xxii PREFACE. 



of the tenth century, mentions as a valued accomplish- 

 ment the art of writing in fair characters.^ 



One can cunningly 



word speech write. 



w^lfric also himself in a sermon on Midlent Sunday, — 

 " Oft one seeth fair letters awritten ; then extoUeth he 

 " the writer and the letters, and wotteth not what they 

 " mean. He who kenneth the diflference of the letters, 

 " he extolleth the fairness, and readeth the letters, 

 " and understandeth what they mean." Tlie honour 

 remained to beautiful writing, but the writer did not 

 stalk in so lofty a station. On the top margin of a 

 page ^ of the Oxford copy of the Herd Book, or Liber 

 Pastoralis, of King Alfred may be read these words, — 



piUimoc ppio ]?uf ob^e bet, 



that is, Willimot, lurite thus or hetter. A little further 

 on,^ 



ppic ]?uf o^Se bet oS8e ];me hybe poplet, 



Write thus or hetter, or hid good hye to thy hide, that 

 is, get a good hiding. In an Harleian MS.^ there is 

 a bit of nonsense, but the same idea of a hiding is 

 uppermost ; 



ppit ]?uf o'S^e bet pibe apeg. 



seljinseppattap ox ]>u Jjilc ppmjan selppic cilb ; 



Write tlius or hetter; ride away; ^Ifiiwrpattafox; thou 

 wilt siuinge child uElfric. From these marginal 

 scribblings it is plain that the penman had descended 

 from his episcopal throne, to be a tipsy drudge, kept 

 in order by the whip. Gild, " quem Bald conscribere 

 " iussit," was nearer the whip than the crooked staff. 

 ^^^^- The owner of the book, Bald, may be fairly presumed 



to have been a medical practicioner, for to no other 



• " Summse^ j-eapolice, 

 " \>0]\b Cj'ibe jijiican." 



C.E.42,14. 



2 Fol. 53 a. 



3 Fol. 55 b. 



' Harl. 55, fol. 4 b. 



