The Bruce
[182] S.T.S., I. lxxxix., and Glossary.
_m_ and _n_ are often interchanged, as in _confort_, _manteme_, etc.
_ng_ becomes _n_ before _th_ as _lenth_, _strenth_, etc. _Cf._ also
Grammar. The nasal _ng_ may take the place of the liquid _n_, as in
_ryng_ (I. 78, etc.) for “reign” (Fr. _regner_). The French nasal
_nce_ is represented by _ng_ or _nch_--_e.g._, _Vallang_ (II. 201) or
_Vallanch_ (V. 472) for “Valence.”
_r._ Metathesis of _r_ is very characteristic of the Northern
dialect--_e.g._, _fryst_ (first), _brist_ (burst, A.S. _berstan_),
_tursit_ (O.F. _trusser_), etc.
_s_ is changed to _sch_ in _schir_, _isch_ (issue), etc.; but on the
other side we have _sall_, _suld_ (shall, should) and _Inglis_.
_z_ has in _Fiz_ the Anglo-French sound _ts_, as in _rats_.
APPENDIX H
GRAMMAR
NOUNS
_Singular--Possessive Case._--1. The inflected genitive or possessive
is formed by adding _ys_ or _is_; MS. E, on the whole, shows a
preference for the former. Sometimes the final consonant is doubled.
_Cf._ _a manis hand_ (VII. 580), to _mannys fude_ (X. 189).
2. Nouns denoting relationship are uninflected, as in Anglo-Saxon:
_Mordreyt his sistir son_ (I. 557). _Till his brothiris pes_ (XI. 652)
is an exception found in both MSS. For _And sperit of his brotheris
fair_ (XVI. 21) in C, E has _brodyr_.
NOTE.--_Wode-syde_ (E _woddis sid_, IX. 139), _sonne-rising_, _hous
end_ (VII. 163), all common combinations. Editors, however, usually
read the termination of the last as _housis_, though it seems to fall
under the same category.
_Plural._--1. The plural also is in _ys_ or _is_, more seldom _es_,
representing A.S. _as_. It “formed a distinct syllable in monosyllables
and words accented on the final syllable.”[183] The latter part of the
statement is not, however, uniformly true. _Cf._ _battalis_ (XI. 122),
_bischoppes and prelatis_ (XX. 294), etc., which are dissyllables.
2. Simple _s_ occurs only after _r_ and _y_ (_i_)--_galays_,
_werriours_, etc.--but _spurys_, _baneris_, _towris_ also occur. _Feys_
(I. 58) and _fays_ (I. 223) are to be read as two syllables.
3. Final _f_ (_ff_) is generally changed to _v_, as _theif_, _thevis_;
but _wif_ preserves the _f_ throughout, as _wifis_, _wiffys_, etc. (E,
however, in XII. 246, has _wyvis_); and _lif_ has _lyvis_ (XI. 590), or
_livis_ and _lyffis_ (X. 106), or _liffis_ (IV. 137).
4. Words ending in _er_, _ir_, _yr_, _yn_, _ill_ for the most part
reject the final vowel before the ending of the plural: _dochtrys_,
_lettres_ or _lettrys_, _wapnys_, etc. Where the vowel is retained, it
is silent, as in _schulderis_ (IX. 356), _letteris_ (XVII. 31, 39), etc.
NOTE.--_Burges_ in XVI. 80, XVII. 236, is clearly unaltered in the
plural, and this would seem to apply also to _marras_ (VIII. 35),
_hous_ (VIII. 514, etc.), and _mos_ (VIII. 173), which are usually read
as three and two syllables respectively. _Cf._ on _Singular_ (2).
5. Of strong plurals, besides _men_ and its compounds, _ky_ and
_brethir_ by change of vowel (_Umlaut_), we have _eyn(e)_ (A.S.
_eagan_), with singular _e_ or _ey_ (VI. 523), _oxin_ or _oxyne_ (X.
381, 388), _schoyne_ (II. 510). These (with _hosen_ and _fan_ (_faes_))
are the only plurals in _n_ preserved in Northern English.
6. Some old neuters (A.S.) take no inflection in the plural: _deir_,
_hors_, etc.; _hous_ has _hous_ and _housis_ (X. 60, etc.), but _cf._
on (4) (note); _thing_ has _thing_ (XI. 27, etc.) and _thingis_. _Cf._
also _gudis_ and _gude_ (XVII. 517, 521). One form is in _er_ or _ir_,
_childer_ (XII. 246) or _childir_ (XVII. 515), A.S. _cildru_.
7. Nouns indicating time, space, quantity, weight, and number are
unchanged in the plural: _fifty yheir_ (in I. 522 occurs _ten yheris_,
quite an exceptional case), _tuelf moneth_, _six and fourty wyntir_
(A.S. plural also _winter_), _twa myle_, _tuenty thousand pund_, etc.
For _paris_ in C (XIII. 463), E reads _payr_. In XII. 234 C has _thre
gret avantage_, where E gives _avantagis_, but reads _vasselagis_ (!)
to rhyme.
8. Only _men_ suffers inflection in the plural possessive: _the Inglis
menis fewte_ (VIII. 19), _of othir mennis landis_ (XI. 148). In
_till Scottis men possessioune_ (XVII. 202) we may have, as Henschel
suggests,[184] a piece of “scribal carelessness;” but Hampole
undoubtedly uses this as a valid form:
“Sal dede _men_ banes be set togyder
Thurgh messes, and rightwis _men_ prayers.”
[183] Murray, _Dialect of the Southern Counties_, p. 153.
[184] _Darstellung der Flexionslehre in John Barbour’s Bruce_, p. 12.
PROPER NOUNS.
In general, these follow the common nouns in their forms, but note:
1. Two names ending in _s_ have no inflection for the genitive: _King
Adrastus men_ (II. 529), _Thomas prophecy_ (II. 86). This occurs also
in Chaucer.
2. _Douglas_ has both flectionless and inflected forms: _the Douglas
men_ (X. 398), _the Lord Douglassis men_ (XX. 481).
3. Possessive or genitive formed by _his_: _Hannyball his mekill mycht_
(III. 232). _Cf._ also VI. 435, 446. Originally, as here, confined to
proper names. A special example is in the reading of C (XVII. 940):
_Berwyk his toune_; E _Berwykis_.
ADJECTIVES.
1. There is no distinction in the _Bruce_ between strong and weak
adjectives, the latter in Chaucer being indicated by a final _e_, and
used after the definite article, demonstrative and possessive pronouns,
etc., nor is the plural similarly distinguished from the singular. In
all these cases the Scots adjective is invariable; the final _e_, which
often occurs, is of no grammatical significance. There is no difference
between _the gud Erll_ (X. 686) and _the gude Erll_ (XX. 603), while
the plural is _gud werriours_ (XX. 416).
2. The only example of inflection is the form _aller_, genitive plural
(_er_ = _-ra_, A.S. _eal-ra_). It occurs once: _throuch thar aller hale
assent_ (I. 137).
3. The comparative and superlative are formed by adding _ar_ or _er_
(seldom _ir_) and _est_ or _ast_. In words of two and more syllables
_mar_ (_mair_) and _mast_ (_maist_) also occur. The same rule applies
to adverbs. The final consonant of a monosyllable may be doubled:
_thikkest_ (VIII. 81), but also _thikast_ (XVII. 156).
4. Change of vowel (_Umlaut_) appears in two cases--_sterkar_ (E
_starkar_) (XV. 491) and _eldest_ (I. 51, IV. 71). _Ill_ or _evill_
is the Northern form for _bad_, compared with _wer_ or _war_, _werst_
(III. 192). _Mor_, for _mar_, occurs twice to rhyme with _befor_ (X.
199, XII. 299). _Er_ gives _erar_.
5. After the comparative comes usually _than_, which is always used by
Rolle, but there are four examples of _na_--_wes starkar fer na he_
(VI. 538), also III. 229, II. 519, X. 637.
NUMERALS.
1. _Ane_ before a consonant sometimes becomes _a_: _in a nycht and a
day_ (III. 429). _The tane_ and _the ta_ are compounds of this numeral,
with the old neuter _thaet_ (_thet_) of the definite article, really
_thet-ane_, _thet-a_. The former is a substantive, the latter an
adjective: _the tane suld be kyng_ (VI. 186), _the ta part_ (III. 239).
Similarly _the tothir_ = _thet othir_ (I. 7, etc.), which is throughout
used for the ordinal “the second,” as _formast_ is sometimes used
for “the first”: _Fule-hardyment the formast is, And the tothir is
cowardis_ (VI. 337, 338).
2. Note _thresum_, _fiffsum_, _sex sum_, where “sum denotes
conjunction” (Jamieson’s _Dictionary_), three, etc., together; _half
deill_ (A.S. _dæl_, a part); _twa part_ = two parts; _yneuch_, singular
(usually adverb), used for quantity, and _ynew_ (_enew_), plural, for
number. _Cf._ XX. 337, and I. 558.
N.B.--For demonstrative, etc., adjectives, see also Pronouns,
Demonstrative, etc. Note _sam(m)yn_ (same) as adjective and adverb (V.
72, XII. 49, etc.). Distinguish _ilk(e)_ = same (A.S. _ylc_) from the
distributive _ilk_ (A.S. _ æle_) = each. Others are _sik_ (_syk_),
_swilc_, etc.
PRONOUNS.
_Personal._--1. In MS. E besides _I_ is found the strong form _Ik_
or _Ic_ (A.S. _Ic_). The latter is entirely wanting in C, which has
everywhere _I_.
2. The third person feminine is _scho_ (A.S. _sēo_), once spelled
_sche_ (XIII. 635), a Southern effect, where, however, E has _scho_.
3. Note the gen. sing. mas. and gen. plur. in _magre his_, in spite of
him, and _magre thairis_, in spite of them.
_Possessive._--1. The genitive cases of the personal pronouns are most
often adjectives. Before words beginning with a vowel they are _mine_,
_thine_; before words beginning with a consonant they become _my_,
_thi_; words beginning with _h_ may have either form.
2. The forms used absolutely are _myn_, _his_, _ours_, _yhouris_,
_thaires_: _That suld be myn_ (V. 223), etc.
_Reflexive._--1. The personal pronouns serve as reflexives: _I will me
spied_ (XI. 638); _And went hyr hame_ (V. 177).
2. There is also the form in _self_, more seldom _selvyn_, _selvin_.
When the subject is a personal pronoun this may drop out: _that himself
suld wele Kepe the entre_ (XI. 445).
3. _Self_ is both singular and plural: _That thai mycht help thameself_
(X. 619).
_Demonstrative._--1. The Northern plural of _this_ is _thir_, which
supplanted _thas_ as _thise_ did in the Midland. Its origin is
obscure.[185]
[185] _Murray_, p. 185.
2. The plural of _that_ is _tha(i)_. Distinguish from _thai_ (they),
3rd pers. plur.
3. _Yhon(e)_, more often an adjective, has also a substantive use in
three cases only (IV. 502, 506; XIV. 280).
_Relative and Interrogative._--1. The relative pronoun is _that_ or
_at_, never _quha_. _At_ is a purely Northern form. _Quhais_ and
_quham_ occur occasionally as oblique cases. In _quhom_, as in words
like _so_, _mor_, etc., there is evidence of Southern influence. _Quha_
is used as an interrogative. The simple _quhilk_ occurs but once
(XVIII. 225, see note), where E has a different reading; otherwise it
is in the form _the quilk that_.
2. The relative in the oblique cases is often omitted: _the small folk
thai had thar_ (IX. 261). This is a marked feature of the _Wallace_.
_Indefinite._--1. _None_ for _nane_ occurs only once (IX. 485); and
so, too, _ilkone_ for _ilkane_, rhyming with a proper name (XI. 303).
_Nane_ is used both as substantive and as adjective. As adjective it
comes before a word beginning with a vowel. Before consonants and _h_,
_na_ or _no_ is used. In two cases _no_ precedes a vowel: XIII. 145;
XVI. 249.
2. _Othir_, often = “each other,” as _Thai dang on othir_ (X. 680).
3. The plural of _man_ has a pronominal use = _one_, German “man”: _as
men in the Bibill seys_ (I. 466); _men mycht se_ (X. 678), etc.
VERBS.
1. Note the periphrastic form with _gan_ in E (_can_ in a few cases),
_can_ always in C: _all the land gan occupy_ (I. 184); _all can thai
cry_ (XII. 200). The past tense of _can_ is _couth_: _thar vittale
all fast couth fale_ (VIII. 460): whence, by analogy, the false form
_begouth_ for past of _gan_, itself the past of _ginnen_, to begin.
2. Weak verbs form their past tense and past participle in _it_ or
_yt_, the latter being more common in E. In certain cases the vowel
drops out, as in _dwelt_. After _r_, _l_ (_ll_), _n_, the ending is
often in _d_, as _herd_, _ansuerd_, etc.
NOTE.--_Felt_ for the ordinary _feld_ occurs once, in III. 119. _Cald_,
too, for _callit_, is forced to a rhyme (XIII. 61). The proper past of
_send_ is _send_.
3. The present tense indicative is, _I spek_, _thou spekis_, _he
spekis_, _we spek_, etc. But when the personal pronoun is separated
from the verb, or when the subject is a noun or relative pronoun or
other form, the ending is in _is_ or _ys_ throughout. _Cf._ _yhow that
takis_ (XVI. 592); _yhe that this redis_ (VI. 269); _all men fleis the
did_ (IX. 90), etc.