity with Latin is evident, and he uses many words 
 of Latin origin, but these may fairly come under the head of 
 'usual and accustomable words,' for they are all in present 
 use. 
 
 T. 18
 
 274 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 3. It was not, however, always in so moderate a degree 
 that the influence of classical learning manifested 
 
 Sir Thomas . 
 
 Browne's itself ; and the following passage from Sir 1 homas 
 
 Vulgar Errors . ;g rowne > s p seu dodoxia Epidcmica ( 1 646) will shew 
 this influence working much more strongly, and at the same 
 time will serve as an early example of a practice, which is 
 familiar to the igth century that of employing material de- 
 rived from the classical languages in the formation of scientific 
 terms. It is from the chapter on the loadstone that the 
 extract is taken : 
 
 Nor is the vigour of this great body (the earth) included 
 only in itself, or circumferenced by its surface, but diffused at 
 indeterminate distances through the air, water, and all bodies 
 circumjacent; exciting and impregnating magnetical bodies 
 within its surface or without it, and performing, in a secret and 
 invisible way, what we evidently behold effected by the load 
 stone. For these effluxions penetrate all bodies, and like the 
 species of visible objects are ever ready in the medium, and lay 
 hold on all bodies proportionate or capable of their action ; 
 those bodies likewise, being of a congenerous nature, do 
 readily receive the impressions of their motor; and, if not 
 fettered by their gravity, conform themselves to situations 
 wherein they best unite unto their animator. And this will 
 sufficiently appear from the observations that are to follow, 
 which can no better way be found out, than by this we speak 
 of, the magnetical vigour of the earth. Now, whether these 
 effluxions do fly by striated atoms and winding particles, as 
 Renatus des Cartes conceiveth, or glide by streams attracted 
 from either pole and hemisphere of the earth unto the equator, 
 as Sir Kenelm Digby excellently declareth, it takes not away 
 this vigour of the earth ; but more distinctly sets down the 
 gests and progress thereof, and are conceits of eminent use to 
 salve magnetical phenomena. And, as in astronomy, those 
 hypotheses (though never so strange) are best esteemed which 
 best do salve appearances, so surely in philosophy those
 
 Oiapter XI U. 275 
 
 principles (though seeming monstrous) may with advantage be 
 embraced, which best confirm experiment, and afford the 
 readiest reason of observation. 
 
 Large as is the foreign element in the passage, Sir Thomas 
 Browne is hardly more indebted to Latin and 
 Greek than is a writer on scientific subjects Jerms'Te^ived 
 to-day : indeed there are very few words in it fro Greek 
 
 . . and Latin. 
 
 which might not still be used, and in this sense 
 its language is as modern as that of Burton. 
 
 4. But for a specimen of English written under the in- 
 fluence of the highest training that the first half Milton's 
 of the 1 7th century could offer it is to a greater Areopa- 
 than either Burton or Sir T. Browne that we f lttctt - 
 should look to Milton, who was familiar with foreign languages, 
 both ancient and modern, and who knew the best that had 
 been written in his own and other countries. Within about two 
 years of the publication of the work last quoted he wrote the 
 Arcopagitica (1644), and from it the following extract is taken : 
 
 When a man writes to the world, he summons up all his 
 reason and deliberation to assist him, he searches, meditats, is 
 industrious, and likely consults and conferrs with his judicious 
 friends ; after all which done he takes himself to be inform'd 
 in what he writes, as well as any that writ before him ; if 
 in this the most consummat act of his fidelity and ripenesse, 
 no years, no industry, no former proof of his abilities can 
 bring him to that state of maturity, as not to be still mis- 
 trusted and suspected, unlesse he carry all his considerat 
 diligence, all his midnight watchings, and expence of Palladian 
 oyl, to the hasty view of an unlearne'd licencer, perhaps much 
 his younger, perhaps far his inieriour in judgement, perhaps 
 one who never knew the labour of book-writing, and if he 
 be not repulst, or slighted, must appear in Print like a punie 
 with his guardian, and his censor's hand on the back of his title 
 to be his bayl and surety, that he is no idiot, or seducer, 
 it cannot be but a dishonour and derogation to the author, to 
 
 182
 
 276 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 the book, to the priviledge and dignity of Learning. And 
 what if the author shall be one so copious of fancie, as to 
 have many things well worth the adding, come into his mind 
 after licencing, while the book is yet under the Presse, which 
 not seldom happ'ns to the best and diligentest writers. The 
 Printer dares not go beyond his licenc't copy ; so often then 
 must the author trudge to his leavgiver, that those his new 
 insertions may be viewd ; and many a jaunt will be made, ere 
 that licencer, for it must be the same man, can either be found, 
 or found at leisure ; mean while either the Presse must stand 
 still, which is no small damage, or the author loose his 
 accuratest thoughts, and send the book forth wors then he had 
 made it, which to a diligent writer is the greatest melancholy 
 and vexation that can befall. 
 
 All the material of this passage is still used, but not all of 
 
 it has the same force now as it has in the passage. 
 'buiaryV Several of the words illustrate a point that has 
 
 to be borne in mind by a reader of the older 
 literature, viz. that a foreign word on its first introduction is 
 used with the sense that belongs to it in the language from 
 which it is taken, but on becoming naturalized it will change 
 according to the will of those who speak the language in which 
 it is incorporated. For instance, we still use consummate, 
 considerate, expense, puny, idiot, copious, but we should hardly 
 use them in the same way that Milton does. 
 
 5. It is not, however, so much by its vocabulary that the 
 
 passage is marked off from modern English, as 
 
 by its structure ; it is not the material that is 
 used, but the fabric that is constructed with it, that associates 
 Milton rather with his great predecessors than with those who 
 followed him. With his majestic prose seems to end the period 
 which precedes that of modern English. To an age which 
 was saturated with the language of the Bible, and elevated 
 by the greatness of the issues which, whether in religious or 
 political matters, were of vital concern to it, succeeded one
 
 Chapter XIII. 277 
 
 which recoiled from the earnestness of its predecessor, and 
 the changed conditions were reflected in the language. The 
 contrast between the first and second half of the i;th century 
 may be brought out by comparing the prose of Milton with 
 that of Dryden, from whose Essay of Dramatic Poesie the 
 following passage is taken : 
 
 As for Jonson, if we look upon him while he was himself, 
 I think him the most learned and judicious writer 
 
 ... i j TT Dryden's 
 
 which any theatre ever had. He was a most Essay of 
 severe judge of himself as well as others. One Dramatic 
 
 1 Poesie : 
 
 cannot say he wanted wit, but rather that he 
 was frugal of it. In his works you find little to retrench or 
 alter. Wit and language, and humour also in some measure, 
 we had before him ; but something of art was wanting to the 
 drama till he came. He managed his strength to more ad- 
 vantage than any who preceded him. You seldom find him 
 making love in any of his scenes, or endeavouring to move the 
 passions; his genius was too sullen and saturnine to do it 
 gracefully, especially when he knew he came after those who 
 had performed both to such an height. Humour was his 
 proper sphere; and in that he delighted most to represent 
 mechanic people. He was deeply conversant in the ancients, 
 both Greek and Latin, and he borrowed boldly from them : 
 there is scarce a poet or historian among the Roman authors 
 of those times whom he has not translated in Sejanus and 
 Catiline. But he has done his robberies so openly that one 
 may see he fears not to be taxed by any law. He invades 
 authors like a monarch, and what would be theft in other 
 poets is only victory in him. If there was any fault in his 
 language, 'twas that he weaved it too closely and laboriously, 
 in his comedies especially; perhaps, too, he did a little too 
 much Romanise our tongue, leaving the words which he 
 translated almost as much Latin as he found them : wherein, 
 though he learnedly followed their language, he did not enough 
 comply with the idiom of ours.
 
 278 Outlines of the History of the English Langiiage. 
 
 This passage is modern, not only because the words in it are 
 still used, and used, too, with trifling exceptions, 
 
 modern in 
 
 vocabulary as we use them, but because it is constructed as 
 it might now be constructed. The passage from 
 Milton, whatever changes might be made in its vocabulary, 
 could not possibly be mistaken for a product of the igth 
 century, while with a very few verbal alterations the specimen 
 of Dryden might be made to pass for good modern English. 
 With the appearance of Dryden the old order gives place to 
 new. 
 
 6. The great writers of the first half of the i8th century 
 
 followed the example set by Dryden ; and to the 
 
 the firsThaif works of Addison, Oxford scholar and traveller 
 
 of the i8th m Italy, or to those of Swift, champion of the 
 
 century ' ' 
 
 ancients against the moderns, we may still turn 
 
 for models of good English. But we are not confined within 
 
 the limits which their taste would have fixed. 
 
 Addison and . .*. i -r /~> . 
 
 Swift on As a result of the wars m the Low Countries 
 
 foreign words foreign words were coming into use in England, 
 
 to many of which, as we have seen 1 , objection 
 was taken by Addison, as had been done by writers of the 
 1 6th century to the foreign words then introduced. The 
 vocabulary of science was extending in the direction which 
 the extract from Sir T. Browne seemed to point out, and 
 against many of its terms Swift protested 2 . But such objections 
 and protests were unavailing, and the number of words alike 
 from ancient and from modern languages steadily increased; 
 indeed by the remarkable influence of one man for a time the 
 language of literature in the i8th century was diverted from 
 the course of simplicity, which under the guidance of such 
 writers as Addison and Swift it had followed, and was brought 
 
 under the domination of the classical tongues. 
 hilS 1 and Johnson, whose weakness was ' to make little 
 
 fishes talk like whales,' became 'the great Cham 
 
 1 v. p. 4. 2 Ibid.
 
 Chapter XIII. 279 
 
 of literature'; his style to a great extent became a model for his 
 contemporaries, and in the i8th century the language was 
 almost as much in danger from the new English of Johnson, 
 as in the i6th it had been from that of Lyly. Fortunately in 
 both cases it was the old English that survived, and that in the 
 later case, as in the earlier, we may justly say 'the old is better' 
 will appear on a comparison of two extracts from the Spectator 
 and the Rambler respectively : 
 
 I may cast my readers under two general divisions, the 
 Mercurial and the Saturnine. The first are the 
 gay part of my disciples, who require specula- ^ he s ^ ecta ' 
 tions of wit and humour, the others are those of 
 a more solemn and sober turn, who find no pleasure but in 
 papers of morality and sound sense. The former call every- 
 thing that is serious, stupid; the latter look upon everything 
 as impertinent that is ludicrous. Were I always grave, one 
 half of my readers would fall off from me: were I always 
 merry, I should lose the other. I make it therefore my en- 
 deavour to find out entertainments of both kinds, and by that 
 means perhaps consult the good of both, more than I should 
 do, did I always write to the particular taste of either. As they 
 neither of them know what I proceed upon, the sprightly 
 reader, who takes up my paper in order to be diverted, 
 very often finds himself unawares in a serious and profitable 
 course of thinking; as on the contrary, the thoughtful man, 
 who perhaps may hope to find something solid, and full of deep 
 reflection, is very often insensibly betrayed into a fit of mirth. 
 In a word, the reader sits down to my entertainment without 
 knowing his bill of fare, and has therefore at least the pleasure 
 of hoping there may be a dish to his palate. 
 
 I must confess, were I left to myself, I should rather aim 
 at instructing than diverting ; but if we will be useful to the 
 world, we must take it as we find it. Authors of professed 
 severity discourage the looser part of mankind from having 
 anything to do with their writings. The very title of a moral
 
 280 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 treatise has something in it austere and shocking to the care- 
 less and inconsiderate. Spectator, No. CLXXIX. 
 
 7. In his criticism of Addison Johnson says : ' His prose 
 is the model of the middle style ; on grave sub- 
 
 Johnson's . .... 
 
 criticism of jects not formal, on light occasions not grovel- 
 styie? on1s ^ n g> P ure without scrupulosity, and exact with- 
 
 out apparent elaboration; always equable, and 
 always easy, without glowing words or pointed sentences. Ad- 
 dison never deviates from his track to snatch a grace; he seeks 
 no ambitious ornaments, and tries no hazardous innovations. 
 His page is always luminous, but never blazes in unexpected 
 splendour. It was apparently his principal endeavour to avoid 
 all harshness and severity of diction ; he therefore sometimes 
 descends too much to the language of conversation ; yet if his 
 language had been less idiomatic, it might have lost somewhat 
 of its genuine Anglicism. Whoever wishes to attain an English 
 style, familiar but not coarse, and elegant but not ostentatious, 
 must give his days and nights to the volumes of Addison.' 
 
 How far Johnson was from making the prose of Addison 
 the model for his own might be illustrated by this quotation ; 
 but the difference between the two styles becomes more strik- 
 ing when they are compared in works so similar in character 
 as are the Spectator and the Rambler^. Compare, for example, 
 the following extract from the last number of the latter with 
 that already given from the former : 
 
 Whatever shall be the final sentence of mankind, I have 
 at least endeavoured to deserve their kindness. 
 
 The Rambler. 
 
 I have laboured to refine our language to gram- 
 matical purity, and to clear it from colloquial barbarisms, 
 licentious idioms, and irregular combinations. Something, 
 perhaps, I have added to the elegance of its construction, and 
 
 1 When Dr Burney, after reading Johnson's remarks on Addison's 
 style, could not help observing, 'that it had not been his own model,' the 
 reply he received from Johnson was, 'Sir, Addison had his style, and I have 
 mine."
 
 Chapter XIII. 281 
 
 something to the harmony of its cadence. When common 
 words were less pleasing to the ear, or less distinct in their 
 signification, I have familiarized the terms of philosophy, by 
 applying them to popular ideas, but have rarely admitted any 
 word not authorized by former writers; for I believe that 
 whoever knows the English tongue in its present extent, will 
 be able to express his thoughts without further help from other 
 nations. 
 
 As it has been my principal design to inculcate wisdom or 
 piety, I have allotted few papers to the idle sports of imagina- 
 tion. Some, perhaps, may be found, of which the highest 
 excellence is harmless merriment; but scarcely any man is so 
 steadily serious as not to complain, that the severity of dicta- 
 torial instruction has been too seldom relieved, and that he is 
 driven by the sternness of the Rambler's philosophy to more 
 cheery and airy companions. 
 
 In the pictures of life I have never been so studious of 
 novelty or surprise, as to depart wholly from all resemblance ; 
 a fault which writers deservedly celebrated frequently commit, 
 that they may raise, as the occasion requires, either mirth or 
 abhorrence. Some enlargement may be allowed to declama- 
 tion, and some exaggeration to burlesque ; but as they deviate 
 farther from reality, they become less useful, because their 
 lessons will fail of application. 
 
 The essays professedly serious, if I have been able to 
 execute my own intentions, will be found exactly conformable 
 to the precepts of Christianity, without any accommodation to 
 the licentiousness and levity of the present age. I therefore 
 look back on this part of my work with pleasure, which no 
 blame or praise of man shall diminish or augment. 
 
 8. If the style of Johnson had remained peculiar to 
 himself, there would have been hardly more 
 reason to dwell upon it in considering the johnson^nthe 
 history of the language in the i8th century, language of hi? 
 than to dwell upon that of Carlyle in con-
 
 282 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 nection with Victorian English. But a writer of whom that 
 could be said which Boswell said of Johnson, that ' such is the 
 melody of his periods, so much do they captivate the ear, and 
 seize upon the attention, that there is scarcely any writer 1 , 
 however inconsiderable, who does not aim, in some degree, at 
 the same species of excellence,' becomes a factor, that, when 
 the history of the language is to be traced merely in outline, 
 needs to be taken into account. 
 
 It was, however, with the ' great Cham ' of literature as with 
 Cromwell. Though each died in the possession 
 
 no"pVrne n nt e f P OW6r > X et il WaS 8 iven tO neither tO be the 
 
 founder of a line that should maintain the new 
 order he had introduced. The death of each was soon 
 followed by a return to the old order; the igth century 
 abandoned 'Johnsonese,' for when all were reading the Waverley 
 Novels with delight, few could maintain their allegiance to the 
 style of the Rambler; and in Victorian English there remains 
 hardly more trace of it than there is of Euphuism in the 
 language of Dryden. 
 
 9. In the igth century not only has there been no parallel 
 
 English to J onnson > DUt there have been no influences 
 
 in the igth at work upon the language that have produced 
 
 effects so strikingly apparent as has been the 
 case in the earlier centuries. During the last hundred years 
 the capabilities of the language have been proved by great 
 writers in every department of thought, but the best that has 
 been written at any one time of the period is in no case in 
 strong contrast with the best that has been written at any other. 
 None the less has the language developed. To such changes 
 in external conditions as have come with the use of steam and 
 
 1 For the effect on an originally simple style of Johnson's influence, in 
 the case of a writer whose intercourse with him gave excellent opportunity 
 for its exercise, the student may be referred to the quotations from Madame 
 D'Arblay's works, given by Macaulay near the end of his essay on that 
 favourite of Dr Johnson.
 
 Chapter XIII. 283 
 
 electricity, to such changes in thought as increased scientific 
 knowledge has brought with it, and to many other changes in 
 the inner and outer life of its speakers, the language has 
 adapted itself; but it will be enough to remind the student 
 that from his familiarity with modern conditions and with 
 modern English he must not overlook the influence which the 
 former have exerted upon the latter. And if the healthy growth 
 of the i Qth century has sometimes seemed endangered, if the 
 fine writing of the everywhere diffused newspaper, which seems 
 the modern form of the disease of Euphuism, has at times 
 threatened corruption, there have been the examples of great 
 writers to act as preservatives. On the whole the language has 
 had a life of peaceful progress, with no striking events to 
 record, and its history is to be read in the great works of those 
 who have used it. 
 
 10. And, as the preceding pages have tried to shew, the 
 student who turns to the modern literature to 
 read in it the last chapter in the history of the histo^ofthe 
 language may find as well a summary of all that language 
 
 ' ,. , . , indicated by 
 
 has gone before. For modern English is the result i ts present 
 of the accumulations made by a long succession iorm ' 
 of speakers, who worked upon the material they inherited 
 from their predecessors, and acquired for themselves fresh 
 material. Each change in the internal or external lite of the 
 speakers helped to mould their speech ; and it is with the 
 change that transferred to this country the inheritance from 
 many generations, that the story of the moulding of English 
 in England begins. Since then Englishmen have been in 
 turn the conquerors and the conquered in the country, and 
 of their struggles the language still bears the marks. From 
 their own they have spread to every country under heaven, 
 and their course may be traced by the words they have adopted 
 from those with whom they have come into friendly or hostile 
 contact. Even on the unreal world of fiction they have levied 
 contributions, and Lilliputian is as real as cannibal, and Quixotic
 
 284 Outlines of the History of the English Language. 
 
 as Machiavellian. They have been versed in the great litera- 
 tures of all times and countries, and from the languages in 
 which these are written they have drawn supplies. And to the 
 shaping of this accumulating material have been directed the 
 efforts of great writers in every department of literature, who 
 have striven to give fit expression to their thoughts. Through 
 countless ages others have laboured, and into their labours we 
 who to-day use English have entered. Of those labours the 
 language still bears the marks ; but if the significance of those 
 marks is to be recognised, or the labours to which they witness 
 are to be appreciated, we must have some knowledge of the 
 earlier history of our language. To help the student in gaining 
 such a knowledge is the object of these Outlines. 
 
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