xiii. THE SECOND WINTER MEETING. 



14S7. Inscription on the Church Tower : Fi/dcltrenth. 



lo49. Chantries Survey : Fi/db Trcnthcd, Fi/dell Trcnthed. 



1552. Chm-ch Goods Inventory : Fitdcltrcnchcd. 



Maps.— 1607, Fiddkrcnchcdc ; 1610, 1660, Ficdchcnchcd : 1615, 1646, Fidd- 

 rcnchcd; 1675, Fhische ; 1695, 1753, Fidenched. 



The above-quoted instance of 1293 is the earliest mention of "Trenthide" 

 that I have as yet found. 



Piddle. From the spellings here given it is evident that, in modern English, 

 the normal pronunciation is "Piddle." Throughout the Middle Ages, the short 

 t sound is frequently represented in writing by y or v. In a charter of Alfred's 

 we find (modem) Flush spelt Fhjsshe, " Satin of Bruges " is written in the 

 Church Goods Inventory of 1552 as Briges, Bnjdges, Bryges, Bridges, Brydgc ; 

 no doubt spoken by English lips as we pronounce bridges, nowadays. 



I believe that this prevalent use of the short i sound is traceable to the common 

 difficulty of ijroducing the original Continental ii. Some of you may have observed 

 that, in learning French, English pupils often say ti instead of ttt. Thus to-day 

 we have mill as an equivalent to the A.S. mylen, Germ. Miihle, Milborne 

 appears in a Charter of ^thelstan as Mulchorue. 



A similar transition appears to have taken place in the case of the short v 

 in Greek, which in time became changed into the Latin y, and eventually was 

 superseded by the short t, as in modern Italian — e.g., ffvu^uvla syiiiphoiiia, 

 siiifoiiia. 



It is noteworthy, however, that in the Western Wessex, where the tide of 

 English Conquest flowed so strongly in the 8th Century, the old ii is still retained 

 in the folk -speech. 



Professor Skeat has been kind enough to send me the following valuable notes 

 on the subject: — 



" The A.S. pi(dd, a trench, is soimded just \ikQ pudding , if you will kindly drop 

 the i)ig. The derived diminutive was, fii-st of aU, pydel, a little trench, small 

 stream. Now this A.S. y is precisely the German dotted il or the French u in 

 tenu. It is the short vowel corresponding to the long vowel in Fr. hme or 

 German griin, 



"This sound went out of favour- with the English in the twelfth century, and 

 they did not quite know what to do with it. Some turned it into short i (as in 

 pit) ; some into short u (as input), and this later went into the u in puddle ; and 

 so some of the scribes wrote Fidelc, and some wrote Fudele for the older Pydele. 

 In Kent this same sound became the e in pet. 



" The Latin pufeus, a well, was bon-owed in early A.S., and was pronounced 

 as pyt {i.e., piit). Then in the twelfth century we find pyt, pit, and put, all 

 three. These forms would now give the modem English pit or modem English 

 put (if pronounced so as to ihyme with cut). In Kent it is pet even to this 

 da3% Standard English generally takes i (as in pit) for such words ; thus, 

 A.S, fiyll became Mid-Eaglish hull, hill, Kentish hell. The modem English is 

 hilL 



