English Interjections in Fifteenth Century 5 
Towneley Plays, xiii, 55, Pastor: Benste and dominus! what 
may this bemeyne? Towneley, xiii, 359, Pastor: Benste be here 
in! Coventry Plays, xii, Joseph: A! lord God, benedicite! 
Magnyfycence, 257, Fansy: Now, benedicite, ye wene I were 
some hafter. 
In the last example, benedicite is so lacking in force as to 
be almost an affirmation. 
colle. Meaning is uncertain. L. T. Smith (York Mystery Plays, 
119) thinks it equivalent to modern golly! The word seems 
to be a quasi-oath and may be a form of goles, which (see 
Oxford Dictionary) is used only in exclamations, as, by goles, 
meaning by God. Instances of the use of colle are rare. 
York Mystery Plays, xv, 39, Pastor: We! colle! York, xv, 
54, Pastor: We! no colle! 
ey. Cf. modern dialectal use, ay, ay, to indicate mild surprise. 
(English Dialect Dictionary.) See also ey as a call for atten- 
tion (xvi, 4). The etymology is difficult. The Oxford Dic- 
tionary says: “ The ME. ey is probably a natural ejaculation, 
nothing similar being found in OE. There is a greater possi- 
bility of its being an adoption of OF. ai, but this would almost 
certainly have given ay, at, which are not found, even as vari- 
ants, in ME.” But compare the following example, York Mys- 
tery Plays, xxviii, 232, Malcus: Malcus! a ay! and I schulde be 
rewarde. Here it does not appear that Malcus is assenting to 
anything. He is expressing his ill humor. Again, the forms. 
ey and ay seem to be used interchangeably in ME. to indicate 
assent, as seen in examples expressing affirmation, cited under 
xiv. Hence, they might well be variants in the case under dis- 
cussion. The word, then, may possibly have been adopted from 
the OF. ai, aie, which, according to Littré, was an old form 
of aider, to help. 
Mankind, 354, New-Gyse: Ey, how ye turne pe erp wppe & 
down! Castell of Perseverance, 1575, Malus Angelus: Ey, 
what deuyl, man! Coventry Plays, xvi, Pastor: Ey, ey! this 
was a wondyr note. La Male Regle de T. Hoccleue: Ey, 
what is me. 
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