1805.] 



'i'hc Antiquary. 



229 



J think T told you formerly it was in the 

 Caeimnnian verfe ; and it and the notes I 

 have written upon it are to conclade the 

 chapter De Pottr-a Anglo- Saxonum. In an- 

 fwer to your objedlion about St. Cuthbert's 

 and Bede's book, I anfwer, that the Larin 

 texts in both are very ancient, efpecially 

 the Cottonian, which may be above gco 

 years old, and fo before the Danes invaded 

 Britain. But though the original Latin texts 

 in both are fo old, yet the vcrftons and the 

 hands they are written in are much younger, 

 and the manner of interlineation in many 

 places fhews that the Latin exemplars were 

 fiift written ; not to mention fuch ignorant 

 pafljges in fuch verfions as could not agree to 

 the learned times between Theodore, who 

 advanced learning to a great height in the 

 Saxon churches, and the invafion of the 

 Danes DCCXCIH. who brought barbarity 

 among them. You know how jtlfric com- 

 plains : and accordingly it is evident from 

 thofe verfions, that neither of the glolTjtors, 

 efpecially of the Cottonian Book, unrierftood 

 Latin, as where he renders eecid;riirtt in fftirias, 



gepeoUon in Jirj-inum, & hpyj:;um 



yiz: imus, Jje j*or.ton, t. e. njifimus.— 

 In farinte tribus falls, in mealo ^enoh 

 SjTim. — Cadebant ramos, je^ejaj-con 

 ?;ui55o. — Nuplia quidem, p.tjimo j^um. 

 — Sine ejiciant feftucam, buT.i ic pop^e 

 j-tie. — Fox in Rama, ]-cep'i in tpijja. 

 He could not reriJer tetrariha nor locujicc, 

 and many words more : and can you 

 think' luch a tranflator could live before 

 the invafion of the Danes ? Are not thefe 

 fpecimens of the ignorance JS.'f(\<: complains 

 of, that no prieft before Dunftan's time 

 could write, "or underftand Latin. I mightily 

 like your notion of the language of the An- 

 gli. It was in that diaicft .1 believe the true 

 Cadmon wrote, of which perhaps ) have dif- 

 covered a MS. ; but of that more at leifure. 

 With all hearty thanks and fervice, 1 fub- 

 Jcribe your obliged humble fervanc, 



•' G. H." 

 The former part of this letter eviilentiy 

 alludes to the Thefauius, w.hich was not 

 Jong after piibliflied So particular men- 

 tion of thefe curious manuliciipts may 

 perhaps excite a wi(h in the reader to be- 

 come better acquairttd vAith llieir liiftoiy, 



which he will find txcteding curious 



The Rufhworih Codex is afleried to have 

 l»cn once in the pollcirioii oH lie venerable 

 Bcde : and the Cott >n Manul'cript was 

 tlie lame which was given by Alitlftan 

 lo the monks of Durham. Teltimonies 

 concerning both m'.uiuicripts may be found 

 in Maiefchdl's Obfervations attached to 

 the Anglo Saxon GofpeU, p. 491, 492 ; 

 Camden's Kcmairi'^i chap. 3 ; Smith's 

 Catalogue of the Cotton Library, Art. 

 NefM, D. iv. i ii. Lite Pieface to tJcldcn's 



Hiftrria Anglicans Scriptores, X. edit- 

 Lond. 1655, p a? ; the you.'ger Junius's 

 Caalogue of Bo.>k> prefixed to his Go- 

 thic GKfljiy; in A'chbiftiop Ulhei's 

 poltumo'.is Hittoria dctmatica Con:rover- 

 fise inter Orthod jXi^s et Pontifici s ce 

 Scripturis et S.cris Vrrnaculis, Lo d. 

 1690, p. 105; and in Wharcm's Appen- 

 dix to it, ,p. 465 j in ihe xix'.li chapcr of 

 Dr. Hickes'a Infti^utions of the Saxon 

 Language in the Thcfsvirus. Bifhop Ni- 

 collon's Hiftorical Library, ed i6g6, p. 

 102 ; ill th; Cx.al gue of Books at the 

 end ol Dr. Hickes's Grammar, Oxon. 

 1688, p. 139} and in the fecoiid Difler- 

 tation prefixed to Mr. Warton** Kiftory 

 of Engliih Poetry. . . 



We now come to the third, or Nor- 

 mnnno-Saxon epoch of the i..ngui;ge ; for 

 whole iniroduilion due preparation had 

 been made, not only by tne comiant re- 

 fort o' the Norman nobles to ihc Couit of 

 the Conteflor, but by the very fy lein of 

 education for children, -a!io leaint French 

 at fchool. The Fia^'kilh idijin ws novr 

 vifibly intermixing in our language, 

 whofe fubjngation was compleied by the 

 N iman conqucft. The char.ges t di'o- 

 diiced (too niimct'^us for us to confider 

 with minutenels) have been aC' iirately 

 tracal by Dr. Hickes ; an 1 a due cunii- 

 drr tion of them by tiie careful reader 

 will KifGrd lights upon our prrfeni ortho- 

 graphy which migiit otiierwiie elude his 

 obfti vation. 



D was fometimes meltec) into i or y ; it 

 in iunje for ^eoiij^e, young ; casi- tor 

 caep^e, a key ; and aslmdir for aelini' t x« 

 C was in many cale.s rejetled, and k le- 

 ceived as its liib(t;t ite, as in kynx for 

 cynp5 J in o'hers ch was auopied, as in 

 child lorcild. F, under the new inva- 

 ders, WIS limitel in its power j live wis 

 the fublti'ute for lipe, ]^eoven for -reo- 

 pen, and heovene lor heop'ine ; all of 

 which are yet retained. A final was 

 fjmetimes changed for e, and foretimes 

 totally omitted. E gave place ta the dip- 

 thong as; and b »nd S were irdiicnmi- 

 nately applied, p, when preceding m, 

 was rejected, as in pim.nan lor p pmar. 

 Urn was occalion.illy altered to e.i ; and 

 luch (ubitantives as before had their no- 

 mina'.ive and accu'ative ciles plural end- 

 ing in ay had n^w their terminatioiis in el", 

 as, for pr iniy, ]-'canep ; fiu h alio were 

 bifcopep, cinjcp, &c. Alterations ol a 

 minuter nature in the lVellint> of woids 

 nuilt be fniight for in Dr. Hickes, who 

 has dil'playcd extraordinary acuiencfs in 

 ir.atrking the ntw wonts and barbarine.s of 



plir.il« 



