$ 43. Hildebrand and Hathubrand.-This is a short and apparently a fragmentary poem, in alliterative metre, concerning two heroes, father and son, of the times of Diedrich of Berne (Theodoric of Verona) and Otacher (Odoacer). It is held, by Grimm, to be Old Saxon, in the hands of a Frank copyist. It is, apparently, a transitional form of speech.

Fohem wortum: wer sin "fater wari; With few words; who his "father "Fireo in folche;

"Eddo weliches cnuosles du sis."

"In the folk of men,

"Or of what kin thou beest."

§ 44. Can traces of the Saxon be found in the existing German dialects? They can. The plural of the Platt-Deutsch dialects ends in -t, in the second person only; the others ending in -n. In Saxon the first and third ended in -t also. So they do now in more than one dialect of the Saxon area.

First Person.

Dialect of Butjahde.*
Hee schull by siens glyken blyven;
Wy kahmt also wyt as hee;
Ick kann lesen, reknen, schrieven;
Dat is nok woll gar vär dree.

In English.

He should remain with his equals;
We have come as far as he :

I can read, reckon, write,
That is enough for three.

* This and the three following extracts are from Firmenich's Germaniens Völkerstimmen, pp. 222, 228, 28, 246.

Dialect of Osnaburgh.

Dar ginten, dar kiket de Strauten henup,
Dar stahet wat aule Wywer in 'n Trupp;
De Annke, de Hildke, de Geske, de Siltke,
De Trintke, de Äultke, de Elsbeen, de Täultke;
Wann de sick entmötet, dat schnaatert sau sehr
Liefhaftig as wenn't in 'n Gausestall wör.

In English.

There yonder, there look up the street,

There stand the old women in a troop;

The Annke, the Hildke, the Geske, the Siltke,
The Trintke, the Aultke, the Elsbeen, the* Taultke.
When they meet each other, it cackles so sore,+
Just as if it were in a goose-stall.

This, however, is Old Saxon. The A. S. ending was p (th). Still, the Saxon plural remains.

* Annie, Hilda, Jessie, Sibyll, Catherine, (?) Elizabeth, Adelaide. +As in full sore = much.

CHAPTER VIII.

GERMAN ORIGIN OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.-PARTS OF GERMANY, ETC.-INTERNAL EVIDENCE.-LANGUAGE.— THE FRISIAN—OLD, MIDDLE, and new.

§ 45. The Old Frisian.-Closely akin to the mothertongue of the present English was the Frisian; of which, in its oldest form, the following is a specimen.

Asega-bog, i. 3. pp. 13, 14. (Ed. Wiarda.)

Thet is thiu thredde liodkest and thes Kynig Kerles ieft, theter allera monna ek ana sina eyna gode besitte umberavat. Hit ne se thet ma hine urwinne mith tele and mith rethe and mith riuchta thingate. Sa hebbere alsam sin Asega dema and dele to lioda londriuchte. Ther ne hach nen Asega 'nenne dom to delande hit ne se thet hi to fara tha Keysere fon Rume esweren hebbe and thet hi fon da liodon ekeren se. Sa hoch hi thenne to demande and to delande tha fiande alsare friounde, thruch des ethes willa, ther hi to fara tha Keysere fon Rume esweren heth, tho demande and to delande widuon and weson, waluberon and alle werlosa liodon, like to helpande and sine threa knilinge. Alsa thi Asega nimth tha unriuchta mida and tha urlouada panninga, and ma hini urtinga mi mith twam sine juenethon an thes Kyninges bonne, sa ne hoch hi nenne dom mar to delande, truch thet thi Asega thi biteknath thene prestere, hwande hia send siande and hia skilun wesa agon there heliga Kerstenede, hia skilun helpa alle tham ther hiam seluon nauwet helpa ne muge.

The same, in English.

That is the third determination and concession of King Charles, that of all men each one possess his own goods (house?) unrobbed. It may not be that any man overcome him with charges (tales), and with summons (rede), and with legal action. So let him hold as his Asega (judge) dooms and deals according to the land-right of the people. There shall no Asega deal a doom unless it be that before the Cæsar of Rome he shall have sworn, and that he shall have been by the people chosen. He has then to doom and deal to foes as to friends, through the force (will) of the oath which he before the Cæsar of Rome has sworn, to doom and to deal to widows and orphans, to wayfarers and all defenceless people, to help them as his own kind in the third degree. If the Asega take an illegal reward, or pledged money, and a man convict him before two of his colleagues in the King's Court, he has no more to doom, since it is the Asega that betokens the priest, and they are seeing, and they should be the

(

eyes of the holy Christendom, they should help all those who may nought help themselves.

§ 46. The Middle Frisian.-Without determining too nicely at what exact time the Old Frisian stage ceases, we may take the middle of the seventeenth century (say A.D. 1650) as the date for the fullest development of the Middle; the chief classic of the Middle Frisian literature being Gysbert (Gilbert) Japicx.

Mem wier stjoersch in lef fen Mother was stern and cross of hu

mour.

"elk jier in "Ofke," she said, "each year a

Wier ik fâem! ik woe 't so jern."

4.

child.

Were I maid! I would I were."

4.

Hoite in Hoatske Sneins to kea- Hoite and Hoatske every Sunday

mer

Mekken it mei elkoarme klear.
Tetke krigge Sjolle kreamer,
To Sint Eal by wyn in bjear.
Nu rint elk om as in slet,
In bekleye 't; mar to let.

in the inn

Made it clear with each other.
Tetke got Sjolle the pedlar
To St. Alof's by wine and beer.
Now each runs about as a slut,
And complains; but too late.

*From the Preface to Dr. Bosworth's Anglo-Saxon Dictionary.

§ 47. Of the Frisian, as it is spoken at the present time in West Friesland, the following is a specimen.

ABE IN FETSE.*

ABE.-Ho djoer binne de mieren, Fetse? Ik haw jister net nei sted wæst. FETSE.-'k wit net; sa hwat by de daelder om, eak ien kromke er oer. ABE.-Wierne er al rju?

FETSE.-Ja, dær stiene al hele keppels. It liket dat se rom binne, mar it wier myn soarte net.

ABE.-Heste den dyn fæste mieren jiers? Hawwe se hjar eigen kost, jimme mieren?

FETSE.-Hwet mienste ? dat ik my de earen fen 'e kop frette litte wol? Ik haw simmers genoach oan twa uwthongere Waldlju, dy 't 'k by 'my yn de ongetiid ha'.

ABE.-Jane jimme se den jouns eak neat?

FETSE. Ja, den krye se sa hwat ein heal kroädfol suwpenbry, in dat behimmelje se eak suwkerswiet. Ik wit net wær se it berchje yn hjar smelle pansen. Hja binne wis oars fen binnen as ien Fries.

ABE.-Ei, kom ju! It binne ommers eak minscen as wy.

The same in the Dutch of Holland.

ABE. Hoe duur zyn de mieren Fetse? ik ben gisteren niet naar de stad geweest.

FETSE.-Ik weet het niet; ongeveer een daalder en ook een kruimtje

er over.

ABE.-Waren er veel.

FETSE. Ja, er waren al heele hoopen. Het schynt dat ze ruim zyn; maar het waren geen van myn soort.

ABE.--Hebt gy dan uwe vaste mieren jaarlyks? Hebben uwe mieren hunne eigen kost?

From De Scheerwinkel fen Joute-Baes, pp. 1—3—(Dimter, i. e. Deventer, 1835).