A Charter of 1379
Older Scots Reading 1
Chapter 2 · A Charter of 1379
📜 A Charter of 1379
In Chapter 1 you saw the first line of this document. The page tool gave me the whole passage this time, sixteen lines, so this chapter reads all of it. It is legal prose: long sentences, repeated phrases and a lot of "heirs and assigns". That repetition helps a learner, because the same words come round again and again.
The text
| Line | Older Scots | Gloss (mine) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Till all þat þir lettres herys or seis Alysandre lyndessay lorde of glennesk knycht gretyng in god euer lestand | To all that these letters hear or see, Alexander Lindsay, lord of Glenesk, knight, greeting in God everlasting |
| 2 | Wete yhe me for me and myn ayres and assigneȝ at þe instance of a noble & mychty lorde Sir William Erle of Douglas | Know ye (that) I, for me and my heirs and assigns, at the request of a noble and mighty lord, Sir William, Earl of Douglas |
| 3 | & of Marr haue releissit quytclaymit & for euer mare remittyt till an honorable lady dame Mergarete contesse of Marr | and of Marr, have released, quitclaimed and for evermore remitted, to an honourable lady, Dame Margaret, Countess of Marr |
| 4 | & to Elyȝabeth hir systir dachteris & ayres till an michty lorde Thomas stywarde som tyme Erle of Angous | and to Elizabeth her sister, daughters and heirs to a mighty lord, Thomas Stewart, sometime Earl of Angus |
| 5 | all my rycht clayme persuit chalenge or askyng þat I or myn ayres has or may haue or our assignes | all my right, claim, pursuit, challenge or asking that I or my heirs has or may have, or our assigns |
| 6 | in tyme to come be ony ways to fourty markis worth of land in ye qwilkes ye foresaid Erle of Angous | in time to come by any ways to forty marks' worth of land in the which the foresaid Earl of Angus |
| 7 | was obligit be his lettres to gyve me heritably eftir þat I had tane þe ordre of knycht sa þat nowthir I | was obliged by his letters to give me heritably after that I had taken the order of knight, so that neither I |
| 8 | no myn ayres no our assigneȝ þe foresaid dame Mergarete Elyȝabeth hir systir þair ayres no þair assigneȝ | nor my heirs nor our assigns, the foresaid Dame Margaret, Elizabeth her sister, their heirs nor their assigns |
| 9 | by cause of þe foresaid fourty markis worth of land no for na maner of rerageȝ þare of may chalenge | because of the foresaid forty marks' worth of land, nor for any manner of arrears thereof, may challenge |
| 10 | inquiete distourble or be cause foresaid aganis þaim qhestioun or plede in tyme to cum be ony maner of way | disquiet, disturb, or because (of) the foresaid against them question or plead in time to come by any manner of way |
| 11 | bot fra all manere of rycht and colour lauch of askyng following owthir to possessioun or proprete | but from all manner of right and colour of law of asking following either to possession or property |
| 12 | to þe forsaid thingis be ws excludit & assoillit be þir lettres for euer mare | to the foresaid things be (by) us excluded and absolved by these letters for evermore |
| 13 | And in case gif I or myn ayres or assigneȝ in þe contrare of þis lettre | and in case if I or my heirs or assigns in the contrary of this letter |
| 14 | in tyme to come before ony Iuge sall attempt or moue I wil & granteȝ þat our folowing be nocht herd | in time to come before any judge shall attempt or move, I will and grant that our following be not heard |
| 15 | as thing of na valu no of strenthe but fraude or gyle In wytness here of to þis lettre | as a thing of no value nor of strength, without fraud or guile. In witness hereof to this letter |
| 16 | I haue put my sele þe xij day of Marce þe yhere of grace m·iiic sevynty & nyne | I have put my seal the 12th day of March, the year of grace 1379 |
Source: Wikipedia, Early Scots, the 1379 sample text, sixteen consecutive pieces as the page tool gave them, and the article's description of the document. The article prints no translation, so every gloss is mine and unverified. Several are uncertain, notably in lines 9 to 11; the Walking through section says which.
The date in line 16 is written xij day and m·iiic sevynty & nyne. Read as Roman numerals, m·iiic is 1300 and sevynty & nyne adds 79, which gives 1379. That matches the date the article gives.
Walking through it
- Letters. Thorn is common (þat, þe, þair), and y sometimes takes its place: ye foresaid and in ye qwilkes read as the foresaid and in the which. ȝ appears at the end of assigneȝ, rerageȝ and granteȝ, where the sense needs s, and in the middle of Elyȝabeth. yhe and yhere are "ye" and "year". The sources do not explain these.
- ch for gh. knycht, rycht, mychty, dachteris and nocht all use ch where we write gh, as Chapter 1 said.
- qu and qh. qwilkes ("which") and qhestioun ("question") are variants of the quh- that Chapter 1 described. I do not know if qw and qh are scribal habits; the article does not say.
- u and v. euer, gyve and sevynty use u or v as Chapter 1 predicted; moue is "move".
- Past forms in -it / -yt. releissit, quytclaymit, remittyt, obligit, excludit and assoillit all end like this. They are participles after haue and was. The article calls -yt / -it a Scottish past-tense ending.
- Present endings. herys and seis agree with the plural lettres. has in I or myn ayres has has a plural subject. Those fit the Northern -es plural of Middle English Grammar 1, Chapter 6, if I read them that way. But line 14 has I wil & granteȝ: a verb ending in -eȝ after I, where Chapter 6 gave the 1st singular as -e. The sources do not explain that, so I only note it.
- Plurals. markis, dachteris, thingis and lettres carry -is or -es, as the article's -ys / -is row says. ayres is "heirs", and assigneȝ carries a ȝ in place of the s.
- Verbal nouns. askyng, gretyng, folowing end in -yng / -ing, the verbal noun ending. lestand in line 1 ends in -and, the present participle.
- Pronouns. me, myn, our, his, hir ("her"). þair and þaim ("their", "them") begin with þ, like the Norse line of Chapter 5's table (þem, þeir); hir keeps the h of the Old English line. That is my observation, not the sources'.
- Modals. sall ("shall"), may, wil. Chapter 7 gave schal, so sall is a spelling difference, my reading.
- Negatives. nocht ("not") matches the nauȝt family of Middle English Grammar 1, Chapter 8. no is read as "nor" in lines 8 and 9, my reading from the sense, and na as "no".
- Words from French law. ayres ("heirs") and Iuge ("judge") are on the list of French law words in Middle English Grammar 1, Chapter 9 (heir, judge). I do not mark the other legal words (assigneȝ, quytclaymit, assoillit) as French, because no source I read says so.
New words
| Older Scots | Meaning | Modern English relative |
|---|---|---|
| wete yhe | know ye | wit, ye |
| ayres | heirs | heirs |
| releissit | released | released |
| systir | sister | sister |
| dachteris | daughters | daughters |
| markis | marks (money) | marks |
| eftir | after | after |
| tane | taken | ta'en (my guess) |
| gif | if | gif (Scots, my knowledge) |
| sele | seal | seal |
| wytness | witness | witness |
Try It Yourself
Say the answer first, then click to check.
1. Who is the document by, and who is it in favour of?
Show answer
By Alexander Lindsay, knight, Lord of Glenesk; in favour of Margaret, Countess of Marr, and her sister Elizabeth.
2. What is the date, and how is the year written?
Show answer
12 March 1379, written xij day of Marce and m·iiic sevynty & nyne.
3. Translate I haue put my sele.
Show answer
"I have put my seal."
4. What does ch stand for in rycht and nocht?
Show answer
gh: "right" and "not".
5. Name three past forms in -it / -yt.
Show answer
Any three of releissit, quytclaymit, remittyt, obligit, excludit, assoillit.
6. What do ye and yhere stand for?
Show answer
ye is "the" (y for thorn, as in ye foresaid) and yhere is "year".
7. Which verb in line 14 does not match the 1st singular ending of Chapter 6?
Show answer
granteȝ after I; Chapter 6 gave -e. The sources do not explain it.
8. Which pronouns look like the Norse line of Chapter 5, and which like the Old English line?
Show answer
þair and þaim begin with þ like þem and þeir; hir keeps the h. This is my observation.
9. Which two words in the charter are on Chapter 9's list of French law words?
Show answer
ayres ("heirs") and Iuge ("judge").
10. Why does the chapter call lines 9 to 11 uncertain?
Show answer
No translation is printed, and words like rerageȝ and colour lauch are guesses from the sense.