Hand: Main Hand (incl. Lilly Add. 1000), BL Harley 5915, fols. 8 and 9

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

Lilly, Add. 1000. This fairly regular, quite round hand was written with a relatively thick pen and shows some shading. Ascenders are thick and straight but usually no longer than minims; wedges are large but fairly well formed. Descenders are also thick, straight, and long, although they can have the slightest hint of a leftward turn. Minims are thick and fairly straight, with approach-strokes and small feet. Single-compartment a was used throughout; the structure is rotund but the execution varies, so the result ranges from approximately teardrop-shaped through rotund to nearly square. A similar structure was used for æ, although the top is straighter and more angled; the tongue is usually high and horizontal, and the hook slightly above cue-height. Round c appears throughout, the lower curve longer than the upper one. The back of d is medium length, thick, straight, angled at about 10–15°, and extending slightly beyond the left-hand edge of the bowl. Horned e was used, the tongue often horizontal and at cue-height but the eye squinting; alternatively, the tongue can be angled up slightly but turns horizontal after it passes the hook. The tongue normally extends well past the hook, usually touching the following letter, and can be turned up at the end when final. The tonge of f is flat and longer than the hook. The top of g is flat and thick, the mid-section is small and hangs from the centre, and the tail forms a large, round, closed loop. The shoulders of h, m, n, and r are all quite rounded and the strokes swollen; that of r curls in to the left slightly before turning sharply out in a relatively large foot. Round, long, and low s were all used: round initially, long before t, and low elsewhere. Long s is similar to Caroline but descends further and has a larger hook; round s has a small upper hook and rises slightly above cue-height. The conventional distinction between þ and ð was largely followed, though with exceptions (þa þa five times in BL, Harley 5915, 8r19–23, followed immediately by þa ða twice on 8r24 and 8r26). The back of ð is long, straight, and thick, angled at about 45°, and the through-stroke is sometimes straight but usually hooked down on the right. Straight-limbed dotted y was used throughout, the tail hooked rightwards at the tip and the right branch hooked left. The top of 7 is slightly concave up, hooked up at the left and turned up slightly at the right; the down-stroke curves slightly left. Latin was carefully distinguished by script.