English Dialects From The Eighth Century To The Present Day Part 5

There are also a few Charters extant in the Mercian dialect, but the earliest contain little else than old forms of the names of persons and places. There are, however, some later Charters, from 836 to 1058 in the Mercian dialect, which contain some boundaries of lands and afford other information. Most of these relate to Worcesters.h.i.+re.

But the most interesting Mercian glosses are those to be found in the Rushworth MS., which has already been mentioned as containing Northumbrian glosses of the Latin Gospels of St Mark, St Luke, and St John. For the Gospel of St Matthew was glossed by the scribe Farman, who was a priest of Harewood, situate on the river Wharfe, in the West Riding of Yorks.h.i.+re; whose language, accordingly, was Mercian. In my _Principles of English Etymology, First Series_ (second edition, 1892), p. 44, I gave a list of words selected from these glosses, in order to show how much nearer they stand, as a rule, to modern English than do the corresponding Anglo-Saxon forms. I here repeat this list, as it is very instructive. The references, such as "5. 15," are to the chapters and verses of St Matthew's Gospel, as printed in my edition of _The Holy Gospels, in Anglo-Saxon, Northumbrian, and Old Mercian Versions, synoptically arranged_ (Cambridge, 1871-87). The first column below gives the Modern English form, the second the Old Mercian form (with references), and the third the Anglo-Saxon or Wess.e.x form:

MODERN OLD MERCIAN WESs.e.x (A.S.) all all, 5. 15 eall are arun, 19. 28 (_not used_) betwixt betwix, 27. 56 betweox cheek c{-e}ke, 5. 39 c{-e}ace 5 cold cald, 10. 42 ceald eke {-e}k, 5. 39 {-e}ac eleven enlefan, 28. 16 endlufon eye {-e}ge, 5. 29 {-e}age falleth falleth, 10. 29 fealleth 10 fell, _pt.t.pl._ fellun, 7. 25 f{-e}ollon -fold -fald, 19. 29 -feald (_in_ ten-fold) gall, _sb._ galla, 27. 34 gealla half, _sb._ half, 20. 23 healf halt, _adj._ halt, 11. 5 healt 15 heard, _pt.t.s._ (ge)h{-e}rde, 2. 3 (ge)h{-i}erde lie l{-i}gan, 5. 11 l{-e}ogan (_tell lies_) light, _sb._ l{-i}ht, 5. 16 l{-e}oht light, _adj._ liht, 11. 30 leoht narrow naru, 7. 14 nearu 20 old ald, 9. 16 eald sheep sc{-e}p, 25. 32 sc{-e}ap shoes sc{-o}as, 10. 10 sc{-e}os, sc{-y} silver sylfur, 10. 9 seolfor slept, _pt.t.pl._ sleptun, 13. 25 sl{-e}pon 25 sold, _pp._ sald, 10. 19 seald spit, _vb._ spittan, 27. 30 sp{-ae}tan wall wall, 21. 33 weall yard (_rod_) ierd, 10. 10 gyrd yare (_ready_) iara, 22. 4 gearo 30 yoke ioc, 11. 29 geoc youth iuguth, 19. 20 geoguth

In l.5, the scribe Farman miswrote _caldas_ as _galdas_, in Matt.

x 42; but it is a mere mistake. In l. 20, the accent over the _a_ in _ald_ is marked in the MS., though the vowel was not originally long.

Even a glance at this comparative table reveals a peculiarity of the Wess.e.x dialect which properly belongs neither to Mercian nor to Modern English, viz. the use of the diphthong _ea_ (in which each vowel was p.r.o.nounced separately) instead of simple _a_, before the sounds denoted by _l_, _r_, _h_, especially when another consonant follows.

We find accordingly such Wess.e.x forms as _eall_, _ceald_, _fealleth_, _-feald_, _gealla_, _healf_, _healt_, _nearu_, _eald_, _seald_, _weall_, _gearo_, where the Old Mercian has simply _all_, _cald_, _falleth_, _-fald_, _galla_, _half_, _halt_, _naru_, _ald_, _sald_, _wall_, _iara_. Similarly, Wess.e.x has the diphthongs _{-e}a_, _{-e}o_, in which the former element is long, where the Old Mercian has simply _{-e}_ or _{-i}_. We find accordingly the Wess.e.x _c{-e}ace_, _{-e}ac_, _{-e}age_, _sc{-e}ap_, as against the Mercian _c{-e}ke_, _{-e}k_, _{-e}ge_, _sc{-e}p_; and the Wess.e.x _l{-e}ogan_, _l{-e}oht_, as against the Mercian _l{-i}gan_, _l{-i}ht_.

I have now mentioned nearly all the examples of Old Mercian to be found before the Conquest. After that event it was still the Southern dialect that prevailed, and there is scarcely any Mercian (or Midland) to be found except in the Laud MS. of the _Anglo-Saxon Chronicle_, which was written at Peterborough. See the extract, describing the miserable state of England during the reign of Stephen, in _Specimens of Early English_, Part I.

It was about the year 1200 that the remarkable work appeared that is known by the name of _The Ormulum_, written in the North-East Midland of Lincolns.h.i.+re, which is the first clear example of the form which our literary language was destined to a.s.sume. It is an extremely long and dreary poem of about 10,000 long lines, written in a sadly monotonous unrimed metre; and it contains an introduction, paraphrases relating to the gospels read in the church during the year, and homilies upon the same. It was named _Ormulum_ by the author after his own name, which was Orm; and the sole existing MS. is probably in the handwriting of Orm himself, who employed a phonetic spelling of his own invention which he strongly recommends. Owing to this circ.u.mstance and to the fact that his very regular metre leaves no doubt as to his grammatical forms, this otherwise uninviting poem has a high philological value. In my book ent.i.tled _The Chaucer Canon_, published at Oxford in 1900, I quote 78 long lines from the _Ormulum_, reduced to a simpler system of spelling, at pp. 9-14; and, at pp. 15-18, I give an a.n.a.lysis of the suffixes employed by Orm to mark grammatical inflexions. At pp. 30-41, I give an a.n.a.lysis of similar inflexions as employed by Chaucer, who likewise employed the East Midland dialect, but with such slight modifications of Orm's language as were due to his living in London instead of Lincolns.h.i.+re, and to the fact that he wrote more than 150 years later. The agreement, as to grammatical usages, of these two authors is extremely close, allowing for lapse of time; and the comparison between them gives most indubitable and valuable results. There is no better way of learning Chaucer's grammar.

As East Midland was spread over a wide area, there are, as might be expected, some varieties of it. The dialects of Lincolns.h.i.+re and of Norfolk were not quite the same, and both differed somewhat from that of Ess.e.x and Middles.e.x; but the general characteristics of all three sub-dialects are very much alike. As time went on, the speech of the students of Oxford and Cambridge was closely a.s.similated to that of the court as held in London; and this "educated" type was naturally that to which Caxton and the great writers of the sixteenth century endeavoured to conform.

We have one ancient specimen of the London dialect which is eminently authentic and valuable, and has the additional advantage of being exactly dated. This is the doc.u.ment known as "The only English Proclamation of Henry III," issued on Oct. 18, 1258. Its intention was to confirm to the people the "Provisions of Oxford," a charter of rights that had been wrested from the king, from which we may conclude that the Proclamation was issued by Henry rather by compulsion than by his own free will. There is a note at the end which tells us that a copy was sent to every s.h.i.+re in England and to Ireland. If every copy had been preserved, we should have a plentiful supply. As it is, only two copies have survived. One is the copy which found its way to Oxford; and the other is the original from which the copies were made, which has been carefully preserved for six centuries and a half in the Public Record Office in London. I here give the contents of the original, subst.i.tuting _y_ (at the beginning of a word) or _gh_ (elsewhere) for the symbol _{g}_, and _th_ for the symbol __, and _v_ for _u_ when between two vowels.

-- Henri, thurgh G.o.des fultume king on Engleneloande, Lhoaverd on Yrloande, Duk on Norm(andi), on Aquitaine, and Eorl on Aniow, send igretinge to alle hise holde ilaerde and ileawede on Huntendoneschire: thaet witen ye wel alle, thaet we willen and unnen thaet, thaet ure raedesmen alle, other the moare dael of heom thaet beoth ichosen thurgh us and thurgh thaet loandes folk on ure kuneriche, habbeth idon and schullen don in the worthnesse of G.o.de and on ure treowthe, for the freme of the loande, thurgh the besighte of than to-foren iseide redesmen, beo stedefaest and ilestinde in alle thinge, abuten aende.

And we hoaten alle ure treowe, in the treowthe thaet heo us ogen, thaet heo stedefaestliche healden, and swerien to healden and to werien, tho isetnesses thaet beon imakede and beon to makien, thurgh than to-foren iseide raedesmen, other thurgh the moare dael of hem, alswo also hit is biforen iseid; And thaet aehc other helpe thaet for to done bi than ilche othe, ayenes alle men, right for to done and to foangen. And noan ne nime of loande ne of eghte, wherthurgh this besighte mughe beon ilet other iwersed on onie wise.

And yif oni other onie c.u.men her onyenes, we willen and hoaten thaet alle ure treowe heom healden deadliche ifoan. And for thaet we willen thaet this beo stedefaest and lestinde, we senden yew this writ open, iseined with ure seel, to halden a-manges yew me hord.

Witnesse us selven aet Lundene, thane eghtetenthe day on the monthe of Octobre, in the two and fowertighthe yeare of ure cruninge.

And this wes idon aetforen ure isworene redesmen, Boneface archebischop on Kanterburi, Walter of Cantelow, bischop on Wirechestre, Simon of Muntfort, eorl on Leirchestre, Richard of Clare, eorl on Glowchestre and on Hurtforde, Roger BiG.o.d, eorl on Northfolke and marescal on Engleneloande, Perres of Sauveye, Willelm of Fort, eorl on Aubemarle, Iohan of Pleisseiz, eorl on Warewike, Iohan Geffrees sune, Perres of Muntfort, Richard of Grey, Roger of Mortemer, James of Aldithel; and aetforen othre inoghe.

-- And al on tho ilche worden is isend in-to aevrihce othre shcire over al thaere kuneriche on Engleneloande, and ek in-tel Irelonde.

This doc.u.ment presents at first sight many unfamiliar forms, but really differs from Modern English mainly in the spelling, which of course represents the p.r.o.nunciation of that period. The grammar is perfectly intelligible, and this is the surest mark of similarity of language; we may, however, note the use of _send_ as a contraction of _sendeth_, and of _oni_ for "any man" in the singular, while _onie_, being plural, represents "any men."

The other chief variations are in the vocabulary or word-list, due to the fact that this Proclamation is older than the reigns of the first three Edwards, which was the period when so many words of Anglo-Norman origin entered our language, displacing many words of native origin that thus became obsolete; though some were exchanged for other _native_ words. We may notice, for example, _fultume_, "a.s.sistance"; _holde_, "faithful"; _ilaerde and ileawede_, "learned and unlearned"; _unnen_, "grant"; _raedesmen_, "councillors"; _kuneriche_, "kingdom"; and so on. I subjoin a closely literal translation, retaining awkward expressions.

-- Henry, through G.o.d's a.s.sistance, king in England, Lord in Ireland, Duke in Normandy, in Aquitaine, and Earl in Anjou, sendeth greeting to all his faithful, learned and unlearned, in Huntingdons.h.i.+re; that wit ye well all, that we will and grant that which our councillors all, or the more deal (_part_) of them, that be chosen through us and through the land's folk in our kingdom, have done and shall do in the wors.h.i.+p of G.o.d and in our truth, for the benefit of the land, through the provision of the beforesaid councillors, be steadfast and lasting in all things without end. And we command all our true-men, in the truth that they us owe, that they steadfastly hold, and swear to hold and to defend, the statutes that be made and be to make, through the aforesaid councillors, or through the more deal of them, even as it is before said; and that each help other that for to do, by the same oath, against all men, right for to do and to receive. And (let) none take of land nor of property, wherethrough this provision may be let or worsened in any wise. And if any-man or any-men come here-against, we will and command that all our true-men hold them (as) deadly foes. And for that we will that thi bes steadfast and lasting, we send you this writ open, signed with our seal, to hold amongst you in h.o.a.rd. Witness us-selves at London, the eighteenth day in the month of October, in the two and fortieth year of our crowning. And this was done before our sworen councillors, Boneface, archbishop of Canterbury, Walter of Cantelow, bishop of Worcester, Simon of Muntfort, earl of Leicester, ... and before others enough.

-- And all in the same words is sent into every other s.h.i.+re over all the kingdom in England, and eke into Ireland.

In the year 1303, Robert Manning, of Bourn in Lincolns.h.i.+re, translated a French poem ent.i.tled _Manuel des Pechiez_ (Manual of Sins) into very fair East Midland verse, giving to his translation the t.i.tle of _Handling Synne_. Many of the verses are easy and smooth, and the poem clearly shows us that the East Midland dialect was by this time at least the equal of the others, and that the language was good enough to be largely permanent. When we read such lines as:

Than seyd echone that sate and stode, Here comth Pers, that never dyd G.o.de--

we have merely to modernise the spelling, and we at once have:

Then said each one that sat and stood, Here cometh Pierce, that never did good,

These are lines that could be written now.

An extract from Manning's _Handlyng Synne_ is given in _Specimens of Early English_, Part II, most of which can be read with ease. The obsolete words are not very numerous, and we meet now and then with half a dozen consecutive lines that would puzzle no one. It is needless to pursue the history of this dialect further. It had, by this time, become almost the standard language, differing from Modern English chiefly in date, and consequently in p.r.o.nunciation. We pa.s.s on from Manning to Chaucer, from Chaucer to Lydgate and Caxton, and from Caxton to Lord Surrey and Sackville and Spenser, without any real change in the actual dialect employed, but only in the form of it.

II. WEST MIDLAND

We have seen that there are two divisions of the Mercian dialect, into East and West Midland.

The West Midland does not greatly differ from the East Midland, but it approaches more nearly, in some respects, to the Northumbrian. The greatest distinction seems to be in the present and past participles of verbs. In the West Midland, the present participle frequently ends in _-and_, as in Northumbrian, especially in the Northern part of the Midland area. The East Midland usually employs _-ende_ or _-inge_ instead. In the West Midland, the prefix _i-_ or _y-_ is seldom used for the past participle, whilst the East Midland admits it more freely. In the third person singular of the present tense, the West Midland favours the Northern suffix _-es_ or _-is_; whilst the East Midland favours the Southern suffix _-eth_. The suffix _-us_ appears to be altogether peculiar to West Midland, in which it occurs occasionally; and the same is true of _-ud_ for _-ed_ in the preterite of a weak verb.

There is a rather early West Midland _Prose Psalter_, belonging to the former half of the fourteenth century, which was edited for the Early English Text Society by Dr Karl Bulbring in 1891.

The curious poem called _William of Palerne_ (Palermo) or _William and the Werwolf_, written in alliterative verse about 1350-60, and edited by me for the E.E.T.S. in 1867, seems to be in a form of West Midland, and has been claimed for Shrops.h.i.+re; nothing is known as to its author.

The very remarkable poem called _The Pearl_, and three _Alliterative Poems_ by the same author, were first edited by Dr Morris for the E.E.T.S. in 1864; with a preface in which the peculiarities of the dialect were discussed. Dr Morris showed that the grammatical forms are uniform and consistent throughout, and may be safely characterised as being West Midland. Moreover, they are frequently very like Northumbrian, and must belong to the Northern area of the West Midland dialect. "Much," says Dr Morris, "may be said in favour of their Lancas.h.i.+re origin."

The MS. which contains the above poems also contains the excellent alliterative romance-poem named _Sir Gawayne and the Green Knight_, evidently written by the same author; so that this poem also may be considered as a specimen of West Midland. For further particulars, see the "Grammatical Details" given in Dr Morris's preface to _The Pearl_, etc., pp. xxviii-xl. _Sir Gawayne_ was likewise edited by Morris in 1864.

It would not be easy to trace the history of this dialect at a later date, and the task is hardly necessary. It was soon superseded in literary use by the East Midland, with which it had much in common.

CHAPTER IX

FOREIGN ELEMENTS IN THE DIALECTS

There is a widely prevalent notion that the speakers of English Dialects employ none but native words; and it is not uncommon for writers who have more regard for picturesque effect than for accuracy to enlarge upon this theme, and to praise the dialects at the expense of the literary language. Of course there is a certain amount of truth in this, but it would be better to look into the matter a little more closely.

A very little reflection will show that dialect-speakers have always been in contact with some at least of those who employ words that belong rather, or once belonged, to foreign nations. Even shopkeepers are familiar with such words as _beef_, _mutton_, _broccoli_, _soda_, _cork_, _sherry_, _brandy_, _tea_, _coffee_, _sugar_, _sago_, and many more such words that are now quite familiar to every one. Yet _beef_ and _mutton_ are Norman; _broccoli_ and _soda_ are Italian; _cork_ and _sherry_ are Spanish; _brandy_ is Dutch; _tea_ is Chinese; _coffee_ is Arabic; _sugar_ is of Sanskrit origin; and _sago_ is Malay. It must be evident that many similar words, having reference to very various useful things, have long ago drifted into the dialects from the literary language. Hence the purity of the dialects from contamination with foreign influences is merely comparative, not absolute.

Our modern language abounds with words borrowed from many foreign tongues; but a large number of them have come to us since 1500. Before that date the chief languages from which it was possible for us to borrow words were British or Gaelic, Irish, Latin, Greek (invariably through the medium of Latin), Hebrew (in a small degree, through the medium of Latin), Arabic (very slightly, and indirectly), Scandinavian, and French. A few words as to most of these are sufficient.

It is not long since a great parade was made of our borrowings from "Celtic"; it was very easy to give a wild guess that an obscure word was "Celtic"; and the hardihood of the guesser was often made to take the place of evidence. The fact is that there is no such language as "Celtic"; it is the name of a group of languages, including "British"

or Welsh, Cornish, Breton, Manx, Gaelic, and Irish; and it is now inc.u.mbent on the etymologist to cite the exact forms in one or more of these on which he relies, so as to adduce some semblance of proof. The result has been an extraordinary shrinkage in the number of alleged Celtic words. The number, in fact, is extremely small, except in special cases. Thus we may expect to find a few Welsh words in the dialects of Ches.h.i.+re, Shrops.h.i.+re, or Herefords.h.i.+re, on the Welsh border; and a certain proportion of Gaelic words in Lowland Scotch; though we have no reliable lists of these, and it is remarkable that such words have usually been borrowed at no very early date, and sometimes quite recently. The legacy of words bequeathed to us by the ancient Britons is surprisingly small; indeed, it is very difficult to point to many clear cases. The question is considered in my _Principles of English Etymology, Series I_, pp. 443-452, to which I may refer the reader; and a list of words of (probably) Celtic origin is given in my larger _Etymological Dictionary_, ed. 1910, p. 765. It is also explained, in my _Primer of English Etymology_ that, in the fifth century, the time of Hengist's invasion, "the common language of the more educated cla.s.ses among the British was Latin, which was in use as a literary language and as the language of the British Christian Church. Hence, the Low German tribes [of invaders] found no great necessity for learning ancient British; and this explains the fact, which would otherwise be extraordinary, that modern English contains but a very small Celtic element." Of the Celts that remained within the English pale, it is certain that, in a very short time, they accepted the necessity of learning Anglian or Saxon, and lost their previous language altogether. Hence, in many dialects, as for example, in the East Midland district, the amount of words of "British" origin is practically _nil_. For further remarks on this subject, see Chapter V of _Anglo-Saxon Britain_, by Grant Allen, London, n.d.

I here give a tentative list of some Celtic words found in dialects.

Their etymologies are discussed in my _Etymological Dictionary_ (1910), as they are also found in literary use; and the words are fully explained in the _English Dialect Dictionary_, which gives all their senses, and enumerates the counties in which they are found.

It is doubtless imperfect, as I give only words that are mostly well known, and can be found, indeed, in the _New English Dictionary_.

I give only one sense of each, and mark it as N., M., or S. (Northern, Midland, or Southern), as the case may be. The symbol "gen." means "in general use"; and "Sc." means Lowland Scotch.

_Art_, or _airt_, Sc., a direction of the wind; _banshee_, Irish, a female spirit who warns families of a death; _beltane_, N., the first of May; _bin_, M., a receptacle; _boggart_, _bogle_, N., M., a hobgoblin; _bragget_, N., M., a drink made of honey and ale; _brat_, N., M., a cloth, clout; _brock_, gen., a badger; _bug_, N., a bogy; _bugaboo_, N., M., a hobgoblin; _capercailyie_, Sc., a bird; _cateran_, Sc., a Highland robber; _char_, N., a fish; _clachan_, Sc., a hamlet; _clan_, N., M., a cla.s.s, set of people; _claymore_, Sc., a two-handed sword; _colleen_, Irish, a young girl; _combe_, gen., the head of a valley; _coracle_, M., a wicker boat; _coronach_, Sc., a dirge; _corrie_, Sc., a circular hollow in a hill-side; _cosher_, Irish, a feast; _crag_, _craig_, N., a rock; _crowd_, N., S., a fiddle; _dulse_, N., an edible sea-weed; _dun_, gen., brown, greyish; _duniwa.s.sal_, Sc., a gentleman of secondary rank; _fillibeg_, Sc., a short kilt; _flummery_, Sc., M., oatmeal boiled in water; _gallowgla.s.s_, Sc., Irish, an armed foot-soldier; _galore_, gen., in abundance; _gillie_, Sc., a man-servant; _gull_, a name of various birds; _hubbub_, _hubbaboo_, Irish, a confused clamour; _inch_, Sc., Irish, a small island; _ingle_, N., M., fire, fire-place; _kelpie_, Sc., a water-spirit; _kibe_, gen., a chilblain; _linn_, N., a pool; _loch_, N., _lough_, Irish, a lake; _metheglin_, M., S., beer made from honey; _omadhaun_, Irish, a simpleton; _pose_, gen. (but perhaps obsolete), a catarrh; _rapparee_, Sc., Irish, a vagabond; _s.h.i.+llelagh_, Irish, a cudgel; _skain_, _skean_, Sc., Irish, a knife, dagger; _sowens_, _sowans_, Sc., a dish made from oatmeal-husks steeped in water (from Gael, _sughan_, the juice of sowens); _spalpeen_, Irish, a rascal; _spleuchan_, Sc., Irish, a pouch, a purse; _strath_, N., a valley; _strathspey_, Sc., a dance, named from the valley of the river Spey; _tocher_, N., a dowry; _usquebaugh_, Sc., Irish, whiskey; _wheal_, Cornish, a mine.

Latin is a language from which English has borrowed words in every century since the year 600. In my _Principles of English Etymology, First Series_, Chap. XXI, I give a list of Latin words imported into English before the Norman Conquest. Several of these must be familiar in our dialects; we can hardly suppose that country people do not know the meaning of ark, beet, box, candle, chalk, cheese, cook, coulter, cup, fennel, fever, font, fork, inch, kettle, kiln, kitchen, and the like. Indeed, _ark_ is quite a favourite word in the North for a large wooden chest, used for many purposes; and Kersey explains it as "a country word for a large chest to put fruit or corn in." _Candle_ is so common that it is frequently reduced to _cannel_; and it has given its name to "cannel coal."

Every countryman is expected to be able to distinguish "between chalk and cheese." _Coulter_ appears in ten dialect forms, and one of the most familiar agricultural implements is a pitch-_fork_. The influence of Latin requires no further ill.u.s.tration.

I also give a list of early words of Greek origin; some of which are likewise in familiar use. I may instance alms, angel, bishop, b.u.t.ter, capon, chest, church, clerk, copper, devil, dish, hemp, imp, martyr, paper (ultimately of Egyptian origin), plaster, plum, priest, rose, sack, school, silk, treacle, trout. Of course the poor old woman who says she is "a martyr to tooth-ache" is quite unconscious that she is talking Greek. Probably she is not without some smattering of Persian, and knows the sense of lilac, myrtle, orange, peach, and rice; of Sanskrit, whence pepper and sugar-candy; of Arabic, whence coffee, cotton, jar, mattress, senna, and sofa; and she will know enough Hebrew, partly from her Bible, to be quite familiar with a large number of biblical names, such as Adam and Abraham and Isaac, and very many more, not forgetting the very common John, Joseph, Matthew, and Thomas, and the still more familiar Jack and Jockey; and even with a few words of Hebrew origin, such as alleluia, balm, bedlam, camel, cider, and sabbath. The discovery of the New World has further familiarised us all with chocolate and tomato, which are Mexican; and with potato, which is probably old Caribbean. These facts have to be borne in mind when it is too rashly laid down that words in English dialects are of English origin.

Foreign words of this kind are, however, not very numerous, and can easily be allowed for. And, as has been said, our vocabulary admits also of a certain amount of Celtic. It remains to consider what other sources have helped to form our dialects. The two most prolific in this respect are Scandinavian and French, which require careful consideration.