copyright 2004 by SEENET
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Web edition first published in 2014 by
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SEENET A.6
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England (probably London), s. xiv ex. or s. xiv/xv
The manuscript is of vellum, its quires constructed hair side out. Fols. i + 93, with two paper leaves from a printed book pasted to the stub of fol. i (see further Binding). The foliation was imposed by the hand usual in many Bodleian books, probably Henry O. Coxe, librarian in the 1840s. There is a second and equivalent foliation in the lower corners, perhaps s. xvi (but after c. 1540), more likely s. xvii. Overall 270 mm x 190 mm (writing area 225 mm x 125 mm). About forty-five long lines, but as many as fifty, to the page. Partial marginal prickings appear in lower halves of fols. 48r and 55r and impressions of prickings on fol. 56r, otherwise all cut away; bounded and ruled in brown ink, often rather sloppily, the rules both to and across the bounds. Page rules run all the way to the margins for the top and bottom lines, and a double bounding line on the left sets off a column 8-9 mm wide to accommodate an offset
Fols. 1r-91v: "<Incipit liber de> Pe<tro> Plow<m>an | In a somer seson whan soft was the sonne | I shop me in shroudes — til I haue piers þe plowman | And sitthe he gradde after gExplicit hic dialogus petri plowman."
A small number of interlinear glosses, typically of ambiguous spellings, are written in the original hand, e.g. 10.373 bakkis identified as "clothes," not "backs," by interlined signe de renvoi to indicate its proper placement between 46 and 48.sen cancelled and correct deme supralinear;oute supplied above the line;an, "and," in P.90 or seuene in the margin to correct its omission from 13.127;
There are numerous marginal annotations, in the main in hands of s. xvi ex. See Marginalia below for descriptions.
1-118, 126 (-6, bits of the stub visible in the binding). Catchwords, generally extensive and running across the inner bounding line into the gutter, all but two boxed in red; no signatures.
Quires, folios and divisions of text correspond as follows:
The text is written in anglicana formata (the hand reproduces as foreshortened and considerably squarer than it appears on examination Troilus, with accompanying discrepancies in variation of letter-forms."
Passus titles are in red and centered. These do not correspond to more extensive instructions left in the right margins; cf. that to passus 8, (fol. 33r)dowel," rendered in red as "dowel." Presumably, the guides record the forms of the exemplar, edited later by the scribe when he went through the manuscript with red ink to add the actual headings.
A six-line blue lombard with red flourishing, forming floral infill to the letter and extending into leafy sprays in the margin (most elaborate in the eleven-line example at the opening of the poem) usually opens each passus. But seven- to nine-line examples are normal in quires 7-10, and a different style appears at the head of passus 20.
The text is divided by blue paraphs. Their effect is re-enforced by blank lines between textual units. The feature is unique, among all manuscripts of the poem in all versions, to this manuscript and
four other B version copies, all inferentially London work of s. xiv/xv: Cambridge, Trinity College MS B.15.17 (W); Cambridge, Newnham College MS 4 (Y); British Library, MS
Additional 35287 (M); and Bodleian Library, MS Rawlinson poet. 38 (R). All these except R share a further feature, the colophon identifying the poem as a "B manuscripts probably occurs by (? lateral) transmission from Y into its congeners OC2CG.
Latin verses and words, proper names, and other words deemed important are boxed in red, as are the few marginal additions, some also in red (e.g., a marginal pointing hand, fol. 14;Nota's).
The scribe appears to have intended to begin each line with a
A number of different hands contributed marginalia and other additions.
(i) The scribe provided his own headings in red ink, as well as red boxes around names and Latin, and a few corrections in red in the text. He was conceivably also responsible for providing the initial lombards and the blue paraph signs.
(ii) Skeat, who thought L the best manuscript of the B version, first drew attention to a variety of marginal marks — crosses of various sizes in ink, lead, or plummet near the heads of lines.a for "as" and an for "and," although both may be authorial forms. Skeat himself cited corrected a for "as" at an for "and" in
(iii) A later hand (or hands?) made larger, somewhat sprawling X-crosses in lead in the margins.B into C, and Skeat failed to consider that they might represent the activity of a reader collating the two versions of the poem. He equally failed to notice that, as Nicholson pointed out early on in marginal notes to Skeat's preface,B (presumptively the fair-copy prepared for the poet's use, although not carefully supervised or corrected).
(iv) A late fifteenth- or early sixteenth-century secretary hand provides a number of marginal glosses and brackets to call attention to segments of text. Its ink is lighter and the script somewhat thicker than that of the next. We have labelled in <add> tags this scribe's contributions as being by "hand16b."
(v) A late sixteenth-century secretary hand which we have labelled "hand16a" is responsible for a number of marginal glosses and notes throughout the text. It is easily distinguished from the other secretary hand by its darker ink and distinctively spindly script.
(vi) A scribe, identified as "hand2," earlier than the later fifteenth- and sixteenth-century secretary hands, has written "nota" in the margins of fols. 37r-47r.
(vii) Another fifteenth-century scribe who wrote the gloss for 2.117 on fol. 8r is identified as "hand5."
(viii) A seventeenth-century hand supplies 13.79.
(ix) When we have not been able to identify with confidence the hands responsible for additions or changes to the text, we have identified them as "handX" in the <add> tags.
The binding is brown calf over millboards, s. xvii, with Laud's arms goldstamped on both boards.
1. "R <....> L <.....>," illegible under ultraviolet light, perhaps simply a reference to the author (see # 3 below) (fol. 92r).
2. "Liber Ricardi Iohnson" (fol. 92r, defaced and partly cut away at the upper edge).
3. "Raffe Coppynger" (fol. 93r);
Doyle informed Kane and Donaldson (10 n70) that Coppinger died in 1551; in the proved copy of his will,
We have found no trace of Coppinger in Davington (in the Middle Ages site of a Benedictine nunnery, now part of Faversham), but other Coppingers appear frequently in the area.
Nicholas Brigham, to whom Coppinger lent a borrowed copy of the poem, was a teller of the Exchequer who died 1558; see further Alsop.
"Mr. Le of Addyngton" is pretty certainly Nicholas Leigh (1495-1581), lord of the manor of Addington (Surrey), the builder of Addington Place (1544) but, unless it is his name in Bodleian Library, MS Lyell 47 (Lorens, Somme le roi), not otherwise known as an owner of medieval books. His brother-in-law, Thomas Hatcliffe (d. 1540) was one of Henry VIII's four masters of the household;
Brigham, to whom Coppinger lent a copy of the poem, was John Bale's source for two of the four "Robert Langland" ascriptions in his
4. Pen trials and verses ("?<Am>ongest all other take hede of one ?thinge | I<n> other mennes matters make lyttle medling," partly repeated), none signed (mostly s. xvi, fol. 93v).
5. "In desire spede is tariaunce. Ion [mark] Tynne" (fol. 92r).
Ogilvie-Thomson describes what appears to be a similar mark in Longleat House, Marquess of Bath MS 29, where the signature forms part of an ex-libris.B version, British Library, MS Additional 10574 (Bm), fol. 91v: "Brought from Kelsey xxvjo. october xxxiiijo. Regni henrici viijui. per me Ion Thynne."
6. "T. Long of Dorchester" (fol. 92r, s. xvi/xvii).
7. "Liber Guilielmi Laud Archiepiscopi Cantuarij et Cancellarij Vniuersitatis Oxoniensis 1633" (fol. 1r lower margin), with his shelfmark "E.64" (fol. 1r, upper leading edge).
8. Our manuscript formed part of Laud's "First Donation" to the Bodleian Library, sent 22 May 1635.
We are particularly grateful to A. I. Doyle and Andrew G. Watson for suggestions and information indispensable in preparing this description, especially the discussion of provenance.
As Hanna has argued, there is some evidence to suggest that the manuscript has been copied as a by-the-page image of its exemplar.
We have expanded the scribe's regular abbreviations and suspensions. Resolved abbreviations appear in italics. For a somewhat fuller, though less discursive list of abbreviations and suspensions used by the scribe,
It is not always easy to distinguish between abbreviations and ornamentation. Loops and curls on final letters are notoriously difficult to interpret. In particular, there are the flourishes on final
<-d>,
We have taken final <r> with a curl to represent <re>, as infrequently (3x) in ȝowr(e)
ȝowre) or in words with <-er> which are elsewhere spelt <-ere>, such as auarouser(e),lyer(e),Ther(e),robber(e).
Final <g> sometimes has a short horizontal stroke, and
sometimes, especially after the ending <-yng> (30x), it has a loop.Renk (12.169)amalek (3.267).renke (P.193, 5.403, 14.115, and 18.2). Amalec (3.271) is the spelling in the only other occurrence of the latter. We have followed the scribe's practice, resolving each as it appears elsewhere fully spelled out.
The mark on final <-t> in fact appears only after word-terminal <-tt> and in a small number of words: bett (the woman's name), hitt, ritt, sett (all unique usages) and on (In)witt (13x). Witte appears spelled with final <-e> 76x, probably reflecting the spellings of the scribe's exemplar which could not have been that distant from Bx. The eleven instances of witt probably reflect the scribe's indifference to final <-e>, but he likely intended the stroke following <-tt> to represent <-e>. We have resolved it to <-e> in all instances.
Final <-p> has a tilde above it in three words: schipp(e) 3.333,chep(e), 5.327,cropp(e) 16.73.croppe (16.43, 72, 78). Shipp appears once at 15.374, but the usual form is shippe as at 9.143, 153; 10.412, 419. We would offer the same explanation as for the final <-e> on witt(e) above, that the scribe himself is indifferent to final <-e>, but is usually faithful to his exemplar.
A single instance of barred <ll> appears at 8.125.wille, and we have resolved this instance with a final <-e>.
Barred <-h> in L is ambiguous. Since the grammar of final
<-e> has been lost in the scribe's dialect but relict forms
reflective of the B archetype remain in good
plenty, it appears that though the scribe probably attached no
phonological value to it, he may have intended at least some instances of barred <-h> to represent a final <-e>. For instance, the word flessh(e) appears six times with a terminal barred <-h>. It is written without an <-e> just once (L.15.510) and with a final <-e> thirteen times. The adverbial form flessheliche suggests that the scribe's typical spelling was with the <-e>. The scribe appears to favor fissche over fissch by six instances to one. On the other hand, for just two instances of þough with a barred <-h>, there are forty-two instances of unadorned þough and no instances with a final <-e>. The word paris(c)h with barred <-h> appears twice, but none of the other six instances of the word has final <e>. In the case of fresch, there are four instances, two with barred <-h> and one each of fresch and fresche. Similarly, adverbs ending in -lich(e) are evenly divided between forms with and
without final <-e>. Preterite verb forms in <-igh(e)> as well as conjunctive adverbs like þeigh(e) appear to be in free variation, though forms without the final <-e> are dominant with a ratio of forty-nine instances to nineteen. In short, the scribe's forms appear to be in free variation, but with certain preferences attached vaguely to some words. Since there are no occasions on which it is grammatically necessary or etymologically probable that it should be resolved as <-e>, we have not done so. However, it is possible to suspect that our concern for consistency distances us considerably from the scribe.
We have not distinguished allographic forms, such as the three forms of <s> or the single-lobed <a> from the double-lobed form. On the other hand, we have distinguished between <u> and <n> although the scribe does not always do so clearly, and we have noted occasions where there is a possibility of a different choice, such as lene instead of leue. We have resolved the ambiguity caused by the identical graph used to represent both yogh and zed. On those occasions where /z/ is intended, we print <z>. We reserve <ȝ> to represent the conventional uses of the letter yogh, an alternative to <y> and <gh>.
Our capitalization follows the scribal use of litterae notabiliores
The word-division of the manuscript is represented as far as practicable, though no attempt is made to represent the variety of spacings between words and letters. The interpretation of the scribe's word division, though it is generally unambiguous, is occasionally a matter of fine judgment. It is not practical to attempt to account for degrees of spacing. We use a hyphen in the transcription to indicate a space in the manuscript within a word or compound conventionally hyphenated today; we have consulted both
Scribal punctuation is retained. For the most part this is entirely regular, consisting of a raised point to mark the half-line, with the occasional virgule or punctus elevatus, particularly in Latin lines, and a very occasional smaller point at the end of some lines. These are not always easy to see, and the difference in their size and that of the medial points suggests they are not intended to be significant.
The several dozen insertions in the text itself are recorded as such (e.g. P.162, 209; 1.89, 125, etc.). Erasures made by scraping the parchment are recorded, and they will show primarily in the AllTags style sheet.
The scribe provided emphasis for some words, phrases, or lines by boxing them (usually in red ink), and we attempt to represent that feature in our text. The greatest number of such boxes mark Latin words and phrases, but they are not the only words so highlighted. It is not always easy to determine whether the scribe considered a word or phrase to be non-English or whether highlighting by boxing was intended to call attention to some other significance. Determining whether to identify the word as "foreign" is thus an imprecise process. We have been guided by
Using XML markup, we offer four different views of the text accessible through four different style sheets: Scribal, Diplomatic, Critical, and AllTags.
The Scribal style sheet's presentation of the text represents as closely as possible both the readings and features of the manuscript text as well as the most information about editorial interventions. Changes of script and style are reflected by changes in the font style. The Middle English text's anglicana formata is represented in roman letters. Resolved abbreviations and suspensions appear in italics. Color in this style sheet serves two functions: red, green, and blue indicate colors of ink used by the scribe, while any other colors — aqua, gray, lime, olive, and purple — mark editorial functions. For a detailed key to the conventions we have adopted for identifying editorial functions by means of color shifts, see the
The Diplomatic style sheet suppresses all notes and indications of error or eccentric word division. Its text is otherwise identical to that presented in the Scribal style sheet.
The Critical style sheet is designed to indicate what we believe the scribe intended to write. Emendations displayed in the Critical style sheet appear in conventional square brackets. Since the text displayed is a reconstructed, putative text, it lacks the color features that appear in the more nearly diplomatic transcriptions of the manuscript. We conventionally use italics for Latin and French words and phrases in this style sheet. We have supplied line references to the Athlone B-text for the convenience of readers. Eccentric word divisions are silently, at least in the surface display, corrected in this style sheet. That is, atones appears as at ones. A reader who wishes to find all such divisions can still search for them in the views provided by the Scribal and AllTags style sheets as well as in the underlying XML text.
The AllTags style sheet, as its name implies, is intended to display the full content of markup in XML tags. In this style sheet, deleted text (where it is legible) appears within curly brackets. When erased text is illegible, we have indicated each with one punctus per deleted character up to six characters. When longer stretches of text are involved, we indicate half line deletions with "...?..." and longer deletions with "...?...?...".
Four sets of annotations are provided—codicological, lexical, paleographic and textual.
(a) Codicological: These notes draw attention to physical features of the manuscript and to later additions in the margins such as brackets, names, pointing hands and other drawings. Codicological notes are marked by a red superscripted
(b) Paleographic: These notes comment on letter forms, in particular ambiguous abbreviations, curls and other features. Paleographic notes are marked by a red superscripted
(c) Lexical: These notes provide brief glosses for unusual, ambiguous, or difficult words. Lexical notes are marked by a red superscripted
(d) Textual: These notes record unique readings in L and those it shares with M and/or alpha manuscripts F and R. Since L is the best witness of the beta tradition, its unique readings are few, and they are worth recording, firstly to indicate how generally faithful the L scribe is to his exemplar, and secondly as an aid to understanding the text on those relatively rare occasions when L has misread or corrupted it. Orthographic and dialectal variants are not noted, but we have recorded variations in number or tense.
It must be emphasized that these notes are no more than an aid to the reader of the documentary text of L. They do not in any sense constitute a complete listing of variant readings nor anything beyond a first step in establishing the relationship of L to other manuscripts. They may imply that L's reading is not that of the B archetype, though we reserve all judgments about Bx until a later stage of our work, currently in progress. These notes are, then, an interim statement that will be of limited or no use once the B archive is complete and the variant listings can be electronically generated. The information for these notes is drawn from the listing of variants in the Kane-Donaldson edition which we have checked against those transcripts that are already available in the archive. Since it is not at this stage relevant which of the witnesses share the majority reading against L's unique variant, the majority readings are where possible presented in very simplified form, usually with the designation "other B witnesses" or "most other manuscripts" or "all others." It is true that in most cases this means Bx, but it is important not to prejudge the issue. Textual notes are marked with an icon of a gray dog-eared manuscript leaf, e. g.
Mr. Julius Smit of the Bodleian Library's Imaging Services was kind enough to provide us with the following account of the creation of the original TIFF files from which the present JPEG versions were made:
The manuscripts
Using Photoshop 6.0, we color corrected each image against the Kodak Color Separation Guide (Q-13) included in each TIFF image before converting them to JPEG format.
The original TIFF images may be ordered from the Bodleian Library's Imaging Services. The website address for information and order-forms is: http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/dept/imaging/.
Unhappily, this manuscript was not among those selected by the editors of
Everything suggests that the manuscript is a London product. Many of its features are consonant with that notion, but little serves to identify with precision the scribe's own dialect. In view of the relatively early date of the manuscript, the advanced deterioration of the grammar of final <-e> alone serves to suggest a youthful scribe or one who grew up in a region well to the north of London and Worcestershire. See below, sections III.3.1, III.3.3.7, III.3.4.
Our interpretation of the evidence tends toward the skeptical; one of us has previously expressed considerable befuddlement about Samuels' presentation of "Langland's Dialect."
1. The use of heo, "she" in lines with /h/ alliteration: in L, as in most B manuscripts, she is overwhelmingly the dominant form. In L, heo appears at 1.74, 3.29, 5.645, 5.646, rhyming in three instances.ar, the agreement of manuscripts LMR (representing the best texts in both alpha and beta families) in reading heo strongly supports its originality here. For Langland's alliteration on function words, see Hoyt N. Duggan, "The Authenticity of the Z-Text of Piers Plowman: Further Notes on Metrical Evidence," he. The B archetype was presumably already defective in respect to such forms. For example, note that all manuscripts read she in alliterating position at 2.29: "I auȝte ben herre þan she · I cam of a better." For manuscript forms of the third person feminine nominative singular pronoun, see below, section III.3.3.1.
2. The use of are, as well as b-forms: the forms beth and ben occur frequently, though only occasionally in alliterating positions, e.g., 1.6, 3.27, 46, 7.70, etc., though most frequently not alliterating. Less frequent are forms of ar(e)n, appearing but once in alliterating position (9.30).
3. The use of cross-rhyme between /f/ and /v/ is common in the poem, but the scribe of L never uses spellings of the type vire/vuyre.
4. Cross rhyme of /h/ and vowels testifies to the loss of initial /h/ in Langland's dialect. Although the scribe routinely writes <h->, such persistent forms as an hode 5.197, an hepe 5.235 and 330, an horne 5.525, an hundreth, 5.539, etc. — there are over five dozen such instances in the text — suggest that word-initial /h/ had been lost in the L scribe's dialect as well.
Samuels also identifies a residue of SW Worcestershire forms in R, and argues that "The same combination is found in a fainter and more diluted form in L" (241). This residue includes six features:
1. The spelling <oe> for /o:/: L retains only a few instances. See sections III.2.1.9, III.2.1.24 and III.2.1.25 below for discussion.
2. heo, "she," and a, "he/she": We have dealt with the first of these under alliteration, point 1 above; a to represent a reduced pronomial form occurs only once in L, and that single instance at
3. noyther, "neither" and no, "nor": In L, noyther ~ noither . . . ne appears 26x,noither ... no appears at 13.99.neither ~ neyther . . . ne 14x, nother . . . ne 1x 17.181. The combination Noyther (A) ne (B), (C) noither (D) appears only at 4.132. But however strong the showing, these forms likely reflect the ingrained habits of a London scribe. In London dialects until c. 1380, noiþer, noþer, neiþer, and neyþer are the normal forms in this context.no, "nor" is distinctly a minority form (the scribe regularly has no . . . ne, e.g. 11.299 or 12.280), only appearing at 3.74, ?8.75, 14.297.
4. ar, "ere/before," conj.: The form is certainly widely attested, occurring about four times more often than er. The distribution is somewhat uneven within the manuscript: ar only becomes normal late in passus five, and ten of the examples of er occur before 6.149 (the next at 10.387, the last four after 15.560, with both forms in 15.569).
5. ȝut, "yet": The form is weakly attested: P.185, 12.277, 13.247, 17.286 (versus ȝet (31x) or ȝit (19x), and ȝette (1x).
6. <u(y)> for OE /y/ and /y:/: A number of relict forms appear with characteristic West Country spellings. See sections III.2.1.13, III.2.1.14, and III.2.1.15 below.
A few odds and ends may be Western relict forms:
(a) The exceptional item is the word church, which occurs with the u-spelling church only in marginal glosses (7.185 and 15.526). The scribe's forms are cherch(e) 56x, chirche 2x (P.66, 6.50), and and (holi)kirke ~ kyrke (21x), an expected Northernism borrowed for alliterative convenience, always alliterating on /k/. For the form cherch(e), see Charles Jones' foldout map.mellere 2.114 (but mylner 10.47).chirch(e), church(e), and cherch(e) and although the recorded London forms of the thirteenth century are mixed,did in kuneriche and iwersed in the 1258 proclamation, s. v.
kineriche and wersen.chirche. However, there is ample London evidence, not simply in wills but in literary manuscripts transmitting London texts and copied in London so late as 1460, that the Essex form cherch(e) remained an acceptable spelling (e.g. as it did, c. 1420, for the scribe of San Marino, Huntington Library MS HM 114).
(b) Rounding of OE /a/ before nasals: see section III.2.1.2 below.
(c) Samuels argues that "numerous variables . . . can be regarded as part of the same Worcestershire dialect," citing ech(e) and vch(e), the former occurring in L 40x and the latter 19x.Uche is the usual north Worcestershire form, eche that of south Worcestershire, and a combined form euche (not in L) appears as a blend between them.
(d) The scribe varies forms of "from": fro (59x), fram (34x), from (1x). The spelling fram is consistent with south Worcestershire.
(e) Variant forms of "though" are possibly relicts as well. The scribe overwhelmingly prefers þough (40x) and þouȝ (10x),Thouȝ, both occurring at the beginning of a line (P.185, 1.177). The same preference for line-initial <Th-> over <Þ-> appears in other þeigh (2x), Theigh (2x), Theiȝ (1x), and þeighe (1x), which in the later s. xiv typically are squeezed toward peripheral areas in the South.
(f) Although the dominant form is worlde (48x), the unique spelling wordle at 20.381 is consistent with Worcestershire. The spelling appears with some consistency throughout the entire southern half of the country and does little to localize the text.
(g) For forms of the present participle, see below, section III.3.5.1.3. The three -ende forms are possibly significant; that in -ande may be another London Type II relict.
(h) Somewhat to the consternation of an early corrector (see Marginalia above), the scribe seems on scattered occasions to retain what are perhaps the B archetype's (or Langland's) reduced forms: a for and at P.227, 7.104, 13.88, and 15.418;a for "he". See section III.3.3.1 below.a for as 10.146; an for and (14x) 2.210, 4.158, 5.350, 361, 421 etc.
(i) The scribe has several forms for the plural of eye: eyghen (11x) ~ eyen (10x) ~ eyes (5x),eyȝen (1x) ~ eyghes (1x) ~ eyhen (1x). The form eghen may well be a Northernism provided by a London scribe, although eiȝen and eyȝen occur in four of
Samuels further argues that LR share distribution of variant forms inherently Worcestershire.any/eny, 3if/if, come/cam, byȝunde/byȝende, and states that such shared readings must come from an archetype common to both (if so, it can only be Bx). This view we confirm on the basis of spot-checks of all Samuels' cited forms in 2.40-5.664.any occurring 15x in L and eny 4x. The two manuscripts have the same form in fourteen of these fifteen instances of any and all four instances of eny. We find at 2.79 one example of L ani, R any).ony appears once in L at 3.330, where R has any.if, twenty-seven correspond to the same form in R. Of nineteen instances of ȝif just over half (10x) correspond to ȝif in R. The forms com and came, "came" appear eight and five times each in L. Of these, five instances of come agree with the same form in Rcam.come correspond to com in R.biȝunde 4.111 and byȝende 4.130 correspond to R's spellings of the tonic vowels.
caste (11x) 11.404 ~ cast (4x) 5.332; happe (4x) 20.385 ~ happ (1x) 12.114; etc.
can P.111; fram (34x) P.56 ~ from (1x) 1.23; man P.122; wan 5.468; schame 12.87; etc.
amonge P.197; halde 19.466 ~ holde P.66; hande/handes (25x) 9.21 ~ honde/hondes (10x) 12.122; hange (7x) 2.198 ~ hanged (4x) P.176 ~ hangen (4x) P.170 ~ honged (1x) 1.69; lombe 5.572; londe/londes (35+ x) P.124 ~ land(e)/landes (3x) 6.314; stonde (12x) 5.356 ~ stande (5x) 16.227; etc.
banke P.8; dranke 13.64; sank 18.69; stanke 15.583;
thonked (1x) 8.108 ~ thanked (1x) 17.88 ~ þonkynge (1x) 2.151;
etc.
The spelling is always <a> except in þonk-.
abrode 2.179; foo 9.215; fro (59x) 1.114; goste (26x) 1.38 ~ goost (3x) 9.47; hole "whole" 6.61; hote P.226; lore 10.115;
low(e) 20.36; ropere 5.328; sore 5.99; stone 12.82; wrote (7x) 10.178 ~ wrot (1x) 12.85; etc.
blowe 16.33; knowe P.121; ouerthrowe 8.36;
soule (83x) 1.42 ~ sowle (4x) 7.53; etc.
box (2x) 5.661 ~ boxe (1x) 13.196; crosse 5.12; folke (73x) P.17 ~ folk (1x) 9.117; god (240x) P.43 ~ goddes/-is "God"
(never gode) 4.196; lokke "lock" 1.205; mosse 15.297; pekokes 11.363; spottes 13.314; etc.walk(e)ne at 15.375 and 18.243. See s. v.
welkin.
borde 6.272; golde (25x) P.76 ~ gold (1x) P.34; molde P.67; worde 1.13; etc.
boke P.101; brother 1.67; cokes (2x) 3.80 ~ cook (1x) 5.157; come P.112; dome 2.208 ~ domes (6x) 11.149; doth(e); fote) 5.655; good(e) "good" (87x) ~ gode (46x) P.227 ~ goed (2x) 1.184; moot 4.154; noet "ne woot" 11.209; rote 12.62; shoed 18.1; toles 10.186; tothaches 20.81, etc.
biswonke pa. t. pl. 20.292; butter 5.448; dronke (pa. t. pl.) 14.86; fluxe 5.181; ful (85x) P.15; fulle (n.) (4x) 6.231; pulle 16.76; sonne "sun" P.1; wolle "wool" 6.13; etc.
The <o> spelling is used predominantly in proximity to minims.
doumb(e) (2x) 10.146 ~ dombe (1x) 19.128; dore 2.208; grounde 2.30; hounde 5.263; mourne (2x) 3.16 ~ morned (3x) 3.171; torn- (18x) 3.42 ~ tourne (5x) 15.524 ~ turne (2x) 5.111; wode 8.63; etc.
We have included in this paragraph words lengthened in open syllables as those affected by following homorganic consonant clusters. The <ou> spelling is an indication of length, as below.
aboute (45x) P.29 ~ about (2x) 4.83; adown(e) (13x) 5.7 ~ adoun(e) (3x) 4.94 ~ ; cloude 3.194; how P.102; mous P.182; now 1.211; þow
(256x) P.215 ~ Thow (5x) 5.277;
bugge(n) (7x) P.168 ~ bigge(n) "buy" (3x) 5.433 ~ buggynge (1x) 19.236; brugge(s) 7.28; bruydale 2.45; did (21x) 1.104 ~ dyd (4x) 11.122fulle (n.) (3x) 6.271 ~ fylle (2x) 1.155, 16.11; gult (8x) 5.459 ~ gylt- (5x) 5.378 ~ gilt (5x) 3.8; hulles (4x) P.5 ~ hilles (2x) 3.238; kyn 1.195; list(e) (v.) (4x) P.172 ~ luste (1x) 18.430; mery(e) (11x) P.10 ~ myrie (2x) 6.161; murthe (14x) 3.221 ~ muirth (1x) 13.63; pryde (26x) 1.127 ~ pruyde (10x) 2.45; synne 1.145; thurst(e) 20.19; etc.
The <u>, <ui>, and <uy> spellings are Western and did not occur in the authorial dialect before nasals.sundry at 12.36 as well as the majority form sondry (10x) probably derives from OE sundrig rather than syndrig. Words like kind, mind, sin, and stint have universal <i> forms (as Samuels notes, the expected forms of the dialect). But several widespread <u> forms make no appearance at all: did, evil, hide pres. and sb., and lit(tle) show universal forms in <i/y>.
berdes (1x) 19.133 ~ birde (1x) 3.14 ~ buirde (1x) 18.120; buildynge 15.337 ~ buylden 12.23; kynd(e) P.114; mynde 5.291; etc.
fyre (10x) 3.99 ~ fuire (2x) 12.287; fust(e) (8x) 17.151 ~ fiste (1x) 5.87 ~ fyst (1x) 17.140; hyre (6x) 2.125 ~ huyre (6x) 6.142; hudde(n) (3x) 11.356 ~ hydde (1x) 19.100; hyde 19.463; kyne 6.143; lither (3x) 5.391 ~ luther (2x) 18.363; wisshe 5.113; etc.
The <u>, <ui>, and <uy> spellings are Western.
bitter (9x) 5.121 ~ byttere (1x) 10.299; nym(e) 15.170; widwe 9.176; wyght (10x) 5.117 ~ wight (2x) 18.233; etc.
blithe 2.160; chyde (6x) 4.54 ~ chide (3x) 3.179; knyf 5.82; lyf (104x + 40 compounds) ~ lif (1x + five compounds); ryde(n) (6x) 15.239 ~ ride(n) (3x) 1.96; wys(e) (24x) 2.173 ~ wis(e) (12x) P.48; wyn P.229; etc.
dowel 7.125; fether 19.418; rekene 2.63; webbe 5.113; wrecched 1.40; etc.
bestes 3.272; elde 5.195; feste 11.213; felde P.17; selde P.20; etc.
beches 5.18; bedeman 3.41; contre (8x) P.29 ~ contrees (4x) 8.15 ~ contree (2x) 13.225; deme 1.87; fede P.90; feet (5x) 4.88 ~ fete (2x) 2.170; grene 6.288; hede "heed" 6.15; kene 9.194; kepe P.76; mede 2.20; swete P.86; etc.
apple 9.160; bak- 2.83 ~ bakke (8x) 3.197; blake 10.488; had(de) P.109 ~ hade (1x) 13.114; masse 1.185; wasshen 14.437; water 5.175; etc.
breth 14.67; clene 1.198; dred(e) 13.389; er 2.206; lete (23x) P.155 ~ leet (1x) 20.142; slepe P.45; seed(9x) 19.278 ~ sede (7x) 3.282; teche 1.84; etc.
bred P.41; ded "dead" 1.189; def 10.139; leef 1.157; red "red" P.220; etc.
buirn "man" (3x)11.366 ~ buyrn 16.276 ~ biernes 3.272; cherl 1.35; crepen 13.18; depe P.15; frend 3.52; heo "she" (4x) 1.74; herte 1.42; leode (5x) 3.32 ~ lede (6x) "man" P.126; leme18.128; reuthe 15.11; swerde 1.104; tre (4x) 16.8 ~ tree (3x) 16.10; thef 12.192; etc.sulf/sulv-, "self," from broken OE <eo>, does not occur in L.
The three words of Western distribution, bu(y)rn, leode and heo, retain Western rounding at least
in spelling, presumably because there was no London spelling convention for them. For the <eo> forms see Samuels, "Langland's Dialect," 241-43.
doel (1x) 5.390 ~ dole (3x) 6.123; moebles (3x) 3.274; meue (4x) 8.119 ~ moeue (2x) 8.33 ~ moeued (3x) 11.373 ~ moeuen (1x) 15.76; peple (70x) P.59 ~ poeple (21x) P.118 ~ pople (1x) 5.107; etc.
Other OF and AN forms account for the minority spellings oest "host" 19.339; recoeure "recover" 19.245; and soeffre "suffer" 5.156.
The single instance of weye 5.95 = "whey" is owed to Bx. There are no other suggestions that /hw/ had become /w/ in the scribe's dialect.
The scribe uses both forms in free variation, though word-initial <þ> is about five times more common than <th>, while word-terminal <-th> occurs well over two thousand times to only forty-three instances of <þ>. A single instance appears of stem-terminal <th> for /t/ in sleiȝthes 15.139.
The most common spelling is <sh>, but the other spellings occur and appear to be random, though <ssh> appears only medially and terminally: bisshop 11.295; childissh 15.158; englissh 10.468; fisshe 5.393; flesshe 15.35 ~ flesch(e) 1.41; punysshen 10.381 ~ punyschen 2.50; schame 12.87; schaft 9.31; shepe 15.374; shipp 15.374 ~ schipp 3.333; sholde 3.50 (never scholde); wisshe 5.113; etc.scrof "shrove" at 10.426 as an error, we have not included <sc> as a spelling of /š/, though of course the form appears in some dialects.
asked (6x) 1.74;axed form (8x) represents not OE /sk/ but OE axian.buskes (n.) 11.349;buske (v.) 9.145; skipte 11.110; skil 12.218; skynnes 5.261; scolde 2.84; etc.
The spelling with <ȝt> predominates with well over five hundred instances to about two hundred of <ght>, e. g. myȝt (127x) ~ might (4x).
The distribution of spellings with <ȝ> and <gh>, and <y> for the medial velar spirant is of some interest. The spellings with vowel + <ȝ> appear regularly and as the usual form up to passus five, and after that point are replaced with vowel + <gh> or <y>: heiȝe 2.34, 3.86, 4.44, 4.164 ~ heigh(e) 3.148, 6.115, 10.164,166, etc.; neiȝe 3.146 ~ neighe 11.209, 20.4, etc.; eiȝen 5.396 ~ eighen 5.360 ~ eyen (16x) 5.64; seiȝe 4.154 ~ seighe 11.339, 12.129, etc. ~ seye 5.382, 10.71, etc.;yseye, where other B witnesses have seiȝen.
The immediate scribe's writing of final <-e> is not entirely random, but clearly the structural significances attached to its use are no longer determined by grammar or etymology, though some relicts of Langland's usage survive. The infinitive ending varies between <-e> and <-en>; the covered form offers the option of preventing the assimilation of <-e> before a following vowel or <h> (see 2.5.1). Such spellings sometimes have metrical consequences; these have been analyzed by Duggan, who discusses to what extent these features of the scribal language are also features of Langland's dialect.-e,"
Abrahames 16.185; Adames 11.201; brotheres 10.279; Caymes 9.138; cattis P.178; dysoures 13.174; doweles 9.12; faderes 9.124 (cf. fader 16.91); Gabrieles 16.93; goddis 3.71; hostelleres 17.116; ladyes 20.345 (cf. lady 18.344); mannes 18.241; pharaoes 7.179.
The usual ending is <-es>. The <-is> spelling occurs most commonly after the laterals <l> and <r> and the voiceless stops /p/, /t/, /k/, and after voiced /d/.
With <-e> ~ nil: heuene 14.166; soule 11.226;for mannes soule helthe(~ sake).treuth 15.98; etc.
Without ending: fader 16.91; lady 18.344;fader and lady represent minor OE declensions.Marie 2.2;moder 19.122.
With apocope: Ihesus 18.103, and iustice 16.95 (from Bx).
acountes (1x) 6.92 ~ acountis (1x) 7.204; artz 10.159; beggeres (24x) 13.143 ~ beggers (3x) 5.151; bodies 1.198; brawleris 16.44; caples (2x) 19.335; caplus (1x) 2.164; caractus 12.85 ~ caractes 12.99; cardinales P.104; clerkes P.114; coloures 11.334; eyes (5x) P.74 ~ eyghes (1x) 11.41 (cf. eighen and eiȝen); eres P.78; experimentz 10.223; foes 13.327 (cf. foon); lolleres 15.225; lond-leperis heremytes 15.221; monyales 10.326; religiouses 10.324; shoes 20.218 (cf. shoon); sustres 18.206 (cf. sustren); werkes 1.151; wordes (62x) P.72 ~ wordis (3x) 3.349; ȝeres 5.122 ~ ȝeris (1x)n P.65; etc.
With <-en> ~ <-n>:
child(e)ren (16x) 3.265 ~ childern (1x) 13.116; eyghen (11x) 5.111 ~ eyen (10x) 5.64 ~ eyhen (1x) 16.46 ~ eiȝen (1x) 5.396; foon (1x) 5.98; lambren 15.218; shone "shoes" (1x) 14.348; sustren 5.640.
Mutated:
gees P.227; men P.18; teeth 15.13.
beggeres 4.126; loseles 10.52; mennes P.199; harlotes 4.120; etc.
With <-en> ~ (<-yn>) ~ (<-ene>) (1x) : childryn 4.119; clerken 4.121; iewen 15.573; kyngene 19.76; wyuen 5.29; etc.
The form ich occurs 20x, in all but one instance before a vowel or semivowel (e.g. ich yede 7.157).dynge ich neure so late.Iche appears once before a vowel at 13.249. Archetypal ik occurs in the phrase so the ik (5.230), where Langland's joke is at the expense of the Norfolk dialect of Sir Hervey, as in Chaucer's
All instances of Thow occur at the beginnings of lines.
At L.3.348-349 the scribe uniquely writes ȝe where other manuscripts have forms of she. This is quite possibly a relict form, though the scribe may have construed the word as a form of ye.
Three of the four occurrences of heo (1.74, 3.29, and 5.646) are in alliterating positions.he and then "corrected" it to she. He is required by alliteration and is attested in alpha.
L has he, "she", in non-alliterative position at L.1.143 (agreeing with CCr and uncorrected M), L.9.56 (agreeing with all mss. except Cr), and at L.18.170 (where F has she).
The two instances of the appear at the beginning of 3.270 and the end of 20.185.
Both myn (27x) and myne (30x) are used conjunctively with both singular and plural nouns before vowels or <h>; myn does not appear disjunctively.
The standard spelling is þi (198x). Thi is found at 2.124 and 5.299, and the two forms occur only conjunctively. The usage of the forms ending in <-n(e)> is as with the 1st person: þine (14x) ~ þyne (9x) ~ þyn (3x) ~ Thyn (1x) occur most often conjunctively with both singular and plural nouns before vowels or <h>, and occasionally disjunctively.Þyne appears before a consonant in 5.518.
The general form is his (680+) used with both singular and plural nouns: e. g. his mysdedes 11.139. The inflected form hise (3x), developed by analogy with myne and þyne, is used twice with plural nouns (4.41, 5.292) and once (20.60) in absolute use to mean "his people."
As in the accusative and dative, the forms with and without <-e> are used in free variation. The dominant spelling is with <i>, though a handful of her spellings appear.
Seven of ten instances of hij occur in lines in which it does not carry alliteration. For its distribution, see
The forms with and without <-e> are used in free variation. There are no oblique plural forms beginning with <þ->.
Forms are: my-self (25x) ~ -selue (9x) ~ -seluen (1x); þi-selue (12x) -self (12x), -seluen (3x); hym-self (43x) ~ -selue (28x) ~ -seluen); her-selue (1x, pl.); her-self (1x, sg.); owre-selue ~ vs-selue; ȝow-self (2x) ~ ȝow-selue
(1x) ~ ȝow-seluen (2x) ~ ȝowre-selue ~ ȝowre-seluen. Remnants of Langland's practice of using the selue(n) forms at the end of b-verses are still detectable, though the scribe is inconsistent.
The western forms with sulf-/sulv-, from broken OE <eo>, do not occur in L.
Monosyllabic adjectives ending in a consonant do not steadily distinguish definite and indefinite inflections; i.e. <-e> appears on adjectives modifying singular nouns as well as plural, and frequently on adjectives following an indefinite article. We cite a few instances of "great":
a grete nede
of grete witte
ne grete lordes wrath
B manuscripts lordes is gen. sg. in this line, though of course it is ambiguous here. The scribe need not have taken it to be plural.
þeire gret goodnesse
his gret othes
gret lordes
his gret chekes
Polysyllabic adjectives of French derivation ending in <-ous>
reflect relicts of earlier texts in which weak and plural adjectives were differentiated from strong singulars. One finds lecherous (sg.) 6.273 ~ lecherouse (pl.) 2.127, and likerous P.30 ~ likerouse (definite) 10.170 and plural in 10.173. However, precious is weak in 10.12 and preciouse appears appropriately for the plural in 19.94 and unhistorically motivated for the strong singular in 16.274. Neither religious nor cristen/cristene maintains the distinction.
The inflected concord of foles sages at 13.415 and materes inmeasurables at 15.76 appear to be archetypal.
"All" has the following inflections: al and alle are in free variation with gen. pl. aller (16.213) inherited from Bx. "Both" as an adjective is always bothe or boþe, with gen. pl. boþeres.
auarousere 1.194; balder 7.199; better(e) (48x) 6.168 ~ bettre (5x) 5.49; blisseder 11.255; clenner 19.252;
douȝtier 5.103; fairere 14.28; ferther(e) 5.655; gretter(e) 17.317; hyere 2.29; lenger (8x) 1.212; ~ lengore (1x) 20.62; liȝter (2x) 1.157 ~ liȝtor 17.45; lower(e) 7.171; pouerere 20.49; sikerer(e) 5.520; sonner(e) 10.428; swetter(e) 6.221; etc.
Baldest 13.300 ~ boldest 18.419; best(e) P.103; brounest 6.313; clenneste 16.73; doughtiest 10.464; hexte 12.143; leuest(e) 3.6; merueillousest 8.68; nexte 17.292; trewest 17.25; etc.
The ending <-ly> varies with <-lich> and <-liche/-lyche> (there are no examples of <-lye> or <-lie> and only one of -lyche, 5.562). No clear pattern of usage appears. The spelling louely/-li (8x) is always used for the attributive adjective, and loueliche (4x), louelich (1x), vnlovelich (2x) appear indiscriminately with or without <-e> for the predicative, usually before of. But other adjectives, e. g., dedliche and dedly are both used before pl. synnes (9.221, 14.98). The most common form by far is with -ly or -li: only dedliche, flesshelich, lordeliche, lothliche, and louelich(e) appear as adjectives.
The same endings <-ly>, <-lich(e)> and <-lych(e)> are used as in adjectives, and are equally unpatterned.-e," frendeloker 10.236; liȝtloker 5.590; wisloker 13.344. Superlatives end in <-lokest>: hastlokest 19.475; wikkedlokest 10.437.
fordo 18.30 ~ fordone 18.44 ~ fordon 5.20; to kepe 17.5 ~ kepen 4.140 ~ kepin 8.105; knowe 17.9 ~ knowen 8.15; laste 17.8; to louye 17.129 ~ louyen 11.112; rekene 4.179; To reule 17.3; se(e) 17.4 ~ seen 4.88; segge 17.31; to techen 17.42 ~ teche 1.146; vndertaken 17.17 ~ vndertake 13.139; wytene 8.13; etc.
Endings derived from OE <-ian> verbs are frequently but not steadily preserved; thus the following infinitive forms with <-i-> or <-y->: erye 6.4;
hatyen 10.99; louye 19.112; swerye 14.39; tulyen 7.2; wanye 7.58; wonye 3.109. However, forms such as pryke at 18.11 or were at 14.347 show the scribe's lack of consistency in this respect. This is a feature of southwest midlands dialects.
In both the gerund and the pres. ppl. the ending is <-yng(e)>. The forms with and without <-e> appear in free variation; e.g. With bakbitynge and bismer . and beryng of fals witness 5.91.
drynkynge 11.340; etynge 14.61; laughynge 18.430; seggyng 8.109; slepyng P.10; slepynge 5.6; wenynge 20.33; etc.
There are the following examples of the ending of the verbal noun with the spelling <-ing(e)> after <y>:
burying 11.80; deyinge 7.34; lyinge 13.322; tulyinge 14.72.
The only other examples of <-ing(e)> are bakbitinge 5.132 and knowing 1.138.
abydynge 19.296; dryuende 20.99; etyng 10.107; flaumende 17.208; glowande 17.220; hangynge 5.137; hippyng 17.61; libbing 9.117 lorkynge 2.219; playinge 18.172 ~ pleyande 16.269; rennyng 18.103 ~ rennynge 18.169 ~ rennenge 15.476; sittynge 3.352 ~ sittende 17.50; slepyng 7.159; waggynge 8.31; etc.
The forms with and without final <-e> are in free variation.
abasched 10.305; acombred 1.34; ascaped 6.80; ybarred 19.165; called P.104 ~ ycalled (2x) 11.14; clothed (1x) 5.81 ~ yclothed (6x) 1.3;yclothed is necessary for the meter of the b-verse, as most of the scribes recognize; in 13.277 (where it is again line-end) it is not, and seven manuscripts read
clothed.demed 3.312; diademed 3.293; yentred 10.386;
yglosed 17.11; yhated 9.108; made 5.408 ~ ymaked (6x) P.14 ~ maked (3x) 7.158; vsed
18.390 ~ yvsed 16.155; went 3.287; etc.
bake (2x) 6.197 ~ ybake (3x) 6.290 ~ ybaken (1x) 6.185 ~ baken (1x) 6.300; chosen 11.119 ~ ychose 5.336; comen 16.96 ~ come 3.308; dronke (1x) 18.193 ~
dronken (3x, twice attributively) 13.96 ~ ydronke (3x) 6.286 ~ drunken (1x) 5.385; founde (3x) 7.208 ~ yfounde (3x) 10.267 ~ founden (3x) 14.72; geten 5.300; gyuen (1x) 2.123 ~ ȝiue (1x) 5.394 ~ ȝoue (1x) 2.32;ygo 5.209 ~ gone (2x) 5.483; holden (12x) 12.275 ~ yholde (2x) 20.261 ~ yholden (1x) 1.85; yholpe 17.62 ~ holpe 4.171; knowen (4x) P.56 ~ yknowe 11.229 ~ yknowen 11.401; taken 1.156 ~ ytake (2x) 11.260;
wonne (3x) 5.269 ~ ywonne (3x) 5.95; writen 17.11; etc.
For comments on the retention of the <y-> prefix, see paragraph III.3.5.1.4 above.
couth 5.183; hailse 5.103; holde 5.423; leue P.34; rest 5.153; sey P.202; shonye 5.171; swere 5.230; walke 5.149; warne P.208; wisse 1.43.
As in OE, stems ending in a vowel have no inflection: do 5.116 se P.202.
beest 5.610; coueytest 11.11; getest 18.364; greuest 14.122; lernest 4.11; lyuest 2.127; lixte 5.164;myȝtest P.215; myȝte
6.227; seest 12.175; wost 3.181.
The usual ending is <-(e)st>. As in MS W, the only example of <-ist> is seist 6.236, 18.436.
aketh 6.263; bereth 11.160; biddeth 7.88 ~ bit 7.72;bit, fynt, halt, etc.) are used in southern texts.breketh 4.59; falleth 8.38; fareth 13.53; fet P.194 ~ fedeth 6.257; fyndeth 15.189 ~ fynt (7x) 7.142; forfret 16.30; goth 1.208; halt 17.106 ~ holdeth 13.406; playeth 19.297; putteth 12.230; rest P.171; ritt (ryden) P.171; seith 7.135; sheweth 17.157 ~ sheweþ (1x) 4.131; slepyth 11.264; smit 11.429; smyteth 3.330; stant 18.45 ~ standeth 2.5; strengtheth 8.47; wanyeth 8.39; welt 10.88; etc.
With a single exception, this scribe, like the one who wrote manuscript W, distinguishes "tells lies" (OE lȳhþ) from "lies down" (OE līþ). For the former, one finds lieth (1x) 6.237 and lyeth (7x) 1.70, and a single instance of lith at 3.157. For "lies down" the forms are lith 1.126, lyth 4.61, and lithe 18.397
OE preterite-present verbs without inflection in the present 1st and 3rd sg. are, for example, dar P.210; kan P.199; May 1.63; Shal 2.34; etc.
abiden 15.321; abite "bite" 16.27; aren (38x) P.164 ~ arn (3x) P.98 ~ beth (20x) 3.27; aske (2x) 3.221 ~ asken (3x) 3.224; biswynkyn 15.490; borweth 20.285; burgeouneth 15.80; crauen (2x) 3.226 ~ craueth (1x) 17.122; dwelle (7x) 1.129 ~ dwelleth (1x) 4.33; fecche 9.183 ~ feccheth (2x) 4.53; fynde (2x) 5.147 ~ fynden (4x) 5.587 ~ fyndeth (2x) 5.147 ~ fynt (2x) 15.288; folweth 1.41; holden (3x) P.28 ~ holdeth 1.45; smyteth 17.330; teche (1x) 3.223 ~ techen (2x) 10.395 ~ techeth (2x) 7.190; writeth 14.212 ~ writen 14.209 ~ write 20.259; etc.
The minority forms in <-eth> and <-eþ> are not uncommon. Samuels points out that this plural form is very rare in the London English of Chaucer, but is retained in Southern and Southwestern areas until after Langland's death. He also comments on the form aren in alliterating position as evidence for Langland's west midland dialect.
The plural forms of preterite-present verbs are, for example: can ~ conne ~ conneth; may ~ mowe ~ mowen; shul ~ shulle; etc.
carpe 17.136; come 5.423; do 3.312; folwe 3.7; ȝif 5.109 ~ gyf 2.123; gladye 18.261; lyke 11.24; rede 4.5; repent 5.265; wil 9.195;B witnesses have wolt at this point.worche 3.7; etc.
The forms are the same as those of the 1st indic. sg.
awake 5.403; beth 2.140; come 18.57; coueyte 5.594; dampne 5.482; ete 14.56; Go 1.47; helde 18.150; kepe 6.270; lakke 2.49; Lat 6.272; Arise 6.271 sitte 6.270; take 12.159; Telle 1.46; ware 5.456; etc.
beth 10.457; claweth 10.302; cometh 20.73; corecteth 10.302; fareth 13.182; gyueth 17.272; harweth 19.318; hatien 15.113; holdeth 20.245; kenneth 6.14; maketh 6.14; spynneth 6.13; wadeþ 5.589; etc.
The form with <-e> (without ending in stems in <-e>) is usually used before a subject pronoun, though compare coueyte 5.594.wasshe yow to L.5.589's wascheth ȝow.
be 3.87; deuine P.210; loke 5.596; stynte 5.597;take 10.90; etc.
affrayned 16.287; awaked 14.350; babeled 5.8; bolded 3.200; courbed 1.80; deyde 18.376; dwelt 20.344; loked 14.54; maked 9.140; payed 6.96; wayted 13.344; went P.4.
The forms with <-ed> and <-ede> are in free variation, with the former predominating. The endings <-id(e)> ~ <-yd> do not occur.
aresonedest 12.221; brouȝtest 1.78; conseiledest 3.207; deydest 19.173; gredest 19.431; keptest 7.205; laddest 7.205; lakkedest 11.416; madest 5.234; robbedest 18.345; tauȝtest 14.195; þoledest 19.173; etc.
abosted 6.157; armed 20.115; axed 5.312 ~ asked 20.331; baptised 16.262; blessed 11.233; deyde 10.364; demed 10.393; dremed 8.69; folwed 11.26; mameled 11.413; payed 5.219; weyled 14.342; wept 2.239; etc.
amortesed 15.329; apposed 1.48; awaited 16.145; blustreden 5.533; cared 2.164; crieden P.226; deyden 18.367; demed 19.146; digged 6.110; eryed 19.269; hateden 18.308; herde
5.354 ~ herden 16.136; made 20.300 ~ maden 10.420; parceyued 18.248; pleyed P.20; sente 2.224; tendeden 18.245; vsed 20.65 ~ vseden 12.128; went P.166 ~ wenten P.54; wepten 7.37; etc.
cam 15.14 ~ come 13.308; gat 4.81; knewe 19.419; songe 19.211; saw 5.9
~ seigh "saw" P.50 ~ say 5.10; spak 19.378; etc.
breke 18.293; gete 18.341; knewe 11.32; lowe "lied" 18.416; speke 19.77; toke 20.7; etc.
brake 1.113; cam P.114 ~ come P.112; gaf 2.71 ~ gaue 19.263; gat 1.35; knewe 2.229; songe 18.439; spak 5.218 ~ spake 1.50; stode P.183; wepe 5.474;Bx. Most beta witnesses have wepte.
The forms are of course the same as those for the 1st singular.
cam 13.34 ~ come 4.45 ~ comen P.24; dronke 14.86;
geten 20.156; knewe 8.12; seye "saw" 17.50; stode 18.86; songen 18.331; toke 19.39
~ token 11.338.
come 5.544; dronke 20.19; stode 19.367; etc.
The forms are the same as the 2nd singular.
For
For descriptions of the B manuscripts see George Kane and E. Talbot Donaldson, eds.,