Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.06.1985, Page 93
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line 15 vysyte; the y with sharply curved descender in line 6 pleyne; and
two forms of yogh, with curl at line 15 30 w and with neither curl nor
attacking stroke at line 16 jo(ur). The idiosyncratic A- has been found
in this hånd at f. 192r22 (And), and the open w- with attacking stroke is
in the plate published by M. B. Parkes.83 The diagonal+point is used
as a punctuation mark, here with the value of a half stop (lines 5, 7,15-
16). I have only had the opportunity to examine the Selden manuscript
very briefly and must therefore base my opinion on the published
facsimiles; but with this reservation I think it may be said that the chief
respect in which Dalhousie and Haye differ from Selden is that the
latter, while exhibiting a stronger preference for cursive letter-forms -
simple d and 1 are less prominent, and looped w seems to predominate
- is executed with noticeably less currency, probably due at least in
part to the use of a broader pen. Dalhousie occupies an intermediate
position between Haye and Selden with regard to currency; I do not,
however, think that it is legitimate to draw conclusions as to the rela-
tive age of the three manuscripts from this feature alone, or from the
relative distribution of cursive and non-cursive letter-forms.
The format of Dalhousie and Selden is also very similar: Selden
today measures c. 25.5 x 17 cm, which is slightly smaller than
Dalhousie but is the result of severe trimming of the Bodleian volume
during re-binding.84 Whether this is more than a coincidence will only
appear from further study of the watermarks; of the six or more water-
marks in Selden only the last two have to my knowledge been
described in print,85 and neither of these bears any resemblance to the
watermarks in Dalhousie. Norton-Smith’s identification of the first
Selden hånd with Haye is at all events reasonably certain, and my
identification of Dalhousie with Haye adds a third item to a group
whose age and provenance must be considered jointly.
83 English Cursive Book Hånds, plate 13(ii), line 9 with.
84 This is already apparent from the measurements given in Madan and Craster’s
Summary Catalogue (10s/s x 7V4 inches) and in Root’s Manuscripts of Chaucer’s Troilus
(lO'/t x 65/s inches); the former answers almost exactly to the Dalhousie manuscript,
while the latter roughly approximates to the dimensions of the Selden manuscript as
now preserved.
85 Norton-Smith, The Kingis Quair, p. xxxi; Norton-Smith and Pravda, The Quare of
Jelusy, pp. 13-14.