Hand: Second Land Survey (157r1–7), York Additional 1, fols. 10–161

Name

Second Land Survey (157r1–7)

Manuscript

York Additional 1, fols. 10–161

Script

English Vernacular minuscule

Scribe

DigiPal Scribe 16. Saec. xi1/4

Date

Saec. xi1/4

Place

York

Stokes, English Vernacular Script, ca 990–ca 1035, Vol. 2 (PhD Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2006)

This passage was written with a relatively small pen but with some shading and has a low cue-height and somewhat square proportions. Ascenders are longer than minims and are straight with large and sometimes flat-topped wedges. Descenders are shorter but still longer than minims, taper somewhat, and are often angled to the right but can turn left at the tips. Minims are straight, fairly vertical, and have small wedges and small feet. Rounded but essentially teardrop-shaped a was used throughout. A similar construction was used for æ, the hook of which is high and bulging even when final, and the tongue horizontal and at or just below cue-height. Round c is found. The back of d is long and fairly straight but slightly concave down and usually angled at about 30°; on the first line, however, the back is longer, straighter, angled at about 50° and has a small wedge at the tip. Horned and round e are found, both with vertical backs; the tongue is usually thin and rising, extended and vertical-tipped when final, and the hook can be round or somewhat angular. Tall e is found only in bægel, line 1, where it was presumably influenced by the preceding æ. The tongue of f is long, tapering slightly, and just above the base-line. The top of g is flat, the mid-section hangs from slightly left of centre, and the tail is open and approximately horizontal but vertical-tipped. The shoulders of h, m, n and, to a lesser extent, r are usually very angular, although more rotund forms can be found, particularly in r. Long and low s are both found, the latter only in the ‑es ending and the former in any position. Long s usually has a wide flat hook and does not descend far below the base-line, and low s is usually deeply-split and extends up with a thin, near-vertical stroke before turning out. The conventional distinction between þ and ð was followed. The back of ð is long, thin, usually very slightly concave down, and angled at about 40°, although the two examples in the first line are angled at about 60° with a small wedge at the tip in the first case and turned up in the second; in other cases the tip sometimes has a very small downward hook. The cross-stroke of ð is usually very low, quite straight, angled at about 15°, and hooked sharply down on the right. Straight-limbed dotted y was used throughout, the left branch of which is curved, the right hooked left and slightly below cue-height, and the tail very long and thin. The south-west branch of x is also long and thin. The top of 7 is very long, turned up slightly at the tip, and with a ~-shaped down-stroke.