From what has been said above, it seems fairly certain that the original dialect was a southern one, and probably a south-eastern one. There are, however, some features which distinguish the dialect of Horn from the Kentish. (Cf. Morsbach, § 9, b.) For instance, I may cite the history of the breaking _ea_ before _r_ + cons. In K. H. this is usually written _a_. (Cf. 481-2, 751-2, 1147-8.) But in case of lengthening before _-rn_, we see that the OE. broken _ea_ pronunciation must have been the basis; e.g., _werne_ : _berne_ C L, _werne_ : _berne_ H, 753-4, 985-6, 749-50 L, 1513-14 H, _erne_ : _werne_ 937-8 H. The combinations _ē̆o_, _ī̆o_, _ēa_ are very regularly monophthonged, not preserving any of the Kentish diversity of form. The time of composition must have been fairly late, as we must infer from the number of French words even in the rimes. That K. H. was composed later than the beginning of the 13th century, we may conclude from the fact that OE. _ā_ has been regularly converted into _-ǭ-_. Cf. _drof_ : _of_ 129-30, _forsoke_ : _loke_ 799-800, etc. That it was composed in the second half of the century seems certain from the regularity of the conversion of _ā_ to _ǭ-_, and further from the lengthening of short vowels in open syllables. Of this latter phenomenon we have very few certain instances. Such rimes, however, as _þere_ : _fare_ 497-8 L H and _stede_ : _drede_ 273-4 C, seem to be certain enough. (Cf. also 179-80, 537-8, 567-8, 1123-4 C, 1157-8 C, 1501-2 L H, 1531-2 C, 1613-14.) § 8. MANUSCRIPTS. The English story of King Horn is preserved in three MSS. 1. The Cambridge University MS. Gg. 4. 27, 2, which forms the nucleus of the present volume, is merely a fragment of fourteen folios. It contains on its first folios the latter part of the story of Floris and Blauncheflur, which is printed in the present volume. This is followed by King Horn entire, which is followed by the fragment, printed in this volume, of the Assumption. The Cambridge MS. is written in a very plain book-hand, apparently of the latter half of the 13th century. The folios are written in double columns, and occasionally, since the lines are short, two lines are joined in one. The initial letters are written a little apart from the rest, and are marked with strokes of red. This text of King Horn is the one printed by Lumby in the first edition of the present volume. 2. Laud Misc. MS. 108 is well known because containing one of the earliest collections of legends. It contains sixty-one legends (the Southern Cycle) followed by three religious poems, these in turn followed by the romances of Havelok and Horn, and these followed by three further legends, in a later hand of the 15th century. The MS. is written in double columns on parchment, and probably dates back to 1325. The texts of Horn and Havelok are written in a fine book-hand. The lives that are appended are written in a later, much less formal hand.