The French version tells us that Coaran, Cuaran, or Cuheran is the British word for a scullion. This etymology has not hitherto been traced, but it may easily have been perfectly true. A glance at Armstrong’s Gaelic Dictionary shews us that the Gaelic cearn (which answers very well to the Old English hirne, a corner) has the meaning of a corner, and, secondly, of a kitchen; and that cearnach is an adjective meaning of or belonging to a kitchen. But we may come even nearer than this; for by adding the diminutive ending -an to the Gaelic cocaire, a cook, we see that Cuheran may really have conveyed the idea of scullion to a British ear, and this probably further gave rise to the story of Havelok’s degradation. It is a common custom—one which true etymologists must always deplore—to invent a story to account for a derivation; and such a practice is invariably carried out with greater boldness and to a greater extent if the said derivation chances to be false. For it is possible that Curan may be simply the Gaelic curan, a brave man, and the Irish curanta, brave. The derivation of Havelok is certainly puzzling. Professor Rask declared it to have no meaning in Danish. It bears, however, a remarkable resemblance to the Old English gavelok, which occurs in Weber’s Kyng Alisaunder, l. 1620, and which is the A.S. gafeluc, Icel. gaflak, Welsh gaflach, a spear, dart, or javelin. This is an appropriate name for a warrior, and possibly reappears in the instance of Hugh Kevelock, earl of Chester (Bp. Percy’s Folio MS., ed. Hales and Furnivall, i. 128). It is remarkable that the Gaelic and Irish corran has the same sense, that of a spear, whilst curan, as above-mentioned, means a brave man. It is best, perhaps, to stop here; for etymology, when pursued too far, is wont to beguile the pursuer into every possible quagmire of absurdity.
[§ 26.] Description of the MS., &c.
The MS. from which the present poem is printed is in the Laudian collection in the Bodleian Library, where its old mark is K 60, and its present one Misc. 108. Being described in the old printed catalogue merely as Vitæ Sanctorum, the romance was in consequence for a long time overlooked. The Lives of the Saints occupy a large portion of the volume, and are probably to be ascribed to the authorship of Robert of Gloucester. “These Lives or Festivals,” says Sir F. Madden, “are [here] 61 in number, written in long Alexandrine verse. Then succeed the Sayings of St Bernard and the Visions of St Paul, both in six-line stanzas; the Disputatio inter Corpus et Animam, the English Romance of Havelok, the Romance of Kyng Horn, and some additions in a hand of the 15th century, including the lives of St Blaise, St Cecilia, and St Alexius, and an alliterative poem intitled Somer Soneday, making in all the Contents of the Volume to amount to 70 pieces.” The lays of Havelok and Horn are written out in the same handwriting, of an early date, certainly not later than the end of the thirteenth century. The Havelok begins on fol. 204, and is written in double columns, each column containing 45 lines. A folio is lost between fol. 211 and 212, but no notice of this has been taken in numbering the folios; hence the catchword which should have been found at the bottom of fol. 215 b, appears at the bottom of fol. 214 b (see l. 2164). The poem terminates at the 27th line on fol. 219 b, and is immediately followed by Kyng Horn in the same column. The character of the handwriting is bold and square, but the words are very close together. The initial letter of every line is written a little way apart from the rest, as in William of Palerne, and other MSS. Both the long and short s (ſ and s) are used. The long s is in general well distinguished from f, and on this account I have taken the liberty of printing both esses alike, as my experience in printing the Romans of Partenay proved that the difficulty of avoiding misprints is greater than the gain of representing the difference between them. The chief point of interest is that, as in early MSS., the long s is sometimes found at the end of a word, as in “uſ” in l. 22, and “iſ” in l. 23. The following are all the examples of the use of this letter in the first 26 lines; ſo (4), wicteſte (9), ſtede (10), criſt, ſchilde (16), Kriſt, ſo (17), ſo (19), ſchal (21), Kriſt, uſ (22), iſ (23), ſtalworþi (24), ſtalworþeſte (25), ſtede (26). With this exception, the present reprint is a faithful representation of the original; for, as the exact fidelity of a text is of the first importance, I have been careful to compare the proof-sheets with the MS. twice throughout; besides which, the original edition is itself exceedingly correct, and had been re-read by Sir F. Madden with the MS. His list of errata (nearly all of them of minor importance) agreed almost exactly with my own. A great difficulty is caused by the use of the Saxon letter w (ƿ). This letter, the thorn-letter (þ), and y, are all three made very nearly alike. In general, the y is dotted, but the dot is occasionally omitted. Wherever the letter really appears to be a w, I have denoted it by printing the w as an italic letter. The following are, I believe, the only examples of it. Wit-drow = withdrew, l. 502; we, 1058; was, 1129 (cf. “him was ful wa,” Sir Tristr. f. iii. st. 43); berwen, 1426 (written “berwen” in l. 697); wat = known, 1674; we, miswritten for wo = who, 1914; to which perhaps we may add wit, 997. This evidence is interesting as shewing that this letter was then fast going out of use, and I think that we may safely date the final disappearance of this letter from MSS. at about the year 1300. As regards the th, we may remark that at the end of a word both þ and th are used, as in “norþ and suth,” l. 434; sometimes th occurs in the middle of a word, as “sithen,” l. 1238, which is commonly written “siþen,” as in l. 399. The words þe, þat, þer, &c., are hardly ever written otherwise. But the reader will remark many instances in which th final seems to have the hard sound of t, as in brouth, 57, nouth, 58, lith, 534, þouth, 1190, &c.; cf. § 27. The letter t is sometimes shortened so as nearly to resemble c, and c is sometimes lengthened into t. The letters n and u are occasionally alike, but the difference between them is commonly well marked. The i has a long stroke over it when written next to m or n. On the whole, the writing is very clear and distinct, after a slight acquaintance with it. The poem is marked out into paragraphs by the use of large letters. I have introduced a slight space at the end of each paragraph, to shew this more clearly.
[§ 27.] On the grammatical forms occurring in the poem.
The following peculiarities of spelling may be first noted. We frequently find h prefixed to words which it is usual to spell without one. Examples are: holde for old, hete for ete (eat), het for et (ate), heuere for euere, Henglishe for Englishe, &c.; see the Glossary, under the letter H. This enables us to explain some words which at first appear puzzling; thus her = er, ere; hayse = ayse, ease; helde = elde, old age; hore = ore, grace; hende = ende, which in one passage means end, but in another a duck. The forms hof, hus, hure, for of, us, ure are such as we should hardly have expected to find. On the other hand, h is omitted in the words auelok, aueden, osed, and in is for his (l. 2254). These instances, and other examples such as follow, may readily be found by help of the Glossarial Index. Again, d final after l or n was so slightly sounded as to be omitted even in writing. Examples are: lon for lond, hel for held, bihel for biheld, shel for sheld, gol for gold. But a more extraordinary omission is that of r final in the, neythe, othe, douthe, which does not seem to be satisfactorily explained even by the supposition that the scribe may have omitted the small upward curl which does duty for er so frequently in MSS. For we further find the omission of l final, as in mike for mikel, we for wel, and of t final, as in bes for best; from which instances we should rather infer some peculiarity of pronunciation rendering final letters indistinct, of which there are numerous examples, as fiel for field, in modern provincial English. Cf. il for ilk, in ll. 818, 1740; and twel for twelf. “From the same license,” says Sir F. Madden, “arises the frequent repetition of such rhythm as riden and side, where the final n seems to have been suppressed in pronunciation. Cf. ll. 29, 254, 957, 1105, 1183, 2098, &c, and hence we perceive how readily the infinitive verbal Saxon termination glided into its subsequent form. The broad pronunciation of the dialect in which the poem was written is also frequently discernible, as in slawen, l. 2676, and knaue, l. 949, which rhyme to Rauen and plawe.[33] So likewise, bothe or bethe is, in sound, equivalent to rede, ll. 360, 694, 1680.” Other peculiarities will be noticed in discussing the Metre. Observe also the Anglo-Saxon hw for the modern wh, exemplified by hwo, 368, hwan, 474, hweþer, 294, hwere, 549, hwil, 301; compare also qual, qui, quan, meaning whale, why, when.[34] The letter w (initial) is the modern provincial ’oo, as in wlf, wluine, wman; cf. hw, w, both forms of how; and lowerd for louerd. In particular, we should notice the hard sound of t denoted by th in the words with, rithe, brouth, nouth, ricth, knicth, meaning white, right, brought, naught, right, knight; so too douther, daughter, neth, a net, uth, out, woth, wot, leth, let, lauthe (laught), caught, nither-tale (nighter-tale), night-time.[35] On the other hand, t stands for th in hauet, 564, seyt, 647, herknet, 1, wit, 100. When th answers to the modern sound, it seems equivalent to A.S. ð rather than to A.S. þ; examples are mouth, 433, oth, 260, loth, 261. Y and g are interchangeable, as in yaf, gaf, youen, gouen; g even occurs for k, as in rang, 2561. In MSS., e is not uncommonly written by mistake for o; this may perhaps account for helde, 2472, meste, 233, her, 1924, which should rather be holde, 30, moste, and hor, 235; there is a like confusion of weren and woren; and perhaps grotinde should be gretinde.[36] The vowel u is replaced by the modern ou in the words prud, 302, suth, 434, but, 1040, hus, 740, spusen, 1123; cf. hws in l. 1141. Mr Ellis shews, in his Early English Pronunciation, chap. v, that in pure specimens of the thirteenth century, there is no ou in such words, and in the fourteenth century, no simple u. This furnishes a ready explanation of the otherwise difficult sure, in l. 2005; it is merely the adverb of sour, sourly being used in the sense of bitterly; to bye it bitterly, or bye it bittre, is a common phrase in Piers Plowman. Other spellings worth notice occur in ouerga, 314, stra, 315 (spelt strie in l. 998), hawe, 1188, plawe, 950, sal, 628 (commonly spelt shal). Note also arum for arm, harum for harm, boren for born, 1878, and koren for corn, 1879. There are several instances of words joined together, as haui, 2002, biddi, 484; shaltu, 2186, wiltu, 905, wenestu, 1787; wilte, 528, thenkeste, 578, shaltou, 1800; thouthe, 790, hauedet, youenet, hauenet; sawe, 338; latus, 1772; where the personal pronouns i, þu, he, it, we, us are added to the verb. Hence, in l. 745, it is very likely that calleth is written for callet, i.e. call it; and on the same principle we can explain dones; see Es in the Glossary. In like manner goddot is contracted from God wot; and þerl from þe erl.
Nouns. As regards the nouns employed, I may remark that the final e is perhaps always sounded in the oblique cases, and especially in the dative case; as in nedè, stedè, &c. (see ll. 86-105), willè, 85, gyuè, 357, blissè, 2187, cricè, 2450; cf. the adjectives longè, 2299, wisè, 1713; also the nominatives rosè, 2919, newè, 2974. Frend is a pl. form; cf. hend, which is both a plural (2444) and a dat. sing. (505). In the plural, the final e is fully pronounced in the adjectives allè, 2, hardè, 143, starkè, 1015, fremdè, 2277, bleikè 470, and in many others; cf. the full form boþen, 2223. Not only does the phrase none kines, of no kind, occur in ll. 861, 1140, but we find the unusual phrase neuere kines, of never a kind, in l. 2691. Among the numerals, we find not only þre, but þrinne.
Pronouns. The first personal pronoun occurs in many forms in the nominative, as i, y, hi, ich, ic, hic, and even ihc; the oblique cases take the form me. For the second person, we have þu, þou, in the nominative, and also tu, when preceded by þat, as in l. 2903. We may notice also hijs for his, l. 47; he for they; sho, 112, scho, 126, sche, 1721, for she; and, in particular, the dual form unker, of you two, 1882. The most noteworthy possessive pronouns are minè, pl. 1365, þinè, pl. 620; his or hise, pl. hisè, 34; ure, 606; youres, 2800; hirè, 2918, with which cf. the dat. sing. hirè of the personal pronoun, 85, 300. þis is plural, and means these, in l. 1145. As in other old English works, men is frequently an impersonal pronoun, answering to the French on, and is followed by a singular verb; as in men ringes, 390, men seyt and suereth, 647, men fetes, 2341, men nam, 900, men birþe, 2101, men dos, 2434; cf. folk sau, 2410; but there are a few instances of its use with a plural verb, as men haueden, 901, men shulen, 747. The former is the more usual construction.
Verbs. The infinitives of verbs rarely have y- prefixed; two examples are y-lere, 12, y-se, 334. Nor is the same prefix common before past participles; yet we find i-gret, 163, i-groten, 285, and i-maked, 5, as well as maked, 23. Infinitives end commonly in -en or -e, as riden, 26, y-lere; also in -n, as don, 117, leyn, 718; and even in -o, as flo, 612, slo, 1364. The present singular, 3rd person, of the indicative, ends both in -es or -s, and -eth or -th, the former being the more usual. Examples are longes, 396, leues, 1781, haldes, 1382, fedes, 1693, bes, 1744, comes, 1767, glides, 1851, þarnes, 1913, haues, 1952, etes, 2036, dos, 1913; also eteth, 672, haueth, 804, bikenneth, 1269, doth, 1876, liþ, 673. The full form of the 2nd person is -est, as louest, 1663; but it is commonly cut down to -es, as weldes, 1359, slepes, 1283, haues, 688, etes, 907, getes, 908; cf. dos, 2390, mis-gos, 2707, slos, 2706. The same dropping of the t is observable in the past tense, as in reftes, 2394, feddes and claddes, 2907. Still more curious is the ending in t only, as in þu bi-hetet, 677, þou mait, 689; cf. ll. 852, 1348. In the subjunctive mood the -st disappears as in Anglo-Saxon, and hence the forms bute þou gonge, 690, þat þu fonge, 856, &c.; cf. bede, 668. In the 3rd person, present tense, of the same mood, we have the -e fully pronounced, as in shildè, 16, yeuè, 22, leuè, 334, redè, 687; and in l. 544, wreken should undoubtedly be wrekè, since the -en belongs to the plural, as in moten, 18. The plural of the indicative present ends in -en, as, we hauen, 2798, ye witen, 2208, þei taken, 1833; or, very rarely, in -eth, as ye bringeth, 2425, he (they) strangleth, 2584. Sometimes the final -n is lost, as in we haue, 2799, ye do, 2418, he (they) brenne, 2583. There is even a trace of the plural in -es, as in haues, 2581. The present tense has often a future signification, as in etes, 907, eteth, 672, getes, 908.
Past tense. Of the third person singular and plural of the past tense the following are selected examples. Weak Verbs: hauede, 770, sparedè, 898, yemedè, 975, semedè, 976, sparkëdè, 2144, þankedè, 2189; pl. loueden, 955, leykeden, 954, woundeden, 2429, stareden, 1037, yemede (rather read yemeden), 2277, makeden, 554, sprauleden, 475; also calde, 2115, gredde, 2417, herde, 2410, kepte, 879, fedde, 786, ledde, 785, spedde, 756, clapte, 1814, kiste, 1279; pl. herden, brenden, 594, kisten, 2162, ledden, 1246; and, thirdly, of the class which change the vowel, aute, 743, laute, 744, bitauhte, 2212. Compare the past participles osed, 971, mixed, 2533, parred, 2439, gadred, 2577; reft, 1367, wend, 2138, hyd, 1059; told, 1036, sold, 1638, wrouth = wrout, 1352. There are also at least two past participles in -et, as slenget, 1923, grethet, 2615, to which add weddeth, beddeth, 1127, In l. 2057, knawed seems put for knawen, for the rime’s sake.
Strong Verbs: third person singular, past tense, bar, 815, bad, 1415, yaf, or gaf, spak; kam, 766 (spelt cham, 1873), nam, kneu, hew, 2729, lep, 1777, let, 2447 (spelt leth, 2651), slep, 1280, wex, 281: drou, 705, for, 2943, low, 903, slow, 1807, hof, 2750, stod, 986, tok; 751, wok, 2093; pl. beden, 2774, youen, or gouen; comen, 1017 (spelt keme, 1208), nomen, 2790 (spelt neme, 1207), knewen, 2149, lopen, 1896, slepen, 2128; drowen, 1837, foren, 2380, lowen, 1056, slowen, 2414, &c. And secondly, of the class which more usually change the vowel in the plural of the preterite, we find the singular forms bigan, 1357, barw, 2022, karf, 471, swank, 788, warp, 1061, shon, 2144, clef, 2643, sau, 2409, grop, 1965, drof, 725, shof, 892; pl. bigunnen, 1011, sowen, 1055, gripen, 1790, driue, for driuen, 1966; also bunden, 2436, scuten, 2431 (spelt schoten, 1864, shoten, 1838), leyen, 2132, &c. Compare the past participles boren, 1878, youen or gouen, cumen, 1436, nomen, 2265 (spelt numen, 2581), laten, 1925, waxen, 302, drawen, 1925, slawen, 2000, which two last become drawe, slawe in ll. 1802, 1803.