2 Mary Crawford 
The fifteenth century was chosen as a basis for this investiga- 
tion because of its intermediate position. Looking backward to 
Chaucer and the past, and forward to the Elizabethans, the period, 
like all formative periods, has especial interest for the student of 
language. 
CHIEF SOURCES OF MATERIAL 
A large proportion of the material for the present study has been 
gleaned from the mystery and morality plays, which are charac- 
teristic of the fifteenth century. This is to be expected, for it is 
in the drama that we find the emotions portrayed most vividly. 
The Paston Letters, which have afforded so rich a field for lin- 
guistic studies, have yielded little to this investigation. Theirs is 
the dignified style common to correspondence of that date, a 
manner which does not admit ejaculations. The dramatic liter- 
ature shows the life of the people, their jests, their roguery, their 
aspirations, their ideals. The romances reflect the tastes of the 
higher classes, and are so artificial in nature that the emotions 
depicted are under excellent control. The author usually tells 
his story himself, without frequent interruptions from the persons 
chiefly concerned. When the hero directly acquaints us with his 
state of mind, he confines himself to such colorless interjections 
as ah! alas! and gramercy! For vigorous, hearty interjections the 
York and the Towneley plays are most remarkable. The Cov- 
entry and the Digby cycles, which have come to us in later form, 
are more reserved in nature. They emphasize the ethical and re- 
ligious interests of mediaeval life. Such interludes as they con- 
tain are clearly not intended to be comic. Verging upon the 
morality play, they lack opportunity to present humorous situa- 
tions with the accompanying emotions. 
Of the moralities, Skelton’s Magnyfycence yields the most ma- 
terial. Indeed, this play is extremely prolific in oaths, containing 
no less than eighty-five different forms in the space of its few 
pages. These various oaths are repeated again and again. The 
same one may be found three times in as many lines. Including 
other exclamations, of which there are not a few, each page is 
thickly besprinkled with interjections. Occasionally one line is 
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