Hand: Notice of Confraternity (43v), BL Royal 1.D.ix

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

This relatively neat and well-spaced hand was written with a moderately thick pen and noticeable shading. Ascenders are slightly longer than minims, are relatively thick, and have either approach-strokes or slightly split wedges. Descenders are a good deal shorter, about equal to minims in length, and taper slightly. Minims are straight, with small wedges or approach-strokes and rising feet. Teardrop-shaped a appears throughout, the back of which is angled at about 70° and can curve in slightly, swinging smoothly up and to the right. The same form was used in the single example of æ, the e-component of which rises slightly above cue-height and the tongue of which is straight and rising. Round c was used, with a slightly angular south-west quadrant, and d has a long but rounded back which rises slightly above cue-height. Horned e was used, with a small eye and rising tongue, and the back can be vertical or more angled. The tongue of f is short and thin. The tail of g is closed in a wide oblong angled at about 30°; the top is flat, and the rounded mid-section hangs from slightly left of centre. The shoulders of h, m, n, and r are all quite similar: they tend to rise in a thin straight stroke, then either turn sharply downward or curve out slightly before then becoming vertical. The letter k appears three times, twice in kinges and once in the name Kartoca; it was written with a thick straight stroke angled down at about 30° and a short stroke curving upwards and remaining within cue-height. Only tall s was used, with a long prominent hook and a tapering down-stroke which descends slightly below the line. Only one example of þ is found (þe, line 2), but there is only one other case where it might have been used if the conventional distinction was used (ðæs, line 3). The back of ð is long, thick, and concave up, and the through-stroke is approximately bisected by the back and has a thick upward curve on the left and downward one on the right. The south-west branch of x is long and thin with a small rightward hook at the tip, and the north-west branch is hooked left. Only one example of y is found: it is straight-limbed and dotted, with the tail curving left and with a small hook left on the right fork. The top of 7 is flat but is hooked up very slightly at both ends, and the descender angles slightly to the left. The opening Latin formula, In nomine dni nri ihu xpi, is not distinguished by script.