Oldest example of written English discovered in church

Telegraph ^ | 01 Mar 2010 | Telegraph

[Palter]

Also, Stone Age Engravings Found on Ostrich Shells. in the news.

[Palter]

‘Always scribble, scribble, scribble! Eh! Mr. Gibbon?’ ping.

[Tax-chick]

“Half a millenia”? Sheesh.

[ClearCase_guy]

“Be sure to drink your Ovaltine.”

[1rudeboy]

I’m confused, is this Middle English or Old English? Old English wasn’t written down? I need more coffee.

[JoeProBono]

[savedbygrace]

“For a good time, go see Marlene at the Red Oxen Pub.”

[Tax-chick]

Extremely-late-midde-English, if it dates from 1500 or so. Shakespeare, 1590s and on, is considered early-Modern.

[Vigilanteman]

It was written half a millennia ago . . .

As in half a millennia = 500 years? 2010 - 500 = 1510? Wasn't Chaucer, whom most consider the father of our modern English language, in his grave by that time?

[flowerplough]

Center right, I see “ethylene”, so the word to follow must be “glycol”.

Hope that helps...

[PowderMonkey]

DANG! Where’s Vanna White when you need her?

[conservativeharleyguy]

“My father invaded Saxony and all I got was this lousy chain-mail frock”.

[Don Corleone]

But now it seems no one can quite decipher exactly what the inscription on the wall of Salisbury Cathedral in Wiltshire actually says...

It says, "Bush's Fault".

[Tax-chick]

I assume they meant "half a millenium," which would be five hundred years, as opposed to "half a millenia," which would be at least a thousand ;-).

"Canterbury Tales" was composed in the 1380s and 90s.

Maybe the article means this is the oldest example *in a church*, rather than a particularly old example of English writing. Or maybe other surviving documents are in Latin, Anglo-Saxon, or French.

[Vigilanteman]

G. Chaucer, father of vernacular English, 1343-1500.

[Kartographer]

Obama’s birth announcement?

[squarebarb]

LOL!!

[Dr. Ursus]

Monty Python was here!

[outpostinmass2]

“What is believed to be the first ever example of English in a British church has been discovered.”

A British Church at the time would only have Latin writings.

[squarebarb]

Or maybe the reporter is a brain-dead teenager hired at the last minute because the regular brain-dead reporter was at the BBC opffice paying her fines for watching Sky TV or something. Whatever.

It can’t possibly be the oldest example of English writing. That’s a nonsensical statement.