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 Cornell University Library 
 PR2269.B15 
 
 On the rimes in the authentic poems of W 
 
 3 1924 013 120 906 
 
 BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME 
 FROM THE 
 
 SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND 
 
 " THE GIFT OF 
 
 Sienrg M. Sage 
 
 1S91 
 
 ..A- 
 
 '4i 
 
ON 
 
 THE RIMES IF THE AUTHENTIC POEMS 
 
 • ■ OF 
 
 
 WILLIAM DUNBAR 
 
 INAUGURAL DISSERTATION 
 
 FOR THE 
 
 DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY 
 
 SUBMITTED TO THE 
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL FACULTY 
 
 OF THE -. 
 
 . UMYERSHY OF FREIBURG. 
 
 BY 
 
 HENRY BELLYSE BAILDOK 
 
 EDINBURGH : 
 
 PRINTED BY NEILL AND COMPANY, Ltd. 
 
 1899. 
 
The original of this book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924013120906 
 
ON 
 
 THE RIMES IE THE AUTHENTIC POEMS 
 
 OF 
 
 WILLIAM DUNBAR. 
 
 INAUGUEAL DISSEETATION 
 
 FOR THE 
 
 DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY 
 
 SUBMITTED TO THE 
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL FACULTY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF FREIBURG. 
 
 BY 
 
 he:n^ry bellyse baildok 
 
 EDINBURGH : 
 FEINTED BY NEILL AND COMPANY, Ltd. 
 
 1899. 
 
A, i4_o o^n-'i 
 
 TO 
 
 PROFESSOR DR ARNOLD SCHROER 
 
 AT WHOSE SUGGESTION IT "WAS UNDERTAKEN 
 
 THIS WORK 
 
 IS RESPECTFULLY AND GRATEFULLY DEDICATED BY 
 
 THE AUTHOR 
 
INTRODUCTION, 
 
 COJ^TEJ^TS. 
 
 RIME-INDEX. 
 
 A- rimes, Grmc, OE, or ON, 
 
 A : rimes, „ 
 
 A.- rimes, .... 
 
 &- rimes, .... 
 
 ^ : rimes, 
 
 E- sounds in ME. and M.Sc, 
 
 a, ^, y rimes, 
 
 E- rimes, .... 
 
 History of OE. « + £? and e + gr and ON. ei 
 
 E : = WS., ie., after palatal, rimes, 
 
 E, mutation of o, rimes, 
 
 General OE. or ON. e = WGrmc. e, and e (lengthened), rimes 
 
 Angl. e = WS. ie rimes, 
 
 Angl. e = WS. » WGrmc. a rimes, . 
 
 Angl. e = WS. 5a (before gutturals), rimes, . 
 
 ^. mutation of OE. a Grmc. ai, rimes, 
 
 ON. M rimes, 
 
 ON. EI rimes, 
 
 OE. EA rimes, 
 
 OE. EA rimes, 
 
 OE. EG- rimes, 
 
 OE. EO : rimes, 
 
 OE. EO rimes. 
 
 - 
 
 u 
 
 7 
 
 
 9 
 
 • 
 
 11 
 
 1 
 
 11 
 
 
 12 
 
 . 
 
 12 
 
 
 13 
 
 
 14 
 
 1. 
 
 15 
 
 
 17 
 
 id), rimes, 
 
 19 
 
 
 20 
 
 
 20 
 
 
 21 
 
 
 22 
 
 
 22 
 
 
 22 
 
 
 22 
 
 
 23 
 
 . 
 
 24 
 
 
 24 
 
 
 24 
 
IV 
 
 OE. 
 OE. 
 OE. 
 OE. 
 OE. 
 OE. 
 ON". 
 OE. 
 OE. 
 OE. 
 OE. 
 OE. 
 OE. 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 I- rimes, 
 
 I : rimes, 
 
 and ON. I- rimes, 
 
 0- rimes, 
 
 : rimes, 
 
 0- rimes, 
 
 (E rimes, 
 
 U- rimes, 
 
 U : rimes, 
 
 U- rimes, 
 
 Y- rimes, 
 
 and ON. Y : rimes, 
 
 and ON. Y rimes, 
 
 List op Authorities and Woeks consulted, 
 List op Abbbbviations, 
 
 PAGR 
 
 25 
 26 
 28 
 29 
 29 
 30 
 32 
 32 
 33 
 33 
 34 
 35 
 35 
 
 36 
 37 
 
ON THE RIMES IN THE AUTHENTIC POEMS OF WILLIAM DUNBAR. 
 
 By Henry Bellyse Baildon, M.A. Cantab., F.R.S.E. 
 
 (From the Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, April 3, 1899.) 
 
 Introduction. 
 
 It may well be thought that, in a field that has been so carefully reaped and 
 garnered and gleaned by so many learned workers as have the works of the great 
 Scottish poet, William Dunbar, there remained nothing still to be accomplished. Where 
 such erudite students of Scottish literature as Laing, Small, Greg or, and ^neas 
 Ma OKAY, and such an illustrious scholar as Professor Sohipper have laboured, and 
 where even the poet's metrical forms have been the subject of careful investigation by 
 Mr M'Neill, it might be thought alike vain and presumptuous to attempt to follow. 
 Yet it so happens, nevertheless, that there has never been a thorough investigation made 
 of Dunbar's rimes with a view of throwing light on the phonology or, in more popular 
 phrase, the pronunciation of his day. And yet, perhaps, no more suitable, interesting, 
 and instructive subject could be found for such treatment than just this same William 
 Dunbar. 
 
 In the first place, Dunbar is nothing if not a conscientious artist, — a man with a 
 thorough appreciation of the value of technique, and with an excellent ear both for metric 
 and phonetic effects. Without such an ear a man cannot be a poetic artist of the first 
 rank, and it is marvellous how these gifts secure a man immortality, even when his 
 thought is neither important nor original. And, on the other hand, the want of, or the 
 occasional neglect to use, these gifts threaten the immortality of some of the greatest 
 names. In Wordsworth, for instance, how often are we jarred by the toneless, musicless 
 quality of his lines ! and in Byron's dramas how are we repelled by the harsh, dry timbre 
 of his blank verse ! Even the least cultured are sensitive on this pointy as we gather 
 from the felicitous cadence and clang of popular proverbs and sayings, and other 
 evidences of the sensuous pleasure given to the young and uneducated by song and 
 verse. At any rate, no one can read Dunbar at all without feeling convinced that he 
 took a real pleasure, — perhaps the purest pleasure he had in his grumbling, mendicant 
 existence (even as perhaps did his predecessor and model, the scamp Villon) — in the 
 rhythm and sonorous melody of his verses ; and, at a time in his disreputable early 
 career, when he would have unscrupulously robbed hen-roosts or pocketed spoons, or 
 used the pulpit, like Chaucer's Pardoner, for the most sordid ends, he was in his art a 
 purist of the first water. This quality is naturally an invaluable one for our purpose ; 
 and, if we except his very latest verse, where the instruction of his flock and not the 
 production of poetry is his main object, one may safely rely on the conscientious work- 
 
 A 
 
2 ME HENRY BELLYSE BAILDON ON 
 
 manship of Dunbar. So that, when we find a really bad rhyme in his poems, we may 
 be well-nigh certain that the text is corrupt and that Dunbar never uttered the poem 
 for complete in such a form. 
 
 Tf one is asked for absolute proof of this conviction, it is not easy to produce one, 
 except on general grounds. So I would put the matter in the form of two propositions, 
 neither of which can reasonably be doubted. The first is that Dunbar's technical 
 accomplishments as a verse-writer were such, as witness his mastery of a great variety 
 of metrical forms and his marvellous command of rimes (as shown, for instance, in the 
 two concluding stanzas of his part of the " Flyting," where he has no less than thirty- 
 two rimes, some of them dissyllabic, in each stanza), that he could never really have 
 been at a loss to find a correct rime ; and so, if he used them, must have done so from 
 pure carelessness, which is clearly not his characteristic. In the second place, we are 
 really not able to convict Dunbar of a palpably had rime, because, in the instances 
 where he is apparently guilty, there are usually indications of corruption in the text. 
 I do not, of course, maintain that all Dunbar's rimes are exact and perfect, a statement 
 which would probably be true of no poet that ever wrote. Indeed, anyone who has 
 given any attention to verse-effects must know that an occasional imperfection gives 
 a curious charm in the hands of a master. But it must be slight, and cannot extend 
 to discord in consonantal sound. I cite just two cases of apparently false rimes. The 
 first is in Dunbar's " Dirge to the King at Stirling," in the couplet (41. 9, 10) : — 
 
 " 3e eremeitis and hankersaidilis 
 That takis your pennance at your tablis." 
 
 Even if my conjecture of hanker saiblis = hl'dck anchorites be not correct, saidlis = cells, 
 hermitages makes no sense, and it would be too unjust to Dunbar to suppose that he 
 wrote both a bad rime and nonsense at the same time. 
 
 The second instance is perhaps not quite so conclusive : still there is every appear- 
 ance of some error having crept into the text. It occurs in the courtly and beautiful 
 poem, " To the Princess Margaret on her arrival at Holyrood " in the following 
 couplet : — 
 
 " Eejoysing from the sone heme 
 Welcum of Scotland to be Quene." 
 
 On this it may be said (see Professor Schipper's note, p. 92) that there is some corrup- 
 tion of the text here, so that if we are not convinced that heme is wrong, we have no 
 certainty that it is right ; and I venture the conjecture that the original word was 
 schene, which gives a rather better sense, as though the queen came from the sunshine 
 of the sunny south — sunny as compared with Scotland. Further, even supposing the 
 reading " beme " to be correct, the poem is not provdbly Dunbar's, so that in any 
 case he cannot be clearly convicted of a false rime in this instance. 
 
 And, apart even from these arguments, I must really claim the right of an expert 
 in poetry, in poetical technique, and in literary criticism generally [being a critic and 
 verse-writer myself of at least twenty-five years standing] to speak with authority on 
 
THE RIMES IN THE AUTHENTIC POEMS OF WILLIAM DUNBAR. 3 
 
 the literary and technical qualities of Dunbar's verse ; and when it is borne in mind 
 that my own high opinion of Dunbar's technical excellence and conscientious workman- 
 ship, if independently formed, coincides with that of such unimpeachable authorities as 
 Sheriff Maokay, Professor Schippee, and others, it would surely be a reductio ad 
 absurdum of scientific scepticism to ask for further proof. 
 
 If we only had a fair copy of Dunbar's original MS. a mass of uncertainties would 
 disappear. For we can seldom be quite certain whether the spelling is (l) Duubar's 
 own, or (2) that of his own time, or (3) the Scotch and not the (4) English spelling. 
 These uncertainties are introduced in the case of MSS. by the scribe, or in that of print 
 by the compositor. Now in those times those persons do not seem to have been either 
 very careful or conscientious or skilful ; and that in the chaotic state of ME. spelling 
 complicated with the almost as chaotic MSc. spelling, and possibly also with attempts 
 at compromise between the two, creates elements of difficulty enough. 
 
 There is fortunately one other reliable and, within certain limits, fixed foothold 
 for us in this examination, considered as an independent investigation, and that is the 
 pronunciation of modern Scotch (NSc), with which, owing to my long residence in 
 Scotland, I may claim some familiarity. And the Scotch with which 1 am most 
 familiar is, fortunately, locally Dunbar's Scotch, not Buens's west country Scotch, but 
 the Lowland, one may almost say Lothian Scotch of Scott and Stevenson, who is held 
 by those competent to judge to write particularly good Scotch, and who makes the 
 attempt to write phonetically, especially in the volume entitled " Underwoods," where 
 he gives a " Table of Common Scottish Vowel Sounds," which appears to me easily 
 intelligible and quite accurate. For more scientific and historic treatment of these 
 sounds one must naturally have recourse to the works of Sweet, Ellis, and Mueeay in 
 English, and to such modern investigators as Professor LuiCK in Germany, and the 
 Dissertations of Dr Cuetis, " On the Middle Scotch Eomaua Clariodus " (Anglia, vols, 
 xvi, xvii), and of Dr Geeken, on " Die Sprache des Bishofs Douglas von Dunkeld " 
 (Strassburg, Karl J. Triibner, 1898). 
 
 While one can know how a Scottish word is pronounced to-day in the very district 
 and city where Dunbar wrote and spoke, there remain still two elements to be supplied 
 before the problem of fixing the phonology of Dunbar and his time can be attempted. 
 The first is a knowledge of the original sounds of the words, i.e., the pronunciation of 
 the vowels, diphthongs, and consonants in the language from which his vocabulary is 
 derived, viz., Anglo-Saxon (Old English, OE.), Old French (OF.), Old Norse (ON.), 
 Latin (Lat.), Old Irish (01.), Dutch (Du.), etc., and the second that of the correspond- 
 ing sounds in contemporary Middle English (ME.). Now the former, thanks to the 
 labours of such scholars as Sievers, Kluge, Sweet, Skeat and others, are fortunately 
 fairly well established, and afibrds us in this inquiry our first point of attachment so to 
 speak. If we then, so to speak, make fast one end of our line to the original sound and 
 lead the other to the corresponding modern Scotch sound, we know then that the path 
 of this sound through its successive changes must pass through these two points, and 
 
4 MR HENRY BELLYSE BAILDON ON 
 
 we know also that it will not usually deviate very far from what we may call the " lin 
 of least resistance " between the two positions, so that, if we suppose this to be repre- 
 sented by a straight line joining the two points, we may, to continue the metaphor, 
 draw our line tight, and have thus approximately fixed the path of the sound change. 
 Then it becomes the function of phonetics to show what this " line of least resistance " 
 really is. And the principle on which this is to be determined is obviously one of the 
 place and mouth-position in which the two sounds are formed and uttered, together 
 with the postulate that sounds not only do not suddenly travel from a certain mouth- 
 place or mouth-position to another far removed or widely different, but must of neces- 
 sity, when these have become far separated, have passed through some, if not all, the 
 intermediate stages. Such changes, for example, as now distinguish the English pro- 
 nunciation of vowels from the Germanic, Italian, or Continental sounds for the same 
 vowels, cannot have taken place per saltum, but must have passed through intermediate 
 stages. Our use of the vowel i, for instance, as equivalent to Ger. ai, cannot have come 
 in suddenly, because it involves too great a change in the mouth-place in which the 
 sound is formed. And the same is true of the other principal changes in our vowel 
 and consonantal sounds. Still it is not to be assumed that because a sound does not 
 change suddenly it may not change quickly, for the intermediate position may be one 
 of, so to speak, unstable equilibrium ; it may be more difiicult or less agreeable than 
 the two positions between which it mediates. 
 
 These, of course, are the commonplaces of phonetics, of which, however, it is useful 
 to be reminded in connection with this investigation. 
 
 The other element of which I have spoken, viz., the contemporary pronunciation 
 of the corresponding words in MB., does not unfortunately rest on so secure a basis, 
 there being still room, in spite of all the labours of the eminent scholars already 
 mentioned and of such recent investigators as LuiCK, for doubt, not so much perhaps 
 as to the path taken by sound-changes, as to the time they took place and especially 
 the moment of their complete transmutation to the present accepted pronunciation. 
 Hence arises the possibility that this inquiry, taken together with such an admirable 
 and thorough investigation as that of Dr F. J. Curtis " On the Eimes of the Middle 
 Scotch Eomance Clariodus" (Anglia, vols, xvi and xvii), to which I am infinitely 
 indebted for its excellent method, not to speak of its valuable results, may reflect some 
 light on the Middle English of Dunbar's time. All the more, naturally, is this the case, 
 in that Dunbar often writes what must be called ME. and not MSc, just as Burns 
 wrote in standard eighteenth century English, as well as in the Ayrshire dialect of 
 that time. 
 
 As Dr CuKTis's article " On the Rimes of the Middle Scottish Romance Clariodus " 
 treats that work exactly on the same lines as I propose to treat Dunbar, and treats 
 also of much the same period, it will not be necessary to handle the results with the 
 same elaboration as Dr Curtis has done. My results must of necessity either agree or 
 disagree with his, and in neither case is it likely that any elaborate argument will be 
 
THE EIMES IN THE AUTHENTIC POEMS OF WILLIAM DUNBAR. 5 
 
 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 Eime-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. 
 
MR HENRY BELLYSE BAILDON ON 
 
 RIME-INDEX ACCORDING TO GERMANIC VOWEL-SOUNDS. 
 
 A- 
 
 § 1. Not followGil liy g or w, rimes with 
 
 a) itself. 
 
 forsaik : taik, 83, 52. 253, 1. baik : saik, 72, 35. 
 schaik : quaik, 150, 9. tail (OE. talu) : nychtin- 
 
 Sale, 347, 29. 
 gaip : laip, 132, 100. 
 
 gaittis : schaittis, 85, 8. lakkis : takkis, 77, 5. 
 undertaker : balletmaker, 246, 87. 
 name : schame, 85, 5, etc., lame : scliame, 87, 53. 
 
 schame : came (s) 86, 39. 
 same ; lame, 126, 17. sam : gam, 202, 11. 
 cravis : wavis, 281, 56. crave : forgaif, 365, 145. 
 
 b) OE. 1. 
 
 mak : bak, 202, 17. brak, 377, 79. spak. 79, 1. 
 nychtingail : small, 350, 114. 
 gait : lait, 316, 26. crave, graif, 365, 145. 
 said : maid, 125, 46. pak : bak, 269, 58. 
 
 c) OE. £e + g. 
 
 fare ( = mien) : fair (adj.) Ill, 225. 
 phane : brain : fane, 266, 83. 
 
 d) OE. a. 
 
 have : laif, 214, 90., etc., gaip : raip, 84, 75. 83, 61. 
 
 aip : graip : saip : 206, 6. cair : rair, 225, 114. 
 
 nychtingale : hale : 370, 34. 
 
 lame : schame : hame, 87, 53. 
 
 name : hame, 86, 18. schame : hame, 86, 17. 
 
 fair (v) : sair : thair, 71, 19. wair (s) lair, 194, 76. 
 
 „ (v) : mair, 71, 17. fare (s) : mair, 100, 222. 
 cair : mair, 308, 44. rair, 225, 114. 
 
 e) OF. or Lat. a. 
 haif : raif : 214, 90. 
 
 gaip : chaip : 84, 76. 
 
 gaittis : debaittis : estaittis : 85. 8. 
 
 „ : stait, 316, 28. 
 schame : fame, 85, 4. 
 name : fame, 85, 7. 
 schame : clame, .86, 32. 
 
 „ : proclaime, 87, 67, etc. 
 name : lame : proclaime : 87, 53. 
 
 „ : shame : blame, 87, 60. 
 
 „ : ,, : defame, 85, 11. 
 fare (s) : repair. 111, 223. 
 spair : foreclair, 301, 67. 
 
 „ : preclair, 301, 67. 
 nychtingaile : vaill, 347, 28. 
 
 f) OF. al or au, Lat. — al. 
 haif : saiff, 214, 90. 
 knaiff : saiff, 205, 43. 
 have : saiff, 266, 98. 
 nychtingaile : oriental, 370, 26. 
 
 : scale, 370, 28. 
 
 g) OF. ai. 
 
 nychtingaille : travaill, 347, 31. 370, 34. 
 : faill, 348, 35. 
 ,, : awail, 351, 17. 
 
 : battale, 370, 34. 
 h) OF. ei. 
 
 phane : pane, 266, 95. 
 haif : persaif, 279, 17. 
 
 § 2. It is, I think, impossible to gainsay Dr Ctjrtis's conclusion that a in open 
 syllables was in most instances already lengthened, or in some more strictly speaking 
 half-long, in the usage of Dunbar ; and in these instances had alread)'' an |-sound, and 
 that this lengthening and change of sound is usually indicated by the spelling ai 
 instead of the ME. a + cons + e which Dunbar or his scribes and. printers also use. 
 There are, however, apparent exceptions, and particularly when a is followed by k. 
 Thus such rimes as lakkis : takkis, mak : hak, hrak : spak, taken together with their 
 NSc. pronunciation, which is undoubtedly d in the modern Lothian and most other 
 Scotch dialects, point to the survival of the a-sound in these words. But again the 
 rimes and spelling /orsai^ : taik, baik : saik, show taik to have sometimes the e-sound, 
 as was probably also the case with mak when spelt maik (see Curtis, § 5). It seems as 
 though the k had a tendency to check the lengthening (see Curtis, § 6) [Gerken, § I. 4], 
 and thus to prevent the change to e, it being, of course, almost an axiom that a long 
 vowel changes much more readily than a short one. The other consonants, especially 
 
THE RIMES IN THE AUTHENTIC POEMS OF WILLIAM DUNBAR. 
 
 the liquids, encourage lengthening and vowel-change, so that we find no such instances 
 in their case. I am inclined also to think that Dunbar still distinguished between 
 a and 3,, though probably only in quantity, the latter being probably only half-long 
 with him. I gather this from the fact of the comparative infrequency of rimes between 
 a and S,, and that most even of these are before r, a consonant which has an undoubted 
 tendency to give length to a syllable. So that fair, fare, cair, etc. may be regarded 
 as full long and thus form perfect rimes for sair, mair, etc.* 
 
 On the whole, the evidence seems in consonance with the view of Professor 
 Kluge (P.G. 1. 877), that the change from a to e was completed early in Scotland, 
 as it appears to be well established in Dunbar's time. 
 
 According to Professor LuiCK {Archiv fiir das Studium der neueren Sprachen und 
 Litteraturen, Band cii. Heft 1-2, pp. 52 and 63) the originally short vowels had begun 
 to lengthen to a sort of half-long quantity in the Northumbrian dialect as early as the 
 second half of the tenth century. But how long this would take to spread to the 
 Lothians, if it spread in this manner at all, it is impossible to say. 
 
 § 3. A -f- G rimes with 
 
 a) itself, 
 lawis : sawis, 317, 36. 
 (?) flawis (OE. flaSu) : lawis, 317, 39. 
 
 b) OE. a-Fw. 
 draw : knaw, 276, 32. 
 
 „ : hlaw, 166, 226. 
 
 c) OE. a or ea -f- 11. 
 draw : staw, 276, 32. 
 
 The rimes in b) confirm the lengthening of du (from OE. aq) in MSc. (Curtis, 
 § 27). 
 
 § 4. A + W 
 
 draw : waw, 166, 228. 
 
 „ : aw (NE. all), 166, 226. 
 law : waw, 317, 38. 
 sawis : wawis, 317, 39. 
 d) Lat. an. 
 
 lawis : cawis, 317, 37. 
 sawis : „ 317, 36. 
 
 a) with OE. a-f-g (see § 3). 
 
 b) with OE. eall. 
 
 .staw : knaw : 276, 33. 
 
 Although, as we shall have reason to observe later on, the influence of the Scotch 
 tv on a following vowel seems to be different from that of the English w, its influence 
 on a preceding is the same, i.e., just the same as an u, giving an au-sound (see § 46). 
 
 A: 
 
 1. Followed by Nasals. 
 S 5. (a) followed by -nd rimes with 
 
 a) itself, 
 landis : bandis : strandis, 104, 57. strandis, 
 
 271, 14. 
 land : stand : hand, 191, 5. 
 landit : blandit (NE. flattered) ; bandit, 262, 76. 
 band : hand : strand : stand, 376, 34. 
 brand : understand, 351, 1. 
 brand : land, 203, 9. 
 
 b) OF. and & ant. 
 stand : garland, 193, 45. 
 
 * I am inclined to maintain this position in the face of Dr Gehken's remark which seems to bear on it [§ 6. 3], 
 to the effect that one must not ascribe any influence to r in preserving the quantity of the a. It is quite possible that 
 Dr Geeken has ample materials to prove his point, but he does not produce them in his thesis. 
 
 upaland : garland, 203, 19. 
 „ : variand, 328, 41. 
 handis : gyandis (OF. geant), 126, 21. 
 
 c) Sc pres : part : in - and. 
 understand : brand : kindilland, 351, 1. 
 hand : serwand, 239, 4. etc. 
 
 d) ON. bnd. 
 
 landis : wandis (ON. vondr), 104, 63. 
 
8 MR HENEY BELLYSE BAILDON ON 
 
 There is here no sign of the dropping of the d, as is so common in NSc. in certain 
 words, especia]ly hand and stand, as in the phrase to " stan' yer han"' = stQn ydr hgn 
 =.to pay your share of the reckoning. In other words, such as strand, band, hland, 
 and even land, the d is often pronounced. Nor am I so clear as Dr Gereen appears 
 to be as to the length of the vowel. The syllable is doubtless to be reckoned long, 
 but that is due rather to the consonants than the vowel. 
 
 § 6. ((S) a + nt. rimes with 
 a) Fr. ant. stant : novaunt, 88, 9. 
 
 S 7. (y) a + ng rimes with 
 
 a) itself. 
 
 gang : wrang : lang : rang, 71, 29. 
 
 ,, : amang : hang : Strang, 170, 274. 
 lang : amang, 305, 32. 
 „ : Strang : stang (s) (NE. sting) : fang (s) 
 (OE. fang), 380, 10. 
 
 Dunbar,* like Douglas [Gerken, § 1. 3)], writes these rimes consistently with an a 
 (and not, like Clariodus, with o), just as Burns and modern writers of Scotch dialect do. 
 
 b) wantoun : dantoun : pantoun, 124, 24. 
 
 amang : dang : (praet. of ding, ON", dengja) : owt- 
 
 sprang, 225, 111. wrang, 256, 3. 
 wrang : lang : gang : rang, 71, 27. 
 
 „ : amang : fang (v) (OE. f6n) : sang : belang : 
 wrang, 257, 3. 
 
 § 8. (8) a + n or nn rimes 
 
 a) with itself, 
 man : wan : 132, 106. 
 „ : dirry dan (?) : 40, 60. 
 „ : than 78, 27. 
 
 „ :gan : 197, 164. began, 235, 11. 
 „ : kan (s) : 197, 173. 
 „ : can, 230, 29. 235, 3. 
 
 man : swan, 235, 19. 
 
 „ : ran, 236, 23. 347, 27. 
 
 „ : St. An, 236, 31. 
 
 „ : clan, 261, 32. 
 than : wan, 235, 15. 
 
 „ : began, 235, 11. 
 
 „ : can, 235, 3. 
 
 § 9. (c) a + nk 
 a) with self or OE., etc., o : | ronk : bonk : donk : thonk, 106, 99. 
 
 This spelling with o appears also in ronh, donk, and slonk in Douglas [Gerken, 
 § 1- 3)]. 
 
 8 1 0. (?y) a + m or mb rimes 
 a) with itself. lam : dam (?) 202, 15. dram t (?) 202, 23. 
 
 lam (lamb) : rame, 126, 17. 35, 3. am, 201, 3. came (OE. camb) : schame : name, 86, 39. 
 
 sam, 202, 11. 
 
 As remarked by Dr Gerken in regard to Douglas, the vowel in lam ( = lamb) 
 remains short in spite of the combination mb, which has a lengthening influence. But 
 this is not surprising, considering how readily, especially in Scotland, the b was 
 dropped. 
 
 * when 1 say Dunbar I mean, of course, his scribe or printer, and so in the case of the others. 
 
 t This word dram {cf. CuHlis, § 16) seems also connected with drumlie (NSc.=tuvbid, dark) and very possibly 
 with doldritms through Icel. draums, Gen. from droMmr= melancholy, a dream (OE. dream) with which dram may be 
 directly connected. The connection is not difficult to trace, as a person in a dreamy mood or deeply sunk in thought 
 has usually a serious, even melancholy, expression. 
 
THE RIMES IN THE AUTHENTIC POEMS OF WILLIAM DUNBAE. 
 
 §11. 2. A : Followed by other consonants rimes 
 
 a) itself. 
 
 clappit : happit, 276, 19. 
 
 b) OE. s& : 
 
 agast : fast, 136, 34. 
 gather : father, 264, 37. 
 „ : hadder, 266, 85. 
 clappit ; trappit, 276, 19. 
 
 c) ME. a : wrack : frack, 282, 76. 
 
 d) OF. or Lat. a. 
 
 ass : pass : 331, 5. terge : lerge : berge : chairge, 
 108, 183. 
 
 with 
 
 ass : vanitas, 387, 8. 
 
 last (OE. latost) : past, 43, 79. 
 
 e) OE. ea & eo. 
 
 at : Set, 114, 17. 
 
 rax (OE. raxan = to reach) : wax : 377, 
 „ : sax, 377, 71. 
 
 f) Latin e. 
 
 last (latost) : est, 368, 46. 
 
 § 12. There seems little to be observed on the a, in closed syllables in addition to 
 what Dr Curtis has already said. 
 
 The word man, which in NSc. has usually the pronunciation 7non, appears in 
 Dunbar's time to be still man, and I have noticed a curious distinction in the Lothian 
 dialect, in that any one using the word man for husband says " man " (Ger. mann), 
 but in using the word generally = NE. man, says mon. The spelling of the rimes 
 ronh : honk : donh : thonh suggest, although they cannot be said to prove, the presence 
 of an open o-sound in these words, and this is rather supported by the fact that a 
 similar spelling occurs in Douglas (see above, § 9). If it be maintained that tei'ge : 
 lerge : etc. is an instance of the northern er + cons = ar + cons, it can be replied that 
 this is not the case in Scottish, when the following consonant is palatal, and indeed is 
 only clearly provable in the case of er + k, as surviving in the modern dark for clerk. 
 The NSc. pronunciation of large and charge = lerge, cherge, also bears out my view 
 (see also § 30). 
 
 A- 
 Final a or a + h. 
 
 § 13. 1. (a) written with a, rimes with 
 
 a) itself. 
 
 Sua : twa, 205, 45. therfra, 263, 9. ga : sla, (ON.a) 
 
 195, 106. 
 gais : tais, 269, 54. gais : strais, (ON.a) 176, 342. 
 
 § 14. (/3) written with o, rimes with 
 
 a) itself. 
 
 ago : wo, 264, 21. also : ro, 96, 78. fo : wo, 
 42, 34. 280, 4. fo : tuo, 118, 1. mo, 280, 2. 
 fro : wo : go, 197, 166. 
 
 b) Lat. a. Maria : bla, 373, 30. fra, 373, 22. fa, 373, 
 
 38. 
 
 c) ap. 
 
 clais : gais, 140, 21. 
 
 b) Lat. 0. 
 
 Apollo : sepulchro : go : so : wo 
 etc. 
 
 fo : mo, 382, 2 
 
 The spelling with o is with Dunbar, as with Clariodus, commoner than with a, 
 though not to the same degree, judging from what Dr Curtis says in his article (§ 38j, 
 and is consistently carried out. 
 
 S 15. 1. a + n, rimes with 
 
 (a) (spelt with a) 
 
 a) itself, allane : gane, 38, 26. tane (NE. taken) 290, 
 93. ana, 38, 26. ane : nane, 37, 5. 
 
 b) OF. ain, Lat. an. stane : soverayne, 371, 64. 
 
 trayne, 371, 66. suffragane, 371, 68. 
 o) OF. ei. pane : flane, 265, 59. 
 
10 
 
 MR. HENRY BELLYSE BAILDON ON 
 
 § 1 6. ()8) (spelt with o) rimes 
 
 a) with itself. b) Latin on 
 
 stone : allone, 42, 17. allone : none, 348, 46. tone stone : dispone, 42, 49. 
 
 (NE. taken), 350, 102. annone : postpone, 240, 28. 
 bone : allone, 350, 110. allone : gone, 244, 63. 
 
 2. a, + m rimes with 
 a) OF. a and ai. hame : clame, 229. 1. 
 
 There is here also a clear distinction kept up between o and a spellings. The 
 rimes with Fr. ein and ain, together with the spelling of trayne, grayne, etc., and the 
 fact that suffragane is sometimes spelt -ene in the rime syllable, point, I think, to the 
 fact that d + m or n is already e, or some intermediate sound that comes very near it. 
 Tane = taken occurs once as tone, riming with allone, and this, along with its appear- 
 ance in Clariodus and in Douglas, clearly shows it was an accepted form of the word, 
 however derived. Dr Curtis explains it as formed on a false analogy from apparently 
 similar forms in which ME. o corresponded to MSc. a [see Curtis, § 23, Gerken, § 20, 
 2)]. The occurrence of tone here seems quite to dispose of Brandl's argument 
 (Anzfd. A., 10, 333). 
 
 § 1 7. 3. a + w rimes with 
 
 a) itself. 
 
 thrawis : crawis, 176, 345. 
 
 blawis : „ 225, 89. 
 
 raw (NE. row (s)) : haw (OE. haga), 173, 309. 
 
 b) OE. ffi + w 
 
 crawis : mawis, 225, 89. 
 
 c) OE. eaw, knawin : schawin (scsawian), 355, 13. 
 
 d) a - + g (see § 3). 
 
 e) eall. 
 
 raw (s) : aw (NE. all), 173, 309. 
 blaw : waw, 166, 229. 
 
 raw : gaw (OE. gealla) : aw : haw, 173, 306. 
 sawlis (OE. sawol) rimes with Pawlis (Paul's) 
 and brawlis (brawls). 
 
 This form schawin from sceawian has been treated at great length by Dr Curtis 
 (§ 288, etc.); but the simple explanation of Sweet (HES., § 680) that the e-element 
 was absorbed by the preceding consonantal sound commends itself more to me, 
 especially when we remember that this preceding sound was palatalised by the in- 
 fluence of the e. It is even possible that, by a reversal of the process by which we 
 get tone, the Scottish scribes have written schatv to represent ME. schow. 
 
 There seems little to notice here, unless it be the marked tendency in Scottish to 
 go ahead of English in the dropping of the consonantal Z-souud. I do not know 
 whether this has been fully accounted for, but it may have been encouraged by French 
 influence, which was strong in Scotland about this time. 
 
 S 1 8. 4. a before r or r 4- consonant rimes with 
 
 a) itself. 
 
 mair : sair : 71, 17. etc. 
 
 more : sore, 370, 49. hore (NE. old age), 371, 59. 
 
 mair : swair (NE. swore), 84, 86. 
 
 b) OE. a(see§ 1). 
 
 c) OE. aeg. 
 
 ar ( = oar) : fare (adj.) (NE. fair) 89, 28. 
 fair : mair : 74, 5. 
 
 d) OE. ae + r. 
 
 mair : hair : 193, 48. 
 „ : war (v) (NE. were), 256, 10. 
 
THE RIMES IN THE AUTHENTIC POEMS OF WILLIAM DUNBAR. 
 
 11 
 
 mair : thair (*icr), 71, 15. 194, 68. 
 
 e) OE. er. 
 
 mair : demair (NE. deemer), 308, 42. 
 „ : Thesaurair, 230, 20. 
 
 f) OE. o. soir (OE. sar) : befoir, 43, 86. lord : scorde, 
 
 376, 55. 
 evermoir : befoir, 118, 20. 
 moir : befoir, 370, 49. 
 forelore : moir : befoir, 370, 49. 
 
 g) OF. air or ar and Lat. ar. 
 
 air : mair, 193, 36. are : compare, 89, 87. preclare, 
 89, 26. 
 
 mair : compair, 84, 87. repair, 74, 2. Ill, 223. 
 
 squair, 193, 48. 
 hair (OE. Mr, NE. old age) : squair, 106, 111. 
 193, 44. 
 h) OF. or Lat. o. 
 
 lordis (OE. hlaford) : discordis : recordis, 227, 
 
 11. 
 lord : remord, 269, 42. 
 „ : accord, 315, 22. 
 „ : corde, 376, 52. 
 „ : deforde, 376, 53. 
 
 The MSc. quhair and thair do not come from the forms Jmcer and p&r, but from 
 hwdr and par [Gerken, § 6. 6)]. The modern Scotch is not only often wher and ther, 
 but even whir and thir. Whir may be due to preceding w (see § 46), and thir may 
 have been influenced in turn by it. On the other hand, we have whaur, ivhar, and 
 whare (Burns), showing, in the first instance at least, the English w-iufluence, as we 
 may call it (see § 46). 
 
 There can, I think, be no doubt that d + r = air is already sounded in MSc. er 
 (LuiCK, Untersuchungen, §§ 235, 260). For the spelling ai = e see Morsbach Gr., § 136, 
 Anm. 3 f., and LuiCK, Untersuch., §§ 359-61. 
 
 § 19. For a + lit = OE. awiht, nawiht see oht (§ 93). 
 
 § 20. a + st rimes with 
 a) OE. m almoist : loist, 76, 61. | b) OF. o and Lat. o. almoist : indoist : coist, 76, 61. 
 
 I take the syllable moist in almoist to come from OE. mast, as neither this nor the 
 Scottish m,aist can come from OE. Tnmt. 
 
 M- 
 
 § 21. 1. Not followed by g, rimes with 
 a) itself, satt : fatt : that, 73, 6. 
 
 M: 
 
 22. rimes with 
 
 a) itself, gaif : haif, 359, 25. blek : fek : sek (NE. 
 
 sack), 116, 85. 
 
 b) OE. ffl. 
 mast : blast, 136, 27. edder : ladder, 177, 368. 
 
 c) OE. a (see § 18). 
 mad : sad, 304, 11. gaif : laif, 287, 46. weir : beir, 
 
 129, 33. 
 
 d) OE. a - (see § 1). 
 
 e) OF. ei. haif : persaif, 279, 17. dais : prais, 205, 46. 
 
 f) OF. au, haif : saiff, 214, 90. 235, 18. 
 
 g) OE. g. bak : quhattrak (NE. what reck), 140, 30. 
 
 feddir (OE. g) : eddir (OE. ae), 283, 8. 
 brak : frak, 111, 241. 
 neck : blek : 82, 34. hed (had) : sted (s) 126, 11. 
 
 This is a very curious instance in which rafter (OE. rcefter) has been confused 
 with words from OE. eaht, and where the scribe or printer has conformed it to the 
 spelling of the other words, while it seems more likely that laivchter and slawchter had 
 they-sound, like NE. laughter, than that rafter had a guttural spirant sound. 
 
 h) OF. or Lat. g. 
 
 blek : effek, 82, 31. weir (NE. war) : prisoneir, 
 116, 110. 
 k) OF. air-ar. 
 
 bair (adj.) : repair, 171, 281. 
 1) OE. eo war (OE. (ge) waer) : far, 36, 50. ar, 
 
 350, 93. 
 m) OE. a : (see § 11). 
 n) OF. a. 
 
 past : fast, 81, 2. 118, 18. 
 o) OE. eaht. ON. atr. 
 
 rawchtir : lawchtir : slawchtir, 222, 37. 
 p) OE. SB + g. (see§ 23). 
 
12 
 
 MR HENRY BELLYSE BAILDON ON 
 
 § 23. ^ + G rimes with 
 
 a) itself and seg. 
 
 day : lay, 93, 8. 104, 48. snaill : taill, 70, 10. 
 lay : clay (OE. £e), 242, 5. 
 
 b) with eg. or ecg. 
 
 day : tway : say, 73, 1. 
 day : play, 126, 32. 
 lay : away, 100, 186. 
 
 c) OF. ei and ai 
 
 lay : affray : 100, 184. 
 
 lay : pray (prey), 104, 54. 
 
 lay : array, 242, 2. 
 
 day : pray, 104, 54. 126, 34. 
 
 day : abbay, 314, 9. 
 
 day : may, 347, 20. 
 
 ,, : array, 347, 23. 
 they (or ON. ei) pray : display : 109, 177. 
 
 fair : air, 106, 1 15. 368, 33. 
 
 d) OE. ae or a, + r. 
 fair : hair, 106, 14. 
 
 „ : sair, 375, 21. 
 
 e) OE. ae (not followed by g). 
 fair : bair, 376, 23. 
 
 f) OE. a-(see§ 1). 
 
 g) OE. a (see § 18). 
 
 h) OF. or Lat. a fair : repair, 74, 1. Ill, 223. 
 
 „ : preclare, 89, 26. 92, 2. 
 
 „ ; compair, 89, 31. 
 
 „ : declair, 283, 10. 
 
 „ : etc., etc. 
 k) with OE. ae or ON. ei. 
 haill : taill : snaill, 70, 10. 
 
 For discussion of ce + g see under e+g, § 32 ; Curtis, § 135 ; and Gerken, § 6. 5). 
 
 § 24. E- sounds in MSc. 
 a) (1) OE. es, e.g. r5ad = NE. red. 
 
 E- sounds in ME. and MSc. 
 
 2) OE, e - lengthened in ME. e.g. stede. 
 (3) ON. ae, e.g. saete (NE. seat). 
 
 (4) OF. e = (l) Lat. a+1 or + n, e.g., natural (2) 
 Lat. 6, 1, 3d or Grmc. in poisition. 
 
 (5) OF. ei, ai. 
 
 § 25. 
 /?) (1) WS. ae Angl. e Grmc. SS. WGrmc a e.g. 
 dasd Angl. ded, NE. deed. 
 (2) OE. S5 (i - mutation of a) maenan (to mean). 
 
 § 26. 
 
 y) (1) WGrmc. e (including e final which was 
 lengthened), e.g., slep (prt = slept), he, (prn). 
 
 (2) OE. S + ld, etc., e.g., feld (field). 
 
 (3) OE. e Northmb. le (i mut. of 5), e.g., swete 
 (sweet). 
 
 (4) Angl. e WS. ie. y (i mut. 5a eo), e.g., heran, 
 hieran, hyran (hear). 
 
 (5) OE. eo = (I.) Grmc. eu, e.g., deop, (II.) con- 
 tracted from e 1 y + a, u, e.g. seon (to see) from 
 
 (3) AF. e = OF. ee + ch, e.g., preechier (to preach). 
 
 (4) Lat. e Greek r;. 
 
 sehan, (III.) eo before (Grmc. e or i) lengthening 
 consonants, e.g., leornian (to learn). 
 
 (6) OF. e = (I.) Lat. a, e.g., cler (clear), (IL) Lat. 
 e or Gk. n Lat. ae and Gk. ai, Lat oe, Gk. oi 
 and Lat. g in open syllables, e.g., ME. procede, 
 tragedie, repete. 
 
 (7) AF. e = (I.) OF. ie., e.g., grief, (II.) OF. ue = 
 Lat. in open syllables, e.g., buef (beef). 
 
 Table of a, /?, y rimes. 
 § 26a. a and /? rimes. 
 
 heidis ; beidis : leidis, 79, 17. deid : leid, 131, 84. 
 steidis : deidis (daed), 246, 93 reid (red), leid, 131, 
 
 87. 
 deid (ea) : deid (daed), 363, 103. speiche :streiche, 
 
 leiche, 308, 31. 
 
 leill (OF. leal) : deill : heill : 37, 6. weill : seill, 
 
 42, 60. 
 speir ; feir (fear), 194, 96. 
 
 § 27. a and y_ rimes. See also LirrcK, Untersuch., 
 
 speiris : weiris : efi'eiris : 98, 126. 
 
 leif (OE. leaf) : cleif, 232, 7. mischief : 259, 10. 
 
 leif : breif, 232, 6. mischief : beleif, 262, 83. 
 
 „ : reif, 260, 33. 
 
 Weill : quheill, 218, 13. skeillis : quheillis, 176, 
 359. 
 
 * leik, eik from late Anglian lee, ec (Sievers, § 163). 
 
 §§ 356 and 358. 
 
 * leik (OE. ea) : breik (OE. e), 167, 240. eik : meik, 
 
 271, 35. 
 t seir : cheir : 33, 4. 246, 110. and cleir, 231, 5. 
 
 ,, : neir : compeir, 96, 72. 
 speir : deir, 99, 165. 
 steir : deir, 119, 48. 137, 52. 
 
 t Angl. 3er, for "WS. 3er. 
 
THE RIMES IN THE AUTHENTIC POEMS OF WILLIAM DUNBAR. 
 
 13 
 
 § 28. fi and y. 
 
 deid (daed) forbid (go), 118, 11. 
 
 feir (fear) : cheir, 97, 94. feir : cheir, 97, 96. 246, 
 
 sweir (adj : cheir, 34, 19. feir : presoneir : 115, 46. 
 freiris : leiris, 80, 46. 
 
 deid : speid, 245, 81. and remeid, 363, 101. 
 „ : meid, 250, 2. weld : neid, 237, 12. 315, 13. 
 
 § 29. a, /3 and y. 
 steid : raid (raiedan) : remeid : pleid, 75, 38, etc. 
 
 deidis : neidis, 250, 4. deid : dreid, 245, 82. 
 „ : procedis, 281, 41. leidis : remeid, 131, 90. 
 ,, : briedis, 281, 42. meidis : reidis, 104, 55. 
 ,, : posseid, 296, 15. weidis : „ 104, 58. 
 
 upspreidis : „ 104, 59. 
 
 shreidis : „ 104, 62. 
 
 seid : speid, 221, 24. 
 
 Weill : deill : feill : 75, 26. 
 
 This table amply proves that Dunbar rimed these three classes of sounds fre- 
 quently together, so that they must to his ear have been very similar, and this can 
 hardly mean anything else than that e had in MSc. already become I, at least before 
 certain consonants. This is an important distinction, especially as we notice that in 
 Dunbar there are only six consonantal in the final letters of these rimes, viz., d, ch,/, k, 
 II, and r. In Clariodus there are also v, m, st, t, s, and p. The most striking point 
 here is the complete absence from both of the nasal n, and the frequency of d and r. 
 One is almost driven to the conclusion that, while before these last two consonants at 
 least e had already the i quality, it had still before ?i and possibly before m an e-sound. 
 
 E- 
 
 § 30. 1. Not before g rimes with 
 
 a) itself. 
 
 heris (v) : deris (hurts) 270, 73. 
 beir (v) : speir, 194, 84. 
 „ (s) (NE. bear) : spear, 194, 92. 
 
 b) OE. ea (see § 55 and following). 
 
 c) OE. ga. 
 
 beir : eir, 115, 41. 
 
 mere : eir, 79, 6. 
 
 forbeir : eir, 251, 34 and 32. 
 
 meit (OE. mete) : threit, 251, 11. 
 
 d) OE. e, J, re, and eo=y rimes, 
 speir : heir : deir, 99, 163. 107, 132, 
 
 e) OE. WS. ES Angl. e. 
 
 meir (NE. mare) : weir (NE. war), 79, 3. eit : 
 bleit (v) (NE. bleat) : quheit (NE. wheat), 
 175, 332. 
 
 speiris : weiris, 98, 130. 
 
 speir : feir, 194, 88. beir (bear), 194, 92. 
 
 f) OF. e. 
 
 speiris : effeiris 98, 130. 137, 64. smellis : ex- 
 cellis, 358, 12. 
 
 g) OE. a^e (see § 50). 
 
 eit : sweit (NE. sweat) : 175, 330. 
 
 The e in beir (v) beir (s) = (hear), speir and deir and also in meit and eit appears 
 to be lengthened and to have in these cases an i-sound (see Curtis, § 131), with whom I 
 am inclined to agree in spite of all said by Dr Gerken, § 10. 4). We must again, 
 however, notice that with the exception of iveit : threit, and eit : sweit, all these rimes 
 end in r, a confirmation, it would seem, of the lightening efi"ect of the Scotch r already 
 noticed in § 29, and confirmed, to my thinking, by such cases as whir and thir (where 
 and there), awir for aware, which occur as often in NSc. In this connection it must 
 be borne in mind that there are in England and Scotland at least three diflPerent rs, the 
 South English trilled r, with up-turned point of the tongue, the North English burr or 
 slurred guttural r, and the Scotch rolled r, made, like the German, with doiun-turned 
 
14 
 
 ME HENRY BELLY SE BAILDON ON 
 
 tOQgue-tip. The first tends to lose its trill and become almost a mere breathing, as 
 in London and South England generally, the second produces the North English 
 a + r-\- cons,- from e + r + cons, while the Scotch seems to lighten the preceding vowel- 
 sound. 
 
 § 31. 2. E + G or CG rimes with 
 
 a) self. 
 
 way : play, 196, 132. 222, 25. 
 say : away, 114, 21. 
 
 b) ae + g. (see § 23). 
 
 c) e + g. say : tway, 73, 2. 
 
 d) ON. ei. 
 
 wey (weigh) : suey (sway), 246, 104. 
 aye : play, 196, 146. 
 
 e) OF. ai. 
 
 way : verey, 82, 7. pley : gay, 75, 39. 
 
 pley : assay, 110, 205 etc. forwayit : assayit, 110, 
 204. 
 
 f) OF. ei. 
 
 play : pray, 126, 34. pley : array, 196, 136. 107, 
 
 127. 
 pley : affray, 196, 147. pley : deray, 234, 14. 
 away : affrey, 100, 187. 
 
 g) OF. e or ee. 
 
 pley : lufraye (livery), 196, 140. 
 
 § 32. An extremely interesting and difficult question demands discussion here, Viz., 
 the history of the three sounds, OE. se + g and e + g and ON. ei. Dr Curtis has treated 
 the question at great length and very thoroughly, and has arrived at a conclusion 
 different from that formerly accepted. Dr Gerken [§ 6. 5)], while admitting some force 
 in Dr Curtis's arguments, states the objections which can be raised against his view, and 
 appears to lean to the earlier theory. What we may call the received doctrine repre- 
 sents the line of development thus : — 
 
 OE. 8s + g>ai 
 OE. e + g 
 ON. ei 
 
 ) . ■ ai 
 f e.| 
 
 >a>§ 
 
 Dr Curtis represents it thus : — 
 
 OE. £e + g>ai 
 OE. e + g 
 ON. ei 
 
 r: ei 
 
 }ei, 
 
 >^ 
 
 At the first glance Dr Curtis's theory has the advantage of greater simplicity, and, 
 what is more, it is from the phonetic stand-point much more credible, as it follows what 
 I have called "the line of least resistance." The other theory labours under the disad- 
 vantage of being circuitous and not following this line, for the change from ai to a is 
 not from the back towards the front, but from front to back, i.e., in the reverse direc- 
 tion to that which it takes in the subsequent stage in passing from a to e (Curtis, § 150). 
 Indeed, the direct transition from a to e seems in itself improbable, so that we should 
 have to insert an intermediate diphthong, ai, which would be very like a reductio ad 
 absurdum of the theory. But we must now examine the objections to Dr Curtis's 
 view as collected together by Dr Gerken (§ 6, 5). See also LaiCK, Untersuch., 
 § 282, etc. 
 
 The first is " that ai and ei are often, especially in the North, interchanged in writ- 
 ing, and that mostly in favour of ai (see Sweet, HES., § 706; Ten Brink, Chaucer's 
 Sprache, § 40)." " According to Dr Curtis's hypothesis," continues Dr Gerken, " one 
 
THE RIMES IN THE AUTHENTIC POEMS OF WILLIAM DUNBAR. 15 
 
 should expect the contrary." The reply to this is, I think, perfectly simple, i.e., that ei 
 was already used to express a different sound, viz. i, and hence ai was written to avoid 
 confusion. His second point, that the transition from ei to ai occurs in South England, 
 though seemingly a point in favour of the received view, is not necessarily hostile, still 
 less fatal to CuRTis's theory. Indeed, one might almost agree, from the very different 
 fortunes of sounds in the north and south, that the probabilities are rather in favour of 
 a difference than of a similarity. Much the same is true of Dr Gerken's third argument 
 from the occurrence of the change from ei to a ; and, moreover, the instances given do not 
 seem to indicate a general law. His fourth objection would only be a serious one if we 
 were certain that the other sounds riming with ai could not possibly have also come to 
 the ^ stage so early, a position in so difficult a question rather dangerous to assert. 
 Nor does his fifth objection, somewhat loosely stated as it is, appear very formidable, 
 especially when we remember that poets are often scrupulous that their rimes should 
 appear correct to the eye as well as to the ear, and also that the stringency with which 
 purity of riming is maintained differs very much from time to time, and also mth the in- 
 dividuality of the writer. To say the least of it, one would have to know exactly who 
 the poets referred to in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries respectively were, and to 
 what extent the one employed rimes which the other did not, before a serious argument 
 could be grounded on these lines. His sixth objection also cannot be called very 
 weighty, being of what one may call a negative character, as there may be some other 
 reason than pronunciation that withheld the Scottish scribes from conforming to the 
 English fashion of spelling. Still we must give Dr Gerken all credit for having mar- 
 shalled a number of ingenious objections to Dr Curtis's theory, objections which it is to 
 be hoped he, Dr Curtis, will himself find occasion to deal with a fulness not possible in 
 the present instance. 
 
 It must also be borne in mind that to all theories in all subjects, not capable of 
 exact demonstration, there will always be many possible, often seemingly formidable, ob- 
 jections. It is here a question between two rival theories, for both of which there is 
 much to be said, and against which much can also be said. There seems to me more fun- 
 damental objections to the elder theory than to Dr Curtis's, and therefore, so far as I 
 can judge, Dr Curtis's theory "holds the field," just as the Darwinian theory and the 
 Wave-theory of light hold the field in their respective sciences. 
 
 E: 
 
 = ^"8., ie., after palatal. 
 § 33. 1. Before Id rimes with 
 
 a) itself, 
 scheld : feld, 134, 7. 195, 114. 
 feild : scheld, 195, 115. 
 weld : feld : scheld, 207, 19. 
 
 b) OE y. 
 scheld : beild, 294, 6L 
 
 The vowel here seems already lengthened. 
 
 c) OE. eo. 
 
 field : beheld, 98, 127. 
 
 d) OF. e. 
 
 feild : peiled, 276, 37. 
 
16 
 
 ME HENRY BELLYSE BAILDON ON 
 
 § 34. 2. Before n and n + cons. rimes with 
 
 a) OE. or ON. e. 
 
 end : wend : kend : spend, 75, 44. etc., strenth : 
 
 lenth, 377, 65. 
 henis : menis, 171, 284. schrenkit : blenkit. 136, 
 
 28. 
 went : bent : schent, 107, 145. 
 hen : pen : men, 171, 284. 
 
 b) OE. e shortened, 
 ken : ten, 75, 10. 
 den : ten : 36, 66. 
 ten : fen, 166, 220. 
 
 „ : men, 165, 218. 
 
 c) OE. eo. 
 
 1 gend (jeond) : kend : end : wend, 70, 1. 
 
 d) OF. or Lat. e. 
 defend : end, 75, 43. 
 
 pen : den, 36, 69. men : pen, 165, 218. 171, 282. 
 fen, 166, 221. 
 
 § 35. Before other consonant.?, rimes with 
 
 a) itself. 
 
 webbis : ebbis, 135, 16. derne, terne, 369, 7. 
 
 beUis : dwellis, 89, 44. 196, 127. 
 
 gekkis : neckis, 128, 17. dwell : well, 70, 8. 
 
 sell, dwell, 352, 25. „ : hell, 386, 4. and 
 
 many such and all words in -nes. 
 fed : bed : wed, 77, 13. 
 
 rest : nest : 86, 42. best : rest : 113, 2. 235, 10. 
 mirthfuUest : nest : rest, 101,3. nett : gett, 257, 17. 
 
 sett: forget, 357, 63. 
 
 b) with OE. u dialectically e. 
 ferry : Canterberry, 241, 38. 
 
 c) OE. y or i. 
 
 bred : fed : gled, 177, 365. dwell : kell (NE. kiln), 
 70, 4. dwell : well : kell (OE. cyln), 70. 2. 
 
 sped : bled : gled, 224, 78. sark : clerk, 176, 351, 
 315, 19. 
 
 clerk : merk (NE. darkness), 176, 349. 315, 19. 
 
 rest : list, 326, 1. 
 
 d) with OE. Eo and ON. ja. 
 
 hell : befell, 138, 106. dwell : fell, 42, 50. 43, 64. 
 
 fell (ON. fjall), 70, 2. 
 tell : fell, 356, 37. fell : well, 372, 5. 
 
 e) OF. and Lat. e. 
 
 belhs : excellis, 89, 45. dwell : Gabriell, 43, 74. 
 dwellis : „ , 89, 45, etc. 
 
 „ : mellis, 208, 6. and many more, 
 dress : heaviness, etc., Ill, 226. 
 distress : merriness, 41, 5. 196, 50. 
 incres : lustiness, 345, 40. 
 drest : rest : nest, 86, 42. 
 
 „ : west : 136, 37. 
 weir (NE. war) : beir (v), 138, 96. forsweir, 138, 
 
 90. 
 
 defend : kend, 75, 43. and 317, 42. 
 amend ; send, 139, 40. and 317, 44. 
 „ : wend, 317, 44. 
 : spend, 317, 43. 
 wrennis : pennis, 98, 121. 
 schent : went : instrument : omnipotent : bent, 
 
 107, 145. 
 bendit : descendit, 150, 6. 
 blent (blinded) : omnipotent, 294, 75. 
 „ (blended) : hardiment, 135, 19. 
 content : went, 130, 57. 
 „ : schent, 334, 8, 
 „ : lent, 334, 28, and many more. 
 
 e) OE. ae. 
 
 ken : quhen, '75, 10. 
 men : „ , 75, 7. 
 
 f) OE. a. 
 
 wrennis : crennis (OE. cran, NE. crane), 98, 113. 
 
 molest : rest : nest, 86, 42. 
 
 revest : rest : mirthfuUest : ness : 86, 42. 
 
 best : test : 147, 7. and many more. 
 
 nett : gett : dett, 257, 16. 
 
 sett : pet : 179, 375. 
 
 nek : effek, 82, 32, and suspect, correct, etc. 
 
 derne : .superne, etc., numerous similar words, 369, 3. 
 
 tern : „ „ „ „ 369,7. 
 
 f) OF. a. 
 
 purchass : largeness, etc., 349, 82. 
 dwellis : bellis : kellis (Fr. cale = head-dress), 
 89, 42. 
 
 g) OE. ea. 
 
 clarkis : sparkis, 315, 18. 102, 21. 
 h) OE. awe, contracted to a before rk. 
 
 clarkis : larkis, 102, 25. 
 i) ON. o. 
 
 clarkis : barkis, 102, 27. 
 k) ON. a. 
 
 rest : kest, 378, 108 
 1) OE. ea. 
 
 mercyless : gentilnes, 117, 1. 
 m) OE. ae. 
 
 best : lest, 336, 13, and 28. 
 
 bedding : spredding, 175, 334. 
 n) OE. !re. 
 
 neck : blek : fek i sek, 315, 82. 
 „ 82,34. 
 
 sted : hed, 126, 11. 
 
 feddir : eddir, 283, 8. 
 o) ON. ja, e. 
 
 well : fell (mountain), 70, 2. 
 
 § 36. The short vowel e in closed syllables exhibits little or no change, and when it 
 rimes with an originally long vowel, it points to a shortening of the long vowel, as in the 
 termination -less, and not to a lengthening of the short one. Peculiar to the North of 
 
THE EIMES IN THE AUTHENTIC POEMS Ob" WILLIAM DUNBAR. if 
 
 England and South of Scotland is the pronunciation of erk = ark, which survives in the 
 modern pronunciation of clerk = dark. But er before other consonants has not in Scot- 
 land the tendency, as in some parts of England, to become ar. What se6ms most 
 probable is that clerk then, as now, and as was the case with so many words in Dunbar's 
 time, had two pronunciations, of which the poet took advantage, just as in modern 
 English poetry no one hesitates to avail oneself of the two pronunciations of again = agen 
 or agen. 
 
 § 37. The rimes nek : effek : etc., instance a looseness of speech, a tendency to speak 
 with as little trouble as possible, which is a correlative indication of that tendency to 
 rapid change we have already noted in MSc. We have it exemplified in the loss of the 
 consonantal I, and in the loss of d and h after n and m respectively, as in hinner for 
 hinder, wunner for wonder, lam for lamh, etc. How far such a tendency can go is 
 shown in the case of some Polynesian languages which have almost or entirely lost their 
 consonantal sounds ; and how far this might have gone in Scotland, but for the invention 
 of printing and consequent spread of education, it is impossible to say. But the fact 
 that these conservative factors were already in Dunbar's time beginning to work is to 
 me a valid argument that we should not expect the same rate of change which had 
 brought MSc. ahead of ME. to continue. And when we consider that not long after, 
 in the time of Knox, education became more general and of better quality in Scotland 
 than in England, and continued so, to a marked extent, up to the time of the adoption of 
 the School-Board system in England, and indeed even later, if not up to the present 
 day, we clearly have the reason why Scotch, which at one time ran ahead of English, 
 should soon after the time of Dunbar begin to lag, and should, at the present day, be 
 behind English in the sense of not yet having adopted such innovations of the present 
 century as the lengthening of the a in pass, grass, etc. These factors, together with the 
 retention of the guttural spirant in Scotch, have tended to keep h in its original place, 
 while in nearly every other dialect of English it became and remains unstable, a con- 
 dition it was tending towards in Dunbar's time, as witness such spelling as hahle, 
 hahound, etc. 
 
 § 38. We have here no instance of what Dr Gerken finds in Douglas of the riming of 
 end with eond (Gerken, § 8, l). In modern Scotch the word, friend (freond) is nearly 
 always /run, which is Burns' pronunciation when he writes it as a Scotch ivord "frien," 
 as he rimes it with green, e'en, seen {Epistle to John Lapraik, verse 1). AVhen he writes 
 it friend, he appears to use it as an EngUsh word, and rimes it with, for example, end 
 (Epistle to E. Graham) ; so I think we must regard the pronunciation frend as an 
 Anglicism. 
 
 E, mutation of o, rimes with 
 §39. 
 
 a) itself. 
 
 sweit : feit, 35, 9. 358, 7. 
 
 speid : meid, 352, 33. 
 
 quene : kerie, 284, 17. 117, 11. 
 
 queue : wene, 352, 46. 
 
 „ : grene, 105, 76. 353, 88, etc., etc. 
 grene : kene, 107, 137. 110, 199. 
 : weiie, 213, 62. 
 
18 
 
 MR HENRY BELLYSE BAILDON ON 
 
 demiss : semiss, 308, 37. 
 
 b) Angl. e = WS. ie later y. 
 
 meid : neid, 250, 2. speid : neid, 255, 39. 
 
 demiss : temiss, 308, 37. qiiene : schene, 92, 7, etc., 
 
 etc. 
 demiss : temiss, 308, 37. kene : „ 107, 140. 
 
 110, 200. 
 flemit : 3emit, 381, 39. grene : „ 103, 45, 
 
 etc., etc. 
 
 c) OK eo. 
 
 breid (OE. bredan) : leid (NE. lied praet. of OE 
 
 leogan), 169, 266. 
 quene : fyftene, 352, 28. 
 
 „ : betwene, 352, 34. 370, 47. 
 
 „ ; besene : sene, 9.'3, 43, etc., etc. 
 kene : sene, 97, 88. 107, 143. 
 
 „ : bene, 117, 1-5. 352, 11. 
 quhein : „ 316, 28. 
 quene : „ 92, 4. 105, 73. 
 grene : sene, 103, 43. etc., etc. 
 
 „ : bene, 105, 77. 
 quene : teyne, 307, 47. 
 beseik : meik, 42, 23. 
 breikis (s) : cheikis, 268. 23. 
 
 d) ON. ce. 
 
 flemit : temit, 381. 36. 
 
 e) Angl. e = WS. £e and Grmc. a. (see § 47). 
 g) OE. SB mut. of a = Grmc. ai. 
 
 kene : mene, 117, 12. 
 breid : weid, 170, 271. 
 speid : meid : dreid, 352, 31. 
 
 „ : seid, 221, 24. 
 
 „ : weid, 221, 24. 
 
 „ : deid (deed), 245, 81. 
 quene : clene, 352, 16. 
 
 „ : mene, 353, 64. 370, 47. 
 wene : ene (evening), 70, 9. 
 sbene : clene, 225, 106. 
 h) OE. ea + gutt. 
 
 quene : ene (eyes), 353, 58. 370, 39, etc. 
 grene : „ 110, 203. 
 kene: „ 110,203.367,47. 
 i) OE. g - see § 30. 
 speid : leid, 221, 16. 
 steid (place), meid, 250, 2, 
 beit : meit, 87, 65. 
 feill (NE. feel) : weill, 75, 25. 
 k) OE. I. 
 
 (?) bedene : quene, 370, 41. 
 1) OE. § : feill (OE. g) : weill, 75, 25. 
 m) OF. e and ie. 
 
 breiding : posseding : exceding, 364, 122. 
 quene : sustene, 352, 28. 
 ,, : contene, 352, 40. 
 „ : prevene : obtene, 353, 70, and 82. 
 ,, : splene, 351, 6, etc., etc. 
 grene : „ 94, 12. 106, 106. 
 ,, : serene, 106, 108. 
 „ : sustene, 110, 202. 376, 45. 
 „ : „ 294,66. 
 quene : serene, 92, 11. and 370, 37. 
 
 „ : amene, 370, 37. 
 beit : discret, 87, 66. 
 flemit : redemit, 381, 36. 
 feir : maneir, 106, 95. 
 
 ,, : chevallier, 105, 153. 
 breid : excede, 377, 73. 
 kene : sustene, 110, 202. 376, 45. 
 ,, : serene, 292, 3. 
 ,, : splene, 352, 12. 
 feir (company) : cheir, 106, 94. 108,' 150. 
 „ : cleir, 106, 98. etc. 
 n) OF. ai. 
 
 beit : treit, 87, 64. 
 o) OF. i. 
 
 feir : pleseir, 105, 92. 
 p) OE. ea. speid : breid (NE. bread), 254, 36.* 
 
 § 40. These rimes seem to confirm the view already stated that e had already in 
 certain positions, i.e., before r and d, and, probably, before t, Ic, II, v, and /"become i (or 
 something very close to it), as we may judge from Dunbar's rhyming the three classes 
 of sounds a, /3, y frequently together before these consonants (see § 29). But as 
 already remarked, the absence of such rhymes before n and their rarity before m may 
 give us just pause before ascribing to e before n (and perhaps m) an i sound at this 
 early period. One reason for this is the almost universal avoidance of the ei spelling, 
 and observance of the ene form. This by itself might be accounted for on graphic 
 grounds, but there is another reason for supposing that the spelling ene could not 
 always mean an i sound, viz., the spelling and rimes of a word like suffragene = sxiffra- 
 gane (NE. suffragan), which rimes with 'twane,' 100, 173, and with meridiane, 
 souerayne, trayne, etc, 371, 68. Now, if our supposition that dne has already an e 
 sound be correct, in order to make suffragene a good rime for the other words, or a 
 correct spelling of the word at all, we must suppose ene to indicate at anyrate an e 
 
 * I follow Professor Schipper in taking hreid to mean bread, but it may mean breadth (OE. brredu). 
 
THE RIMES IlSr THE AUTHENTIC POEMS OP WILLIAM DUNBAR. 
 
 19 
 
 sound of some kind, and not an 4-sound. It is not, indeed, at all necessary to suppose 
 that ene and ane indicated identical sounds, for there is always, even in good modern 
 verse, a tendency to a certain licence with such terminal syllables, which have only a 
 secondary accent. Thus a modern poet will rime a word like infinite with light, or 
 with it, and expect the reader to pronounce the word accordingly. But if ene already 
 meant an ^-sound, it could not be used as anything like equivalent to ane. My 
 position then is this, that before n, and probably me, the OE. e had, so to speak, lagged 
 behind e + r, etc., and thus had still in all probability an e-sound, and that later, through 
 the influence of the other words from OE. e-sound, it was brought into line with them. 
 A confirmation of this view is to be found in the fact that Dunbar rimes words like 
 queue, grene, etc., etc. with sustene and contene, from OF. e, which never acquire the i 
 sound at all. My position is then to some extent intermediate between that of Dr 
 Curtis (§ 129) and Dr Gerken (§ X. 1}. 
 
 § 41. We have 92, 15, a false rime between heme and quene, which shows that the 
 passage is corrupt (see Introduction). 
 
 General OE. or ON. e = WGrmc. e, and 8, (lengthened). 
 
 42. 
 
 Not before g, rimes witli 
 
 a) itseM. 
 
 he : me, 82, 8. etc. 
 me : 3e, 233, 33. 
 „ : we, 290, 100. 
 
 b) e mut. of o. See § 39. 
 
 c) Ang. e. = WS. S (see § 47). 
 
 d) OE. 60. 
 
 56 : fle, 139, 15. 
 „ : se, 140, 23. 
 „ : hie, 139, 3. 
 „ : thre, 140, 27. 
 he : see, 125, 49. 
 „ : fre, 214, 73. 
 me : tre, 82, 13. 
 he : fe, 214, 77. 
 me : le, 82, 23. 
 
 „ : fre, 82, 28. 
 heir : steir, 34, 15. 
 
 „ : deir, 77, 20. 
 me : thre, 83, 63. etc., etc. 
 
 „ : se, 121, 21, etc., etc. 
 
 „ : fle, 233, 232. 87, 35. 
 she : se (see) : 97, 103. 
 
 the : kne, 97, 100. 
 
 e) Ang e = "WS. ea + gutt (see § 49). 
 he : E (NE. eye), 214, 79. 
 
 f) Ang e = WS. ae WGrmc. a (see § 47). 
 
 g) ON. ce (see § 95). 
 
 3e : slie, ON. sloegr, 140, 31, 
 
 he : „ 204, 27. 
 
 me : „ 285, 8. 288, 40. 
 h) OF. e. 
 
 5e : dignitie : agilitie, 139, 7. 
 
 ,, : supple ; cumtre, 140, 39 
 
 heir : prisoneir, 114, 16. 115, 64, and numerous- 
 others. 
 
 heir : cleir, 140, 38. 
 „ : cheir, 33, 3. 196, 131, and others. 
 
 me : cuntrie, 83, 48. 287, 55. 
 
 leir : frere, 80, 46. 
 
 seir : speir (sphere), 368, 12. 
 
 feir (OE. gefer) : cheir, 97, 94. 
 j) ON. eyja. 
 
 de : we, 77, 7. 
 
 the : de, 295, 79. 
 
 Such rimes as 5e : hie, 3e : slie, dignitie, agilitie, me : countrie, seem also to point 
 to an l sound for final e, but not conclusively. 
 
 § 43. 2) Before g, rimes with 
 a) =0E. ecg. 
 
 I say : sway, 73, 2. 
 
20 
 
 MR HENRY BELLYSE EAILDON ON 
 
 Angl. e = WS. le. 
 § 44. Eimes with 
 
 a) itself, 
 heir (v) : deir, 99, 163. 107, 132. 
 steiris : heiris, 267, 4. 
 
 b) general OE. and W. Ger. e. 
 steiU : Weill, 75, 25. 137, 78. 
 heir : deir, 77, 20. 
 
 c) OE. e = mut. of o (see § 39). 
 skeilis (NSc. skeel, OFris. skeel) : heillis, 176, 
 
 356. 
 
 d) OE. eo. 
 skeilis : quheillis (NE. wheel), 176, 356. 
 
 e) OE. as. 
 ten : quhen, 75, 11. 
 
 f) Ang. e = WS. ea + gutt (see § 49). 
 
 g) OE. e. 
 ten : ken, 75, 10. 
 
 ,, : men, 74, 7. 
 fen, 166, 220. 
 h) OE. y. steir (NE. stir) : deir, 119, 49. 137, 53. 
 i) OF. ei. 
 
 steir (steer) : heir, 34, 11. 
 k) OF. e and ie. 
 
 steir (v) (NE. steer) : cheir, 33, 3. 217, 11. 
 „ : perseveir, 33, 7. 
 „ : maneir, 217, 12. 
 
 It is evident that ten had already undergone shortening, perhaps from the freqiient 
 use of tenfold. 
 
 The word steir (NE. stir, OE. styrian) is in Dunbar's time already long, and that is 
 another indication of the lengthening influence of the Scotch r. 
 
 Ansl. e = WS. ae WGrmc. a. 
 
 § 45. 1) followed by r, rimes with 
 
 a) itself. 
 
 zeir : sweir (OE. swsbr = heavy, 34, 19. 
 5eir : feir (NE. fear), 246, 105. 
 
 b) OE. ea. 
 
 j « geir : eir, 251, 32. 
 
 c) OE. e. See § 33, etc. 
 
 d) General OE. or ON. and W.Gmc. e (see § 42). 
 
 e) OE. ea, feir (NE. fear) : geir (OE. gearae), 254, 
 
 31. 
 
 f) Angl. e = WS. Ie. 
 
 5eir : steir, 34, 15. sweir : steir (v) (NE. steer), 
 
 34, 19. 
 5eir : heir (v), 231, 1. 
 
 g) OE. a. 
 
 thair : fair (OE. faran), 71, 19. 
 h) OE. a. 
 
 war (were) : mair : sair, 256, 10. 
 hair : mair, 193, 40. 
 
 thair : mair : sair, 71, 15, etc. 
 „ : lair, 194, 76. 
 ,, : evirmair, 221, 18. 
 i) ON. ae, 3eir : feir (ON. faerr = sound), 244, 51. 
 k) OE. SB + g. See above § 3. 
 1) OF. e. ie. 
 
 zeir : perseveir, 33, 7. sweir : cheir : perseveir, 34, 
 19. 
 „ : presoneir, 113, 1. 114, 8. 
 „ : cleir, 231, 2. 
 ,. : appeir, 244, 52. 
 m) OF. a. 
 
 thair : repair, 74, 2. 
 o) OF. ai. 
 
 hair : air, 106, 114, 193, 48. 
 thair : air, 96, 66. 
 p) OF. ei. 
 
 geir : heir, 34, 11. 
 
 § 46. Following Dr Cdetis, I have taken thair as derived from 'paer, but it seems 
 more likely that, like mair, sair, etc., it represents an original d in the form par, as is 
 well recorded in OE. I think, however, with Dr Curtis, that thair has probably a 
 double sound, viz. e and z, as I have often heard the latter sound in modern Scotch 
 dialect, and my impression is that the two pronunciations may be heard in the same 
 individual according to the position of the word. This second form, tMr, is another 
 instance of the influence of r on the preceding vowel, an influence Dr Gerken so per- 
 sistently denies, but which must, I say, be very obvious to anyone who has heard much 
 Scotch spoken. The word aware, for example, is often pronounced in Scotch awir. 
 This may also be influenced by the w, as I have pointed out, in words like ' swie ' (NE. 
 
THE RIMES IN THE AUTHENTIC POEMS OF WILLIAM DUNBAR. 
 
 21 
 
 sway, ME. sweye) = suing. There seems, indeed, to be a difference between the English 
 and Scotch w, as the latter has not the same influence on a following a as the English. 
 It would thus seem as though the Scotch w lacked the vowel element, or had a different 
 (lighter) vowel element from the English.* 
 
 § 47. 2. not before r rimes with 
 
 a) itself. 
 
 weidis : meidis, 104, 55. deid (OE. £e = NE. deed) : 
 
 dreid, 245, 82. 296, 13. 
 upspreidis : meidis, 104, 59. threidis : meidis, 104, 
 
 59. deid : weid, 221, 4. 
 sweit (NE. sweat) : bleit (bleat), quheit (OE. 
 
 hwaete), 1 17, 330. 
 weid : dreid, 239, 11. reid : seid ; weid (OE. wSd), 
 
 221, 12. gredy : dredy, 372, 57. 
 red : cled (see NED.), 269, 43. 
 speiche : leiche (OE. laece), 308, 34. ever : never, 
 
 118, 4. 
 
 b) OE. ae, mut. of a (see § 50). 
 
 c) OE. Ea. 
 
 weid (OE. wSed) : neid, 170, 268. leidis : heidis 
 
 (NE. head), 79, 17. 
 dreid : neid, 239, 15. deid (NE. deed) : deid (NE. 
 
 dead), 363, 103. 
 
 d) OE. e, mut. of o (see § 47). 
 meit (adj.) : feit, 149, 14. 
 
 speid : weid : reed : leid : geid : seid, 221, 4. dreid : 
 speid, 352, 31. meit (OE. gemsete) : feit, 139, 
 13. sueit, 353, 75. 
 
 e) OE. 50. 
 
 meidis (OE. ee) : reidis (OE. hreod) : weidis : up- 
 spreidis, 104, 55. 
 ever : levir, 138, 95. deid : forbid, 118, 12. 
 
 f ) OE. e : 
 
 spredding : bedding, 175, 334. 
 leist : beste, 96, 71. speiche : streiche (OE. strec), 
 308, 31. 
 
 deill (ffi) : weiU, 75, 25. seill (OE. M) : weiU, 42, 
 61. 
 g) OE. ae : 
 
 agast : mast, 136, 27. 
 h) Fr. or Lat. e. 
 
 meter : discreter, 202, 9. 
 
 unhelifc : conselit (NE. conceal), 355, 23. glemis : 
 breimis (OF. bresme), 103, 32. 
 
 leid : remeid, 131, 8. reid (reedan) : pleid : remede : 
 75, 37. 
 
 ever : dissever, 118, 5. 
 
 never : „ 211, 22. 
 
 deid : remeid, 363, 101. posseid, 296, 15. proceid, 
 281, 41. 
 
 lene (NE. adj. = lean) : refrene, 73, 20. 
 
 leist : beist, 96, 71. 
 
 leve : escheve : greve, 244, 45. 
 i) Fr. a. 
 
 agast : trespast, 36, 31. past, 81, 1. 118, 18. 
 
 last : past, 43, 79. 
 k) OE. e-. 
 
 bleit : eit, 175, 330. 
 
 reid : steid, 75, 41. leidis : beidis (OE. (ge)bedu = 
 NE. bead), 79, 17. deidis : steidis (OE. stede), 
 246, 93. reid (OE. rsedan) : steidis, 75, 41. 
 1) Gen. OE., etc., e. 
 
 deidis : meidis (OE. mid), 250, 4. 
 m) OE. a. 
 
 deid : manheid, 296, 12. womanheid, 118, 11. 
 n) OE. i. 
 
 evin (OE. ssfen) : schrevin, 128, 7. 
 
 Angl. e = WS. ea. 
 
 48. before gutturals, rimes with 
 
 a) OE. eo. 
 
 bene : ene (eyes), 353, 58. 
 ene : sene, 352, 52. 314, 8. 
 „ fyftene, 352, 34. 
 „ : between, 352, 34. 
 hie : be, 295, 95. 
 e (eye) : be, 171, 290. 
 
 he, 214, 75. the, 395, 79. 
 
 ble, 171, 293. 
 
 fe, 214, 79. 
 
 b) OE. e mut. of o. 
 
 ene : grene, 93, 9. 110, 206. 
 
 eyne : queue, 370, 39, 43. ene : shene, 110, 203. 
 225, 107. 
 
 ene : kene, 110, 203. 
 
 c) Gen. OE. e. 
 
 hie : 3e, 139, 3. E : me, 83, 43. 
 „ : me, 84, 83. 289, 75. 
 
 d) 0. Fr. or Lat. e. 
 
 E : degree, 96, 87. nativite, 294, 74. 
 hie : strenuite, 295, 94. E. ene ; splene, 94, 12. 
 ,, : qualitie, 84, 88. 
 
 e) OE. SS. 
 
 ene : clene, 225, 106. 
 
 f) ON. 0y. 
 
 de : e, 171, 292. 295, 77. 
 
 * When one forms the lips into the position for pronouncing w (or wh), and then blows or whi-itles, one produces 
 either an w-sound, as in the exclamation " Whew !" or an i-sound, as in whistling a high note, and this may be the differ- 
 ence between the English w, which gives from a, au, and the Scotch, which gives from e an i-soimd. 
 
22 
 
 MR HENRY BELLYSE BAILDON ON 
 
 § 49. There is nothing in this or the foregoing lists of OE. e sounds to gainsay the 
 contention that e was already, in certain positions, in MSc = *, and the spellings hie, 
 qualitie, etc., bear out this view. 
 
 AE. (mut. of OE. a. Grme. ai). 
 § 50. 1, not followed by r or w, rimes with 
 
 a) itself, 
 heill : deill (v), 37, 2. 
 sweit (sweat) : bleit : quheit, 175, 332. 
 
 b) Angl. e = WS. a, WGrmc. a. , 
 breid : weid, 315, 12. 
 reid : leid (OE. lleden = Latin = learninc), 221, 16. 
 
 c) OE. ea. ^' 
 glemis : stremis : bemis, 102, 28. levit : berevit, 
 
 288, 61. 
 
 d) OE. gen. e, ene (aefen) : wene (e), 70, 9. 
 deill : feiU (e,) 75, 26. 
 
 e) OE. e mut. of o. 
 mene (v) (NE. mean) : kene, 117, 12. 
 meyne(v= moan, lament) : mene : schene : greyne, 
 
 122, 39. quene, 370, 47. 
 
 f) Angl. e-WS. le. 
 deill : steill, 75, 28. 
 
 g) OE. 5(5. 
 mene (moan) : bene, 353, 64. meyne ( = moan), 
 
 370, 47. 
 glemis : lemis, 102, 29. lene, bene, 73, 23. 
 
 mene : bene, 117, 15. mene : sene, 315, 13. 123, 
 
 36. 
 seis : theis, 194, 69. kneis, 194, 86. 
 see : thre, 194, 85. 
 
 f) OF. and Lat. e. 
 les : progress : posses : incres, 87, 51. 
 
 „ : dress, excess, 131, 93. 
 ,, : express, 75, 45. 
 teiche : preiche, 239, 13. 240, 26. 
 „ : fleiche, 240, 26. 
 
 g) Fr. a and ea. 
 maist : haist, 356, 46. 
 deill : leill, 37, 4. 
 beill : „ 37, 3. 
 
 h) Fr. ei. 
 
 lene : fene, 73, 8. 245, 68. 
 ,, : disdene, 73, 13. 
 ,, : strene, 74, 28. 
 j) Fr. ai. 
 
 lene : complene, 73, 5. 
 
 § 5 1. 2) before r, rimes with 
 
 a) OF. e and ie. 
 
 leiris : Cordilleris freiris, 80, 45. 
 feir : cheir, 246, 101. 
 
 b) OE. ea. 
 
 fear : geir, 254, 31. 
 
 c) Gen. OE. e. 
 
 leir : heir, 325, 21. 
 
 d) OF. ei. 
 
 sweir : heir, 34, 11. 
 
 There is nothing in these lists but what confirms the conclusions of § 40. 
 
 § 52. 3, before w, rimes with 
 a) OE. 50 + w. 
 
 § 53. rimes with 
 a) OE. ea. 
 
 slewth : rewth : trewth, 237, 16 (see Curtis, 
 350, Gebken, § IX. 1). 
 
 ON. M 
 
 thrall : all, 359, 28. 
 
 ON. EI 
 
 § 54. rimes with 
 
 a) OE. e + g(see§32). 
 
 ay : say, 114, 20. away, 114, 21. play, 196, 146. 
 
 b) OE. oe + g(see§ 32). 
 
 ay : lay, 114, 23. day, 212, 39. 
 
 c) OF. ei. 
 
 ay : affrey, 196, 145. they : pray, 109, 180. 
 
 d) OF. ai. 
 
 ay : assay, 349, 82. they : array, 109, 180. 
 
 EA 
 after so. and g. 
 §55. 1, after sc, g, in open syllables not followed by g, rimes with 
 a) OE. a - schame : name, 85, 5. etc. etc. (see § 1). 
 
THE EIMES IN THE AUTHENTIC POEMS OF WILLIAM DUNBAR. 
 § 56. 2, before g, scliaw (OE. sceaga), rimes with a + g schawis : lawis, 97, 104. 
 g 57. WS. ea + r + cons. a) before palatal cons, rimes with 
 
 23 
 
 a) OE. e. 
 
 sparkis : clarkis : 102, 24. sark, .315, 19. 
 merkis : sparkis, 315, 18. 
 
 b) OE. eo. 
 
 sparkis, werkis, 315, 17. 
 
 c) ON. 0. 
 
 sparkis : barkis, (s), 102, 24. 
 
 d) OE. -awe. 
 
 sparkis : larkis, 102, 25 (see § 35.) 
 
 § 58. ^) before other consonants does not occur. 
 
 WS. eal + cons. 
 
 § 59. a) eal or eall - rimes with 
 
 a) itself, aw : waw, 44, 11. haw, 173, 309. caw, 173, 
 
 311. 
 
 all : fall, 89, 20. 334, 9. all : sail, 281, 54. 
 „ : wall, 115, 59. 371, 73. fall : hall : 371, 
 
 / 83. 
 „ : hall, 371, 77. 
 
 b) ON. all. all : call, 281, 52. 
 
 c) OE. oel. all : small, 35, 18. 89, 46. 
 
 fall : „ 35, 20, 334, 27. 
 hall : „ 41, 13. 
 
 d) ON. sell thrall : all, 359, 28. 
 
 e) OE. a + g, waw : draw, 166, 226. 
 
 f) Er. or Lat. al. All : clericall : naturall : imperiall : 
 
 „ royal : victoriall : orygnal, 88, 
 8, etc. 
 
 § 60. j8) WS. eal + d., rimes with 
 
 a) itself. 
 
 awld : bawld, 352, 9. cawld, 352, 7. 
 fawd : hawd, 209, 37. 
 
 b) OE. o. cawld : bawld : fold (OE. folde = ground), 
 
 96, 65. 
 
 Fr. or Lat. al. All : celestiall : terrestrial : 112, 
 257. 
 „ stall : cardinall, 265, 50. 
 wall : cardinall, 361, 75. imperiall, 
 etc. etc. 
 g) Fr. ail. 
 
 h) OE. aw and eaw. 
 raw : aw, 173, 308. 
 knaw : staw (stall), 276, 31. 
 waw : blaw, 166, 229. 
 k) ON. oil. 
 
 wall :'ball, 371, 79. 
 hall : „ 
 
 c) OF. au. fawd (OE. f eald = - fold) : hawd (healdan) 
 
 : frawd, 209, 37. 
 
 d) ON. aid : tald : 5ald : scald : cald : bald : 275, 6. 
 
 said : staid, 276, 28. 
 
 e) OE. a+g. gnawd : tald, 277, 58. 
 
 § 61. In modern Scotch the vocalisation of II is complete, and it is quite possible that 
 in Dunbar's time it was optional, as is shown by the inconsequence of the spelling. But 
 the vocalisation of I in Id in NSc. is not complete, and seems to remain very much as 
 in Dunbar's time, i.e., it may be pronounced either way. 
 
 Dr Gerken [§ 3, 2)] says that Douglas sounded the / before ^ as a consonant, and 
 cites the rime salt (OE. sealt) ; exalt. But this seems to me no proof, as exalt might 
 also be pronounced then, as now, with vocalised I. 
 
 EI 
 
 62. =G-rmc. au. not followed by w or gutt., rimes 
 
 f) OE. e : merciless : gentilness : lustiness, 117, 1. 
 
 g) Gen. OE. etc. e. heir : neir (NE. near), 330, 35. 
 h) OF. e. deid : remeid, 131, 84. 363, 10, Est : est 
 
 (Lat.) 367, 6. 
 reid : ,, 131, 90. les : expres, 175, 45. 
 les : incres, 87, 50. 132, 96. progres : posses, 87, 
 55. dress, 131, 93. excess, 131, 96. 
 i) OF. ei. deid (NE. death) : feid (NE. feud), 363, 100. 
 
 a) with itself. 
 deid (dead) reid (red) 131, 84. held, 243, 21. 
 reid : held : 95, 50. 
 
 b) OE. e- see § 30. 
 deid (death) : steid (place), 379, 136. grete (great) 
 
 etc., 310, 21. 
 
 c) ON. ae. see § 53 a. 
 
 d) Angl. e WS. ae see § 47. 
 
 e) OE. S5 mut. of a (see § 50). 
 
24 
 
 MR HENRY BELLYSE BAILDON ON 
 
 § 63, EA. + w., rimes %Yith 
 a) itself, shewis : schrewis ; few is, 252, 51. 
 
 b) OE. a + w. Schawin : knawin, 355, 13. 
 
 § 64. rimes with 
 
 a) self, ellevin : hevin, 139, 1. 
 
 hevin : sevin, 43, 65. 71. 26, etc. 
 
 b) OE. e - hevin : uneven, 246, 96. 
 
 sevin : „ „ „ 
 
 ,, : stevyne, 371, 54. 
 
 c) Angl. e WS. i and y. 
 hevin : allevin (?), 240, 1. 
 sevin : „ (1), „ , 2. 
 
 d) ON. e : 
 
 sevin : nevyne, 371, 58. 
 
 EO- 
 
 e) OE. ^ + g(see§ 56). 
 fe : E, 214, 79. 
 
 f) OF. or Lat. u. schute : refute, 109, 181. 
 ,g) OF. ou. 
 
 schute : rebute, 109, 181. 
 h) OF. ui. 
 
 schute : pursuite, 109, 182. 
 j) ON. o. 
 
 schute ; rute, 109, 184. 
 
 § 65. Allevin, 240,1 is derived by Jamieson from OE. die/an, but there is the diffi- 
 culty that it is a weak verb ; but it is not impossible that it was formed on analogy. If 
 once the form occurred, the fact that it is one of the very few rimes to hevin, sevin and 
 elevin, would encourage the use of it, and the form might thus become fixed. A possible 
 derivation from the OF. allever, which might give a similar sense of allow or admit, has 
 somewhat the same objection ; but perhaps a loan word admits more readily of false 
 inflexion, if, indeed, it can be called false, than a native word. It might be a form of 
 ellevin (eleven), but that it makes absolutely no sense in this passage. 
 
 EO: 
 
 66. 1. before r + cons. rimes with 
 
 a) itself, carvit : starvit, 222, 21. , i d) OE. or ON. e 
 
 b) OE. ea. Angl. a (r + cons.) (see § 57). ! werkis : sarkis, 315, 19. 
 
 c) OE. i or y. ; e) OF. or Lat. e 
 
 werkis : merkis, 315, 19. dirk : kirk : mirk, 86, 15. carvit ; .starvit : desarvit, 222, 21. 
 
 wirk : „ „ 86, 20. ' f) OF. or Lat. a. 
 
 § 67. It seems more probable that carvit, starvit, desarvit were pronounced with e 
 sound, as is usual in NSc, than that they had the North E. a sound. 
 
 8 68. 2. not before r + con., rimes with 
 a) with itself, wilk : milk : silk, 86, 22. 
 
 I b) with OE. i. milk : wilk : silk : ilk, 86, 22. 
 
 EO 
 
 (l) = Gmc. eu. (2) contraction from e. i. y., with following a or u through dropping of 
 
 intermediate h or j. 
 
 S 69. 1. not followed by w or g, rimes with 
 
 a) itself. 
 
 he : see : 124, 35, etc., etc. bee, 248, 8. kne, 261, 
 
 61. 
 „ : ble, 171, 293. kne : se, 97, 100, etc., etc. 
 
 threis : kneis, 173, 300. 
 fe : fre, 214, 73. 
 kne : thre, 194, 85. 
 
 b) OE. eo + gutt(see§71). 
 
 be : hie, 295, 90. he : dre, 354, 2. 
 
 theis : kneis, 194, 70. fle : se, 196, 128. 
 
 c) general OE. or ON. e (see § 42). 
 be : he, 251, 23. se : the, 97, 103. 
 
 kne : the, 97, 103. se : me, 124, 19, etc., etc. 
 fre : he, 214, 75. tre : me, 82, 13, etc., etc. 
 
 d) OE. e, Angl. e, mut of 5 (see § 39). 
 
 e) Angl. e "WS. as (see § 45). 
 
 f) OE. ae mut of a (see § 50). 
 
 g) Angl. e = W8. a:5 (see § 45). 
 
THE EIMES IN THE AUTHENTIC POEMS OF WILLIAM DUNBAR. 
 
 ,25 
 
 i) OE. a. See I 20. , 
 
 k) OE. ea+ g. fe : E. (NE. eye), 214, 79. 
 
 1) OE. or ON. e (see § 42). 
 
 m) ON. See §96. 
 
 n) OE. rk or ON. ig. 
 
 sie (see) : bysselye, 124, 40. 
 o) OF. or Lat. e., or earlier ie. 
 r) be : petie, 119, 41. scurrilite, 154, 58. 
 
 „ : importunitie, 245, 76. 249, 23 and others. 
 
 se : gree, 123, 5. quantite, 196, 153. 
 
 This list, taken along with some of the 
 MSc. final e was already an i sound. 
 
 § 70.— E6. + W. = Grmc. iuj, iw. 
 
 a) with itself, 
 blew : new : hew, 94, 16. new : ilew (praet.), 251, 
 
 O i . 
 
 tnew : hew : rew, 117, 10. 345, 37. hew : grew, 
 135, 24 (see under uw, § 103). 
 
 b) OE. u (see § 104). 
 
 c) OE. asw (see § 53). 
 
 § 70a. — E6. + g or h, rimes with 
 
 a) OE. m, without guttural, 
 dre (dreogan) : be, 354, 2. fe (feoh) : fre, 214, 
 
 73. 
 theis : kneis, 194, 70. hie (heoh) : he, 295, 95. 
 
 b) OE. Eg, seis : theis, 194, 69. 
 
 .OF. ieu. se : parde, 195, 120. 
 s) OF. i. be : supple, 250, 8. 
 
 tyred (OE. teorian) : requyred : expyred, 251, 17. 
 
 tyre : inspyre, 266, 93. 
 t) OE. as (see § 50). 
 
 seis : kneis : 194, 69, and 86. 
 u) ON. eyj. 
 
 de : be, 172, 295. 251, 33. 
 
 „ : se, 195, 128. 
 v) ON. 06 (see § 95). 
 
 foregoing, seems to confirm the idea that 
 
 d) OF. and Lat. u. trow : Jesu, 361, 59. 
 
 e) OF. ii, hew : vertew, 345, 34, 
 
 f) Fr. eu, ieu, hew : persew, 117, 6. 347, 12. 
 
 trew : rew : „ 262, 82. 
 
 g) Fr. ive. new : eschew (OF. eschever, eschiver), 
 
 221 9 
 h) OE. all. 50W : few, 38, 18. 
 
 c) OE. and gen. e, le (leogan) : me, 82, 23. fe : he, 
 214, 75' hie : me, 84, 83. 289, 75. se, 139, 3. 
 
 d) OF. e. 
 hie : strennite, 295, 94. le (leogan) : gre, 204, 33. 
 
 e) OE. ea + g. fe : E (NE. eye), 214, 77. 
 
 I- 
 
 c) OE. e. beschittin, sittin, 137, 70. 
 
 % 71. not followed by c or g, rimes with 
 
 a) itself, schittin : wittin, 174, 323. 
 
 b) OF. or Lat. i, bidder : consider, 43, 84. 
 
 Into the interesting controversy over the fortunes of OE. i and y in open syllables 
 so elaborately treated by Dr Curtis (§ 361, etc.), and by Professor LuiCK (§ 381, etc., 
 §§ 515 and 530), and carefully summed up by Dr Gerken, I do not propose to enter at 
 any length, especially as Dunbar's meagre rime-list above throws no fresh light on the 
 subject. As to the quality of the OE. i-sound, is not Dr Curtis (following Ellis, 
 EEP., p. 105) going rather far in asserting that this sound is in all cases not a pure 
 ^-sound, but partakes of the e quality, as in NE ? Is it not more likely that the case in 
 Anglo-Saxon was, as in modern German, that the sound varied according to the adjacent 
 consonants ? I found this remark on what I have observed in teaching German students 
 English, viz., on a tendency they have to introduce the pure ^-sound in certain words, but 
 not in others. I have often had to correct them for introducing it into a word like with, 
 but have never noticed it in words like in, sin, wind, etc. I have unfortunately made 
 no notes on this point, but I think there is no doubt that this sound tends to vary 
 according to the following consonant. In modern English we have practically no pure 
 '*-sound, but in Scotch we have it in words like wi (with), pity, city, etc., though the 
 hist two vy^prds have often a long vowel. Better examples would be the forms pitiful, 
 
 D 
 
26 
 
 MR HENRY BELLYSE BAILDON ON 
 
 citizen, which a Scotohman will usually pronounce with a pure ?-sound in the first 
 
 syllable. 
 
 I: 
 
 § 72, not followed by Id, nd, ng, ht, g or c, rimes 
 
 a) itself, 
 is : miss, 75, 23. this, 75, 22. 
 his : iwis, 335, 32. 
 is : bliss, 42, 36. 
 is : his, 335, 32. 
 ■widdy : smydy, 223, 56. 
 Will : still, 115, 45. 
 bit : spit, 137, 54. upsit, 137, 51. 
 it : wit, 283, 4. 249, 28. 
 billie : illwillie : quhillylillie, 39, 31. 
 chitterlilling : rilling : schilling, 178, 371. 
 win : skin, 36, 60. 233, 21. 
 
 „ : within, 233, 22. 
 
 „ : ryn, 310, 9. 
 
 „ : pin, 317, 34. 
 drink : wink, 211, 16. 
 innys : schinnis, 202, 13. 
 begin : in, 43, 89. 
 drink : sink, 279, 13. 
 grippis : lippis, 207, 18. 
 schippis : lippis, 206, 3. 
 kirk : stu-k, 261, 66. 
 will : thrill, 325, 12. 
 
 b) OE. y (later i or ii) (see § 105, §§ 107 and 109). 
 c)' OE. e. (?) flint : hint (NE. hent), 224, 80. 
 
 with 
 
 unblist : brist (JSTE. burst), 138, 99. 
 
 d) ON. y (shortened) (see § HI). 
 
 e) Fr. or Latin e. 
 win : gin, 317, 34. 
 stink : ink, 150, 10. 
 
 f) Fr. or Lat. i. 
 
 grippis : ecclippis, 151, 14. 
 
 mist : solist, 75, 27. 
 
 clippis : lippis, 193, 55. 206, 5. 
 
 unbKst : resist, 138, 99. 
 
 bit : spit : quit, 137, 54. 
 
 wit : it : unquit, 249, 41. 
 
 g) Fr. or Lat. u. 
 
 widdy (NE. halter) : smydy : study, 223, 
 
 will : still : bill (Lat. Bulla), 115, 42. 
 h) OE. eo (see § 66). 
 i) ON. i. 
 
 still : will : till, 115, 44. 
 
 will : ill, 239, 17. 325, 13. 
 
 will : till, „ ,, 
 
 still : ill, 325, 15. 
 k) Du. i. 
 
 stink : clink, 151, 16. 
 
 skippis : lippis, 206, 8. 
 
 There is not much calling for remark in this rime-list. That there is a tendency, 
 however, as shown still in NSc. for e and i to be assimilated or interchanged, cannot be 
 doubted, and before n + consonant the i prevails, especially before ng and nk, as in NE. 
 in the words English, engine, etc., and in ink. It seems most probable that in Dunbar's 
 time the pronunciation varied, as in modern Scotch dialect. The Irish dialect of to-day 
 leans strongly to the i, as in stringth for strength. Study had probably a short u sound 
 = NSc. ui as in guid, a sound, when quickly spoken, not easily distinguished from i. 
 The words hit and grip I have classed according to the Anglian forms hit and grip, 
 and not the WS. hite and gripe. We have in NE. the corresponding forms hit, grip, 
 bite, gripe. (See Archiv., cii. 73.) 
 
 §73. 2. I : before nd rimes with 
 
 behind : lind, 174, 324. wind, 194, 67. 
 
 a) itself. 
 
 behind : fynd 
 
 bind : blind, 87, 72. 
 
 bind :find, 192, 12. 
 
 § 74. It is remarkable how sharply Dunbar discriminates between i + nd and y + nd. 
 The reason seems to be that y + nd had been lengthened to a diphthong, since it rimes 
 with y + nd; and i + nd was not generally lengthened as in ME. The lengthening of 
 behind for Scotch ahint, the only word in the list that has a long sound in NSc, must 
 have taken place later through English influence (see under Y.). This view is accepted 
 and, I tbink, rendered still more probable, in spite of all that is said on the other side 
 by Hetjseb (Anglia, XIX. 404) and by Dr Geekbn [§ 13, 2)]. (See also § 108.) 
 
THE 'JRIMES IN THE AUTHENTIC POEMS OF WILLIAM DUNBAK. 
 
 27 
 
 § 75. 3. i + c rimes with 
 
 a) ON. J. 
 
 1 : sky, 192, 15. 
 
 b) OF. i or ie. 
 
 I : cry, 118, 7. 192, 27. . 
 I : bellamy, 192, 26. 
 I :Loiiibardy, 195, 102. 
 
 c) OF. e. 
 
 I : army, 195, 101. 
 
 § 76. 4. i 4- g rimes with 
 
 a) itself. 
 
 dughty : worthy, 292, 20. wry (1) 172, 303. 
 
 b) OF. i and ie. 
 
 dughty : worthy : cry, 292, 20. 
 style (stile) : vyll, 86, 38. 
 purspyk : heretyk : lunatyk, 179, 375. 
 nyne : devyne, 42, 31. 
 
 ^77. i + ld. rimes with 
 
 a) OE. y. 
 
 wyld : fyld, 167, 237 
 
 b) OF. i. 
 
 d) OE. or ON. I. 
 I : by, 279, 24. 
 
 purspyk : lyk, 177, 366. 307, 12. tyk (ON. tik), 
 177, 366. 
 
 e) OE. J+g. 
 
 I : dry, 96, 70. 
 
 f) ON. i + k. 
 
 flicker : sicker : wicker : bickarr, 212, 41. 
 
 c) OE. e = W8 le. 
 worthy : nye, 90, 52. 
 
 d) ON. i + g. 
 
 worthy : prudently, 90, 50. 
 
 e) OE. i. 
 
 styll (NE. stile) : wyll, 86, 38. 
 
 begyled : wyld, 167, 237. 
 c) Gk. V. 
 
 styled : wyld, 1 67, 237. 
 
 It is difficult to say whether the long i and y in MSc. represented a diphthongal 
 sound at this time, or merely a long i sound. But the occasional use of such rimes as 
 styll, which is now and was, probably, on account of the absorbed g, also then long, with 
 the undoubted short wyll (unless wyll be also long, being NE. wile, device, and not NE. 
 will), might incline us to the idea that the sound was not yet diphthongal, because in 
 that case the rime would be a bad one, and not merely an imperfect one, like in quality, 
 but differing in quantity. Before Id we have the usual lengthening of the vowel. 
 
 § 78. ON. i + g. (terminations ly and lie) rimes with 
 
 womanly : cry, 279, 27. malady : veraly : hestely, 
 261, 59. 
 h) OF. iue? or Spanish guia. 
 
 a) OE. ig. (see 76). 
 womanly : ly, 243, 29. 
 
 b) OE. i. 
 hairtfully : by, 72, 36. 
 lustily : „ 104, 53. 
 wretchitly : „ 251, 21. 
 
 c) OE. i + c. 
 
 I : womanly, 279, 23. 
 
 d) OE. eo. (see 69). 
 
 besalie : mischeifaislie : see, 118, 17. 
 
 e) OE. se. (see § 21.) 
 
 f) OF. i and ie. 
 
 lustely : fantesy, 104, 49. 
 wretchitly : fy, 251, 24. 
 
 § 79. i + ng. 
 
 a) with itself in all participles and verbal nouns, 
 
 which also rime with Fr. ign and ring : sing, 
 
 94, 30. 215, 105. 
 ring : thing, 215, 113. bring, 215, 111. 
 spring : nothing : inbring, 108, 161. 
 
 b) Fr. ign. 
 
 bening : sing : thing, 368, 28. 
 ring, 94, 33. sing, 94, 30, etc., etc. 
 
 guye : prudently, 90, 53. 
 
 gy : womanly, 279, 11. 
 i) ON. i. 
 
 airly : harbry, 71, 14. 
 k) OE. y + g. 
 
 airly : dry, 71, 16. 
 
 hairtfully : dry, 72, 37. 
 1) ON. y. 
 
 lustely : sky, 104, 50. 
 m) OE. i + g. wy (OE. wiga) : womanly, 279, 11. 
 n) OE. y. 
 
 womanly : ky (NE. cattle), 279, 11. 
 
 c) O.Nhumb. i— WS. eo. 
 
 Sing : spring, 99, 151. 108, 154. 
 
 Sing : sing. 111, 245. thing, 370, 17. thring, 370, 17. 
 
 d) OE. e + ng. 
 
 ring : sprynge (dance), 215, 19. 
 
 e) OF. egn. 
 
 inbring : ryng (reign), 390, 19. 
 
28 
 
 MR HENRY BELLYSE BAILDON ON 
 
 Words in ight : icht : yght : ycht. 
 § 80. The vowel spelt i or y has in these words various origins. 
 
 1. OE. ie, i,<eo = Grmc. i, e ; knight, right, bright, 
 wight (person), sight, plight, fight. 
 
 2. OE. i<ea. (Northmb., se). 
 night : might (sb and vb). 
 
 3. OE. i = Lat. i. 
 dight. 
 
 4. OE. eo (with later palatalisation) := Grmc. i. 
 light (adj. and adv.). 
 
 5. OE. I. 
 alight vb. 
 
 6. OE. e : Ang. 
 
 e mut. of 5o ea : light (vb.), hight. 
 
 7. OE. S5 (with later palatisation) = Grmc. iu : light, 
 (sb.). ■ ' 
 
 8. OE. y mut. of u : flight. 
 
 9. ONthmb, e in reduplic. pret. hight. 
 
 10. ON. I. wight (adv. ON. vigr). 
 
 § 81. Dunbar rimes these sounds only among themselves, with one remarkable excep- 
 tion. In the poem " In Honour of the City of London " he rimes (89, 35) hnyght and 
 white, and this seems to me to point to the fact that in England, or at least in London, 
 these words had already (1501) like sounds. That is to say, the guttural spirant has 
 disappeared in England, but not in Scotland. But it is curious that the one exception 
 given by Dr Curtis as occurring in Clariodus, is plicht and quhyte (white). Yet 
 white can have had no exceptional pronunciation, seeing how consistently and frequently 
 it rimes with pure it sounds. 
 
 § 82. Present participles and verbal nouns in ing rime only among themselves with 
 OE, words in ing, and with' the Fr. ign adjectival endings as benign and malign (see 
 §79). 
 
 § 83. Pres : part in and (see § 5). 
 
 § 84. rimes with 
 
 OE. or ON. J. (including t + fif) 
 
 a) itself. ' 
 
 rydand : bydand, 218, 33. 
 abyde : besyde, 196, 159. 
 byd : besyde, 126, 29. 330, 37. 
 betyd : syd, 177, 365. 
 wyd : besyde, 330, 36. 
 glyde : syde, 137, 67. 
 blyth : wryth, 196, 121. 
 
 „ : swyth, 304, 9. 
 syne (sifpen) : myne, 214, 81. 
 beschitten : sitten, 137, 70. 
 bakbytting : flytting, 151, 22. 
 swyne : myne, 214, 85. 
 Ryne : wyne, 42, 53. 
 wyiss (adj.) : wpryse, 234, 11. 
 wyiss (sb.) syss, 106, 101. 
 syss : ryp, 106, 101. 
 
 gryss (NE. grice, ON. griss) : unwyse, 319, 59. 
 dryfer : ryver : 3adswyver, 178, 374. 
 smyle (NE. smile, deriv. uncertain) (?) : quhyle, 
 
 94, 36. 
 yle : (?) quhyle, 265, 61. 
 wyd : byd, 33,0, 36. 
 ryd : slyd : abyd, 125, 4. 
 stryd :syd, 194, 75, 
 Fyf (Fifeshire) : lyf : wyf, 197, 161. 
 lyfe : swyfe, 83, 67. 
 „ :wyf, 223, 43. 
 
 thryff : fyve : belyif,- 246, 95. 
 
 smyle : (?) wyle : quhyle : myle, 110, 224. 
 
 glyde : wyde, 225, 112. besyde, 225, 116. 
 
 „ : tyde : ryd, 226, 128. 
 dryf : lyve, 385, 47. 
 fyve : schryve, 358, 9. 359, 18. 
 knyfe : lyfe, 83, 74. 
 lyfe : ryfe, 83, 66. 377, 91. 
 henwyfe : lyfe, 71, 24. 
 lyfe : schryve, 1359, 23. 
 
 „ : fyve, 359,21. 
 ryfe : swyve, 83, 67. 
 friendlyk : tyk, 200, 13. 
 lyk : shryke : stryke, 225, 87. 
 ryne (NE. fountain, source) : schyne, 370, 12. 
 
 b) OE. i + gorc (see § 75, 76). 
 
 c) OE. or ON. y (see § 112). 
 abyde : bryde, l96, 158. 
 besyd : bryde, 198, 157. 
 schyne : ryne, 370, 12. 
 wy (man) : sky, 219, 43. 
 myne : tyne, 82, 22. 
 wynis : tynis, 80, 31. 
 
 d) Fr. i, ie, or Lat. i. 
 abyde : provide, 44. 6. 
 
 ryce (NE. brushwood) : pryce : cuvatyce, etc., 310, 
 
 31. 
 belyve ; discryve, 43, 71, 
 
THE RIMES IN THE AUTHENTIC POEMS OF WILLIAM DUNBAR, 
 
 29 
 
 ; ^wrytting : indytting, 227, 15. 
 wynis : dynis, 80, 32. 
 gryce (see above) : nyce, 273, 65. 
 paradyis : wyiss (sb), 41, 3. 
 service: „ 255,2. 
 - -wyiss (sb) : benefice-: deviss, 106, 104. 304, 2. 
 syss (OE. si ) : ryss : cryis, suppryis, 366, 2. 
 ryiss (v) : benefyiss, 280, 24. 
 
 „ : cryis : suppryis, 367, 5. 
 abydit : decydit : devydit, 383, 29. 
 syd : wyd : crucifyed, 377, 95. 
 henwyfe : stryfe (OF. estrif), 71, 25. 
 knyfe : lyfe : stryfe, 83, 72. 
 
 „ : stryfe, 129, 31. 
 wylis : ilis, 208, 17. 
 Syne (NE. since) : inclyne, 375, 6. 
 wyne : ingyne : propyne : fyfle, 301, 63. 
 byd : homicyd, 222, 33. 
 
 „ : provyd, 266, 81. 
 depryf : dryf, 138, 91. 
 arryve : fyve, 385, 47. 
 lyve : wyve : laxatyve, 223, 41.- 
 
 „ : stryfe, 83, 69. 71, 23. 
 myne : fyne, 82, 21. 
 
 schyne r devyne : regyne : "rosyhe : femynyne, 
 369, 2. 
 
 „ : Lucyne : matutyne : crystalyne : fine, 
 ,101, 1. 
 wyiss (adj.) : devyiss : suppryiss, 76, 67. 
 
 ,, : survyiss : cryis, 249, 24. 
 
 „ : cuvatyce, 311, 40. ryss : dispyss (NE. 
 
 despise), 269, 63. 280, 22. 
 ryne (ON . rln) : devyne : regyne : rosyne : femi- 
 
 nyne, 370, 12. 
 abydit : gydit, 383, 31. 
 wylis : begylis, 208, 16. 
 tyd : gyd, 326, 6. 327, 30. 
 gyis : wyiss (sb), 106, 103. 
 wyd : gyd, 252, 56. 
 syd : „ 327, 14. 
 ryd : „ 344, 13. 
 
 e) Fr. ei. 
 
 wyiss (adj.) : pryis (v), 76, 68. 
 
 f) OF. e. 
 
 wyle : quhyle : myle : syle (OF. celier), 110, 217. 
 grysse : unwyse : dyce : pryce, 319, 56. 
 
 g) Gk. V. 
 
 wyle : style, 241, 41. 
 
 § 85. There seems to be no reason for treating the endings -ine, -ite, -ive, -ice, etc.,. 
 separately. Dunbar uses them sparingly, probably despising, good artist as he was, 
 this cheap method of finding rhymes. But when he does use them, he seems to make 
 no distinction between them and the other long i or y sounds. 
 
 With respect to the pronunciation of the f and i at this time, it is, as I have already 
 said, difficult to determine it. But in this connection one may ask whether the diph-' 
 thong was ever quite the same in South English and Scottish. In South NE., and in 
 the American pronunciation, the diphthong is a distinct ai, the first element being like 
 the a in father. In the NSc, the a-element is not so marked, and the diphthong is- 
 perhaps almost ei. In Irish brogue the first element has more the o quality and 
 approximates to oi, which appears to have been the pronunciation of Dryden's time,, 
 from the riming oijoin, shine, etc., etc. 
 
 O- 
 
 § 86. rimes with 
 
 a) itself. 
 
 befoir : thairfoir, 259, 4. forloir, 259, 2. score, 135, 
 
 14. 
 beforne : borne, 269, 46. „ : forschoir, 329, 8. 
 
 „ : forlorne, 382, 16. 
 schorne : „ 194, 82. 
 mainsworne : worne, 319, 64. 
 borne : forlorne, 381, 6. 
 worne „ 382, 22. 
 
 b) OE. o : 
 
 mainss worne : corne, 319, 61. 
 forborne : horn, 94, 35. 
 
 toforrow : morrow, 100, 189. 
 forlorne : thorne, 383, 30. 
 
 c) OE. u sowp : howi), 74, 27. 
 
 d) OE. a (see § 18). 
 
 e) Lat. o. 
 
 before : decore : glore : restore : memore : aurore 
 implore : adore : indeflore : desore, 370, 49. 
 
 f) OF. a. 
 
 borne : worne : scorne, 176, 343. 
 mainsworne : „ 319, 64. 
 
 g) OF. rose : inclois, 99, 156. suppois, 236, 22. 
 
 u 
 
 § 87. 1. before Id. 
 a) OE. en. -old : behold : old : told,. 89, 34. 
 
30 
 
 MR HENRY BELLYSE BAILDON ON 
 
 § 88. This rime, like knyght : white, is from the poem " In Honour of the City of 
 London " (see above), and is clearly meant to be read in English fashion, as in the 
 characteristic Scotch pronunciation, the I in gold is dropped and the word pronounced 
 ou (gowd, goud), and is so written by Burns in 16 out of 36 times he uses the noun or 
 adjective. 
 
 § 89. 2, Before r + cons. 
 
 a) OE. o. 
 
 morrow : borrow : sorrow, 73, 160. 
 
 „ : sorrow, 94, 29. 
 morn : thome, 383, 38. 
 corse ( = cross) : horse, 175, 337. 
 corne : morne, 319, 62. 
 corss ( = corpse) : horss, 131, 80. 
 
 b) OF. and Lat. o. 
 fortbir, 137, 55. 
 
 hornis : unicornis, 97, 109. 
 
 c) OF. a. 
 
 hornis : skornis, 97, 107. 
 home : scorne, 176, 343. 
 corn : „ 319, 64. 
 
 § 90. +ht rimes with 
 
 a) itself. 
 
 For o + nk see § 9. 
 
 b)o + ht (see §93). 
 
 O before other consonants rimes in all cases with 
 
 a) itself, and with 
 OF. and Lat. o. 
 
 croce : force : voce : indoce, 379, 2. 
 fox : mokkis, 209, 45. 
 cot : note, 260, 16. 
 throt : „ 260, 19. 
 
 b) ON. o. 
 rockis : fox, 209, 47. 
 god : tod, 36, 41. 80, 37. 
 
 cok : dok, 179, 376. 
 god : od, 82, 39. 
 
 c) OE. o. 
 
 oft : soft, 217, 8. 
 
 d) OE. eo. 
 
 thrott : schot, 130, 64. 
 
 e) OF. ou. 
 
 word : bourde, 202, 5. 245, 84. 
 
 The rimes rokkis : mohkis \fox, 209, 45, is a good proof, if one were required, of the 
 silence of the % in plurals and in the third person singular in is, when it suits the poet's 
 purpose. In the interior of his lines, Dunbar avails himself perpetually of this licence 
 of either treating this as a distinct syllable or eliding the i, just as in modern English 
 verse most poets make free with the termination -ed, and pronounce or elide the e as it 
 suits them, with certain exceptions, of course. 
 
 5 91. 1. not followed by ht or g rimes with 
 
 i) itself, 
 ado : to, 75, 36. 356, 51. 
 don : mone : sons : soon, 211, 10. 219, 47. 
 bruke : shuke : luke : tuke, 111, 228. 
 kuke : tuke : bruke, 223, 60. 
 uder : muder : tuder, 73, 14. 
 udder : f udder, 130, 61. 
 gud : vud (mad), 45, 16. 196, 142. etc. 
 
 „ : Hude : , 196, 141. 
 
 „ : rude, 197, 170. 
 dois : (?) russ (praise), 260, 37. 
 vud : hude, 196, 141. 
 
 U- 
 
 woid (mad) : gud, 272, 48. 
 
 ,, : blude : ganestude, 377, 60. 
 do : to, 73, 22. 340, 37. 
 sone (sun) : undone, 116, 89. 
 wouke : schuke : luke : buke, 114, 34. 
 tuke : nuke : ruke, 132, 111. 
 blude : gud, 121, 4. 
 
 „ : guid, 278, 10. 
 
 b) OE. 6. 
 
 toe : smowk (OE. smoca), 241, 43. 
 nuke : tuke : ruke : smoke, 133, 120. 
 
 c) OE. u (see § 97). 
 
THE RIMES IN THE AUTHENTIC POEMS OF WILLIAM DUNBAR. 
 
 31 
 
 d) OE. u (see § 104). 
 
 e) Fr, i, 
 
 uther (OE. Sper) : consydder, 356, 35. 
 
 f) Fr. oe, ue, etc. 
 
 scnles : dulis (OFr. doe], duel, deul, duil), 316, 23. 
 
 g) Fr. or Lat, o. 
 
 sculis : fullis, 316, 24. bosum : ebriosum, 212, 33. 
 h) OF. or Lat. u, Fr. ii. 
 
 moune : Joun (NE. June), 86, 30. tone, 86, 29. 
 
 none : tone, 233, 19. 
 
 gud : blude : pulchritud, 121, 2. 
 
 gud : blude : pulchritud, 92, 5. 
 
 cuill : muill, 277, 61. stud ; mansuetude, 94, 15. 
 
 russ (ON. hrosa, NE. praise) : dois ; refuss, 260, 
 36. 
 
 dukis : ruikis, 226, 119. 
 
 gud : conclude, 279, 22. 
 „ ; selsitude, 121, 7. 
 j) OF. oi. 
 
 rois : rejoiss, 99, 158. 
 k) OF. oui. 
 
 sculis : trulis (?), 315, 22. 
 
 § 92. The numerous rimes of o with itself, the spelling with oi and u as though 
 identical in sound, point to the change of 6 to an w-sound = NSc. ui in guid, hluid, &c. 
 The spelling oi no doubt indicates a modification {Umlaut) of the vowel, i.e., of the 
 disrounded (entrundet) 6, which — not giving a pure w-sound, still converging towards 
 it — may, without straining, be held to give us approximately an M-sound. The whole 
 history of the passage of the OE. 6 into a sound which eventually coincided with Fr. ii, 
 and is represented by the NSc. ui, is one of great interest and difficulty. Dr Curtis 
 has treated it with great learning, and at great length, in his Dissertation on Clariodus 
 (§ 459, etc., and §§ 468-482), and in the main his conclusions are to be accepted. But 
 at once the most concise and the clearest treatment of the point seems to me to be that 
 of Professor LuiCK (Untersuch., § 123, etc.). Dr Gerkex prefers the purely phonetic 
 explanation of Professor LuiCK to Dr Curtis's suggestion of French influence, and no 
 doubt it is the more satisfactory, but still it is necessarily of the nature of an hypothesis, 
 while French influence was an historical fact, probably traceable in other phenomena of 
 the kind, as I have suggested in the matter of the Scotch dropping of the Z-sound. 
 But, I ask, is there any reason to suppose the factors in this problem mutually exclusive ? 
 may they not both be valid? Professor Luick derives smowJc from OE. smuca 
 (Untersuch., § 469). 
 
 § 93, 2. o + ht rimes with 
 
 a) itself. 
 
 thocbt : brocht, 115, 58. 248, 2. 
 
 thocht, 330, 5. 335, 4. ocht : nooht, 115, 58. 
 
 b) OE. Oht. 
 
 thocht : wrocht, 138, 101. 248, 2. 
 „ : floclit (1), 335, 2. 
 
 After the very thorough manner in which Dr Curtis has treated the development of 
 o + ht and a + ht in Scotland, there remains little to be said. But it is interesting to 
 note that my table of rimes gives almost the same results as the list of Clariodus, in 
 that only oht-sonnds are rimed together. I obtain this result, as does Dr Curtis, by 
 deriving ocht and nocht from the forms duiiht, no-wiht, and this, of course, goes to 
 confirm Dr Curtis's position that oht developed no parasitical u in MSc. The vowel 
 in MSc. seems to be short, otherwise it would surely have shown more tendency to get 
 mixed up with words in aucht from mht and oht, for the difference in the quality is not 
 very great. This difference persists in NSc. where words like hocht, thocht, etc., and 
 aucht (eight), straught (straight), etc., are chiefly distinguished by longer quantity of 
 
32 
 
 MR HENRY BELLY SE BAILDON ON 
 
 the latter group. Taught, again, in NSc. has usually the pronunciation talit, 
 curiously enough, dochter = ddhier. 
 
 as 
 
 has, 
 
 S 94. 3. o + g rimes with 
 a) OE. u. 
 
 § 95. limes with 
 
 a) OE. gen. 5. 
 
 slie : he, 204, 27. 
 
 me, 285, 8. 288, 40. 53, 140, 3L 
 
 b) OE. 55. 
 
 ,slie : be, 154, 63. 
 
 § 96. rimes with 
 
 a) OE. gen. e. de : we, 77, 7. 
 
 the : de, 295, 79. 
 
 b) OF. ie and e. petie : de, 119, 28. 
 
 nativite : „ 294, 74. 
 
 § 97. 1) not followed by g, rimes with 
 
 a) itself. 
 
 spur : dure (NE. door), 281, 38. 
 thunnir : scunnir (OE. scunian), 136, 34. 
 
 b) OE. and ON. u : . 
 
 owk (NE. week) : bowk (NE. bulk, origin 
 
 tain), 38, 25. 
 cum : dum, 249, 26. 136, SJi.. 
 
 c) OE. o. 
 
 abone : sone, 239, 9. 
 
 lufe : behufe, 348, 56. 
 
 dure : fure, 282, 78. 
 
 spur : „ 280, 13. 
 
 duke (NE. duck) : luke, 257, 6. 272, 46. 
 
 dukis : cluikis : ruikis, 226, 119. 
 
 2) followed by g, rimes with 
 
 a) with OE. u. 
 
 fowlis ; owlis, 98, 22. 
 cowll : fowle (adj.), 268, 28. 
 
 1 swownes : rownes, 45, 13. 
 
 ON. CE 
 
 c) OF. e-. 
 
 slie : scurrilite, 154, 58. 
 „ : supple : cuntre, 140, 31, etc. 
 
 d) ea + ht. 
 
 slicht : micht : wicht : sicht, 122, U 
 
 ON. OY 
 
 c) OE. eo. de : be, 171, 90. 
 
 de : ble, 171, 293. 
 
 d) OE. ga + g. de : e (mge), 171, 292. 29.5, 77. 
 
 e) Lat. e. de : me (Lat.), 285, 12. 
 
 u- 
 
 uncer- 
 
 bruik : rebuik, cluik, 225, 86. 
 
 d) Fr. o, Lat. u=ME. u. 
 abone : redoun, 243, 17. 
 
 e) Fr. ii or Lat. u. 
 
 dure : assure : demure : future : obscure : azur, 
 
 218, 48. 
 abone : toun, 243, 20. 
 spur : pure : injure, etc., etc., 280, 13. 
 
 f) OE. u. (see § 103, etc.). 
 
 g) Lat u. 
 
 cum : sum (Lat.), 249, 27. 
 „ : tuum „ 282, 84. 
 b) ? 
 
 somer : skomer (NE. micturate (of a dog) ), 168, 251. 
 
 cowll : oule, 208, 12. 
 b) Dan. li (?) 
 
 fowlis : scowlis, 226, 121. 
 
 § 98. It is clear that to in open syllables was lengthened, and also that it already 
 coalesced with in the same position. I have followed Dr Curtis in using the sign ^ 
 for the sound of the ME. u, which differs f roni the pure it-sound, as in German gut, etc. ; 
 but I cannot agree with his definition of the sound, as mid-hack-wide-round, as it 
 appears to me not to be a back sound, but mixed, i.e. high-mixed-ioide-rou7id, or even 
 high-mixed narrow-round, that is to say, the U or uh of Prof. Ltjick's Table (Unter- 
 such., § 21). This view seems to me to have the advantage of making the mixture of 
 this sound with (Ldick oh), or their coincidence in an intermediate sound highly 
 probable, as oh is mid-mixed, and thus immediately below either u or uh in the mouth- 
 position. It is also consistent with the general tendency in English to throw forward 
 
THE RIMES IN THE AUTHENTIC POEMS OE WILLIAM DUNBAR. 
 
 33 
 
 the mouth-position of sounds generally. I throw out this suggestion for what it may' be 
 worth, but into the general question of the history of the M-sound, as also the ^■-sound, as 
 treated so fully by Prof. LmcK (*' Untersuchungen,"^ § 381, and' following) and by Dr 
 Curtis (§ 361, etc.), I shall not at present enter further,. as I could not hope to add 
 anything to their results without an examination of a mass of material outside of 
 Dunbar, which is impossible in the time at my disposal. Professor LuiCK calls this 
 sound u-artig, that is, a kind of ii-sound, and I have merely suggested identifying it 
 with the u or uh of his table (Untersuch., § 19), whose mouth-position lies immediately 
 behind the regular w-sound. As for ci<m, see Arch., cii. 57. 
 
 § 99. 1. U : +nd, u + nd, rimes ■with 
 
 a) itself. 
 
 under : hunder, 204, 23. sounder, 247, 13. 
 stound : dround : wound, 378, 103. 
 
 b) Er. and Lat. o. 
 
 woundit : soundit, 380, 26. 
 dround : sound, 171, 286. 
 found : pound, 245, 75. 
 
 :.(• 
 
 One is inclined here to agree with Dr Gerken that Dr Curtis's attempt to establish 
 two classes of rimes here is not successful. The simplest explanation is, and that is 
 borne out by the spelling sounder, that under and hunder have still an ij-sound, if shorter 
 in quantit57- than dround, stound, etc., which retain their M--sound in NSc. Pound, 
 again in NSc, is usually pdn, and this shortening is probably connected with the loss of 
 the final d, and consequent shortening before final n. 
 
 § 100. 2. u + ng 
 a) with, itself. 
 
 §101. 3. + m or mb, rimes with 
 
 a) itseK. 
 
 dum : sum, 249, 28. 
 
 ^102. 4. before 11, rimes with 
 
 a) OE. 5o + w. 
 
 fow : Sow, 38, 17. ' 
 
 b) OE. u + w. 
 
 fow : trow, 38, 20. 
 
 5. before other consonants. 
 
 tung : sung, 325, 17. 3oung, 357, 64. 
 
 b) with u- (see §97). 
 
 c) OE. u (see § 104). 
 
 I a) with itself, pursis : cursis, 80, 39. 
 b) OF. ou. 
 ' pursis : cursis : tursis, 80, 38. 
 
 pursis : „ 231, 18. 
 c). ON. u (see §104). 
 
 § 103. 1.) followed by w, rimes with 
 a) OE. SO + w. trow : 30W, 38, 17. 
 
 § 104. 2. not followed by w, rimes with 
 
 a) itself. 
 
 hous : mowss, 36. 53. crowss (NSc. crouse), 36. 52. 
 rowmes (OE. rum = rent, property) : thoumbes, 
 
 231, 6. 
 lowd : prowd : schroud, 27.4, 3. 
 oule : defowll, 177, 364. 
 fowle, 208, 8. 224, 73. 
 brown : toun, 310, 25. 
 
 U- (OE. and ON.) 
 
 sowp : cowp (NE. cask), 300, 45. 
 bouris : schowris, 102, 14. 
 
 b) OE. ul : growf (ON. agrufu) : wowf (OE, wulf), 
 
 36, 57. 
 
 c) OE. u + g(see§97). 
 d)OE. 6 + g(see§94). 
 f) OE. u : 
 
 ws : thuss, 42, 27. 
 
 E 
 
34 
 
 MR HENRY BELLYSE BAILDON ON 
 
 sowk : owk, 38, 24. 
 g) Lat. o Er. oil. 
 us : marvelluss, 77, 15. 42, 27. 
 bouris : houris : cuUouris : flouris, 102, 11. 
 boilre : doure, 200, 1. 
 sohouris : flouris : houris, 93, 2. 102, 14. 
 
 ,, : cullouris, 102, 13. 
 
 „ : touris, 376, 7. 
 cowhuby (?) : ruby, 154, 62. 
 toun : doun, 294, 52. 
 sour : hour, 71, 28. 
 schow : Jow, 375, 9. 
 how : Jesu, 378, 102. 
 
 roumes : thoumbes : soumes (Lat. summa, Fr. 
 somme), 231, 10. 311, 37. 
 
 roun : goun, 281, 36. 
 
 toun : „ 281, 38. 
 
 schouris : deVouris, 367, 5. 
 
 crownis : bownis, 34, 17. 
 
 toun : soun, 42, 21. 192, 28. 
 „ : renoun, 85, 1. 192, 20. 
 „ : crowne, 191, 32. roun (round), 281, 37. 
 „ : reformatioun : regioun, etc., 85, 2. 
 h) ON. u. 
 
 sowk : bowk, 38, 35. 
 
 toun : boun, 42, 44. 87, 59. 
 j) ON. au. 
 
 sowp : stowp, 74, 26. 
 k) ON. o, 
 
 sour : clour (ON. klor), 71, 30. 
 
 That the words in the foregoing list have still in NSc. the same sound, viz. u, and 
 have never, as in J5'E., had an ow sound, is another instance of the similarity in 
 pronunciation between the Scotch of Dunbar's time and modern broad Scotch. 
 
 I 105. 1. not before g, rimes with 
 
 a) OE. 01- ON. i. 
 
 king : thing, 245, 66. 368, 31. ring, 78, 29. 
 rimes also with participles and verbal subs, in - ing. 
 
 b) ONithmb :i = WS. eo. 
 king :3ing, 370, 19. 
 
 c) OE. or Lat. i - . 
 
 Y- 
 
 king : ding, 296, 8. 370, 15. making, 370, 17. 
 „ : syng, 370, 15 and 23. bening, 368, 28. 
 
 d) Angl. e : WS. le, steir (NE. stir) : deir, 119, 49. 
 
 137, 53. 
 
 e) OF. e and ie, steir (stir) : presoneir, 115, 80. 
 
 f) OF. ei. steir : heir, 378, 123. 
 
 § 106. 2, before g. 
 a) OE. or ON. y-(see§ 112). 
 
 b) ON. lig. OE. lik. 
 
 by (buy) : haittfully : humly, 368, 21. 
 
 § 107. 1. Y : (OE. and ON.) before nd. 
 
 a) itself. 
 
 kynd : mynd, 153, 50. 239, 18. 
 
 b) OE. y. 
 
 kynd : mynd : strynd, 154, 56. 
 
 kynd : strynd, 192, 29. 
 c) OF. or Lat. i. 
 
 kynd : mynd : dyned, 153, 50. 239, 18. 
 kynd : Ynd, 192, 31. 265, 66. 
 
 S? 108. In MSc. the history of the ^/-sound + nd is distinguished from that of i in that 
 y is lengthened, but i is not. In ME. both are lengthened. Dunbar, as we see, never 
 rimes these two sounds together. In NSc. the i remains short in all the words that 
 occur as rimes in Dunbar except behind, which is an English form of the Scotch ahint 
 (see above, § 74, and Gekken, § 13). 
 
 5 109. 2. Y: — before other consonants, rimes with 
 
 a) itself. 
 
 fill : kill (kiln), 83, 59. 
 
 dynt : stynt, 224, 76. 
 
 myrtle : girtle, 194, 79. 
 
 (?) gorge-millaris : cartfillaris, 268, 25. 
 
 miliaria : pudding-fiUaris, 321, 79. 
 
 thin : kin, 254, 17. 
 sin : „ 316, 33. 
 mirry : wirry, 237, 24. 
 mynting : stynting, 150, 5. 
 b) op;, i : or ON. i : or ON. i shortened, 
 lift (heaven, sky) : rift, 193, 50. 
 
THE EIME8 IN THE AUTHENTIC POEMS OF WILLIAM DUNBAE, 
 
 35 
 
 fyll : ill : still, 126, 7. 
 kill : ill, 83, 56. 
 hill : averill (?), 173, 313. 
 ■wUl : thrill, 1325, 12. 
 din : skin : win, 36, 59. 
 thin : kin : win, 254, 17. 
 think : stink, 150, 10. 
 giddy : widdy : smydy, 223, 44. 
 thin : within : skin, 277, 56. 
 synnis : begynnis, 128, 19. 
 hippis : lippis, 193, 53, etc. etc. 
 list : unblist, 138, 99. 
 dynt : flynt, 224, 80. 
 stynt : „ 224, 80. 
 win : tin, 316,33. 
 mirk : kirk, 86, 16. 
 kiss : is : miss, 75, 20. 
 „ : miss, 365, 145. 
 hippis : slippis, 124, 41. 
 
 c) OE. e : 
 
 dynt ; stynt : hint, 224, 88. 
 
 mynting (OE. myntan) : stynting : hynting (OE. 
 
 hentan), 150, 4. 
 list : brist, 138, 102. 
 
 d) OF. or Lat. i or ie. 
 list : resist, 138, 105. 
 
 by (buy) ; mercy, 368, 22. 
 
 millaris : pudding-fillaris : gillaris : tutivillaris, 
 321, 76. 
 
 e) OF. or Lat. e. 
 sin : gin, 317, 34. 
 think : ynk, 150, 12. 
 
 mirry : wirry : chirry, 237, 21. 
 
 f) OE. y. (see § 112). 
 
 g) OE. eo. 
 
 lift : clift, 193, 49. 
 mirk : dirk (dark), 86, 15. 
 h) ON. io. 
 
 myrth : girth : firth, 194, 79. 
 
 § 110. Averill is given by Jamibson as a diminutive from aver = an old cart-hoxse, 
 a meaning which fits admirably the passage in which it stands, but as averill in this 
 sense does not occur elsewhere, it has been suggested that the word is haverel (from 
 haver, to talk nonsense), and that it means here simply a worthless, foolish person. I 
 incline, on literary grounds, to the first supposition, especially as Dunbar was quite 
 capable of coining such a word for himself, as in the "Brash of Wooing" and "The 
 Flyting," where words occur which are nowhere else to be found. 
 
 In the c) rimes we have again, as in the case of i + nt, rimes with e + nt (see § 72), 
 but in neither case are they quite conclusive. 
 
 § 111. rimes with 
 a) with ON. i : 
 
 ON. Y 
 
 lift : thrift, 219, 48. 
 
 § 112. (OE. and ON.) rimes with 
 
 a) itself. 
 
 hyd : bryd, 173, 317. 
 myce : lyce, 310, 23. 
 
 b) OE. or ON. i. 
 ky : by, 278, 3. 
 
 hyde (v), glyde, 226, 128. 
 pryd : wyd : besyd, 82, 11. 
 lyte : wryt : quhyte, 105, 4. 
 pryd :syd,"128, 22. 
 
 „ : betyd, 177, 362. 
 skyiss : wyiss, 106, 107. 
 hyd : glyde, 136, 44. 
 
 „ : syd, 174, 319. 377, 57. 
 
 „ :byd, 222, 34. 
 myce : lyce : ryce, 310, 23. 
 myce : wyice, 311, 39. 
 
 lyce : unwyse, 319, 59. gryss (young pig, ON.), 
 319, 57. 
 
 dry : by, 72, 38. harbry, 71, 14. 
 kyth : blyth : wryth, 196, 121. 
 blyth : kyth : swyth, 304, 7. 
 hiddill : riddill (NE. sieve), 213, 53. 
 
 c) OE. 1 and i + g. 
 
 fyld : wyld, 166, 236. 
 
 fyll (NE. defile) : styll (NE. stile) : wyll, 86, 37. 
 
 d) Fr. i. or ie. 
 
 hyd : homecyd, 222, 35. gyd, 344, 12. 
 
 myce : lyce : myce, 311, 35. gyd : pryd, 328, 38. 
 
 lyce : pryce, 319, 58. 
 
 firit : atyrit : desyrit : inspirit, 122, 31. 
 
 fyre : impyre : desyr, 219, 36. 
 
 e) OE.y + g. 
 
 sky : dry, 96, 70. 
 
 f) OE. i + c. 
 
 sky : I, 192. 13. dry : I, 174, 326. 
 
36 MR HENRY BELLYSE BAILDON ON 
 
 i) Fr. ui. gyiss : skiyss, 128, 11. 
 
 fyld : begyld, 167, 236. 
 k) OE. lik : ON. Ug. 
 
 dry : airly : prevely : hairtfully, 72, 38. 
 
 1) OF. e. 
 
 lyce : dyce, 319, 56. 
 m) Gk. V. 
 
 fyld : styled, 167, 239. 
 
 § 113. In the rimes fyld : wyld, 166, 236, we have a long vowel, owing to the 
 lengthening of I in wilde before Id. .With regard' to the pronunciation of:^ at this time, 
 see under i. That the two sounds were regarded as identical is amply proved in this 
 rime-list. 
 
 LIST OF AUTHORITIES AND WORKS CONSULTED. 
 
 The New English. Dictionary, edited by Dr Murray and Dr Bradley. 
 
 Grieb's Dictionary of the English and German Languages, 10th edition, re-arranged, revised, and enlarged by 
 Arnold Schrder, Ph.D., Professor of English Philology in the University of Freiburg i/Baden. 
 
 The Poems of William Dunbar, edited by J. Schipper, Ph.D., LL.D., Edinburgh, Professor of English 
 Philology in the University of Vienna. Vienna Itaperial Academy of Science, 1894. 
 
 Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Bosworth-Toller. 
 
 Students' Dictionary of ^nglo-Saxon, Sweet. 
 
 Stratmann's Middle-English Dictionary, edited by Dr Bradley. 
 
 Concise Dictionary of Middle English, Mayhew and Skeat. 
 
 Dictionary of the Scottish Language, Jamieson. 
 
 Complete Concordance to the Poems and Songs of Robert Burns. By J. B. Reid, M. A. Kerr and Richard- 
 son, Glasgow, 1889. 
 
 History of Enghsh Sounds, Sweet. 
 
 Early English Pronunciation, Ellis. : 
 
 Professor F. Kluge (Freiburg i/B) in Paul's Qrundriss der gernianisehen Philologie. 
 
 A Primer of Spoken English, Sweet. 
 
 Chaucers Spraehe und Verskunst, Professor ten Brink. 
 
 History of the English Language, Professor F. Kluge. 
 
 English Etymology, Professor F. Kluge and Professor Lutz. 
 
 TJntersuchungen zur englischen Lautgeschichte von Dr Karl Luick, Professor der englischen Spraehe und 
 Literatur an der Universitdt Graz. 
 
 Archiv fur das Studium der neueren Sprachen und Litteraturen, Band cii. Heft 1-2, Professor Luick. 
 
 An Investigation of the Rimes and Phonology of the Middle-Scotch Romance Clariodus, Doctor's Dissertation, 
 University of Heidelberg. By Dr F. J. Curtis. Halle, 1894, and Anglia, vols. xvi. and xvii. 
 
 Die Spraehe des Bischo/s Douglas von Dunheld von Dr Heinrich GerJcen. Strassburg, 1898. 
 
THE HIMES IN THE AUTHENTIC POEMS OF WILLIAM DUNBAR. 
 
 37 
 
 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS. 
 
 OK 
 
 - Old English (Anglo-Saxon). | 
 
 AF. 
 
 = Anglo-French. 
 
 OF. 
 
 = Old French. 
 
 
 NED. 
 
 = New English Dictionary. 
 
 Lot. 
 
 = Latin. 
 
 
 WS. 
 
 = West Saxon. 
 
 PG. 
 
 = Paul's Grundriss. 
 
 
 Angl. 
 
 = Anglian. 
 
 NE. 
 
 = New English, 
 
 
 Northvih. 
 
 = Northumbrian. 
 
 OFHs. 
 
 = Old Frisian. 
 
 
 Gen. 
 
 = General. 
 
 MSc. 
 
 = Middle Scottish. 
 
 
 Gk. 
 
 = Greek. 
 
 ON. 
 
 = Old Norse. 
 
 
 Gr. 
 
 = Grammar. 
 
 ME. 
 
 = Middle English. 
 
 
 PH. 
 
 = Preterite. 
 
 Du. 
 
 = Dutch. 
 
 
 Prn. 
 
 = Pronoun. 
 
 NSc. 
 
 = New Scottish. 
 
 
 S. or SI. 
 
 = Substantive. 
 
 Fr. 
 
 = French. 
 
 
 V. or Vi. 
 
 = VeTb. 
 
 Icel 
 
 = Icelandic. 
 
 
 Adj. 
 
 = Adjective. 
 
 Dan. 
 
 = Danish. 
 
 
 Adv. 
 
 = Adverb. 
 
 Gen. 
 
 = Genitive. 
 
 
 EEP. 
 
 = Early English Pronunciation, Ellis 
 
 Ger. 
 
 = Modern German. 
 
 
 Cons. 
 
 = Consonant. 
 
 HES. 
 
 = History of English 
 
 Sounds (Sweet). 
 
 Gutt. 
 
 = Guttural. 
 
 Swed. 
 
 = Swedish. 
 
 
 Palat. 
 
 = Palatal. 
 
 Grme. 
 
 = Germanic. 
 
 
 Mut. 
 
 = Mutation. 
 
 The sign > signifies that the sound preceding it is changed into the one following it, as ai > a = the 
 diphthong ai passes into an a sound. An accent over a capital letter means the vowel is long, thus : A means 
 a. A stroke - after the letter = in open syllables ; a colon (:) = in closed syllables. A colon between words 
 in the lists means they rime together. In the figures the first number gives the page and the second the line 
 of Professor Schipper's edition of Dunbar. 
 
 PRINTED BY NEILL AND CO., LTD., EDINBURGH. 
 

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