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. . . . . . . mik. Riiknæ kyningk Hifunæs hlafard, Hælda ic ne dærstæ. Bismerede ungket men, Bâ ætgæd[r]e, Ik (n)iðbædi bist(e)me(d) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . geredæ Hinæ gamældæ Estig, ða he walde An galgu gistîga Môdig fore Men, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mid stralum giwundæd, Alegdun hiæ hinæ, Limwêrigne. Gistodun him . . . . . . . . . . . . . Krist wæs on rôdi; Hweðræ ther fûsæ Fearran cwomu Æððilæ ti lænum. Ic that al bih (eôld) . . . . . sæ (...) Ic w(æ)s mi(d) ga(l)gu Æ (. . . .) rod . ha . . . . . . . . . . . . |
. . . . . . me. The powerful King, The Lord of Heaven, I dared not hold. They reviled us two, Both together, I stained with the pledge of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . prepared Himself spake Benignantly when he would Go up upon the cross, Courageously before Men . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Wounded with shafts, They laid him down, Limb-weary. They stood by him. . . . . . . . . . . Christ was on cross. Lo! there with speed From afar came Nobles to him in misery. I that all beheld . . . . . . . . . . I was with the cross . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
"The dialect of these lines is that of Northumberland in the seventh, eighth, and even ninth centuries. The first peculiarity is in the æ for e in the oblique cases, and which I have observed in the cotemporary MS. of Cuðberht's letter at St. Gallen. This, which is strictly organic, and represents the uncorrupted Gothic genitive in -as, and dative in -a, as well as the Old Saxon forms of the substantive, is evidence of great antiquity. But that which is, perhaps, the most characteristic of the Northumbrian dialect is the formation of the infinitive in -a and -æ, instead of -an (hældæ, gistiga). The Durham Book has, I believe, throughout but one single verb, which makes the infinitive in -an, and that is the anomalous word bean=to be; even wosa and wiortha following the common rule. The word ungket is another incontrovertible proof of extreme antiquity, having, to the best of my knowledge, never been found but in this passage. It is the dual of the first personal pronoun Ic, and corresponds to the very rare dual of the second personal pronoun incit, which occurs twice in Cædmon."[[78]]
4. The Cotton Psalter.—This is a Latin Psalter in the Cotton collection, accompanied by an Anglo-Saxon interlineation. Place uncertain. Time, ninth century or earlier. The following points of difference between this and the West-Saxon are indicated by Mr. Garnett, Phil. Soc. No. 27.
| COTTON PSALTER. | WEST-SAXON. |
| Boen, prayer | Bën. |
| Boec, books | Béc. |
| Coelan, cool | Célan. |
| Doeman, judge | Déman. |
| Foedan, feed | Fédan. |
| Spoed, fortune | Spéd. |
| Swoet, sweet | Swét. |
| Woenan, think, ween | Wénan. |
5. The Durham Gospels—Quatuor Evangelia Latine, ex translatione B. Hieronymi, cum glossâ interlineatâ Saxonica. Nero, D. 4.
Matthew, cap. 2.
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6. The Rituale Ecclesiæ Dunhelmensis.—Edited for the Surtees Society by Mr. Stevenson. Place: neighbourhood of Durham. Time: A.D. 970. Differences between the Psalter and Ritual:—