Cr1.10.247KD.10.245 Thre persons and not in plurel nombre
C.10.246KD.10.245 Thre persones · and nought in plurel noumbre.
R.10.251KD.10.245 Thre propreR.10.251: R's propre is unique, having been omitted by both beta
and F. Nevertheless, it is clear that the alliterative pattern of the line requires it. In
all likelihood, it was found in alpha and Bx. The apparently odd
coincidence of the word's having been separately omitted by beta and F is probably
explainable in terms of how it would have been abbreviated. It would have occurred in a
phrase which, at a glance, looked like this: þre ppre
psones. If the required loop from the descender of the initial <p> was missing or
unobtrusive, a copyist might easily mistake the word for an errant attempt (uncancelled) at
writing the following word (especially if the final <re> was rendered merely as a
superscript loop). Or ppre might have been misconstrued as an unerased
dittography of the preceding word, þre. persones
and nauȝt in plurele noumbre .