These lines are taken from a most charming Dorsetshire poem, which seems to have been no translation from the French. It was published by the Percy Society, No. 39. Most of the forms found in the Ancren Riwle are here repeated. We see from the present work how warmly King Alfred's name had been taken to England's heart. The proverbs attributed to him come again and again, 340 years after his death. We find also other saws, such as
‘Dahet habbe that ilke best,
That fuleth his owe nest.’[1]
We often say ‘the other day,’ when referring to past time. At page 4 we read
‘That other ʓer a faukun bredde.’
At page 50 occurs
‘Wanne ich iseo the tohte ilete.’
‘The taught (tensus) let out;’ this is formed from the old teohhian (trahere).
In line 507 we read:
‘Wane thi lust is ago.’
We find in the poem the old agon as well as the Southern ago, the corrupt form of the Participle kept by us in long ago.[2] In Southern works, one man is often found as o man, and this corruption lingered in Devonshire for 200 years longer.
