Pres. part. in -ande: laȝande 1207, rhyming in blade, hande.
OE. ā remains: hame 1534, rhyming with game; and 2451, rhyming with name, tame; waþe, 2355, rhyming with scaþe.
There are also forms proved by rhyme which are specially characteristic of the north-west Midlands, namely:
(i) ó + ng pronounced as [unf]: stronge 34, longe 36, rhyming with tonge. (N. W. Mid. and West Riding.)
(ii) OE. āw remains aw, and does not become ow, as elsewhere in the Midlands: knowe 1645 rhyming with lawe and drowe (with scribal ow for etymological aw).
(iii) Shortened forms of take: ta þe 2357, rhyming with waþe; including a form with ǭ: tone 2158 (rhyming with grone) which is not found in Northern or the other Midland dialects.
On the whole the evidence points to south Lancashire rather than Cheshire as the home of the dialect.
