PREFACE. xxxiii 



herb .Foniots palui, as by its Irish admixture, or its 

 Greek and Latin basis, or its fran'raents from Kinji" 

 iElfreds handbook. 



The third book of tlie volume is a separate produc- Third book, 

 tion from the two former. This is evident by the 

 colophon at the end of the second, declaring who owned, 

 and who wrote the book, and by the word " dimitte " in 

 the margin of the last section, indicating the approach 

 of a close. This other l)Ook, then, is generally of the 

 same tone as the preceding ; a marginal mark, as men- 

 tioned above, is the same as stands by the side of some 

 recipes given earlier, and the monkish habit of saying 

 some good words over the sick is as ready to show 

 itself. We may therefore conclude it to be, at least, of 

 the same age ; possibly by the same hand as the other 

 two. 



On the whole, this work brings into a clear strong light, 

 the plentiful supply of good English food for the brave 

 appetites of the AngulSeaxe, the large importation of 

 foreign wine and ale and plenteous brew of potent homo 

 beer and ale and mead, the mulled and honeyed drinks 

 for weaker palates ; the colleges of leechcraft, the Greek 

 and Latin medical studies of the most eminent teachers, 

 the wide and far back traceable herboristic traditions, 

 the far and wide inquiries of King ..Alfred and men 

 of his time like him, and it will prove every way a 

 most valuable work to the student of English an- 

 tiquity. 



In the preface to Vol. I. a few pages were devoted 

 to an examination of some points of grammar ; these 

 were, of course, to some extent a precaution against 

 idle cavils and ignorant criticism of the translation. 

 The same considerations make it desirable to set forth 

 a few more simple observations and to support them 

 by examples. 



It seems clear enough that the modern system of Long vowels, 

 marking long vowels by an accent is not in harmony 



