In Fl. and Bl. as in King Horn it is difficult to distinguish certain criteria of dialect on account of the variety of orthography in the different manuscripts. Here again the only safe guide is the rimes, and the evidence of these is not entirely uniform for the different texts. There is a great difference in age between MS. C, the oldest, and MS. T, probably the youngest of the four MSS. Further there is a difference in the dialects represented by the different scribes. The scribes of MSS. C and Cott. were evidently southerners, and seem, here and there, to have twisted the verses around to make them fit the Southern dialect. On the other hand the later scribe of MS. T seems to have changed verses to make them fit his later dialect. Either the phrases are less stereotyped than in Horn or the poem was not so well known; in any event the scribes of the individual texts seem to have allowed themselves greater independence. The result is that the rime test here is not a sure one. The evidence of rimes in MS. C is not necessarily valid for MS. T, and _vice versā_; and which rimes indicate the pronunciation of the original composer, it is often difficult to say. If we bear these points in mind we may perhaps draw some satisfactory conclusions from the following criteria: 1. OE. _ȳ̆_ seems to have been pronounced _ī̆_. e.g.; _cusseþ_ : _blisse_, _custe_ : _wiste_ 549-52 C, _ywys_ : _kysse_ 1067 T, _winne_ : _kinne_ 806 C, _blisse_ : _kisse_ 786 C, _fylle_ : _wylle_ 738 T, _lyke_ : _lyte_ 782 T. Only apparent exceptions are _meene_ : _kyne_ 274 T (these words do not rime together in the original), and _bygge_ : _segge_ 989 T. _Ostesse_ : _kysse_ belongs only to MSS. T and Auch. 2. If we apply Prof. Hempl’s _-wǭ-_, _-wọ̄-_ test we find some evidence of a Midland dialect, e.g.; _too_ : _soo_ 94 T, _vndoo_ : _soo_ 74 T, _also_ : _doo_ 224 T, 764 C, _soo_ : _doo_ 64 T, 336 T, 624 T, _so_ : _fordo_ 307-8 C. This test applied to Fl. and Bl. is not certain in itself, but supports the other evidence. That the test is uncertain we see from the occurrence of apparently inaccurate rimes such as _hoom_ : _doom_ 1079 T, 802 C, and from a few rimes which oppose the evidence of those above cited, e.g., _þoo_ : _twoo_ 30 T, _two_ : _mo_ 218 T (and Cott.), _so_ : _go_ 438 C, 824 C, _bo_ : _atuo_ 548 C, 614 C, _þo_ : _so_ 666 C, _also_ : _bo_ 780 C, _whoom_ : _froom_ 70 T. It would seem then that the change had affected the _ā_ in OE. _swā_ but not in _twā_ and _hwā_. It must be noted that all the quoted _so_ rimes with _ọ̄_ occur in MS. C, which, as we shall see later, has a strong Southern colouring.