_Abrupt his native accents broke_.--p. 50. l. 7.
The Anglo-Norman dynasty, with their martial nobility, down to the reign
of Edward III. continued to use, almost exclusively, the Romance or
ancient French language; while the Saxon, although spoken chiefly by the
vulgar, was gradually adopting, from the rival tongue, those
improvements and changes, which fitted it for the use of Chaucer and
Gower. In the introduction to the Metrical Romance of _Arthur and
Merlin_, written during the minority of Edward V. it appears that the
English language was then gaining ground. The author says, he has even
seen many gentlemen who could speak no French (though generally used by
persons of that rank), while persons of every quality understood
English.--_Sir Tristrem_.