THE RIMES IN THE AUTHENTIC POEMS OP WILLIAM DUNBAP. 633 



necessary. I did not, indeed, undertake the investigation with this idea of making 

 any important discoveries, but, firstly, with the modest ambition of rounding off the 

 work done on Dunbar by the Scottish Text Society and by the edition of Professor 

 Schipper, by the compilation of a Rime-Index, which had not before been exhaustively 

 made. I have used Professor Schipper's edition, as embodying the results of previous 

 workers, along with his own, and my references are to page and line of his work. I 

 have confined myself strictly to poems which seem undoubtedly authentic, because I 

 thought it possible that this might furnish a criterion by which some of the doubtful 

 poems might ultimately be tested. But as that involves a separate rime-index for 

 these doubtful poems, which I have not been able yet to prepare, this criterion cannot 

 at present be easily applied, except to quite short pieces. I do not propose in the 

 present instance to apply it, but the index will be essential to whoever wishes to 

 employ such a criterion. Another use of the index will be to assist in clearing up 

 doubtful readings where rimes are involved, for, as I have already said, Dunbar is so 

 conscientious an artist that we can rely on the purity of his rimes to an even unusual 

 extent, certainly more than in Clariodus, who has a formidable number of false rimes 

 (Curtis, § 554) and very probably more than in Douglas. And on this account I have 

 reckoned all words riming with the same refrain-word as riming with each other. 



The plan of the index, following that of Dr Curtis, is to classify the rimes under 

 the original vowel sounds in OE. or ON. so that OF. and Latin and other words of 

 non-Germanic origin only appear in so far as they rime with these Germanic words. 



I wish to take this opportunity of very cordially thanking Professor Karl Luick of 

 the University of Graz for his kind assistance in seeing this work through the press, 

 and in making many very valuable suggestions. At the same time, I take the full 

 responsibility for any faults the work may still possess. 



[Rime-Index. 



