5 ms·
Here's the best I can do with the first bit, several edits later: A letyll tale y wyll yow tell y troye hit wyll lyke yow well þat ye shall habe gud gam
by jacobolus 3y ago
Here's the best I can do with the first bit, several edits later:
A letyll tale y wyll yow tell
y troye hit wyll lyke yow well
þat ye shall habe gud game ooooo
Bot were(?) it was y dar? not say
for appyr.??ly a nod? day
hit myght t?ne me to blame ooooooo
?ow take gud hede evrython(?)
how a yomon come rydyng alon
hafull fayre way he fond ooooooo
he lokud be syde hym lyght glydand
he fond a hare full fayr syttand
a pon a falow lond ooooooooo
he markyd wyll wher the fatt þ
þkyd to the town as fast as he myght go
þ way þen con he ha? ooooooo
þ fyrst mon þt he mett wt all
was a husbond hyght honkyn of þ hall
a gud mon and a twwe(?) oooooooo
...
We have letyll = little, wyll = will, troye = trust(?), hit = it, lyke = like, yow = you, habe = have, gud = good, yomon = yeoman, rydyng = riding, lokud = looked, be syde = beside, hym = him, fayr = fair, syttand = seated/sitting, etc.
I think the y with dot over is "I", while the þ with a dot is "the" or "thou" etc. I'm not entirely sure what all the abbreviations are supposed to be.
* * *
Edit: there's apparently a full transcription at http://doi.org/10.1515/angl.2010.009 http://doi.org/10.1515/angl.2010.009 though it's not easy to accurately transcribe something like this so full of abbreviations, old spellings based on old pronunciations, archaic glyphs like ſ and þ, letters like u and v which have since diverged, etc.
- poglet 3y agoAny idea why so many lines end in ooooooo?
- jacobolus 3y agoYou can look at the manuscript. I don't think it's really supposed to be letters – more like a decorative doodle – but I'm not sure what the deal is: https://digital.nls.uk/early-manuscripts/browse/archive/134161777?mode=fullsize https://digital.nls.uk/early-manuscripts/browse/archive/1341...
- nomel 3y agoPerhaps "pause for audience laughter"?
- isaacfrond 3y agoThe paper is archived here: https://sci-hub.ru/https://doi.org/10.1515/angl.2010.009 https://sci-hub.ru/https://doi.org/10.1515/angl.2010.009 The first three stanzas translated by gpt4: A little tale I will tell you, I trust it will please you well, At it, you shall have good fun. But where it was I dare not say, Perhaps another day, It might turn me to blame. Now pay good heed everyone, How a yeoman came riding along, He found a very fair way. He looked beside him light gliding, He found a hare very fair sitting, Upon a fallow land. He marked well where she sat then, He rode to the town as fast as he could, The way then did he pursue. The first man that he met with, Was a husband named Howkin of the hall, A good man and a true. The yeoman said with laughing cheer, 'Does any gentleman dwell here, Good man, as God save you? Over there I have found a hare sitting, If you have any greyhounds, bring them with you, A chase there shall you have.'
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]