Hand: Fifty-nine Glosses, BL Cotton Cleopatra C.viii, fols. 4–37

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

These glosses were written with a thin pen, and the letters are much smaller than those of the main Latin text. The letters are somewhat pointed and are not particularly even or regularly formed; they are more laterally compressed than the Latin glosses, although neither has extended proportions. Ascenders are usually no longer than minims and have small wedges. Descenders are straight and are typically longer than minims. Minims are very small and have small wedges and ticked feet. Semi-Caroline or essentially Caroline a was used throughout. The a-component of æ is single-compartment and usually more rounded, the tongue is straight and slightly rising, and the hook is round. Horned and round c are both found. The back of d is long, with a vertical tip but otherwise angled at about 30°, although it is occasionally concave down and closer to horizontal. The back of e can be round or vertical, and the tongue is usually horizontal but tends to be rising when in final position. Both Insular and Caroline f were used, as was a hybrid Insular/Caroline form which descends slightly below the base-line and has a tongue at mid-height and a hook almost at ascender-height. Caroline and Insular g are both found without apparent distinction, although Insular g is much more common. The top of Insular g is flat, the mid-section hangs from the middle and is open, and the tail sometimes ends in a small hook, sometimes reaches back under the preceding letter, and is always open. The shoulders of h, m, and n are all quite angular, quite deeply split, and were typically written with almost no pen-lift. Caroline r is normal, but the Insular form is also found (for, 28v6). Long s was used throughout, the down-stroke of which reaches below the base-line but not a full descender-length, and the hook is usually at ascender-height but is quite narrow. Caroline s is also found (flances, 29r1, which also has fully Caroline f), as is the Caroline s+t ligature (strenges, 19v, with fully Caroline g). The scribe reversed the usual distinction between ð and þ, using the former initially and the later finally (but note aþidde, outer margin of 8v; nyðer, 30r6; griteð, 37r7; timbreð, 37r17). The form of ð is much like that of d, and the through-stroke is hooked down on the right. Straight-limbed undotted y was used, usually but not always dotted, with a horizontal serif on the right branch and a thickend tip of the tail.