1. Heer, seeing we borrow mikle from the latin, it is reason that we either follow them in symbolizing their’s, or deduce from them the groundes of our orthographie.
2. Imprimis, then, quhatever we derive from them written with c we sould alsoe wryte with c, howbeit it sound as an s to the ignorant; as conceave, receave, perceave, from concipio, recipio, percipio; concern, discern, from concerno, discerno; accesse, successe, recesse, from accedo, succedo, recedo, with manie moe, quhilk I commend to the attention of the wryter.
3. Also quhat they wryte with s we sould alsoe wryte with s; as servant, from servus; sense, from sensus; session from sessio; passion, from passio.
4. Neither is the c joined with s here to be omitted; as science and conscience, from scientia, conscientia; ascend and descend, from ascendo, descendo; rescind and abscind, from rescindo and abscindo.
4 (sic). This difference of c and s is the more attentivelie to be marked for that wordes of one sound and diverse signification are many tymes distinguished be these symboles; as, the kinges secrete council, and the faithful counsil of a frende; concent in musik, and consent of myndes; to duel in a cel, and to sel a horse; a decent weed, and descent of a noble house. These tuo last differres alsoe in accent.
5. Lykwayes, that we derive from latin verbales in tio, sould also be wrytten with t; as oration, visitation, education, vocation, proclamation, admonition,etc.
6. Wordes deryved from the latin in tia and tium we wryte with ce; as justice, from justitia; intelligence, from intelligentia; vice, from vitium; service, from servitium. In al quhilk, houbeit the e behind the c be idle, yet use hes made it tollerable to noat the breaking of the c, for al tongues bear with sum slippes that can not abyde the tuich stone of true orthographie.
7. C is alsoe written in our wordes deryved from x in latin; as peace, from pax; fornace, from fornax; matrice, from matrix; nurice, fromnutrix, quhilk the south calles nurse, not without a falt both in sound and symbol; be this we wryte felicitie, audacitie, tenacitie,etc.
8. Lykwayes we sould keep the vouales of the original, quherin the north warres the south; from retineo, the north retine, the south retain; from foras, the north foran, the south forain; from regnum, the north regne, the south raigne; from cor, the north corage, the south courage; from devoro, the north devore, the south devour; from vox, the north voce, the south voice; from devoveo, the north devote, the south devoute; from guerrum, the north were, the south war; from gigas, gigantis, the north gyant, the south giaunt; from mons, montis, the north mont, the south mount. Of this I cold reckon armies, but wil not presume to judge farther then the compasse of my awn cap, for howbeit we keep nearar the original, yet al tongues have their idiom in borrowing from the latin, or other foran tongues.
1. In our tongue we have some particles quhilk can not be symbolized with roman symboles, nor rightlie pronunced but be our awn, for we in manye places soe absorb l and n behynd a consonant, quher they can not move without a voual intervening, that the ear can hardlie judge quhither their intervenes a voual or noe.
2. In this case sum, to avoid the pronunciation of the voual befoer the l and n, wrytes it behind; as litle, mikle, muttne, eatne. Quhilk houbeit it incurres in an other inconvenience of pronuncing the voual behind the l or n, yet I dar not presume to reprove, because it passeth my wit how to avoid both inconveniences, and therfoer this I leave to the wil of the wryter.
3. Sum of our men hes taken up sum unusual formes of symbolizing, quhilk I wald wish to be reformed, yet if I bring not reason, let no man change for my phantasie.
4. First, for peple they wryte people, I trow because it cumes from populus; but if that be a reason, I wald understand a reason quhythey speak not soe alsoe. Or gif they speak not soe, I wald understand quhy they wryte not as they speak. I knawe they have the exemple of France to speak ane way and wryte an other; but that exemple is as gud to absorb the s in the end of everie word. Al exemples are not imitable.
5. They use alsoe to wryte logicque, musicque, rhetoricque, and other of that sorte, with cque. If this be doon to make the c in logica,etc., subsist, quhy wer it not better to supply a k in the place of it, then to hedge it in with a whol idle syllab; it wer both more orthographical and easier for the learner, for c and k are sa sib,that the ane is a greek and the other a latin symbol of one sound. In this art it is alyke absurd to wryte that thou reades not, as to read that thou wrytes not.
6. We use alsoe, almost at the end of everie word, to wryte an idle e. This sum defend not to be idle, because it affectes the voual before the consonant, the sound quherof many tymes alteres the signification; as, hop is altero tantumpede saltare, hope is sperare; fir, abies, fyre, ignis; a fin, pinna, fine, probatus; bid, jubere, bide, manere; with many moe. It is true that the sound of the voual befoer the consonant many tymes doth change the signification; but it is as untrue that the voual e behind the consonant doth change the sound of the voual before it. A voual devyded from a voual be a consonant can be noe possible means return thorough the consonant into the former voual. Consonantes betuene vouales are lyke partition walles betuen roomes. Nothing can change the sound of a voual but an other voual coalescing with it into one sound, of quhilk we have spoaken sufficientlie,cap. 3, to illustrat this be the same exemples, saltare is to hop; sperare to hoep; abies is fir; ignis, fyr, or, if you wil, fier; jubere is bid; manere, byd or bied.
7. Yet in sum case we are forced to tolerat this idle e; 1. in wordes ending in c, to break the sound of it; as peace, face, lace, justice,etc.; 2. behind s, in wordes wryten with this s; as false, ise, case, muse, use,etc.; 3. behind a broaken g; as knawlege, savage, suage, ald age. Ther may be moe, and these I yeld because I ken noe other waye to help this necessitie, rather then that I can think anye idle symbol tolerable in just orthographie.
1. Seing that we fynd not onelie the south and north to differ more in accent then symbol, but alsoe one word with a sundrie accent to have a diverse signification, I commend this to him quho hes auctoritie, to command al printeres and wryteres to noat the accented syllab in everie word with noe lesse diligence then we see the grecianes to noat their’s.
2. Cicero, in his buik de Oratore ad Brutum, makes it a natural harmonie that everie word pronunced be the mouth of man have one acute syllab, and that never farther from the end then the third syllab, quhilk the grammareanes cales to the same end the antepenult. Quhilk observation of so noble a wit is most true in tongues quhilk he understud, the greek and latin. But if Cicero had understud our tongue, he sould have hard the accent in the fourth syllab from the end; as in mátrimonie, pátrimonie, vadimonie, intóllerable, intélligences, and whole garrisones of lyke liverie. This anie eare may if he accent the antepenult matrímonie, or the penult matrimónie, or the last as matrimoníe.
3. Then to the purpose we have the same accentes quhilk the latin and the greek hath, acute, circumflex, and grave.
4. The acute raiseth the syllab quheron it sittes; as profésse, prófit, ímpudent.
5. It may possesse the last syllab: as supprést, preténce, sincere; the penult: as súbject, cándle, cráftie; the antepenult: as diffícultie, mínister, fínallie; and the fourth also from the end, as is said sect. 2; as spéciallie, insátiable, díligentlie. In al quhilk, if a man change the accent, he sall spill the sound of the word.
6. The grave accent is never noated, but onelie understood in al syllabes quherin the acute and circumflex is not. Onlie, for difference, sum wordes ar marked with it, thus `, leaning contrarie to the acute.
7. The circumflex accent both liftes and felles the syllab that it possesseth, and combynes the markes of other tuae, thus ˆ. Of this we, as the latines, hes almost no use. But the south hath great useof it, and in that their dialect differes more from our’s then in other soundes or symboles.
8. The use of the accent wil be of good importance for the right pronunciation of our tongue, quhilk now we doe forte, non arte, and conforming of the dialectes, quhilk, as I have said, differes most in this.
1. The learned printeres uses to symboliz apostrophus and hyphen as wel as a, b, c.
2. Apostrophus is the ejecting of a letter or a syllab out of one word or out betuene tuae, and is alwayes marked above the lyne, as it wer a comma, thus ‘.
3. Out of one word the apostrophus is most usual in poesie; as Ps. 73, v. 3, for quhen I sau such foolish men, I grug’d, and did disdain; and v. 19, They are destroy’d, dispatch’d, consum’d.
4. Betuene tuae wordes we abate either from the end of the former or the beginning of the later.
5. We abate from the end of the former quhen it endes in a voual and the next beginnes at a voual; as, th’ ingrate; th’ one parte; I s’ it, for I see it.
6. In abating from the word following, we, in the north, use a mervelouse libertie; as, he’s a wyse man, for he is a wyse man; I’l meet with him, for I wil meet with him; a ship ’l of fooles, for a ship ful of fooles; and this we use in our common language. And quhilk is stranger, we manie tymes cut of the end of the word; as, he’s tel the, for he sal tel the.
7. This for apostrophus. Hyphen is, as it wer, a band uniting whol wordes joined in composition; as, a hand-maed, a heard-man, tongue-tyed, out-rage, foer-warned, mis-reported, fals-deemed.
1. Al wordes quhilk we use to expresse our mynde are personal or impersonal.
2. A personal word is quhilk admittes diversitie of person.
3. Person is the face of a word, quhilk in diverse formes of speach it diverselie putes on; as, I, Peter, say that thou art the son of God. Thou, Peter, sayes that I am the son of God. Peter said that I am the son of God.
4. Quherupon person is first, second, and third.
5. The first person is of him that speakes; as, I wryte.
6. The second person is of him that is spoaken to; as, thou wrytes.
7. The third person is of him that is spoaken of; as, Peter wrytes.
1. Number is distinction of person be one and moe; and soe is singular and plural.
2. The singular speakes of one; as, a hand, a tree, a sheep, a horse, a man.
3. The plural speakes of moe then one; as, handes, trees, sheep, horses, men, tuo, three, foure, or moe, or how manie soever.
4. This difference is commonlie noted with es at the end of the word singular; as, a house, houses; a windoe, windoes; a doore, tuo doores.
5. Sum tymes it is noated be changing a letter; as, a man, men; a woman, wemen; a goose, geese.
6. Sum tyme be changing noe thing; as, a sheep, a thousand sheep; a horse, an hundred horse; a noute, ten noute.
1. A personal word is a noun or a verb. A noun is a word of one person with gender and case; as, I is onelie of the first person; thouis onelie of the second; and al other nounes are onelie the third person; as, thou, Thomas, head, hand, stone, blok, except they be joined with I or thou.
2. The person of a noun singular is determined or undetermined.
3. The determined person is noated with the, and it is determined either be an other substantive; as, the king of Britan; or be an adjective; as, the best king in Europ; or be a relative; as, God preserve the king quhom he hath geven us.
4. The undetermined noun is noated with an befoer a voual; as, an ald man sould be wyse; and with a befoer a consonant; as, a father sould command his son.
1. Gender is the affection of a noun for distinction of sex.
2. Sex is a distinction of a noun be male and female, and these are distinguished the one from the other, or both from thinges without sex.
3. The one is distinguished from the other be he and she.
4. He is the noat of the male; as, he is a gud judge; he is a wyse man; he is a speedie horse; he is a crouse cock; he is a fat wether.
5. She is the noate of the femal sex; as, she is a chast matron; she is a stud meer; she is a fat hen; she is a milk cowe.
6. Nounes that want sex are noated with it; as, it is a tale tree; it is a sueet aple; it is a hard flint; it is a faer day; it is a foul way.
7. In the plural number they are not distinguished; as, they are honest men; they are vertueouse ladies; they are highe montanes.
1. Case is an affection of a noun for distinction of person; as, the corner stone fel on me; stone is the nominative case. The corner of a stone hurt me; stone is the genitive case. Quhat can you doe to a stone; stone is the dative case. He brak the stones; it is the accusativecase. Quhy standes thou stone; it is the vocative. And he hurt me with a stone; it is the ablative case.
2. This difference we declyne, not as doth the latines and greekes, be terminationes, but with noates, after the maner of the hebrues, quhilk they cal particles.
3. The nominative hath no other noat but the particle of determination; as, the peple is a beast with manie heades; a horse serves man to manie uses; men in auctoritie sould be lanternes of light.
4. Our genitive is alwayes joyned with an other noun, and is noated with of, or s.
5. With of, it followes the noun quhar with it is joined; as, the house of a good man is wel governed.
6. With s it preceedes the word quherof it is governed, and s is devyded from it with an apostrophus; as, a gud man’s house is wel governed.
7. This s sum haldes to be a segment of his, and therfoer now almost al wrytes his for it, as if it wer a corruption. But it is not a segment of his; 1. because his is the masculin gender, and this may be fœminin; as, a mother’s love is tender; 2. because his is onelie singular, and this may be plural; as, al men’s vertues are not knawen.
8. The dative is noated with to, and for; as, geve libertie evin to the best youth and it wil luxuriat. Al men doeth for them selves; few for a frende.
9. The accusative hath noe other noat then the nominative; as, the head governes the bodie.
10. The vocative is the person to quhom the speach is directed; as, quhence cumes thou Æneas.
11. The ablative is noated with prepositiones in, with, be, and sik lyke; as, be god al thinges wer made; God with his word his warkes began; in my father’s house are manie mansiones.
1. Al nounes that wil join with a substantive ar called adjectives; as, gud, high, hard, sueet, sour.
2. These, and al that wil admit mare and mast, are compared be degrees; as, sueet, more sueet, most sueet.
3. Of comparison ther be thre degrees: the positive, comparative, and superlative, if the first may be called a degre.
4. The positive is the first position of the noun; as, soft, hard; quhyte, blak; hoat, cald.
5. The comparative excedes the positive be more, and is formed of the positive be adding er; as, softer, harder; quhiter, blaker; hoater, calder.
6. The superlative excedes the positive be most, and is formed of the positive be adding est; as, softest, hardest; quhytest, blakest; hoatest, caldest.
1. This for the noun. The verb is a word of al persones declyned with mood and tyme; as, I wryte, thou wrytes, he wrytes.
2. We declyne not the persones and numberes of the verb, as doth the latine, but noat them be the person of the noun.
3. They are noated with I, thou, and he in the singular number; we, ye, and they in the plural.
4. The number is noated with I and we; thou and ye; he and they.
1. The mood is an affection of the verb serving the varietie of utterance.
2. We utter the being of thinges or our awn wil.
3. The being of thinges is uttered be inquyring or avouing.
4. We inquyre of that we wald knaw; as, made God man without synne; and in this the supposit of the verb followes the verb.
5. We avoue that quhilk we knaw; as, God made man without sinne; and in this the supposit preceedes the verb.
6. We utter our wil be verbes signifying the form of our wil, or postposing the supposit.
7. We wish be wald god, god grant, and god nor; as, wald god I knew the secretes of nature.
8. We permit the will of otheres be letting; as, let God aryse; let everie man have his awn wyfe.
9. We bid our inferioures, and pray our superioures, be postponing the supposit to the verb; as, goe ye and teach al nationes; here me, my God.
1. Tyme is an affection of the verb noating the differences of tyme, and is either present, past, or to cum.
2. Tyme present is that quhilk now is; as, I wryte, or am wryting.
3. Tyme past is that quhilk was, and it is passing befoer, past els, or past befoer.
4. Tyme passing befoer, quhilk we cal imperfectlie past, is of a thing that was doeing but not done; as, at four hoores I was wryting; Quhen you spak to me I was wryting, or did wryte, as Lillie expoundes it.
5. Tyme past els is of a thing now past, quhilk we cal perfectlie past; as, I have written.
6. Tyme past befoer is of a thing befoer done and ended; as, at four hoores, or quhen you spak to me, I had written.
7. Tyme to cum is of that quhilk is not yet begun; as, at four houres I wil wryte.
1. A verb signifies being or doeing. Of being ther is onelie one, I am, and is thus varyed.
2. In the present tyme, I am, thou art, he is; we are, ye are, they are.
3. In tyme passing befoer, I was, thou was, he was; we wer, ye wer, they wer.
4. In tyme past els, I have bene, thou hes bene, he hes bene; we have bene, ye have bene, they have bene.
5. In tyme past befoer, I had bene, thou had bene, he had bene; we had bene, ye had bene, they had bene.
6. In tyme to cum, I wil be, thou wilt be, he wil be; we wil be, ye wil be, they wil be.
7. Verbes of doing are actives or passives.
8. The active verb adheres to the person of the agent; as, Christ hath conquered hel and death.
9. The passive verb adheres to the person of the patient; as, hel and death are conquered be Christ.
10. These our idiom conjugates onelie in tuo tymes, the tyme present and tym past; as, I wryte, I wrote; I speak, I spak; I here, I hard; I se, I saw; I fele, I felt.
11. The other differences of tyme ar expressed be the notes of the verb of being, or be the verb of being it self, and a participle; as, I was wryting; I have written; I had written; I wil wryte.
1. A word impersonal is quhilk in al formes of speach keepes one face, and this is adverb or conjunction.
2. An adverb is a word adhering mast commonlie with a verb with one face in al moodes, tymes, numberes and persones; as, I leve hardlie, thou leves hardlie; I did leve hardlie; I have leved hardlie; I had leved hardlie; I wil leave hardlie; leve he hardlie; God forbid he leve hardlie.
3. Our men confoundes adverbes of place, quhilk the south distinguishes as wel as the latin, and therfoer let us not shame to learne.
4. They use quher, heer, ther, for the place in quhilk; quhence, hence, thence, for the place from quhilk; quhither, hither, thither, for the place to quhilk; as, quher dwel you? quhence cum you? quhither goe you?
5. They also distinguish wel in, into, and unto: in, they use with the place quher; into, with the thing quhither; and unto, for how far; as, our father, quhilk art in heavin, admit us into heavin, and lift us from the earth unto heavin.
6. Heer, becaus sum nounes incurre into adverbes, let us alsoe noat their differences.
7. First no and not. Noe is a noun, nullus in latin, and in our tongue alwayes precedes the substantive quhilk it nulleth; as, noe man, noe angle, noe god.
8. Not is an adverb, non in latin, and in our tong followes the verb that it nulleth; as, heer not, grant not; I heer not, I grant not; I wil not heer, I wil not grant.
9. Ane, in our idiom, and an. Ane is a noun of number, in latin unus; an a particule of determination preceding a voual, as we have saidcap. 3, sect. 4.
10. Thee and the. Thee is the accusative of thou; as, thou loves God, and God loves thee. The is the determined not of a noun, of quhilk we spakcap. 3, sect. 3.
1. Conjunction is a word impersonal serving to cople diverse senses. And of it ther be tuoe sortes, the one enunciative, and the other ratiocinative.
2. The conjunction enunciative copies the partes of a period, and are copulative, as and; connexive, as if; disjunctive, as or; or discretive, as howbe it.
3. The ratiocinative coples the partes of a ratiocination, and it either inferres the conclusion or the reason.
4. Therfoer inferres the conclusion; as, noe man can keep the law in thought, word, and deed: and therfoer noe man befoer the judg of the hart, word, and deed, can be justifyed be the law.
5. Because inferres the reason; as, I wil spew the out, because thou art nether hoat nor cald.
1. A distinction is quherbe sentences are distinguished in wryting and reading. And this is perfect or imperfect.
2. A perfect distinction closes a perfect sense, and is marked with a round punct, thus . or a tailed punct, thus ?
3. The round punct concludes an assertion; as, if Abraham was justifyed be workes, he had quherof to glorie.
4. The tailed punct concludes an interrogation; as, sal we, quha are dead to syn, leve to it?
5. The imperfect distinction divydes the partes of a period, and is marked with tuoe punctes, the one under the other, thus : and is red with half the pause of a perfect punct; as, al have synned, and fallen from the glorie of god: but are justifyed frelie be his grace.
6. The comma divydes the least partes of the period, and is pronunced in reading with a short sob.
7. The parenthesis divydes in the period a sentence interlaced on sum occurrences quhilk coheres be noe syntax with that quhilk preceedes and followes; as, for exemple of beath, and to conclud this treatesse:
Bless, guyd, advance, preserve, prolong Lord (if thy pleasur be)Our KingandQueen, and keep their seed thy name to magnifie.
The foregoing Tract is one of great interest, not only on account of its intrinsic merit, but also for the racy style of writing adopted by its author. We find him continually garnishing his language with such idiomatic and colloquial expressions as the following:—“Quhae’s sillie braine will reache no farther then the compas of their cap” (page2); and again, “but will not presume to judge farther then the compasse of my awn cap” (p.20). He observes of the printers and writers of his age that they care “for noe more arte then may win the pennie” (p.2), and on the same page he says, “quhiles I stack in this claye,” which appears to be equivalent to our term “stuck in the mud.” At p.3he says, “and it wer but a clod;” at p.14, “neither daer I, with al the oares of reason, row against so strang a tyde;” and again, on p.18, we find reason under another aspect, thus, “noe man I trow can denye that ever suked the paepes of reason.”
It seems that the expression,Queen’s English, is by no means of modern date, as we have it as theking’s languageat p.2.
Hume laments, in his Dedication, the uncertainty of the orthography prevailing at the time he writes, and yet we find him spelling words several different ways, even within the compass of a single sentence, without being able to lay the blame upon the printers; thus we find him writing judgement on p.11, judge p.8, and judg p.33, but juge p.18; and there are numberless other instances that it would be tedious to enumerate. Again, the author uses a mixture of Scotch and English, so we have sometimes ane and sometimes one; nae on page1and noe on p.2; mare and mast, and more and most, even in the same sentence (p.30); and two is spelt in three different ways, tuae, tuo, and tuoe.
Our author’s stay in England appears to have drawn his attention to the differences between the two languages of Scotland and England, which he distinguishes as North and South. He certainly shows, in some instances, the greater correctness of the Scotch with regard to thespelling of words derived from the Latin; as, retine instead of retain, corage instead of courage, etc. (p.20), in which words the redundant letters that we Southerners have introduced are thrown out. He is, however, by no means partial, and gives us praise when he thinks we deserve it.
Page9. The arguments in favour of the sound given by the English Universities to the Latiniare curious: it is stated to have its value in the Greek ει; but the author seems to have been in error as to the English sounding mihi and tibi alike, or our pronunciation must have changed since his time.
P.10. The author speaks of the letteryas being used by the South for the sound now symbolized byiwith a finalefollowing the succeeding consonant, aswillwith ani, andwilewith ayin place of theiand finale; thus in the same way he spells write,wryt.
P.11(7). He gives food, good, blood, as examples of the same sound, thus inferring that the English pronounced the two latter so as to rhyme with food.
P.11(8). He objects to the use ofwforuin the diphthongal sound ofou, and therefore spellshow,now, etc.,hou,nou.
P.11(10). It is difficult here to see what the pronunciation ofbuuwould be, which the author gives as the sound of bow (to bow). Probably the sound he meant would be better represented byboo.
P.13(12). The author here recommends the distinction both of sound and symbol ofjandvas consonants, andianduas vowels, and proposes that we should calljjodorje, andvvauorve, and not singleu, “as now they doe” (p.16), andwhe would callwauorwe, and moreover he places them in his alphabet on the same page. If this proposal was originally his own, it is curious that the nameveshould have been adopted, though not theweforw. Ben Jonson points out the double power ofiandvas both consonant and vowel, but he does not attempt to make them into separate letters as Hume does.
P.15(12). He gives as an anomaly of the South that while thedis inserted beforegin hedge, bridge, etc., it is omitted in age, suage, etc. He does not see that the short vowel requires a double consonant to prevent it from being pronounced long.
P.21(6). He disputes the possibility of a finale, separated from a preceding vowel by a consonant, having any effect whatever in altering the sound of the preceding vowel, and recommends the use of a diphthong to express the sound required; as, hoep for hope, fier for fire, bied for bide, befoer for before, maed for made, etc. He uniformly throughout follows this rule.
P.22(5). Hume here accents difficultie on the antepenultimate instead of the first syllable.
P.23(7). He puts down outrage as an instance of two distinct words joined by a hyphen, which is the derivation given by Ash in his dictionary, in strange obliviousness of the French wordoutrage.
P.27(1, 6).Tis omitted aftersin the second person singular of the verb, and so no distinction is made between the second and the third persons; thus, thou wrytes, and at p.32thou was, and thou hes.
P.29(7). The supposition that the apostrophe ’s as a mark of the possessive case is a segment of his, a question which has been lately revived, is here denied.
P.34. In this last chapter on Punctuation, which the author styles “of Distinctiones,” no mention whatever is made of the “semicolon,” though it occurs frequently in the MS., as, for instance, p.30, cap. 6. This stop, according to Herbert, was first used by Richard Grafton inThe Bybleprinted in 1537: it occurs in the Dedication. Henry Denham, an English printer who flourished towards the close of the sixteenth century, was the first to use it with propriety.
P.34(6). The explanation of the mode of pronouncing the comma “with a shortsob” is odd.5
The author continually uses a singular verb to a plural noun; for instance, “of this we, as the latines, hes almost no use” (p.22), though on p.20he writes, “in our tongue we have some particles.”
With regard to the Manuscript, there are two corrections in it worth noting. At p.10(6), in the phrase, “the auctourswholedrift,” the word had been originally writtenhael, but is marked through, andwholesubstituted for it in the same handwriting. At p.21(4), the wordfrenshhas been inserted beforeexemples, but has been afterwards struck through.
The numbering is wrong in three places, but it has not been corrected. At p.8there are no sections 12 and 13, at pp.17,19, there are two cap. 7, and at p.19there are two sections 4.
[The words in the present Tract that really required to be glossed are but few; I have, however, inserted in the following list most of the variations from ordinary modern usage, in order that it may serve as an Index.]
Af = of, p.9.Af = off, p.12
Ald = old, pp.3,21,28
Amangs = amongst, p.18
Ane = a, one
Angle = angel, p.33
Auctoritie = authority, pp.22,29
Aun = own, pp.2,3,7,8,11,15
Awn = own, pp.11,18,20,30,31
Awn = proper, pp.9,11,13,15
Awne = proper, p.14
Awne = own, p.10
Baeth = both, pp.8,34
Bathe = both, p.17
Be = by
Britan = British
Cald = cold, pp.30,33;caldest, p.30
Cales = calls, pp.10,22
Chirt = a squirt, or a squeeze through the teeth, pp.13,14. See Ruddiman’s Glossary to G. Douglas (chirtand)
Cold = could, p.20
Coples = couples, p.33
Corage = courage, p.20
Crouse = brisk, p.28
Cum = come, pp.11,31;cumes = comes, p.29
Devore = devour, p.20
Devote = devout, p.20
Distinctiones = punctuation, p.34
Doon = done, p.21
Doting = giving, p.3
Earand = errand, p.8
Evin = even, p.29
Faer = fair, p.28
Falt = fault, pp.15,20
Fand = found, p.1
Fele = feel, p.32
Felles = lowers, p.22
Finnes = fineness, p.2
Fontan = fountain, p.11
Foran = foreign, p.20
Frelie = freely, p.34
Geve = give, pp.7,8,9,12,28,29
Gif = if, p.21
Glim = glimpse, p.2
Gud = good, pp.2,18,21,28,29
Hael = hail, p.10
Hald = hold, p.14;haldes, p.29
Hame = home, p.2
Hard = heard, pp.2,3,13,14,22,32
Hart = heart, p.33
Heal = whole, p.10
Heer = hear, p.33
Here = hear, pp.31,32
Hes = has, pp.3,14,15,19,22,32
Hes = hast, p.32
Hes = have, pp.20,22
Hoat = hot, pp.18,30,33;hoater, p.30
Hoores = hours, p.31
Ida, Scotland or Edinburgh, p.2
Incurre,v.= to run into. Lat.incurro, pp.20,33
Ken = know, p.21
Kep,v.= to intercept, p.14
Kepping = receiving in the act of falling, p.12.Jamieson.
Knau = know, p.2
Knaulege = knowledge, pp.3,10;knawlege, pp.11,21
Knaw = know, pp.7,30;knawe, p.21;knawen = known, p.29
Laggared = loitered or rested, p.2
Lang = long, pp.9,14
Leave = live, p.32
Leve = live, pp.32,34
Leving = living, p.11
Louse = loose, p.9
Lykwayes = likewise, p.19
Maer = more, pp.2,10
Maest = most, pp.1,2,16
Man = must, p.8
Mare = more, p.30
Mast = most, pp.30,32
Meer = mare, p.28
Middes = middle, p.16
Mikle = much, pp.13,18,19,20
Mint = aim, pressure, p.18
Minted = attempted, p.15
Moat, probablymoot, discussion, chat, etc., p.2. A.S.mót
Moe = more, pp.16,19,21,27
Moien = means for attaining an end, p.2.Jamieson.Fr.moyen
Mont = mount, p.20
Montan = mountain, pp.3,11,28
Mynt = aim, pp.12,17
Nae = no, pp.1,8
Nane = none, p.13
Noat,v.= note, pp.19,22,27,28,29,30,31,33
Noat = note, pp.7,13,28,29;noate, p.28;noates = notes, p.29
Nor = than, p.3
Nor, God nor, p.31.This most probably means God comfort or nourish us, connected withnorice, a nurse, andnorie, a foster-child. There is also a substantivenorein Chaucer, meaning comfort.Norneis to entreat, ask (seeAlliterative PoemsGlossary), and may have something to do with this expression, but it is hardly so probable as the above
Noute = black cattle, p.27;connected withneat, as in neat-cattle, neat-herd
Nulleth = negatives, p.33
Nurice = nurse, p.19
Of = off, p.23
Ones, at ones = at once, p.18
Paen = trouble, p.2
Paert = part, p.10
Peple = people, pp.20,29
Phason = pheasant (?), p.13
Pover = poor, p.3
Punct = stop, p.34
Qu.At p.18the author gives his reasons for making use of the gutturalquin the place of the labialw. The following are the words in which it is thus used:—
Quha = who, pp.2,3,34
Quhae = who, pp.1,10;quhae’s = whose, p.2
Quhaer = where, p.2
Quhar = where, p.29
Quharein = wherein, p.14
Quharof = whereof, p.16
Quhat = what, pp.2,8,15,17,18,28
Quhatever = whatever, p.19
Quhen = when, pp.2,9,11,23,31
Quhence = whence, pp.29,32
Quher = where, pp.2,14,20,32
Quheras = whereas, p.14
Quherat = whereat, p.18
Quherbe = whereby, pp.11,34
Quherfoer, quherforr = wherefore, pp.7,8,10,15
Quherin = wherein, pp.20,22.
Quherof = whereof, pp.29,34
Quheron = whereon, p.22
Quherupon = whereupon, pp.8,27
Quherwith = wherewith, p.2
Quhil, quhiles = while, p.2
Quhilk = which
Quhither = whether, pp.11,17,18,20,32
Quho = who, pp.12,14,15,18,22
Quhom = whom
Quhy = why, pp.20,21,29
Quhyte = white, p.30;quhiter, p.30;quhytest, p.30
Quod = quoth, p.18
Rease = rose, p.18
Red = read, p.34
Regne = reign, p.20
Retine = retain, p.20
Ryseth = ariseth, p.9
Sa = so, p.21;sae = so, p.17
Sal = shall, pp.9,11,23,34
Sall = shall, pp.8,22
Shaued = showed, p.7
Shour = shower, p.10
Sib = related, p.21
Sik = such, pp.1,2,8,9,11,17,29
Sillie = wretched, poor, p.2
Skuiographie,probably an invented word, the intention of the author being to oppose skew or askew toορθος, straight. It has been suggested that it may be intended for sciagraphy,σκιαγραφία, also spelt sciography; but this is improbable, as the meaning of that word, viz., the art of shadows, including dialling, is so inappropriate in this passage, p.2
Sould = should, pp.7,8,11,12,13,17,18,19,22,28,29
Spering = inquiring, p.18
Spil = destroy, spoil(?), p.13;spill, p.22
Spilt = corrupted, spoilt(?), p.2
Stack = stuck, p.2
Stean = stone, p.8
Stiddie = anvil, pp.12,17“And my imaginations are as foulAs Vulcan’s stithy.”Hamlet, Act iii., sc. 2
Strang = strong, p.14
Sum = some, pp.8,9,10,21,34
Supposit = subject, pp.30,31
Syllab = syllable, pp.14,15,16,18,21,22;syllabes, p.8.Ben Jonson spells this wordsyllabein his English Grammar
Syne = since, p.1
Tal = tale, p.9
Tal = tail, p.9
Tale = tall, p.28
Trow = believe, pp.13,18
Tuae = two, pp.1,8,9,10,22,23
Tuelfe = twelve, p.3
Tuich = touch, pp.7,13,15,17;tuiches, p.11
Tuiched = touched, pp.3,17
Tuich stone = touchstone, p.19
Tyme passing befoer = imperfect tense, pp.31,32
Tyme past befoer = pluperfect tense, pp.31,32
Tyme past els = perfect tense, pp.31,32
Vadimonie = recognisance, p.22. Lat.Vadimonium.
Voce = voice, p.20
Waet = know, p.14
Wait = know, p.11
Wald = would, pp.1,2,9,10,13,14,16,20,21,30,31
Warkes = works, p.29
Weer = war, p.3
Were = war, p.20
Whither = whether, p.2.The author in this place uses the letterwinstead ofqu, although at p.18he is so strenuous against its use
Wrang = wrong, pp.2,9,11
Ye = yea, p.14
Yeld = yield, p.21