Northumbrian Old English

[8] This form of Northumbrian Old English was first recorded in poetry; e.g. Cædmon's Hymn c. 658-680), writings of the Venerable Bede (c. 700 AD) and the Leiden Riddle.

[7] The anonymous author of the Northumbrian Cursor Mundi claimed southern English texts needed to be translated into northern dialects for people to fully understand what they were reading.

[10] Ralph Higden in 1364 described Northumbrian as incredibly difficult for southern natives to understand, believing the reason for this to be the "strange men an nations that speaketh stronglie" (i.e. the Scots) the region bordered.

Northumbrian dialectical terms, accents, and manners of speaking were considered incorrect and inelegant to those in power, who were seated in the south of England.

A great number of letters, poems and newspaper articles were written in Northumbrian and Cumbrian dialects throughout the 19th and 20th centuries; however, their use is declining in favour of Standard English.

[16][17] The following witnesses to the language have added punctuation, diacritics for long vowels and palatalization, and italics representing expanded abbreviations and missing or illegible text.

Nū sċylun herġan ‖ hefaenrīċaes uard, metudæs maecti ‖ end his mōdġidanc, uerc uuldurfadur, ‖ suē hē uundra ġihuaes, ēċi dryctin ‖ ōr āstelidæ.

[18] Fore thēm neidfaerae ‖ naeniġ uuiurthit thoncsnottura, ‖ than him tharf sīe tō ymbhyċġġannae ‖ aer his hiniongae huaet his gāstae ‖ gōdaes aeththa yflaes aefter dēothdaeġe ‖ doemid uueorthae.

Uil mec huethrae suaeðēh ‖ uīdæ ofaer eorðu hātan mith heliðum ‖ hyhtliċ ġiuǣde; ni anoeġu nō iċ mē aeriġfaerae ‖ eġsan brōgum, ðēh ði numen sīæ ‖ nīudlicae ob cocrum.

Side 1: Ġeredæ hinæ God almeħttiġ ‖ þā hē walde on galgu ġistiga, modiġ fore... ‖ men bug...