Early Modern English (1500-1700).pdf

Chapter 6. Early Modern English: 1500-1700

Much like the Cely letters, the collection of letters written to and by Lord Lisle, his family, friends, and

staff, provide valuable linguistic information. Lord Lisle was Governor of Calais for Henry VIII from 1533 to

1540. The French town was at that time an English possession. The first text below is by the 14-year old

George Bassett, Lady Lisle’s son by her first marriage who was being educated in the household of Sir

Francis Bryan. The letter of 1539 is purely formal: the boy has nothing to say and he says it in the approved

Tudor manner.

George Bassett to his parents Lord and Lady Lisle, 1 July 1539

Ryht honorable and my most dere and singler goode lorde

and ladye / in my most humble man[ner] I recõmaunde me unto yow

besechynge to have yo r dailye blessynge / and to here of yo r goode

and prospus helth / fore the conservatione of which / I praye

dailye unto almyghty godde. I certifye youe by theys my

rude l[ett]res that my Maister and my Ladye be in goode helthe /

to whome I am myche bounde. ffurthe r more I beseche

yo r lordshipe and ladieshipe eve r in goode / longe / and

prosperus helthe w t hono r . ffrom Woburn the

first daye of Julye

By yor humble and

owne Son George

Bassette

The next letter of 1533 is from Sir William Kingston, who was a member of the King’s Privy Council and

Constable of the Tower of London at the time. It is an example of an educated man’s style of writing

which, at first glance, would be unacceptable today in its presentation because there is no punctuation.

Several names of birds used in hawking or falconry are mentioned.

Sir William Kingston to Lord Lisle, 26 September 1533

my lord to

advertyse you of newes here be nonne 3it or now that be

abowt the pesse (= peace ) in the marches of scotland & with goddes

grace all shalbe well & as 3it the kynges grace hathe

hard now word from my lord of Wynchester & so the

kyng hawkes evry day with goshawkes* & other hawkes

that ys to say layners,* sparhawkes* and merlions* both affore

none & after yf the wether serve I pray you my lord yf

ther be hony gerfawken* or yerkyn* to help ^ me to both yf it

may be & for lak of bothe to have wun & to send me

worde of the charges ther of & then your lordshyp dose meche

for me I & my wyfe both ryght hartely recõmaunde hus

unto my gud lady & we thanke my lady for my token for it

cam to me in the church of the blake freres (= friars ) & my wyf

was desposed to have offerd it to saynt loy (= St Eligius ) (th)at hyr horse

shuld not halt & he never went up ryght syne (= since ) I be(see)che your

lordshyp to have me in your reymembrance to master porter

& my lady & to master mershall & my lady …

* Goshawks, lanners (southern European falcons), sparrowhawks, merlins (small falcons), gyrfalcons (large falcons),

and jerkins (male gyrfalcons), respectively.

Exercise

Using the two passages, describe the ‘approved Tudor manner’. Is the spelling significantly irregular or

inconsistent? How many words have more than one spelling? What do the phrases to advertise you of newes

and yf the wether serve mean?

An example of formal written language contemporary with the Lisle Letters is Sir Thomas Elyot’s The boke

named the Gouernor , printed in London in 1531 and dedicated to Henry VIII. Elyot’s purpose was ‘to

describe in our vulgare tunge/the fourme of a iuste publike weale (= welfare or prosperity )’. He wrote in

English but regarded Latin as the essential language of education and learning. In the second and third

passages, Elyot sets out a programme for young noblemen in which learning Latin begins before the age of

seven.

Sir Thomas Elyot’s The Gouernor , 1531 (i)

Sir Thomas Elyot’s The Gouernor , 1531 (ii)

The ordre of lernyng that a noble man

shulde be trayned in before he come

to thaige of seuen yeres. Cap. v. (= Chapter 5)

Sir Thomas Elyot’s The Gouernor , 1531 (iii)

Exercise

1. Explain the few alternative spellings in the texts: hit/it, latin/latine/latyne, onely/only, shal/shall,

significacions/signification, ther/there, thinge/thyng, which/whiche.

2. What was the meaning of the following words in the 1530s: common, vulgare, astates, equite, diuers,

betoken, abused, discrepance, sensualite?

3. Do any verb inflexions differ from those of Standard English today?

During the sixteenth century, writers were responding to a growing sense that the language needed an

agreed form of spelling, grammar, and vocabulary, just as Latin had. People saw that the letters of the

alphabet were too few to match the sounds of English, and that the spelling of many words did not match

their pronunciation. A common description was that it was ‘corrupted’.

One of the earliest books which advocated a reform of English spelling was John Hart’s An Orthographie ,

published in 1569. In the following extract, he is justifying the need for his new spelling system, ‘the new

maner’. An example of the system he devised is given below.

John Hart’s An Orthographie , 1569 (i)

John Hart’s An Orthographie , 1569 (ii)

Version with Modern English Spelling

An exercise of that which is said: wherein is de-

clared, how the rest of the consonants are made

by th’instruments of the mouth: which

was omitted in the premisses, for that

we did not much abuse

them. Chapter vii.

I have ended the writing, and you the reading of

this book, I doubt not but you and I shall think

our labours well bestowed. ~ / And not-with-stan-

ding that I have devised this new manner of wri-

ting for our /English, I mean not that /Latin

should be written in these lettes, no more then the

/Greek or /Hebrew, neither would I write t’any

man of strange nation in these letters, but

when as I would write /English. ~ / And as I would

gladly counterfeit his speech with my tongue, so would

I in his writing with my hand. ~ / Yet who could

let me t’use my pen the best I could, thereby t’

attain the sooner to the perfect pronunciation, of a-

ny strange speech: but writing /English, we may

(as is said) use for every strange word, the same

marks or letters of voices which we do not find in

speech, without any other regard to show by wri-

ting whence the word is borrowed, then as we do in

speaking. ~ / For such curiosity in superfluous let-

ters, for derivation of difference, and so forth, is

the disordering and confounding, of any wri-

ting: contrary to the law of the perfection there-

of, and against all reason: whereby, it should be o-

bedient unto the pronunciation, as to her lady

and mistress: and so, add or diminish as she shall

in success of time command. ~ /

In this title above-written, I consi-

der of the <i> in exercise, & of the

<u>, in instruments: the like of the

<i>, in title, which the common man,

and many learned, do sound in the

diphthongs <ei>, and <iu>: yet I

would not think it meet to write them, in those

and like words, where the sound of the vowel on-

ly, may be as well allowed in our speech, as that of

the diphthong used of the rude: and so far I allow

observation for derivations. ~ / Whereby you may

perceive, that our single sounding and use of let-

ters, may in process of time, bring our whole nation

to one certain, perfet and general speaking. ~

/ Wherein she must be ruled by the learned from

time to time. ~ / And I can not blame any man

to think this manner of new writing stange, for

I do confess it is strange to my self, though before

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