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ESSAYS ON CHAUCER,
His Words and Works.
PART II.
III. Practica Chilindri : or, The Working of the Cylinder, by
John Hoveden. Edited, with a Translation, by Edmund
Brock.
IV. The use of final -e in Early English, and especially in Chaucer’s
Canterbury Tales. By Professor Joseph Payne.
V. Elizabeth Barrett Browning on Chaucer.
“ English Poets,” ed. 1863.
From her
VI. Specimen of a critical edition of Chaucer’s Compleynte to Fite,
with the Genealogy of its Manuscripts. By Prof. BernHARd
Ten-Brink,
PUBLISHED FOR THE CHAUCER SOCIETY BY
N. TRUBNER & CO., 57 & 59, LUDGATE HILL,
�Smnir
9.
JOHN CHILDS AND SON, PRINTERS.
�III.
PRACTICA CHILINDRI:
OR
THE WORKING OF THE CYLINDER,
BY
JOHN HOVEDEN.
EDITED WITH A TRANSLATION
BY
Edmund Brock
��57
PREFACE.
By the kindness of Mr Frederick Norgate, we are now
able to lay before the reader another short treatise on the
cylinder. How it was found, and what it contains, may
be learnt from the following notice, which we reprint from
Notes and Queries, 4th Series, III, June 12, 1869.
“CHILENDBE: (‘ SCHIPMANNES TALE, 206.’)
"We have to thank the Chaucer Society for the publica
tion of a very early tract on the ‘ Chilindre,’ removing to
a great extent the difficulty about the meaning of this
word, which for ages has puzzled all the commentators on
the Canterbury Tales. This little tract is devoted almost
exclusively to information as to the construction of the in
strument in question, with only a few brief rules at the
end for its use. I have recently been so fortunate as to
discover another MS. which may be a useful and interest
ing supplement to that which Mr Brock has edited for the
above-named society; and before describing its contents,
let me mention the strange way in which I found it.
Looking through the Index of Authors at the end of Ayscough’s Catalogue of the Sloane MSS. (not thinking at the
time of Chaucer or anything relating to him), my attention
was arrested by the name ‘ Chilander,’ and on turning to
the page referred to, I found Chilander noted as the author
of a work entitled Practica Astrologorum, fyc. Hereupon
I determined on taking the first opportunity of examining
the MS. itself, and having done so, to my surprise I found,
instead of Practica Astrologorum, with Chilander for its
author, a tract entitled Practica Cliilindri secundum magistrum Johannem Astrologum 1 The MS. is of the beginning
of the fourteenth century, neatly written (on vellum), and
differs from that which the Chaucer Society has brought to
�58
PREFACE.
light, inasmuch as it is devoted exclusively to instructions
for using the instrument.
“ The whole is comprised in six pages, closely written,
and in a small but neat hand. The titles of the several
chapters are as follows1:—
1. Primum capitulum est de horis diei artificialis
inueniendis.
2. De gradu solis inueniendo.
3. De altitudine solis et lune, et vtrum fuerit ante
meridiem uel post.
4. De linea meridiei inuenienda et oriente et occidente.
5. Quid sit vmbra versa, quid extensa.
6. De punctis vmbre verse et extense similiter.
7. De altitudine rerum per vmbram uersam.
8. De declinacione solis omni die, et gradu eius per declinacionem inueniendo, et altitudine eius omni hora anni.
9. De latitudine omnis regionis inuenienda.
10. De inuenienda quantitate circuitus tocius orbis et
spissitudine eius.
“ The colophon is as follows :—
‘ Explicit practica chilindri Magistri
Iohannis de Houeden astrologi.’
Fred. Norgate.
“ Henrietta Street, Covent Garden."
This tract, with the former, will give a tolerably clear
idea of the nature and uses of the instrument; but there is
much more on the subject which we have no space to
print, and we must therefore be content with giving the
reader references, which will enable those who care to read
more about the cylinder, to do so.
1. Compositio horologiorum, in piano, muro, truncis,
anulo, con[uexo], concauo, cylindro & uarijs quadrantibus,
cum signorum zodiaci & diuersarum horarum inscriptionibus : autore Sebast. Munstero. Basileae, 1531. Composi
tio cylindri, hoc est, trunci columnaris. Caput xxxix.
2. Horologiographia, post priorem seditionem per Se
bast. Munsterum recognita, & plurimum aucta atqwe
locupletata, adiectis multis nouis descriptionibus & figuris,
in piano, concauo, conuexo, erecta superficie &c. Basileae.
1533. Compositio cylindri, hoc est, trunci columnaris.
Caput xliii.
1 The table is printed according to the MS, from which Mr
Norgate’s copy deviates in one or two cases.
�PREFACE.
59
3. Set
/ Dber Sonnen vpren / $imftft$e
Sefdjvetfcung / wt'e btefelfcigen nad) mantyerley aprt an bte
SDlauren / Sffienbte / (Bme / fie fepen Stgenbe / Sluffgertc^fet /
@d;reg / audf auff S'lonbe I Slu^gepolte vnb fonft alter
$anbt ^nftrument / Sluf^uretffen / 2)urc^ Sebafitanum
STOunfter. 23afel, 1579. 2Ste man etnen timber @ircu*
Iteren vnb jurtc^ten foil. ®ad rrrvj. daptlel
4. Dialogo della descrittione teorica et pratica de gli
horologi solari. Di Gio: Batt. Vimercato Milanese. In
Ferrara, per Valente Panizza Mantouano Stampator Ducale.
1565. In gual modo per pratica operatione si possono
fabricare i Cilindri. Capitolo xi.
5. Gnomonice Andrese Schoneri Noribergensis, hoc est:
de descriptionibils horologiorum sciotericorum omnis generis,
proiectionibns circulorum Sphaericorum ad superficies, cum
planas, turn conuexas concauasqwe, Sphsericas, Cylindricas,
ac Conicas : Item delineationibus quadrantum, annulorum,
&c. Libri tres. Noribergse, 1562. The second book treats
of spherical, cylindrical, and conical dials.
6. Io. Baptistae Benedicti Patritij Veneti Philosophi
de Gnomonum umbrarumqwe solarium usu liber. Augustae
Taurinorum. 1574. De examinations pensilium horologio
rum, § de nouo horologio circulari. Cap. lxxviii.
7. Horarii Cylindrini Canones, 1515. Eeprinted in
Opera Mathematica Ioannis Schoneri, fol. Norinbergae,
1551. This, like Hoveden’s treatise, consists of rules for
using the cylinder.
8. Histoire de l’Astronomie du Moyen Age par M.
Delambre, Paris. 1819, 4to. The third book, entitled
Gnomonique, gives an account of the cylindrical dial
(padran cylindrique') of the Arabians as treated of by
Aboul-Hhasan (pp. 517—520), and of Sebastian Munster’s
(pp. 597, 598).
There is a large cut of the cylinder on page 166 of
Munster’s Compositio Horologiorum, page 269 of his Horologiographia, and page 125 of Der Horologien Beschreibung;
a smaller one on the title-page and page 131 of Horologiographia. In Vimercato’s treatise, page 165, is a cut show
ing the separate parts of the cylinder.
In Cotton MS. Nero C ix, leaves 195—226, we find eight
Latin poems by John Hoveden, chaplain of Queen Eleanor,
mother of King Edward. There can be little doubt that
this writer is the same as the author of the present treatise.
We here give the beginnings and endings of these poems.
�60
PREFACE.
I. Incipit meditacio Iohan?iis de houedene, clerici regine
anglie, matris regis Edwardi/ de natiuitate, passione, et resurreccione domini saluatoris edita, ut legentis affeccio in
christi amore profici[a]t et celerius accendatur / hoc opus
sic incipzt: Aue verbum ens in principi'o. & sic finitur. &
uoluzt editor quod liber medffa&onis illius philomena
uocaretur.
Begins : Ave uerbum ens in principio,
Caro factum pudoris gremio;
Fac quod fragreif presens laudaczo.
Ends : Melos tzfei sit et laudacio,
Salus, honor, et iubilacio,
Letus amor lotus in lilio,
Qui es verbum ens in principio.
Explicit libellus rigtmichus1 qui philomena uocatur, que
meditacio est de natiuitate, passione, et resurrecti’one, ad
honorem domini noshi iesu christi saluatoris edita, a Iohanne
de houedene, clerico Alianore regine anglie, matris edwardi
regis anglie.
II. Incipiunt .xv. gaudia virgznis gloriose, edita a
Magistro Iohanne houedene Clerico.
Begins : Virgo vincens vernancia
Carnis pudore lilia.
Ends : Et nocteni lianc excuciens,
Ducas ad portum pahie. Amen.
Expliciunt .15. gaudia beate virgznis, edita ritmice2 ex
dictamine Iohannis de Houedene.
III. Hie scribitnr meditacio Iohannis de Honedene,
edita ad honorem domini saluatoris, et ut legentes earn proficiant .in amore diuino: et vocatur hec meditacio cantica
.50. quod in .50. canticis continetur.
The first canticle begins :
In laude nunc wpirituo omnis exultet,
Et leta mens do?nini laude sustollat.
The last one ends :
Et ut nouella cantica cumulentur,
In laude nunc spmYuc omnis exultet. Amen.
Explicit meditacio dicta cantica 50*?, edita a Iohanne
de Houedene ad honorem domini saluatoris.
IV. In honore domini saluatoris incipit meditacio, edita
a Iohanne de houedene, clerico Alianore regine anglie, matr/s
regis Edwardi / faciens mencionem de saluatoris redolentissima passione; et amoris christi suaue??i inducit affecturn.
Hec meditacio uocatur cythara eo quod verbzs amoriferis,
1 So in MS.
2 MS. ricunce.
�PREFACE.
61
qnaszquibwsdam cordis musice, ad delectacionemspmTualem
legentes inuitat.
Begins : I mi vena du'lcedinis,
Proles pudica numinis,
Verbum ens in principio,
Fructns intacte virginis.
Ends : Verbum ens in principio,
Et des ut gost has semitas
Nos foueat et felicitas
In celebri coliegio. Amen.
Explicit laus de domino saluatore uel meditacio que
cythara nominator, a Iohanne de Houedene, edita ut legent is
affectus in amore diuino proficiat et celerius accendator.
V. Incipiunt 50^ salutaczones beafe virgwiis, quibns
inseritor memoria domznice passionis, edita. a lohanne de
houedene ad honorem virginis matris, & laudem domzni
saluatoris.
Begins : Ave stella maris,
Virgo singularis,
Vernans lilio.
Ends : Fer michi remedia,
Vt in luce qua lustraris
Michi dones gaudia. Amen.
Expliciunt 50^ salutaciones beate marie, edite a
Iohanne de Houedene.
VI. Incipit laus de beata virgine,. que uiola uocatur,
edita a Iohanne de Houedene.
Begins : Maria stella maris,
Fax sum mi luminaris,
Kegina singularis.
Ends : Penas mittigatura,
Assis in die dura,
Maria virgo pura.
Explicit uiola beate virginis, a Iohanne de Houedene
edita.
VII. Incipit lira extollens virginem gloriosam.
Begins : 0 qui fontem gracie
Captiuis regeneras,
Celos endelichie.1
Ends ; Quos expiat sic puniat,
Vt vices quas variat, i
Alternis sic uniat, ne lira deliret.
Explicit lira NLagistri Iohannis houedene.
So in MS.
�62
PREFACE.
VIII. Canticu?n amoris quod composuit Iohannes de
Houedene.
Begins : Princeps pacis, proles puerpere,
Hijs te precor labris illabere,
Vt sincere possim disserere
Laudem tuam, et letus legere.
End lost from :
Eius claui punctura perea?n,
Cum superstes magis inteream.
There is a copy of the first of these poems in the Lambath MS. 410, and another in Harleian MS. 985 with the
heading : Incipit tractates metricus N. de lion dene, de processu cliristi & redempcfonis nostre, qui aliter dicitur
philomena. At the end are merely these words : Explicit
liber q?zi uocatwr philomena. It appears from Nasmith’s
Catalogue that there is a French version of the poem in
Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, MS. 471, intitled, Li
rossignol, ou la pensee Iohan de Hovedene, clerc la roine
d’Engleterre, mere le roi Edward de la neissance et de la
mort et du relievement et de 1’ascension Iesu Crist et de
l’assumpcion notre dame.
It is perhaps worthy of mention that Hoveden’s Plulo''trte.na has long been confounded by the catalogue-writers
with a wholly different composition, by another writer, and
beginning:
Philomena preuia temporis ameni,
Que recessum nuncians i??zbris atgrne ceni,
Dum demulces animos tuo cantu leni,
Auis predulcissima, ad me queso veni.
End : Quicquid tamen alij dicant, frafer care,
Istam novam martirem libens imitare;
Cumque talis fueris, deum deprecare
Vt nos cantus martiris faciat cantare. Amen.
Copies of this poem are contained in Cotton MS. Cleo
patra A xii., Harleian MS. 3766, and Royal MS. 8 G vi.,
from the first of which the above lines are taken. A late
hand has written the following mistaken heading over it
in the Cotton MS.: philomela Canticum per Ioannem de
Houedene Capellanum Alienorse Reginse matris Ed. primi.
�PREFACE.
63
The Laud MS. 368 contains both these poems; the latter
has the following heading: Incipit meditaczo frafris
Iohawzis de peccham, qwondam cantuarze archiepz'scojh,
de ordine frafrum minorww, que Nocatur philomena. The
real author, however, appears to be Giovanni Fidanza,
better known as Cardinal Bonaventura. The whole poem,
with some additional lines at the end, is printed in his
works, Mayence, 1609, vol. 6, p. 424, and Venice, 1751-56,
vol. 13, p. 338. The English poem of The Nyghtyngale
in Cotton MS. Caligula A ii., leaves 59-64, has no con
nection with Hoveden’s Philomena, but is an imitation of
Bonaventura’s poem.
According to Bale’s account,1 which is followed by Pits2
and Tanner,3 John Hoveden was a native of London, doc
tor of divinity, and chaplain of Queen Eleanor, but after
wards parish priest at Hoveden, where he died in the year
1275. Besides the poems already mentioned, Bale, Pits,
and Tanner ascribe to him the work called Speculum
Laicorum ; 4 but this could not have been written till long
after Hoveden’s death, since it contains mention of Henry
the IVth’s reign.5
1 Bale, v. 79.
2 Pitseus, p. 356.
3 Tanner, under Hocedenus
4 See Royal MS. 7 C xv and Oxford Univ. MSS. 29 and 36.
5 In chapter 36.
�64
PRACTICA CHILINDRI.
[Sloane MS 1620, leaf 2.]
PRACTICA
CHILINDRI
SEOHMD DM
MAGISTRITM
[iOHANNEm]1
[aJstrologum.
1. Primnm capz'bdwm ost de horis diei artificiab's
inueniendis.
2. De gradu sob's inueniendo.
3. De altitudine sobs et lune, et vtrum fuerit anfe
meridiem uel post
4. De linea meridiei inuenienda et oriente et, occide??te.
5. (6.)2 Qzdd sit vmbra versa, (5) qnid extensa.
6. (7.) De punctis vmbre verse, et extense similiter.
7. (8.) De altifojtb'ne rerzzm per vmbram uersam.
8. (9.) De declinaczone sob's omni die, et gradueiwsper
decb’nocionem inueniendo, (10) et eMitudioo eius omni hora
anni.
9. (11.) De latitudine omnis regionis inuenienda.
10. (12.) De inuefnjienda qnanti/ate circuitns tociws
orbis et -spissitudine eius.
DE HORIS INUENIENDIS.
1. Z^vm volueris scire horas diei, verte stilum superiorem super mensem aut signuzn in quo fueris, et
super partem que preteriit de ipso; cumqne hoc feceris,
1 Nearly obliterated.
2 The numbers in parentheses correspond to those which head
the sections.
�65
THE WORKING OF THE CYLINDER.
THE WORKING OF THE CYLINDER ACCORDING TO MASTER
JOHN, THE ASTROLOGER.
1. The first chapter is on finding the hours of the
artificial day.
2. On finding the sun’s degree.
3. On the altitude of the sun and of the moon; and
whether it is before midday or after.
4. On finding the meridian line, and the east and the
west.
6. What umbra versa is, (5) and what umbra extensa.
7. On the points of the umbra versa, and likewise of
the umbra extensa.
8. On (finding) the height of objects by the umbra
versa..
9. On (finding) the sun’s declination on any day, and
on finding his degree by the declination; (10) and on
(finding) his altitude at any hour of the year.
11. On finding the latitude of any region.
12. On finding the extent of the circumference of the
whole world, and its thickness.
1.
ON FINDING THE HOURS.
When you wish to know the hours of the day, turn the
upper style1 over the month or sign in which you are, and
over the part of it which is gone by; and when you have
1 Only one style is mentioned in the former treatise.
�66
. PRACTICA CH1LJNDRI.
vertes etiam inferiorezzz stiluzzz in opposituzzz stili szzperioris,
et erit izzstrumezztum disposituzzz ad horas sumendas.
Cumqzze volueris horas sumere, suspende chilindruzzz pez*
filuzzz suuzzz ad solezzz, mouezzdo ipszzm chilindruzzz hue et
illuc donee vrnbra superioris stili super chilizzdruzzz eqzzidistazzter longitudzzzi eius ceciderit; et ad qzzamczzzzzqzze horazzz
peruenerit vmbra stili, ipsa est hora diei pertransita.
Qzzod si ceciderit finis vmbre inter duas horas, tuzzc apparebit etiam pars hore in qua fueris, secundum quod plus
uel minzzs occupauerit vmhra de ipso spacz'o qzzod est inter
duas lineas horarzzzzz. Est eniro. hora spacium [cojntentuzzz
inter duas lineas horarzzzzz; ipse autezzz linee szzzzt fines
horarzzzzz,
DE GRADU SOLIS.
2. /~^vm volueris scire in quo signo fuerit sol, et in’
quoto gradu eizze, eqzzabis solem ad meridiem
diei in quo volueris hoc scire, siczz£ in lecczonibz/s tabzzlarzzzzz
docetzzr, et addes ei motuzzz 8ue spere, et haftebis graduzzz
solz's quesituzzz. Qzzod si volueris hoc ipszzm leuizzs scire,
intra cum die mezzsis in quo fueris izz aliqzzam 4 tabzzlarzzzzz,
seczzzzdzzm qzzod fuerit annzzs bissextilis uel distans ab eo ;
que qzzidezzz tabzzle izztitulantzzr sic :—Tabzzle solis ad izzuezzienduzzzjlocuzzz eius in orbe decliui fixo. Et izz dirp.e.to
diei cum quo intras statizzz inuenies graduzzz solzs equatum,
et hoc est qzzod voluisti. Qzzod si nec has nec illas tabzzlas
1 That is, straight down the cylinder.
2 The following extract from Delamhre’s Astronomic du Moyen
Age, Paris, 1819, pp. 73, 74, may serve to explain the motion of the
eighth sphere :—
“ Thebith ben Chorath.—Son malheureux systeme de la trepi
dation infecta les tables astronomiques jusqu’a Tycho, qui, le
premier, sut les en purger. Ce long succes n’a point empeche que
son livre ne soit reste inedit; mais j’en ai trouve un exemplaire
latin manuscrit, a la Bibliotheque du Boi, n° 7195. Ce traite a
pour titre Thebith ben Chorath de motu octaves Spheres.........
“ Il imagine une ecliptique fixe, qui coupe l’equateur fixe dana
les deux points equinoxiaux, sous un angle de 23° 33', et une eclip
tique mobile, attachee par deux points diametralement opposes a
deux petits cercles, qui ont pour centres les deux points equinoxiaux
�67
ON THE SUN’S DEGREE.
done this, turn also the lower style into the place opposite
the upper style, and the instrument will be set in order for
taking the hours. And when you wish to take the hours,
suspend the cylinder by its string against the sun, moving
it to and fro, until the shadow of the upper style falls on
the cylinder parallel to its length,1 and whatever hour the
shadow of the style reaches, the same is the (last) past
hour of the day. But if the end of the shadow falls be
tween two hours, then will appear also the part of the hour
in which you are, according as the shadow occupies more
or less of that space which is between the two hour-lines.
For the space contained between two hour-lines is an hour;
but the lines themselves are the ends of the hours.
2. ON THE sun’s DEGREE.
'
When you wish to know in what sign the sun is, and
in what degree thereof, you must adjust (?) the sun to the
noon of the day on which you wish to know this, as it is
taught in the readings of the tables, and add to it the
motion of the eighth sphere,2 and you will have the sun’s
degree which you have sought. But if you wish to know
the same more easily, enter with the day of the month in
which you are into one of the four tables according as it is
leap-year or distant from it. These tables are thus en
titled :—Tables of the sun for finding his place in the fixed
ecliptic, and in a line -with the day with which you enter
de l’ecliptique fixe, et dont le rayon est de 4° 18' 43/z. Ces points
de l’ecliptique tournent sur la circonference des deux petits cercles
opposes; l’ecliptique mobile s’eleve done et s’abaisse alternativement sur l’ecliptique fixe ; les points equinoxiaux avancent ou
retrogradent d’une quantite qui peut aller a 10° 45z. Ce mouve
ment est commun a tous les astres ; ce mouvement est celui de la
huitieme sphere, et il s’appelle mouvement d’acces ou de reces. Le
lieu de la plus grande declinaison du Soleil change done continuellement, puisqu’il est toujours a 90° de l’une et l’autre intersections
de l’ecliptique mobile avec l’equateur fixe. La plus grande decli
naison est done tantot dans les Gemeaux et tantot dans le Cancer.”
For Thebit’s treatise see Harleian MS 13, leaf 117. Incipiif
thehit de motu octaue spere. Or Harleian MS 3647, leaf 88, col. 2,
incipit libfr tebith bewcorat de motu octave spere.
�68
PRACTICA CHILINDRI.
habueris, et volueris [leaf 2, bk] aliter querere gradum solis
[a]ut fere, scito qnod secwndnm compotistas xv. kalendas
cuiuslibet mensis ingreditur sol nouu?n signum, sicn^ patet
in kalendario. Considera ergo qnot dies transierint de
mense i?z qwo fueris, et adde supe?’ eos qnindecim dies, et
serua eos. Computabis ergo ab inicio signi, in qno fuerit
sol, totidem gradus, et ubi finitzzs fuerit nu?nerns, ip.se est
gradus solis quern queris. Qwod si nu??ze?7zs tuus excesserit
xxx., tot gradus qwot excedit xxx. perambulauit sol de
signo seq-"^ 0 si Deus voluerit.
DE ALTIT UDINE SOLIS.
3. ZA vod si altitudinem sohs seu lune placuerit inuestiAv gare, verte stilum sn^eriorem super gradus chilindri, et stilum inferiore?n in oppositum ei-us semper; et
hoc sit tz&i generale, ut uersus qwamcunqwe partem chilindri verteris stilum snperiorem, semper vertas stilum inferiorem in partem ei oppositam. Post hec opponas instrnmentmn. soli, et ad qwemcunqne gradum peruenerit vmbra,
ipsa est altitudo solis, seu lune, si feceris de luna, in eadem
bora. Qnod si volueris scire si fuerit ante meridiem uel
post, aspice snper qnot gradns ceciderit vmbra, et expectans
paulisper, iterato sumes altitudinem sobs; epuod si creuerit
vmbi’a, tunc est ante meridiem. Simz'k/er qnog'we scies de
luna. Et per hoc ipsnm quod dzc/nm est, scies vtrum ipsa
fuerit orientals 9, meridie uel occidental^; qnia dum
vmbra crescit, est in parte orientali a meridie, dum uero
decrescit, est in parte occidentis.
o
�ON THE ALTITUDE OF THE SUN.
69
you will immediately find the sun’s degree rectified, and
this is what you desired. If, however, you have neither
of these tables, and wish to seek, in another way, the sun’s
degree or thereabouts, know that, according to the calcu
lators, the sun enters a new sign on the 15 th before the
kalends of every month, as appears in the calendar. Con
sider, therefore, how many days of the month in which you
are have passed, and add to them fifteen days, and keep
them. Reckon then the same number of degrees from the
beginning of the sign in which the sun is*?&p4, when the
number is completed, the same is the sun’ • gree which
you seek. But if your number exceeds 30, the sun has
passed through as many degrees of the next sign as it (the
number) exceeds 30, if God will.
3.
ON THE ALTITUDE OF THE SUN.
Now if it is your pleasure to investigate the altitude of
the sun or of the moon, turn the upper style over the de
grees of the cylinder, and the lower style always into the
opposite place. And let this be a general rule, that to
whichever part of the cylinder you turn the upper style
you always turn the lower style to the part opposite to it.
After that .hold up the instrument against the sun, and
to whatever degree the shadow reaches, the same is the
altitude of the sun; or of the moon, if you are deal
ing with the moon, at that hour. But if you wish to
know whether it is before midday, or after, see over how
many degrees the shadow falls, and having waited a little
time, take the sun’s altitude again, and if the shadow has
increased, then it is before midday. In like manner you
will know also of the moon. And by what has been said
you shall know whether she is on the east of the meridian
or on the west; for while the shadow increases, she is on
the eastern side of the meridian, but while it decreases, she
is on the western side.
CH. ESSAYS.
F
�70
RRACTICA CHXLINDRI.
DE LINEA MERIDIEI.
4. Z~\ vod si volueris scire lineam meridiei per hoc instrwmentom, fiat circizlws in swperficie aliqwa preparata, eqizidistanter orizonti, cuiwscunqzie magnitudes
volueris, non sit tamen nimis paruus; deinde sumes altitudinem soli's diligentissime, et serua earn; et suspended
etiam in eaAem bora filum vnum cum aliqwo ponderoso in
directo iam fetch circwli, ita u.t vmbra eins cadat omnino
super centrum circuli, et attingat circumferenciam in parte
opposita soli; notabisque contactum vmbre in circumferencia, et post hoc expectabis donee iterato post meridiem
fiat sol in prius accepta altitudine, notabisque etiam [leafs;
tunc vmbram fili super centrum ut prius transeuntem
notabi's, dico, contactum eius in circumferencia in opposito
soli's. Deinde diuide arcum qizi est inter duas notas
vmbre per equedia, et notam iizprimes, coniungesque earn
cum centro, perficiens diametrum circuli, et hoc diametrum
erit linea meridiei. Quadrabis cpuoque circulum ipsum per
diametra, et ha&ebis lineam orientis et occidentis, ut apparet in isto circulo. Sic etiam inuenies omnes partes
orizontis, si Dews voluerit. Et nota quod hec consideracio
verior et leuior est quam ilia que fit per erecci'onem stilj
ortogonalis in circulo, quia vix uel nuncquam possi? ita
ortogonaliter erigi, sicuZ perpendiculum dummorZo pendeat
inmobiliter. SeeZ hec consideracz'o verissima erit, si sumatur
in solsticialibus diebws, et hoc anZequam sol ascendat multum in ilia die.
Nota quod a. et b. sunt note vmbre
anta meridiem et posi ad eandern altitudinem sold ; et mediuzn inter a. et b.
est meridies.
Occident
�ON THE MERIDIAN LINE.
4.
71
ON THE MERIDIAN LINE.
And if you wish to know the meridian line oy means
of this instrument, let a circle he made, of whatever size
you will, only let it not he too small, on some plane pre
pared (for the purpose) parallel with the horizon. Then
take the sun’s altitude very accurately, and keep it; and
also at the same hour hang, over the circle already made,
a thread with something heavy (on it), so that its shadow
falls exactly upon the centre of the circle and reaches the
circumference on the side opposite to the sun; and mark the
(point of) contact of the shadow with the circumference,
and after this wait until the sun again arrives at the before-,
taken altitude after midday; and mark then also the
shadow of the thread passing as before across the centre,
mark, I say, its point of contact with the circumference
opposite to the sun. Then divide the arc which is between
the two shadow-marks into equal parts, and impress a
mark. Join it with the centre, and complete the diameter
of the circle. This diameter will be the meridian line.
■Quarter the circle itself by diameters,1 and you will have
the line of east and west, as appears in this circle. Thus
also you will find all parts of the horizon, if God will.
Note that this observation is truer and easier than that which
is made by raising a rectangular style in the circle, because it
can with difficulty or never be raised as rectangularly as a
plumb-line, provided it (viz. the plumb-line) hangs motion
less. But the observation will be truest, if it be made on the
solstitial days, and that before the sun rises high on that day.
West
�72
PRACTICA CHILINDRI.
DE VMBRA EXTENSA.
5. nVTvnc dicendus est quia! sit vmbra versa, et quid
11 sit vmbra extensa. Igitur intelligamus superfi
cies quanda??! equidistautem orizonti, et super hanc super-'
ficies intelligamus aliquid ortogonaliter erectus, verbi
gratia, palus rectus; huius pali sic erecti cadens vmbrrf
in dzcZam superficiem (iicitur vmbra extensa. Est igitur
vmbra extensa rei erecte ad superficiem orizontis perpendiculariter vmbra cadens iu eades szzperficie.
DE VMBRA VERSA.
6. TTem intelligamus eande?n superficies quam prius, ei
JL in ipsa aliquid perpendiculariter erectus, et ab illo
sic erecto iutelligasus stilus ortogonalt'Zer prominentes,
sicut sunt stili qui prominent in parietibus eccZesiarus ad
horas sumendas; vmbra huius stili cadens super rem orto
gonaliter erectas, equidistanter s[cilicet] longitudzni eiusdes rei, dicitur vmbra versa; equidistanter, dico, cadens,
quia alite?' esset vmbra irregularis. Et huiusmodi vmbra
cadit in chilindro. Hec auZes vmbra versa sesper crescit
vsque ad meridies, et tunc, i[d est] in meridie, est maxisa.
Econuerso est de vmbra extensa, quia ilia decrescit vsque
ad meridie??t, et tunc fit minima.
DE PUN0T1S VMBRE.
vm volue?is scire omni hora quot puncta ha&ue?'it
vmbra versa, verte stilus super puncta vmb/'e, et
super quot puncta ceciderit vmbra, ipsa sunt puncta vmbre
quesite. Quod si volue?-is [scire] vmbra?n extensa??! ad
eandes altitudinem, diuide 144 pe?' [leafs&j puncta que habueris, et exibunt puncta vmbre extense in eades hora. Et si
volueris scire quot status sunt i?i vmb?‘a, diuZde puncta que
7.
�ON THE UMBRA. EXTENSA AND. THE. UMBRA ' VERSA.
5. ' ON THE UMBRA EXTENSA.
'
73
-
Now we must explain, -what is the umbra versa, and
what the umbra extensa. Therefore let us conceive some
plane parallel to the horizon, and on this plane let us con
ceive something raised at right angles, for instance, a
straight stake; the shadow of this stake so raised, falling
on the said plane, is called umbra extensa. The umbra
extensa is, therefore, the shadow of an object which is
raised perpendicularly to the plane of the horizon, falling
on the same plane.
6.
ON THE UMBRA VERSA.
Also let us conceive the same plane as before, and upon
it something raised perpendicularly; and from the latter
so raised let us conceive a style jutting out at a right
angle, like the styles which jut out from the walls of
churches for taking the hours; the shadow of this style
falling upon the object raised at right angles, parallel, of
course, to the length of the same object,1 is called umbra
versa—falling parallel, I say, because otherwise the shadow
would be irregular. And such a shadow falls on the
cylinder. Now this umbra versa always increases until
midday, and then, that is at midday, it is greatest; the
contrary is the case with the umbra extensa, for that de
creases until midday, and then becomes least.
7.
ON THE POINTS OF THE SHADOW.
'When you wish to know how many points the umbra
versa has at any hour, turn the style over the points of the
shadow; and. as many points as the shadow falls over, the
same are the required points of the shadow. But if you
wish to know the umbra extensa at the same altitude,
divide 144 by the points which you have, and the result
will be the points of the umbra extensa at the same hour.
1 That is, straight down it.'
�74
TRACTICA CHILINDRI.
ha&ueris per 12, et exz'bunt states. Quod si non haZ>u[er]is
12 puzzcta, uide quota pars sint puncta de 12, et tota pars
erunt puncta que haftuez’is ad vnuzn statuzn. Est autezn1
status tota longitudo cuzuslibe^ rei, et quia ozzzzzem rem quo
ad vmbrazn eius sumendam diuz’dimzzs in 12 partes eqwales,
propterea 12 puncta vmbre faciunt vnuzn statuzn; est eniin
quodlihet punctuzn longitudznis oznnis eqwale duodecimo
parti2 rei cuius est vmbra.
DE ALTITUDINE RERIZM PER VMBRAAf.
8. Z~^vm volueris scire altitudinem turris per vmbrazzz
V.7 versazzz que cadit in chilindro, aut altitudinem
alicuz'us rei erecte, cum hoc, inquam, volueris, verte stiluzzz
super puncta uznbre, et vide super quot puncta ceciderit
vmbra. Deinde considera izz qua pz’oporczone se ha Sent
puncta uzzzbre in chilindro ad stiluzzz, izz eadezzz proporczone
se ha&et oznnis res erecta ad suazzz uzzzbrazn, hoc est, si
puncta uznbre in chilindro fuerint sex, stilus duplus est ad
vmbrazn, et tunc in eadezn hora erit oznnis uznbz-a extensa
dupla ad suam rein ; et si uzzzbra in chilindro fuerit dupla
ad stiluzn, hoc est, cum vmbra fuerit 24 punctoruzn, erzt
oznnis res erecta dupla ad suazn uznbrazn ; et sic semper in
qua proporczone se haZzet uznbra ‘chilindri ad stiluzzz, in
eadezn proporczozze se ha Set econtrario omnis res erecta ad
vmbrazzz suazzz extensazn, omnis res erecta, dico, que fecerit
vmbrazn sub eadezzz solzs altiZuzfzne, in,ilia hora;.vel, si,
nescieris proporczonem sumez-e, diuide 144 per puncta que
ha&ueris, sicut dz’cbzm est, et exibit vmbra rei erecte que
dzczYur extensa, vide ergo quot status .sint in ilia uznbra
extensa, auZ quota fuerint puncta de 12, et haSebis quod
voluisti.
1 Read, enim.
The word vmbre is wrongly inserted after parti in the MS.
�FINDING THE HEIGHT OF OBJECTS BY THE SHADOW.
75
And if you wish to know how many status are in the
shadow, divide the points which you have by 12, and the
status will be the result. And if you have not 12 points,
see what part of 12 the points are, and the points which
you have will be that part of one status. For a status is
the whole length of any object; and because we divide
every object into 12 equal parts whereby to take its shadow,
therefore 12 points of the shadow make one status; for
every point is equal to a twelfth part of the whole length
of the object, whose the shadow is.
8.
on
(finding)
the height of objects by the shadow.
When you wish to know the height of a tower by the
umbra versa which falls on the cylinder, or the height of
any upright object—I say, when you wish this, turn the
style over the points of the shadow, and see over how
many points the shadow falls. Then consider : what
ever proportion the points of the shadow on the cylinder
hold to the style, every upright object holds the same
proportion to its shadow; that is, if the points of the
shadow on the cylinder be six, the style is double of the
shadow, and then at the same hour every umbra extensa
will be double of its object; and if the shadow on the
cylinder be double of the style, that is, when the shadow
is of 24 points, every upright object will be double of its
shadow; and so always, whatever proportion the shadow
on the cylinder holds to the style, conversely every upright
object holds the same proportion to its umbra extensa.,
every upright object, I say, which throws a shadow under
the same altitude of the sun at that hour. Or, if you do
not know how to take the proportion, divide 144 by the
points which you have, as was said, and the result will be
the shadow which is called extensa of the upright object;
see, then, how many status are in that umbra extensa, or
what part of 12 the points are, and you will have what
you desired.
�76
PRACTICA CHIL1NDRI.
DE DECLINACIONE SOLIS.
vm volueris scire declinaci'onem sobs omni die
anni, scias umbram uersam Arietis in regione in
qua fueris, i[d est], scias ad quem, gradum chihndri proueniat vmbra stili eius in meridie, cum fuerit sol in primo
gradu Arietis, et hec est mbra Arietis in gradibns chilindri in ilia regione. Qno scito, sume vmbram meridiei per
chilindrum qnocunyne die volueris scire declinacionem
soli's, et vide super quot gradus chilindri ceciderit umbra,
et quantum plus uel minns fuerit umbra ilia qnam vmbra
Arietis, tanta erit declinacio solzs in meridie illins diei.
Sed si umbra tua fuerit maior quarn vmbra Arietis, erit
declinacio solis [leaf 4] septemtrionalz's ; si uero minor fuerit,
erzt declinacio meridiana. Qnod si volueris scire gradum
solis in ilia die per eins declinacionem, intra1 in tabnlam
declinacionis solzs, et quere similem declinaci'onem ei quam
inuenisti per chilindrum, et aliqnis 4 graduum quem in
directo eins inueneris erit gradus sob's uel fere; et scies
qnis erit gradus ex ilb’s 4, vt aspicias vtrum declinaci'o
fuerit meridiana uel septemtrionab's. Qnod si fuerit meridiana, erit vnns de gradibns meridionalibas, et si fuerit
declinacio septemtrionalz's, erit vnns de gradibns septemtrionalibiis; ha&ent autem omnes 4 gradus eqnidistantes ab
eqninoctiali eandem declinaci'onem. Cum ergo sciueris
quod fuerit vnns de gradibns septemtrionis seu meridiei,
scies qnis duornzn fuerit gradus soli's, ut aspicias seqnenti
die declinacionem per chilindrum, et si umbra fuerit maior
qnam die precedent^ fueritqne declinacio meridiana, erit
gradus ille a Capricorno in Ariete?n; et si umbra tails declinaci'onis fuerit minor, erit gradus ille a Libra in Capricornum; si uero umbra creuerit, fueritqne declinacio septemtrionalis, erit gradus ille ab Ariete in Cancruzn; si uero
decreuerit, a Cancro in Libram.
9.
1 MS ‘ iuxZn.’
�ON THE DECLINATION OF THE SUN.
9.
77
ON THE DECLINATION OF THE SUN.
When- you wish, to know the declination of the sun on
any day in the year, know the urn,bra versa of Aries in the
region in which you are, that is, know to what degree of
the cylinder the shadow of its style reaches at midday,
when the sun is in the first degree of Aries, and this is the
shadow of Aries in the degrees of the cylinder in that
region. That being known, take the midday shadow by
the cylinder on whatever day you wish to know the de
clination of the sun, and see over how many degrees of the
cylinder the shadow falls, and the declination of the sun
at noon of that day, will be as great as that shadow is
greater or less than the shadow of Aries. But if your
shadow is greater than the shadow of Aries, the sun’s de
clination will be northern, but if it is less, the declination
will be southern. And if you wish to know the sun’s de
gree on that day by his declination, enter into the table of
the sun’s declination, and seek a similar declination to that
which you have found by the cylinder, and some one of
the 4 degrees, which you find on a line with it will be the
sun’s degree or nearly (so); and you shall know which
will be the degree out of those 4, as you look whether the
declination is southern or northern ; for if it be southern,
it will be one of the southern degrees, and if the declina
tion be northern, it will be one of the northern degrees.
But all the 4 parallel degrees have the same declination
from the equinoctial. When, therefore, you know that it
is one of the northern degrees orcofi the southern, you
shall know which of the two is the degree of the sun, as
you observe the declination on the following day by the
cylinder, and if the shadow be greater than on the preced
ing day and the'declination be southern, the degree will be
that from Capricorn towards Aries ; and if the shadow of
such declination be less, ther degree will be that from
Libra towards Capricorn; but if the shadow has increased
and the declination is northern, the degree will be that
from Aries towards Cancer; but- if it has decreased, from
Cancer towards Libra. . '
�78
-
PRACTICA CHILINDRI.
DE ALTITUDINE SOLIS OMNI HORA ANNI.
10. IjlT si volueris scire altiinch'nem sob's que poterit
-Li esse omni bora anni, vide quantum capiet quelibei hora anni de gradibns chilindri, mensurando per circinum aut per festucam, et ipsa erit altitudo sob's ad quamlibei horam anni in regione tua, s[cilicet], snj?er qnam
figurantnr hore chilindri, si Deus voluerit.
DE LATIT UDLVE REGIONIS.
11. Oil volueris scire latitudinem regionis ignote ad
quam veneris, tunc vertes stilum super gradus
altitudz'nis, et vide ad qnot gradus peruenerit vmbra.
Quod si hoc feceris in die eqninoctiali, niinue gradus qnos
habueris de 90, et residuuzn er it latitudo regionis. Quod
si no?z feceris hoc in eqninoctio, vide per tabnlam decb'nacionis que fuerit declinacio solis in ipsa die. Quam declinacionem, si fuerit australis, adde snper susceptam
altitudinem, et hafrebis altitudinem eqninoctialis in eadem
regione ; et si declinacio fuerit septemtrionalis, niinue earn
de accepta altiinciine, haSebisqne altitudinem eqninoctiab's
in eadem regione. Haftita autem alti/nciine eqninoctialis,
minuas ipsam semper de 90, et residuum er it latitudo regionis, que est distencia cenith ab eqninoctiali.
DE QUANTITATE ORBIS TERRE.
12. Oil autem volueris scire quantitatem Deaf4,bk] cirKJj cuitns terre per chilindrum, verte stilum super
gradus chilindri, et scias optime gradum solis et &eelinacionem eins, et serua earn. Cumqne hoc sciueris, sumas
altitudinem sob's meridianam, et serua eam; post hec
autem procedas directe uersus septemtrionem uel meridiem,
donee altera die, absqne augmenta[ta] uel minorata interim
�ON THE LATITUDE OF A REGION.
10.
ON
(finding)
79
THE ALTITUDE OF THE SUN AT ANY
HOUR OF THE YEAR.
And if you wish to -know the sun’s altitude, which may
be at any hour of the year, see how much of the degrees of
the cylinder any hour of the year will take, measuring with
the compasses or with a rod, and the same will he the
sun’s altitude at any hour of the year in your region, that
is to say, (the region) upon which the hours of the cylinder
are figured, if God will.
11.
on
(finding) the latitude of a region.
If you wish to know the latitude of an unknown region
to which you have come, then turn the style over the de
grees of altitude, and see to how many degrees the shadow
reaches. And if you do this on the equinoctial day, sub
tract the degrees which you have from 90, and the re
mainder will be the latitude of the region. But if you do
this not at the equinox, see by the table of declination
:what is the sun’s declination on the same day; add the
declination, if it be southern, to the altitude you have
taken, and you will have the altitude of the equinoctial in
the same region; and if the declination be northern, sub
tract it from the taken altitude, and you will have the
altitude of the equinoctial in the same region. Moreover,
the altitude of the equinoctial being had, subtract it always
from 90, and the remainder will be the region’s latitude,
which is the distance of the zenith from the equinoctial.
12.
ON THE SIZE OF THE WORLD.
If, moreover, you wish to know the extent of the
earth’s circumference by the cylinder, turn the style over
the degrees of the cylinder, and know most accurately the
degree of the sun and his declination, and keep it. And
when you know this, take the meridian altitude of the sun,
and keep it. Then after this travel directly northward or
southward, until on another day, without increase or de-
�80
PRACTICA CHILINDRI.
declinaczone, ascendent sol in gradibus chilindri plus vno
gradu quam prizzs ascendent, plus dico, si processeris
versus meridiem, uel minus, si processeris uersus septemtrionem, et iam pertransisti spaciuzn in terra quod subiacet
vni gradui celi. Metire ergo illud, et vide quot miliaria
sint in eo. Deinde multiplica, sfcilicet], miliaria illius
spacij quod haSueris per 360, qui sunt gradus circuli, et tot
miliaria scias esse in circuitu mundi. Quod si volueris
scire spissitudinem mundi, diuide circuitum eius per tria
et septimam partem vnius, eritque hoc quod exierit diametrum terre, et medietas eius erit quantitas que est a superdcie ad centrum eius, si Deus voluerit. De inueniendis
autem ascendente et ceteris domibus per vmbram satis
dictum est in lecczonibus tabularum, et idea de illis nichil
ad presens. Et hec de practica chilindri sufficiant. Ex
plicit.
■
Explicit practica chilindri
Mag is tri
Houeden astrologi.
Iohannis
de
�ON THE SIZE OF THE WORLD.
81
crease of declination in the mean time, the sun has risen
one degree more in the degrees of the cylinder than he
rose before; more, I say, if you have travelled south
ward, or less, if you have travelled northward; and now
you have traversed on the earth the space which lies
under one degree of the heaven. Measure it therefore, and
see how many miles are in it. Then multiply, of course,
the miles in that space which you have by 360, which are
the degrees of a circle, and know that there are so many
mi les in the circumference of the world. But if you wish
to know the thickness of the world, divide its circumfer
ence by three and the seventh part of one, and the result
will be the diameter of the earth, and half of it will be the
distance from its surface to the centre, if God will. But
on finding the ascendant and the other houses by the
shadow enough has been said in the readings of the tables,
and therefore nothing of them at present. And let this
suffice upon the working of the cylinder. End.
Here ends Master John Hoveden, the astrologer’s,
Working
of the
Cylinder.
�‘4*
I
'I
�83
IV.
THE USE OF FINAL -e
IN EAELY ENGLISH,
AND ESPECIALLY IN
CHAUCER’S CANTERBURY TALES.
BY
JOSEPH PAYNE, ESQ.
�84
SYNOPSIS OF THE ARGUMENTS.
The two main arguments are :—
I. That in the ordinary English speech of the 13th and 14th
centuries there was no recognition of the formative, and little of th6
inflexional, -e, which, chiefly for orthoepical reasons, was appended
to many words employed in written composition.
II. That the phonetic recognition of final -e was confined to
verse composition, and only occasionally adopted by license, under
rhythmical exigency, and consequently not adopted at the end of
the verse where it was unnecessary.
These arguments are maintained, (1.) by considerations inherent
in the nature of the case, (2.) by reference to the practice of AngloNorman and Early English writers, and are supported by illus
trations derived (a.) from the laws which governed the formation
of words in early French, (5.) from the manner in which Norman
words are introduced into ancient Cornish poems, and (c.) from the
usage of old Low German dialects (especially that of Mecklenburg),
in respect to words identical (except as regards final -e) with Early
English words.
�85
THE USE OF FINAL -e IN EARLY ENGLISH, WITH
ESPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE FINAL -e AT
THE END OF THE VERSE IN CHAUCER’S
CANTERBURY TALES.
1. STATEMENT OE THE QUESTION AT ISSUE.
H'
The question whether the final -e, which is so obvious
a feature of numerous English words in the 13th and 14th
centuries, was or was not frequently recognized as a factor
of the rhythm in verse, is not the question which it is
here proposed to discuss. It needs, in fact, no discussion,
since there can be no doubt whatever on the point. The
real question is what it meant, that is, whether it was an
organic and essential element of the words in which it
occurred, to be accounted for by reference to original
formation, inflexion, &c., or whether it was, for the most
part, an inorganic orthoepic adjunct of the spelling, and
only exceptionally performed any organic function.
If the former hypothesis is true, the -e was recognized
in the rhythm because it was recognized in ordinary
parlance as a necessary part of the pronunciation of the
word, and the instances in which it was silent were excep
tional and irregular. If the latter is true, the instances
in which it was silent represent the regular pronunciation
of the words, and those in which it is sounded an excep
tional pronunciation, allowed by the fashion of the times
in verse composition. It is a consequence, moreover, of
the former theory that the -e, being by assumption a neces
sary organic part of the word, ought to be sounded even
where, as in the case of the final syllable of the verse, it is
CH. ESSAYS.
G
�86
THE USE OF FINAL
-e
not required by the rhythm. By the latter theory the -e
of the final rhyme, being generally an inorganic element
of the orthography, not recognized in the ordinary pro
nunciation and not required by the rhythm, was (with
rare exceptions, such as Rome—--to me, sothe—to the, &c., in
the Canterbury Tales and elsewhere) silent.
These theories are obviously inconsistent with each
other, the exceptions of the one being the rule of the
other, and vice versa. The former is that adopted by
Tyrwhitt, Guest, Gesenius, Child, Craik, Ellis, Morris,
and Skeat; the latter is that maintained by the present
writer, supported to some extent by the authority of the
late Mr Richard Price.
In anticipation of the full discussion of the various
points involved, it may be here briefly remarked, that the
former theory requires us to assume that such words as
schame, veyne, sake, space, rose, joie, vie, sonne, witte,
presse, were in ordinary parlance pronounced as scha-me,
vey-ne, ro-se, joi-e, son-ne, wit-te, presse; moreover, that
corage, nature, were pronounced as cora-ge, natu-re, and
curteisie, hethenesse, as cwrfezsz-e, hethenesse, and that
the recognition of the -e in verse as a factor of the rhythm
was required to represent the true pronunciation. The
second theory, on the other hand, assumes that schame,
veyne, seke, joie, witte, nature, curteisie, &c., conventionally
represent scham, veyn, selc, joi, wit, natur, curteisi, as the
ordinary pronunciation of the words, and that the recogni
tion of the -e as significant, was a rhythmical license.
By way of further illustration of the difference between
the two theories, it may be noted that in such verses as
these:
Enbrouded was he, as it were a mede—C. T. v. 89.
Ful wel sche sang the servise devyne—ib. v. 122;
the first theory requires mede and devyne to be pro
nounced me-de, devy-ne; the second, regarding mede
(== A.S. med) and devyne (= Fr. devyn) as conventional
�IN EARLY ENGLISH.
87
spellings, requires them to be pronounced med and devyn.
Servise (Fr. servis, service), here servi-se, is regular by the
first theory, exceptional by the second.1
The main principle of the theory here adopted is
that very early (probably in the 12 th century) phonetic
began to supersede dynamic considerations, and, as a con
sequence, to change. the significance of the originally
organic -e ; and that this change was especially due to the
introduction of the Norman speech and the usages of the
Norman scribes into England. The Norman dialect was
the simplest and purest of all the dialects of the French
language, and largely exhibited the influence of phonetic
laws. This influence it began to propagate on its contact
with English. The first effect was to simplify the for
mative English terminations of nouns. Hence in the
beginning of the 12th century -a, -o, -u (as in tima, hcelo,
sceamu) became -e (as in time, sceame, or schame, hele).
It next acted on the grammatical inflexions, as, for in
stance, in nouns, either by suppressing the -e of the
oblique or dative case altogether (cf. Orrmin’s “ be word,”
“bi brsed,” “o boc,” “off stan,” &c.); or by converting it
from an organic to an inorganic termination, reducing it,
in short, to the same category as name, shame, hele. It
next affected the orthography generally by introducing an
expedient of the Norman scribes (before unknown in
England), which consisted in the addition of an inorganic
-e to denote the length of the radical vowel, an expedient
which, when adopted in English, converted, after a time,
A.S. tar, ben, bed, into tare, bene, bede, without disturbing
the individuality of the words, and re-acted on name,
1 In support of the assumption that sonant -e is exceptional,
not regular, it may be noted that in the first 100 lines of the Pro
logue (Ellesmere text) out of 160 instances of final -e only 22 occur
in which it is sounded before a consonant; of the remaining 138
25 are silent before a consonant, 49 before a vowel or It, and 64 in
the final rhyme where its sound is superfluous—that is to say, in
138 instances the words in -e have, it is assumed, their natural
pronunciation against 22 in which, by license, the -e is reckoned as
an additional syllable.
�88
THE USE OF FINAL -C
schame, hele, &c., by treating them (whatever they may
have been before) as monosyllables. It finally acted on
the versification by introducing the license, well known
in early and, by descent, in modern French, of recog
nizing, under rhythmical exigency, the inorganic -e (silent
in ordinary discourse) as a factor of the verse. It hence
appears that certain principles introduced by the Normans,
and exhibited in their own tongue, affected first the spoken
and then the written English, gradually superseding the
organic function of the -e, by treating it as inorganic, as
an orthoepic sign to guide the pronunciation of the reader;
and that this great change was fundamentally due to the
law of phonetic economy, which, by its tendency to
simplification, gradually overpowered the original dynamic
laws of the language, and ended in converting the forma
tive and inflexional -e into a conventional element of the
spelling.
2.
OBJECTIONS WITH RESPECT TO THE VERSIFICATION CON
SIDERED.
I _
Two d priori objections may be taken, and indeed
have been taken, against this conclusion as applied to
Chaucer’s versification. The first is indicated in these
words of Mr Ellis,1 “that Chaucer and Gdthe'used the
final -e in precisely the same way,” and in these of Pro
fessor Child,2 “that the unaccented, final -e of nouns of
French origin is sounded in Chaucer as it is in French
verse,” by which assertions it is affirmed that the laws of
modern German and French versification are identical with
those of Chaucer.
The full answer to this objection will be found in the
subsequent investigation, but for the present it may be
urged, without pressing the argument already presumptively
1 “ Early English Pronunciation,” p. 339.
2 “ Observations on the Language of Chaucer,” by Professor
Child of Harvard University, a paper contributed to the “ Memoirs
of the American Academy,” vol. viii. p. 461.
�IN EARLY ENGLISH.
89
stated, that the use of -e in German and French versifica
tion is (with very rare exceptions) regular and constant,
while that in Chaucer is continually interfered with hy
instances of silent -<?, which, indeed, outnumber those in
which it is sounded (see note, p.' 87), even -without taking
into consideration the -e of the final rhyme. Then with
regard to the final rhyme, the objection as applied to
French versification proves too much, inasmuch as the -e
at the end of a French verse is not, and probably never
was, a factor of the rhythm. This argument, then, as far
as it is worth anything, is for, not against, the theory here
maintained.
The following instances, which are typical, show that
the laws of French versification are continually violated by
Chaucer:
And he hadde ben somtyme in chivachie.— v. 85.
In hope to stonden in his lady grace.—v. 88.
He sleep nomore than doth a nightyngale.—w. 97, 98.
Ful semely aftui' hire mete sche raught.—v. 13-6.
By cause that it was old and somdel streyt.—v. 174.
Kfrere ther was, a wantoun and a merye.—v. 208.
In alle the ordres foure is noon that can.—v. 210, &c.
If these verses are read by the French rule they become
unmetrical; it is only by ignoring it that they can be read
with metrical precision. The conclusion, then, is that the
only exact identity between French and early English
versification consists in the silence of the -e at the end of
the verse.
Nor would it be difficult to show from the above and
from thousands of other instances, that the strict applica
tion of the laws of German versification would render
Chaucer unreadable.
The second'd priori argument, first put forward by
Tyrwhitt, against the theory here adopted, that the -e at
the end of a verse was silent, is to the effect that Chaucer
intended the verse of the Canterbury Tales to be an imita
tion of the Italian endecasyllabic, that of Boccaccio, &c.,
and, therefore, that he required the -e at the close of the
�90
THE USE OF FINAL -0
line to be pronounced to make the eleventh syllable.
Against this assumption, however, it may be urged that he
simply adopted the decasyllabic French verse, of which
there were numerous examples before his time. The metre
of the Chanson de Roland, Huon de Bordeaux, Guillaume
d’Orange, &c., as well as of many of the “Ballades” of his
contemporary Eustache Deschamps, appears to be pre
cisely that of the Canterbury Tales. The following are
typical examples :—
Co sent Rollenz que la mort le tresprent,
Devers la teste sur le quer li descent.— Chan, de Roland.
Ma douce mere jamais ne me verra.—Huon de Bordeaux.
Cis las dolans, vrais dex, que devenra.—ib.
Forment me poise quant si estes navres
Se tu recroiz, a ma fin sui alez.— Guillaume d? Orange.
En bon Anglais le livre translatas.—Eustache Deschamps.
Grant translateur, noble Geoffroy Chaucier.—ib.
Ta noble plant, ta douce melodie.—ib.
We see, then, that there was no occasion for Chaucer to
go to the Italians for a model. It may, moreover, be
plausibly urged that in none of Chaucer’s earlier works is
there any trace of Italian influence, whether as regards
subject, general treatment, or versification.3
3. THE SECTIONAL PAUSE.
Before entering on the illustration by reference to the
actual usage of early French and English poets of the
theory which has been already stated, some notice may be
taken of a characteristic feature of early French and
English verse which has an important bearing on the
point at issue.1 It is that of the sectional pause, a stop
made in the reading of the verse, for the sake of the sound,
and having no immediate connection with the sense.
This pause in decasyllabic verse (to which, however, it is by
no means confined) occurred at the end of the fourth or
1 It is remarkable that scarcely any of the writers on early
English versification (except Dr Guest) have noticed the sectional
pause, or explained the true use of the prosodial bars or full-points
found in the MSS.
�IN EARLY ENGLISH.
91
sixth measure, and divided the verse into two parts, which
were prosodially independent of each other; that is, it
made each part a separate verse. Dr Guest (History of
English Rhythms, i. 181) thus states the rule generally:
“ When a verse is divided into two parts or sections by
what is called the middle pause, the syllable which follows
such pause is in the same situation as if it began the
verse.” The bearing of this point, however, on the ques
tion at issue is more fully seen in the usage of early
French verse, in which the effect of the pause was to
silence the -e which closed the section. This usage is
altogether unknown in modern French verse; a fact which
of itself forms an argument against the presumed identity
of the laws of early English and modern French versifica
tion. The rule is thus stated by Quicherat (“Versification
frangaise,” p. 325) :• “ Une preuve de Timportance que nos
anciens poetes donnaient au repos de la cesure ” (he means
the sectional pause) “ c’est qu'ils la traitaient comme la
rime, et lui permettaient de prendre une syllabe muette, qui
n'etait pas comptee dans la mesure.”
This principle, in its application to early Anglo-Nor
man and English, may be thus formulated :—
The -e that occurred at the sectional pause (and, pre
sumptively, that at the final pause closing the
verse) was silent, and not a factor of the rhythm.
Instances in which the -e at the pause was silent
abound in early French and Anglo-Norman poems, and
this usage was borrowed or imitated by English poets, as
may be seen in the instances which follow.
Fors Sarraguce || ki est en une muntaigne.— Chanson de
Roland, v. 6.
De vasselage || fut asez chevaler.—ib. v. 25.
Mais ami jeune || quiert amour et amie.—Eustache Des
champs, i. 122.
Car vieillesse || sans cause me decoipt.—ib. ii.' 20.
Desous la loi de Rome || na nule region.—Rutebeuf, i. 236.
Si li cors voloit fere || ce que lame desire.—ib. i. 399.
Toz cis siecles est foire || mais lautre ert paiement.—ib. i. 400.
/
�92
THE USE OF FINAL -6
De medle se purpense || par ire par rancour.—Langtoft (ecl.
Wright), i. 4.
Lavine sa bele file || li done par amour.—i&.
Norice le tient en garde || ke Brutus le appellait.— ib.
I rede we chese a hede || fat us to werre kan dight.—De
Drvnne (ed. Hearne, i. 2).
pat ilk a kyng of reame || suld mak him alle redie.—ib. i. 4.
Sorow and site he made || per was non oper rede.—ib. 5.
That ben commune || to me and the.—Eandlyng Synne (ed.
Furnivall, p. 1).
In any spyce || pat we falle ynne.—ib. p. 2.
For none \>arefore || shulde me blame.—ib.
On Englyssh tunge || to make pys boke.—ib.
In al godenesse || pat may to prow.—ib. p. 3.
pe yeres of grace || fyl pan to be.—ib.
Faire floures for to fecclie || pat he bi-fore him seye.— William
of Palerne (ed. Skeat), v. 26.
and comsed pan to crye || so ken[e]ly and schille.—ib. v. 37.
panne of saw he ful sone || pat semliche child.—ib. n. 49.
pat alle men vpon molde || no mqt telle his sorwe.—ib. v. 85.
but carfuli gan sche crie || so kenely and lowde.—ib. v. 152.
It will be seen that in all these instances the power of
the pause overrides the grammatical considerations. Alle,
commune (plurals), reame, spyce, tunge, grace, molde
(datives), crie (infin.), to fecche, to crye (gerundial infini
tives), have the -e silent.
The following examples show that Chaucer adopted
the same rule :—
Schort was his goune || with sleeves long and wyde.—Earl.
n. 93.
He sleep no more || than doth a nightingale.—ib. v. 97.
Hire gretest otliex || nas but by seint Eloi.—Tyrmhitt, v. 120.
Hire grettest ooth || nas | but by | seint Loi.—-Earl. v. 120.
That no drope || til | uppon | hire brest.—ib. v. 131.
That no drope || ne fille upon hir brist.—Ellesmere, v. 131.
I durste swere || they weyghede ten pound.—Earl. v. 454.
And of the feste || that was at hire weddynge.—ib. v. 885.
And maken alle || this lamentacioun.—ib. v. 935.
For Goddes love || tak al in pacience.—iA v. 1086.
Into my herte || that wol my bane be.—ib. v. 1097.
No creature || that of hem maked is.—ib. v. 1247.
And make a werre || so scharpe in this cite.—ib. v. 1287.
Thou mayst hire wynne || to lady and to wyf.—ib. v. 1289.
Ther as a beste || may al his lust fulfille.—ib. v. 1318.
1 Othe and ooth are the same word, the inorganic -e being
merely an index to the sound. This exclamation occurs in
“ Nenil, Sire, par Seint Eloi ” (Theatre Frangais du Moyen Age, p.
120). Loi itself appears to be simply a contraction of Eloi,
�IN EARLY ENGLISH.
93
In. the following instances the independence of the
second section of the verse is shown :—
Whan that Aprille || with ] hise shore | wes swoote.—•
Harl. v. 1.
- And whiche they were || and | of what | degree.—Elies, v. 40.
In al the parisshe || wyf | ne was | ther noon.—Harl. v. 451.
Sche schulde slope || in | his arm | al night.—ib. v. 3406.
That wyde where' || sent | her spy | eerie.—ib. v. 4556.
Than schal your soule || up | to he|ven skippe.—ib. v. 9546.
For Goddes sake || think | how I | the chees.—ib. v. 10039.
And with a face || deed | as ai|sshen colde.—ib. v. 13623.
In view of the numerous instances given above of the
silence of the -e at the sectional pause, it would seem a
fortiori improbable that it would be sounded at the greater
pause, that formed by the end of the verse. This argu
ment, though as yet only presumptive, is held to be
strongly in favour of the theory adopted by the present
writer, who would therefore read,
In God|des love || tak al | in pa|cience
as ten syllables and no more.
Even if the illustrations adduced are not admitted as
decisive of the silence of -e at the end of the verse, they
undoubtedly account for its silence at the sectional pause
as a characteristic of Anglo-Norman and Early English
versification, and confirm the general argument, that in
Chaucer’s time the law of phonetic economy prevailed over
what have been assumed to be the demands of word
formation and grammar.
4. THE USE OF FINAL
-e
AS A FORMATIVE CONVENTIONAL
ELEMENT OF THE SPELLING.
The position to be here maintained has been already
stated (see p. 87), and amounts to this, that, as a con
sequence of Norman influence, the -e, which, whether
1 If the -e of where is sounded, it is probably the single instance
in which it is so used, either in Chaucer or any other Early English
writer. Here and there, too, are always monosyllables, and there
fore Mr Child’s marking of them as dissyllables when final, as in
1821, 3502, 5222, &c., is entirely gratuitous. They will be con
sidered hereafter.
�94
THE USE OF FINAL -e
formative or inflexional, was once organic and significant,
became, as in time = turn, dede = ded, &c., simply a
mark or index of the radical long vowel sound, or as in
witte = wit, presse = press, a mere conventional append
age of the doubled consonant which denoted the radical
short vowel sound.
It- is further assumed that this phonetic influence,
which probably acted first on the formative -e, as in the
instances just given, gradually involved with varying
degrees of velocity also the inflexional -e, and therefore
that the so-called oblique cases as roote, brethe, ramme, &c.,
and the infinitives as take, arise, telle, putte, merely repre
sent in their spelling the sounds rot, breth, ram, tali, arts,
tel, put, the formative and the inflexional -e being reduced
to the same category.
The doctrine here laid down in its largest generality
involves, it is easily seen, the whole question of the cor
respondence between the sound of words uttered in ordin
ary speech and their orthographic representation, as far as
the final -e is concerned, and is to be considered independ
ently of the exceptional use of -e as, by the usage of the
times, an occasional factor of the verse. If, however, it
can be proved it disposes entirely of the assumption that
the -e was sounded at the end of the verse, and this is the
main object in view.
5. CANONS OF
ORTHOGRAPHY
AND ORTHOEPY APPLICABLE
TO EARLY ENGLISH.
The main points, then, to be proved—by reference to
the nature of the case and to actual usage—are, that in the
time of Chaucer and long before, final -e had become either
(1) an orthoepic or orthographic mark to indicate the sound
of the long radical vowel or diphthong, or (2) a superfluous
letter added for the eye, not for the ear, after a doubled
consonant.
�IN EARLY ENGLISH.
95
These conventionalities may he reduced for convenience
of reference to the following
Canons of orthography and orthoepy.
Canon I. (1) When final -e followed a consonant or
consonants which were preceded by a long vowel or
diphthong, it was not sounded.
Thus mede = med, rose = rds, veyne = veyn.
(2) When final -e followed a vowel or diphthong, tonic
or atonic, it was not sounded.
Thus curteisie = curteisi, glorie = glori, weye = wey,
merie = meri.
Canon II. When final -e followed a doubled consonant
or two different consonants, preceded by a short
vowel, it was not sounded.
Thus witte = wit, blisse = blis, sette = set, ende =
end, reste = rest.
Once more admitting that the -e in each of these cases
could be made, and was made, at the will of the poet,
exceptionally significant, we proceed to consider these pro
positions seriatim, merely observing, by the way, that these
rules—framed and adopted five or six hundred years ago—
are in substance the same as those now in common use.
(1.) Final -e suffixed to a consonant or consonants which
were preceded by a long vowel or diphthong, as in mede,
penaunce, veyne.
On this point we are bound to listen to the doctrine of
Mr Richard Price, contained in the preface to his edition of
Warton’s History of English Poetry.
Referring first to the fact that in A.S. the long vowel of
a monosyllabic word was commonly marked by an accent,
which in the Early English stage of the language was
entirely disused, he inquires what was done to supply its
place, and maintains that in such cases an -e was generally
suffixed to indicate the long quantity of the preceding
�9G
THE USE OF FINAL
-e
radical vowel. “The Norman scribes,” he says, “or at
least the disciples of the Norman school, had recourse to
the analogy which governed the French language;”1 and,
he adds, “ elongated the word or attached, as it were, an
accent instead of superscribing it.” “ From hence,” he
proceeds to say, “ has emanated an extensive list of terms
having final e’s and duplicate consonants, [as in witte,
synne, &c.,J which were no more the representatives of
additional syllables than the acute or grave accent in the
Greek language, is a mark of metrical quantity.” He adds
in a note, “ The converse of this can. only be maintained
under an assumption that the Anglo-Saxon words of one
syllable multiplied their numbers after the Conquest, and
in some succeeding century subsided into their primitive
simplicity.” Illustrating his main position in another
place,2 he observes, “ The Anglo-Saxon a was pronounced
like the Danish aa; the Swedish ci, or our modern o in
more, fore, &c. The strong intonation given to the words
in which it occurred would strike a Norman ear as indicat
ing the same orthography that marked the long syllables of
his native tongue, and he would accordingly write them
with an e final. It is from this cause that we find liar,
sar, lidt, bat, wd, an, ban, stan, &c., written hore (hoar),
sore, hote (hot), bote (boat), woe, one, bone, stone, some of
1 Mr Price makes no attempt to prove this position, but a few
remarks upon it may not be out of place here. The general
principle in converting Latin words into French was to shorten
them, and the general rule, to effect this by throwing off the termin
ation of the accusative case. Thus calic-em would become calic,
which appears in Old French both as callz and callee, evidently
equivalent sounds. So we find vertiz, devis, servis, surplis, graas,
and in phonetic spelling ros, clios. Conversely, as showing the
real sound of such words, we find in Chaucer and other English
poets, trespaas, solaas, caas, faas, gras (also grasse~), las, which
interpret solace, case, face, grace, lace, as words in which -e was
mute, and this because it was mute in French. French words
ending in -nee, as sentence, paclence, experience, were presumpt
ively sounded without -e, since we find Chaucer and other English
writers expressing them as sentens, paciens, experiens. See Ap
pendix I “ On the final -e of French nouns derived from Latin.”
2 End of note to the Saxon Ode on the Victory of Athelstan.
�IN EARLY ENGLISH.
97
which have heen retained. The same principle of elonga
tion was extended to all the Anglo-Saxon vowels that were
accentuated; such as rec, reke (reek), lif, life, god, gode
(good), scur, shure (shower); and hence the majority of
those e’s mute, upon which Mr Tyrwhitt has expended so
much unfounded speculation.” 1
Mr Price means to assert—what is maintained by
the present writer—that an original monosyllable, as
lif, for instance, was never intended by those who sub
sequently wrote it life to be considered or treated, when
used independently, as a word of two syllables, though
when introduced into verse it might be employed as such,
under the stress of the rhythm. There seems an a priori
absurdity in the conception of such an interference with
the individuality of a word, as is involved in denying the
essential identity of lif and life. The fact, too, that in
Early English, as distinguished from Anglo-Saxon so
called, nearly, if not quite all, the words in question
appear as monosyllables, seems strikingly to confirm the
hypothesis. Thus in the Orrmulum we find boc, blod,
brad, braed, cwen, daed, daef, daefy, god, so], wa, an, stan,
nearly all of which are the identical A.S. forms, and were
most of them in later texts lengthened out by an inorganic
-e. As the pronunciation of these words was no doubt
well established, there seemed no need for the scribe to
indicate in any way what was everywhere known, but soon
the confusion that began to arise, in writing, between long
and short syllables, suggested the more general use of the
orthoepical expedient in question, and accordingly we find
in early English texts both forms employed. Thus along
with lif, str if, drem, bot, &c., we see bede (A.S. bed),
bene, bone (A.S. ben), bode (A.S. b6d), &c.
The “ Early English Poems” (written before 1300,
1 Mr Price promised to resume the subject “ in a supplementaryvolume, in an examination of that ingenious critic’s ‘ Essay upon
the Language and Versification of Chaucer.’ ” This promise was,
however, never fulfilled.
�98
THE USE OF FINAL -e
in a “pure Southern” dialect1) supply us with numerous
examples. The following are from “ A Sarmun ” :
pe dere (A.S. deor) is nauqte (A.S. naht, nawht) pat pou
mighte sle
v. 24
If pou ertpr.wtfe (A.S. prut) man, of pi fleisse
v. 25
pe wiked wede (A.S. wed) pat was abute
v. 49
Hit is mi rede (A.S. rad, red) while pou him hast
v. 61
pen spene pe gode (A.S. god) pat god ham send
v. 68
His hondes, \sfete (A.S. fet) sul ren of blode
v. 117
Of sinful man pat sadde pi blode (A.S. blod)
v. 124
flopefire (A.S. fyr) and wind lude sul crie
v. 125
And forto hir pe bitter dome (A.S. dom)
V. 134
Angles sul quake, so seip pe bohe (A.S. hoc)
v. 135
To crie ihsu pin ore (A.S. ar)
v. 142
While pou ert here (A.S. her) be wel iware (A.S. gewar) v. 143
Undo pin hert and live is lore (A.S. lar)
v. 144
Hit is to late (A.S. last) whan pou ert pare (A.S. pa*r, par,
per)
v. 146
For be pe soule (A.S. sawl) enis oute (A.S. ut)
v. 171
he nel nojt leue his eir al bare (A.S. bser)
v. 174
and helpip pai pat habip nede (A.S. nead, neod, ned) v. 186
pe ioi of heven hab to mede (A.S. med)
v. 188
heven is heij hope lange (A.S. lang) and wide (A.S. wid) v. 213
In this long list of passages It will be seen that not one
instance occurs in which the formative -e is phonetic, so
that bede, bone, blode, boke, ore, here, lore, nede, bare, ware,
wide, late, &c., are all treated as words of one syllable
in which the -e is merely an orthoepical index to the
sound.
These instances, alone, go far to show what the ordinary
pronunciation of the words in question was, and to make
it appear very improbable that, except by poetical license,
the -e which closes them was ever pronounced.
It appears, then, clear that the A.S. words above quoted
are absolutely equivalent to the corresponding Early English
words ending in -e. But the principle admits of some ex
tension. We find that not only A.S. words ending in a
consonant assumed -e in Early English, but that the A.S.
terminations -a, -o, -u, were also represented by -e. This we
see in time from tima, and hele from hselo, or hselu. When
1 “ Some notes on the leading grammatical characteristics of the
principal Early English dialects.” By Wm. T. P. Sturzen-Becker,
Ph.D. Copenhagen, 1868.
�IN EARLY ENGLISH.
99
these forms were generally adopted, the next step would
he to consider them as in the same category as blode, dome,
&c., and to apply the same rule of pronunciation to them.
Hence, except by way of license, we find in the 13th and
14th centuries no practical difference in the use of the two
classes of words—crede from creda, stede from steda, care
from cearu, shame from sceamu, being treated precisely as
blode from blod, dome from dom, &c.; and the same remark
applies to such adjectives as blithe, dene, grene, &c., which
in their simple indefinite use, at least, were probably mono
syllables.
The position now gained is, that the -e in such English
words as dome, mede, fode, mone, name, &c., was orthoepic,
not organic. It is highly probable—as Mr Price appears
to have believed—that Latin words became French by a
si-mil ar process, and that the orthoepic expedient in question
is of French origin.1 The Norman words place, grace,
face, space, as interpreted in English by plas, graas, faas,
spas, are found in “ Early English Poems,” and later, in
Chaucer, and we also find conversely trespace, case, for
the French trespas, cas. Both in Early French and English
we moreover find as equivalent forms, devis, devise, and
device; servis, servise, service; pris, prise, price; surplis,
surplice; assis, assise.2
It will now be shown by examples, both Anglo-Norman
and English, that in words containing a long vowel
followed by a consonant and final -e, the -e was simply an
index to the quantity of the vowel, and therefore not
generally pronounced in verse composition—though under
stress of the rhythm it might be.
The usage in Anglo-Norman verse will first be shown
generally:
1 See Appendix I.
2 The phonetic identity of -s, -sse, -ce, in Anglo-Norman and
English is shown by numerous illustrations in a paper by the pre
sent writer, on Norman and English pronunciation, in the Philo
logical Transactions for 1868-9, pp. 371, 418-19, 440.
�100
TIIE USE OF FINAL -e
Quy a la dame de parays.—Lyrical Poetry of reign of Edward
I. (ed. Wright), p. 1.
Quar ele porta le noble enfant.—ib.
De tiele chose tenir grant pris.— ib. p. 3.
Vous estes pleyne de grant docour,—ib. p. 65.
The word dame is derived from domin-am — domin —
domn — dom — dam — dame, just as anim-am becomes
anim, anm, dm, ame. In both instances the -e is inorganic.
Dame frequently occurs in Chaucer, and generally, as
we might expect, with -e silent.1 Examples are :—
Of themperoures doughter dame Custaunce.—Harl. v. 4571.
Madame, quod he, ye may be glad & blithe.—ib. v. 5152. (See
also v. 4604, 7786, &c.)
We may presume, then, that at the end of a line, the -e
in this word would be silent, and that the -e of any word
rhyming with it would therefore be silent, as of blame in
And elles certeyn hadde thei ben to blame :
It is right fair for to be clept madarne.—Harl. v. 378-0.
We may infer, then, that English words of the same
termination—as scliame, name, &c., would follow the same
rule—and accordingly we find—
J?e more scliame Jsat he him dede.—Ear. Eng. Poems, p. 39.
We stunt noj?er for schame ne drede.—ib. p. 123.
In gode burwes and \mx-fram
Ne funden he non f>at dede hem sham.—Haveloh (ed. Skeat),
v. 55-6.
Ful wel ye witte his nam,
Ser Pers de Birmingham.—Harl. v. 913 (date 1308) ;
and in Wiclif’s “ Apology for the Lollards ” (Camden
Society), “ in pe nam of Crist ” (p. 6); “ in nam of the
Kirke” (p. 13), &c., as also “in the name" on the same
page. We may therefore conclude that shame = sham, and
name = ndm.
Following out the principle we should conclude that
1 Professor Child, in a communication to Mi- Furnivall, in
tended for publication, decides that “ dame is an exception ” from
the general rule, but quotes Chaucer’s usage of fame throughout the
“House of Fame ” as a dissyllable. There is, of course, no disputing
the fact, but we see nothing in it beyond a convenient license.
Does Mr Child pretend that fame was formed on some special
principle, and for this reason employed by Chaucer as a dissyllable?
�IN EARLY ENGLISH.
101
what is true of -ame would also he true of -erne, in dreme,
-ime in rime, -ome in dome, -ume in coustume; and by
extending the analogy we should comprehend -ene in queue,
-ine in pine, as well as -ede in bede, -ete in swete, -ote in
note, -ute in prute, -ere in chere, &c., and expect that the -e
in all these cases would be mute. This, with exceptions
under stress, is found to be the case—the Northern MSS.
(as seen above) very frequently even rejecting it in the
spelling.
For the purpose of this inquiry it is obvious that such
terminations as -ume, -ine, -ete, -ere, -age, -ance, &c., are virtu
ally equivalent to monosyllabic words of the same elements.
As, however, it would be quite impossible without extend
ing the investigation to an enormous length, to illustrate
them all, the terminations -are, -ere, -ire, -ure, -age, -ance,
will be taken as types of the class.
-ere. We commence -with -ere because Professor Child
asserts that “ there can be no doubt -e final was generally
pronounced after r,” a conclusion inconsistent with the law
of formation already considered, and, as it would appear,
with general usage in early Anglo-Norman and English.
He farther maintains that “ the final -e of deere (A.S. deor,
deore) and of cheere (Fr. chere) was most distinctly pro
nounced ” [in Chaucer].
The first of these propositions evidently includes the
second, and means that words in -are, as bare, in -ere, as
here, in -ire, as fire, in -ore, as lore, generally have sonant -e.
Now it has been shown (p. 98) that bare, here, fire, lore,
were monosyllables in the 13th century. It is, therefore,
extremely improbable that these words would in the 14th
century put on another syllable. And if not these words,
why others of the same termination, as deere and cheere ?
However frequently, then, such words may appear in
Chaucer, with sonant -e, the cases are exceptional, and
being themselves exceptions from a general rule, cannot
form a separate rjile to override the general one.
CH. ESSAYS.
n
�102
THE USE OE FINAL
-e
Although, then, it were proved that Chaucer more
generally than not uses deere as a dissyllable, that fact
being exceptional cannot prove that here,1 prayere, frere,
manere,1 matere, have the -e sonant because they rhyme with
deere. The argument, in fact, runs the other way, inas
much as here, which is without exception a monosyllable
—manere and matere, which are almost without exception
dissyllables, being themselves representatives of the general
law of analogy—have a right, which no exceptional case
can have, to lay down the law. When therefore we find
heere and deere rhyming together, it is here, not deere,
that decides the question, and proves deere in that in
stance to be a monosyllable. We are indeed, in deter
mining such cases, always thrown back on the formative
law, which, being general, overrides the exceptions. All
the instances, then, in which deere rhymes with here,
manere and matere, are instances of monosyllabic deere.
As to chere, on which Mr Child also relies, he seems to
have forgotten that this word is very frequently written
cheer (there are eight such instances in the Clerk’s Tale
alone), and wherever so written confirms, and indeed proves,
the contention that it was-only exceptionally a dissyllable.
Every instance, then, in which deere and cheere rhyme with
here, there, where, matere, manere, frere, cleere, all repre
sentatives of the formative rule, is an argument against Mr
Child’s partial induction.
A few instances will now be given, showing the use of
-are, -ere, -ire, -ore, -ure, in Anglo-Norman and English
writers:
-are, -ere, -ire, -ore:—
’ No instance has yet been met with in Chaucer of here, there,
or manere with sonant -e. Two from Gower of manere, as a tri
syllable, have been found by Professor Child. Gower however,
who affected Frenchisms everywhere, being, if possible, more
French than the native authorities, and in his French ballads writes
in the “ French of Paris,” not Anglo-Norman—is no authority on
the question.
�IN EARLY ENGLISH.
103
Si fut un sirex de Rome la citet.—Alexis, v. 13.
. Quant vint al fare, dune le funt gentement.—ib. v. 47.
En cele manere1 Dermot le reis.— Conquest of Ireland (ed.
2
Michel), p. 6.
Vers Engletere la haute mer.—ib. p. 153.
En Engleter sodeinement.—French Chronicle (Cam. Soc.),
Appendix.
Deus le tot puissant ke eeel e terre crea.—Langtoft (ed.
Wright), v. 1.
Ke homme de terre venuz en terre revertira.—ib.
Uncore vus pri pur cel confort.—Lyrical Poetry, p. 55.
Then, for English instances :
Lyare wes mi latymer.— Lyrical Poetry, p. 49.
Careful men y-cast in care.—ib. p. 50.
Thareiena ne lette me nomon.—ib. p. 74.
Ther is [mani] maner irate—Land of Cokaygne, v. 49.
On fys manure handyl J>y dedes.—Handlyng Synne, p. 5.
Four manere joyen hy hedde here.—Shoreham's Poems (Percy
Soc.), p. 118.
And alle ine nout maner . . . Ine stede of messager.—ib. p. 119.
Sire quap pis holi maide our louerd himself tok.—Seinte,
Margarete (ed. Cockayne), p. 27.
Fyrst of my lvyre my lorde con wynne.—Allit. Poems, i. v. 582.
Bifore3 J?at spot my honde I spennd.—ib. i. v. 49.
pat were i-falle for prude an hove
To fille har stides pat wer ilor.—Ear. Eng. Poems, p. 13.
And never a day pe dore to pas.—ib. p. 137.
More j?en me lyste my drede aros.—ib. v. 181.
1 In Anglo-Norman verse of the 13th century Sire is generally
a monosyllable, and is even repeatedly written Sir. See in “ Polit
ical Songs ” (Camd. Soc.), pp. 66, 67, “ Sir Symon de Montfort,”
“Sir Rogier,” and also in “Le Privilege aux Bretons,” a song con
taining, like that just quoted from, a good deal of phonetic spelling,
“ Syr Hariot,” “ Syr Jac de Saint-Calons ” and “ Biaus Sir ” (Jubinal’s “Jongleurs et Trouveres,” pp. 52—62). Writings of this kind
in which words are phonetically, not conventionally, spelt, are often
very valuable as showing the true sound, and illustrate a pithy re
mark of Professor Massafia’s, that “ pathological examples are fre
quently more instructive than sound ones.”
2 In the “Assault of Massoura,” an Anglo-Norman poem (13th
century, Cotton MS. Julian A. v.), we find mere,frere, banere, arere,
almost always spelt without the -e. Manere (when not final) is a
dissyllable, and, when final, rhymes with banere, which in its turn
rhymes with/re?’. Mester and mestere both occur, and the latter
rhymes with eschapere and governere, for eschaper and governer,
showing that the added -e was inorganic and merely a matter of
spelling.
3 A.S. biforan became in Early English biforen, which fell
under the orthoepic rule which, as in many infinitives (see infra),
elided the -e in the atonic syllable -en. Biforen thus became
biforn, then lost the n and received an inorganic or index letter, e,
becoming bifore or before. No instance has yet been found by the
present writer, of bifore as a trisyllable.
�
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Essays on Chaucer: his words and works. Part II
Description
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Place of publication: London
Collation: [3], 57-177, [2] p. ; 23 cm.
Notes: From the library of Dr Moncure Conway. Printed by John Childs and Son. Published for The Chaucer Society. Publisher's series list inside and on the back over.
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[Unknown]
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[1874]
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Trübner & Co.
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Poetry
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<img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /><br /><span>This work (Essays on Chaucer: his words and works. Part II), identified by </span><span><a href="https://conwayhallcollections.omeka.net/items/show/www.conwayhall.org.uk">Humanist Library and Archives</a></span><span>, is free of known copyright restrictions.</span>
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Chaucer
Conway Tracts
Poetry
Poetry in English