A briefe and a playne introduction teachyng how to pronounce the letters in the British tong now cōmenly called Walsh wherby an English man shal not only with ease read the said tong rightly but markyng the same wel it shal be a meane for him with one labour and diligence to attaine to the true and natural pronunciation of other expediente and most excellente languages Set forth by W. Salesburye ¶ Imprinted at London by Roberte Crowley dwellyng in Elye rentes in Holburne The yere of our Lord. M.D.L. ¶ Cum priuilegio ad imprimendum solum ¶ To hys louynge frende maister Rychard Colyngborne Wyllyam Salesburye wysheth prosperous healthe and perfecte felicitie THE naturall inclination the gentle amitie and the feruent loue and fauoure whych you mooste affectuouslye entierlye and perfitlye do not onely owe but haue beare and prosecute towarde me my contrye and contrye language and againe the sodayne semblable vehemente affections whych I moste comparable and ardent mutuallye and dulye do beare towards you hath caused me to abortiat if I myght speake my contry lāgage I neaded not to borowe the latine terme neyther make anye further explanation thereof and to bring forthe my late conceyued chyld before hys naturall and destinated tyme of byrthe But what than For thys euyll chaunce there lyeth none other remedye but eyther if he seme to haue his lineamentes tyghtly proportionated thoughe as yet somewhat lumpyshe to lycke hym hereafter as the Beare doeth hyr whelpe into a more perfecte shape eyther els if he shal appeare ouermuche monstruous to take hym and throw him into the botomeles floud of Lethe where then he shall neyther greue the Parentes hertes nor yet offende the eyen of kynne nor straunger But peraduenture ye wyll saye what by all thys ye speake in parables but I pray you frende Salesburye speake plaine Englyshe to me Well therfore to appeare in mine owne likenes and to be as plaine as the playne of Salesburie The sayde child is thys boke whom you so inordinately desire to go abrode before the appoynted season by the determination of the graue discrete and pithy Poete Horace Flactus whose verses be not farre from these in sentence Whan that thy restles penne of fame hath ought contrivd At Metius eare se that thou tune the cord in work reuivd And let them iudge therin whose heares be grisely growne Let midle age let vnripe yeres theron their iudgmēt sowne Than maist thou well at wil nine yeres in trial spente Set forth the work of wisdomes braine that the in lot is lent The sounde escaped once can not be called backe But shut vp thoughts in hert mai be amēded wher they lack Yet neuertheles for your faithful frendshyps sake I wyll not onely wynke at thys but euen aduisedly wyl forsake the prudēt counsaile of the wise mā thus admonishynge A fole differeth nothinge from a wise man whiles he kepeth silence yea and I am not abashed to publishe these vnsauoury trifles for the small commoditie that you shall perceiue by them amonge the honourable theatre and worshipfull company of the learned whiche moste plentuously thankes be to the Lorde habound now in euery place But of whence than commeth this vnshamefaste boldnes Marye of a licence graunted and prouided forme by the verye same Poete whose owne praise metre and wordes ne lest by vnapt traduction of the same I should disgrace the diuine poeticall maiestie I wyll here subscribe hoc tibi dictum Tolle memor certis medium et tolerabile rebus Recte concedi consultus iuris et actor Lausarum mediocris abest virtute diserti Messale nec scit quantum Caselitus Aulus Sed tamen in pretio est Besides thys the head learned man of all our tyme euen Erasmus Roterodamus holdeth soore on my parte for it is a true said sawe sayth he that there is not written so yll a boke but it is worthy the reading for some consideration And againe he affirmeth euen aboute the same place that it is expediente to heare the vnlearned playe the oratours or preachers whereby it maye appeare what shall be decent and what not Therfore I saye be it expedient or rather tollerable to admitte as well some such vnlearned writters as haue not the grace to obserue To prepon or comlynes euery where and at all tymes Amongest whiche sorte I wyl not disdayne to be accounted seyng I am adsured to satisfie in some parte your minde thoughe it be but slenderly to the purpose And in as much as I am fulli perswaded that you be the man to whom boeth for good learnyng perfecte iudgement therein and for the fauour pretended towarde this feble enterprise I neades muste commit thys boke if for the littlenes it may be iustely called a boke not onelye to be redde corrected perfected but also to be defended frome the cancred malitious checkes of all those who at all times canne be at better laysure to rebuke other mens doinges than to do ought them selues Thus fare ye hartelye well At Thauies Inne in Holburne more hastely than spedelye M.D.L. ¶ Wyllyam Salesburye to the Reader IT was not longe after gentle Reader that I had compyled a little Dictionarye for the vse and behoue of my contry men the Walshmen and the same sette forthe and published at the kinges hyghnes licence and pleasure but there came certayne persons vnto me The occasion of the makynge of thys boke whereof some were Englysh marchers bordering vpon Wales and some not skilled in the Walshe tonge neuertheles hauyng good and honeste occasions eyther for their promotions and lyuynges eyther els for trade of Marchaūdice and other their affayres to be conuersante in the sayde contrye of Wales and peraduenture sometime chaunce to be amonge them that can not a worde of Englishe And some other were such Walshmen that had bē brought vp from their youth and tender age oute of the precincte of their natiue contrye who thoughte it reproch to be vtterly ignoraunt in their mother tong hauing a mind also to come to some knowledge therin wherby they myght the rather semyng lesse straūg renewe frendshyp and familiaritie with their contrye folke and frendes whyche thynge otherwyse they coulde not so conuenientlye brynge to passe mooste chiefely to edifie them as well in ciuyle institutions as in godlye doctryne Nowe the other some were such Englishe men as had not so vrgente a cause nor so earnest an occasion to trauell in thys behalfe but yet were they so feruent as it semed bi their importune request as they whō I spake of before whom the Grekes with one propre terme cal Philoglottous Langage louers whose gētle herted disposition is alwaies addicte bente geuen to be sene in al languages but speciallye of their owne felow subiectes and contrey menne thoughe they purchase there by but small gaynes lucre or wynnyng whiche thynges be the honied swete baytes of the auaricious beastly misers and contrarywyse the defiaunce of all
metynge togyther of the ouer manye consonantes in the same Of whych sorte the Grekes haue many words as it appeareth in thys verse Graun chthoâ—ian aesâ—hros phthonos â—â—â—ageâ— ouxiphos eâ—hthrou And suche verses be called of them Chalepoi that is harde to pronunce accordynglye And the Latines haue deuised them for the same purpose thys other verse Arx stridens rostris sphinâ— prester torrida seps strix And the diligence of the aunciente Englishe men hath found out to auoyde the volutable and slypper lapse of the tonge in soundynge togyther a meyny of wordes conteynynge in them diuerse consonantes of vnlyke pronunciation thys compacte of wordes such other like Three beanes in a bladder rattle bladder rattle The English Saxons called firste the Brytons walshemen Also the Brytons I meane them whom the vnlearned and the commune sorte of people call styll in the old Saxons terme Walshmen of like regard haue ioyned togither certain words for the same inteÌ„t whyche who so euer shall redilye roundely and perfitelye sound the same shall also pronounce more easelye all other wordes And ye shall take thys nowe for one harde sentence in Walsh but to be spoken roundlye Paam y bydd garw blayn blew barf gafyr am y bod yn pori bric helyn garw gardd bardd baron c. Here is an other of that sorte but shorter Barkutan yn pigo pupur An other as harde Kiffill ar ben gallt y pistill These examples maye seme to some men not onely vulgare and chyldishe but also vayne vnfrutefull and no lesse folyshe and so be they in dede and what is not so beinge abused or mistaken if they be not applyed to the directed scope and purposed inteÌ„t But nowe who shall be so vnlucky as to leape ouer a blocke and stumble at a strawe And who is he that shal distincly pronouÌ„ce in Douch Bildtschuitzer but the same shall sone pronounce Verdampt What maÌ„ is he that can sounde Wynchester Englyshelike but cosequently speake hault or suche other lyght word And so who is he that can speake thaboue wryghten walsh sentences and can mysse of the pronuciation of other wordes of moare commune construction And bycause as I protested befor I do not entend to encourage you nor anye man els Brytyshe misnamed walshe than is ouer desierous to the studye of Brytyshe I meane the language that by continuall misnomer the recorder of the aunciente hostilitie is called Walshe I wyll not once speake a a worde in praise of it thoughe and if I were learned I myght say somewhat to it but willingly wil pretermit to set forthe what select wordes what consonant and fine termes and what sentencious and net adages whych the olde sage learned fathers haue not only inuented but also of the Grekes and the Latines moste prosperouslye haue taken translated accepted and vntill thys daye stil retayned I wyl omit to declare any white of the manifolde retorical phrases I wyll winke at the tropes metaphores translations and such maner of speaches whych the Brytyshe tonge hath as commune The Hebrue toÌ„ge yea rather as peculier or sisterlyke wyth the holy language And as for to conferre the pronuntiation of them both togyther I wyll not for what shuld I make a comparison betwexte whyte and euen like whyte or liken an egge to an egge And if I shoulde but once enter to treat of the vnspekeable felicitie and the woÌ„derous graces of the Brytishe meters who his inexplicable obseruatiue composition Loke els in the laste leafe no man but bi the onely gifte of nature hath euer attayned I should neuer make an ende But nowe after thys oh howe it greaueth me to disclose the vnfayned trueth and to confesse the vndisimuled veritie that there remayneth now but walsh pamphlets for the goodly Brytish bokes sometyme so well furnished wyth all kynde of literature and so fewe Brytyshe fragmentes of the booke of Christes owne religion remaine vnwormeaten For if the gospel be hyd it is hid amoÌ„g theÌ„ that are lost ii Co. iiii and defended from iniurye of tyme and the booke of Howel da ap Cadell so longe preserued salfe and sounde Yea it is rather to be lamented and greatly to be sorowed to se howe fewe Walshemen haue the knoweledge of the Englyshe tonge whyche as by the next way mought nowe restaurate for the outworne baren Britishe the reliques of the noble Britons to their euer affectionate knowledge and accustomed learnynge of good letters pietie and godlines But nowe maister Colingborne leaste peraduenture where I thynke my selfe but familiarly to talke here with you and other my familiares as my meanynge is none other in dede some thankeles taunter entermeddle and say vnto me alludyng to that mocke of Diogenes O viri Myndi portas occludite ne quando vrbs vestra egrediatur meanynge thys thereby O my good frende haue done wyth your Walshe fables haue done for els your ioly prooemion and your goodly parergon shal be lenger than al your boke besyde Here therfore at the last I make an ende FINIS An addicion The maner of one kynde of meter in the Britishe tonge DISTICHI BRITANNICI POLYMETRI RATIO THEORETICA Genus metri Ciccanet croes cysne Widoc The name of the metre ¶ Cyccanet traws HARMONIA Cu adardy coed ir dec CONCENTUS TAVTOGRAMMATON HOMOEOPTOTON CYCCANET Cwvert hardê mewn cyvair tec The versifienge An other kynde of meter Pop gwlat aeth orat vn a thri De braint / I brintio mewn trevi ' sef orat Deo Nio anos mewn Daoni Bot yr vn gwaith in Iaith ni Aehi caradd ac cant FINIS
vnto the y for to stop the ouermuch gapinge that the metynge togyther of the to many vowels should els haue caused as thus yd oedd ydd oedd or yr oedd there was And sometyme y include th in it selfe such a relation as schin in the Hebrue doeth A generall rule for the readynge of Walsh THough there be diuerse precepts heretofore written of the Walshe pronuntiation of the letters I woulde thinke it not ouermuch dissonant nor yet to wyde from the purpose to admonish you in this behalfe that is that you ought not to reade the Walshe accordynge as ye do the Englyshe or Frenche but euen after the readynge of the latine For in readynge Englyshe or Frenche ye do not reade some wordes all so fully as they be wroteÌ„ And in manye other ye seme to sounde the sillables more fully than the expressed letters do geue Which maner of readynge is so vtterly eschued in walsh as ye perceyue it to be exactly obserued of theÌ„ that perfitely reade the latine tong Neyther do I meane here to call them perfite and latinelyke readers as manye as do reade angnus mangnus for agnus magnus ingnis for ignis saÌ„tus for saÌ„ctus sawl for sal sowl for sol and for mihi meichei and egow for ego tuw for tu and quith ligith in stede of quid legit c. Therfore ye muste learne to forget suche maner of pronunciation agaynste ye prepare youre selues to reade the walsh More ouer ye ought to know that these words dringo gwingo kynga myngen anglod angred and the most part of such lyke walsh wordes hauyng ng in them and beynge of moe sillables thaÌ„ oue shall be reade as these Englyshe wordes be but ye muste admite them to be reade nowe as of two sillables euery worde Kynges rynges bryngeth syngeth For euen as ye do not reade them kyn-ges ryn-ges bryn-geth syn-geth but rather in thys wyse kyng-es ryng-es bryng eth euen so do wesounde dring-o not dringo gwing o myng-en and not myn-geÌ„ Albeit yet as ng maye be seuered and parted in this english word sin-geth but the significatioÌ„ altered so haue we some wordes in walshe whaÌ„ they are spoken in whom the sillables may be seuered in ng as in these an-gerth llan-gwm trin gyrch c. MOre ouer maister Colingborn thys shal be further to certify you that mine intent herein was not to instructe or to teach any man absolutely the walshe tonge but rather to let the reader haue a sight of it as it were thorow a lattesse and to proue whether it were possible for a man to come to the naturall speach of a language wyth the onelye introduction of preceptes For I meane nothing lesse thaÌ„ to go about to enduce any English man to learne Walshe but for hope to attayne so muche englishe of such in permutation therof but contrarily I would fayne wyth all industry endeuer my selfe to helpe and further all Walshemen to come to the knoweledge of Englyshe Englishe as a language moste expediente and most worthiest to be learned studied and enhauÌ„ced of al them that be subiectes and vnder the obeysaunce of the imperiall diademe and triumphante Sceptre of Englande euen for the attaynement of knowledge in Gods word and other liberall sciences whyche thorowe the benifite of the learned men of our dayes be communely hadde and sette forth in the said Englishe tongue Walshe Agayne as for the Walsh tong euen as it is not now to be compared wyth the Englyshe language so is it not so rude so grosse nor so barbarous as strauÌ„gers beynge therein all ignorante and blynd do adiugde it to be nor yet to speake indifferentlye wythout all affections is it not all so copious so fyne so pure nor so fully replenished with eligancie graces eloquence as they them selues suppose it Howebeit whan the whole Isle was communely called Brytayne the dwellers Brutes or BrytoÌ„s WhaÌ„ Englande SchotlaÌ„de Wales were called Britaine were the Walshemens auÌ„cestours called Brytons and accordyngelye their language Brytishe I wyll not refell nor greatelye denye neyther can I iustelye gaynsaye but theyr tonge than was as copious of fit wordes and all maner of propre vocables and as well adournated wyth worshypfull sciences and honorable knoweledge as anye other barbarous tonges were And so styll continued thoughe their Septre declined and theyr Kyngedome decayed and they also were driuen into the moste vnfertyll region barenest contrey and moste desert prouince of all the Isle vntyll the conquest of Wales For than as they saye the nobles and the greateste men of the countrey beynge captiues brought prisoners into the tower of LoÌ„don there to remayne durynge their liues desiered of a commune requeste that they myght haue wyth theÌ„ all such bokes of their tonge as they moste delited in and so their pticion was hearde and for the lightnes sone graunted and so brought with them al the principallest and chiefest bokes as wel of their owne as of other their frendes of whom they coulde obtayne any to serue for their purpose whose mind was none other but to passe the time and their predestinate perpetual captiuitie in the amenous varietie of ouerreadynge and reuolueynge manye volumes and sondrye bokes of diuerse sciences and straunge matters And that is the commune answere of the Walshe Barde Bardes for so call they their Poets or rime makers Whan a maÌ„ shal obiect or cast in their teath the folysh vncertaintie and the phantasticall vanities of theyr prophecies whyche they cal Brutes or the doubtful race and kinde of liuing of their vncanonised sayntes whom that notwythstandynge they doeth inuocate and worshyp wyth the mooste hyghe honâ—noure and lowliest reuerence Lhyfreu Kymry ai llofrudd Ir twr gwyn aythant ar gudd Ysceler oedd i ScolaÌ„ Vwrw r twr o lyfreu ir taÌ„ Gutto r Glyn. Addynge and allegynge in excuse thereof that the reliques and residue of the bokes and monumentes as well of their Sayntes lyues as of their Brutyshe prophecies and other sciences which perished not in the tower for there they saye certayne were burned at the insurrection of their contrye rebell Owen Glyn-door were in like maner destroyed vtterly deuastat or at the least wyse that there escaped not one that was not vncurablye maymed and irrecuparablye torne and mangled But hereto it mighte rather appertayne to speake to renewe and call to remembraunce the diligent and curious obseruaunce of olde antiquiti as concerning exact pronuntiation and ryght soundynge of wordes sillables and letters whych euen the noble nation of the Grekes who excelled all other nations in euerie kynde of good learnynge dyd not once neglecte to inuent practice and duly execute for the wontynge exercisynge and perfeictinge of the tonge of youthe to the ende it should not so easely stomble stagger lysp or relent besyde the iust and true soundynge of all such letters sillables and words as were hard to be souÌ„ded for the straunge concourse and vnwont