PREFACE 



OF the manifold attractions in the Saxon 

 Vocabularies, nothing has charmed me more 

 than the native Plant-names, which have there 

 been preserved in the most primitive form 

 extant. For many winters these lists were 

 to me as a kind of winter-garden, wherein I 

 could botanize at the fireside and look at 

 familiar plants through the eyes of remote 

 ancestors. "Wishing to impart this pure and 

 exquisite pleasure to some friends of mine and 

 friends of Saxon studies, I printed the follow- 

 ing lists from the editions in the readiest manner 

 without any idea of making a book. I made no 

 revision of the texts, excepting a manuscript 

 in the library of St. John's College, Oxford, 

 which, through the kindness of the President, 

 I collated with No. V. After the lists were 

 thus hastily printed, I was encouraged to add 

 indices and an introduction. The indices will 

 facilitate such a comparison of the lists as will 

 often enable readers to correct scribal errors 

 for themselves. The research requisite for the 

 Introduction has been more than would be 



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