A history of the English Language

150.
The Spread of the London Standard.
In the latter part of the fifteenth century the London standard had been accepted, at least 
in writing, in most parts of the country. Its prestige may possibly be reflected in the fact 
that Mak the sheep-stealer in the 
Towneley Plays
attempts to impose upon the Yorkshire 
shepherds by masquerading as a person of some importance and affects a “Southern 
tooth.” Considerable diversity still existed in the spoken dialects, as will be apparent from 
what is said in the next paragraph. But in literary works after 1450 it becomes almost 
impossible, except in distinctly
46 
Derek Keene, “Metropolitan Values: Migration, Mobility and Cultural Norms, London 1100–
1700,” in 
The Development of Standard English
1300–1800: 
Theories, Descriptions, Conflicts,
ed. 
Laura Wright (Cambridge, UK, 2000), p. 111. 
Middle english 181

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northern texts, to determine with any precision the region in which a given work was 
written. And in correspondence and local records there is a widespread tendency to 
conform in matters of language to the London standard. This influence emanating from 
London can be seen in the variety of English used in documents of the national 
bureaucracy as written by the clerks of Chancery. By the middle of the century a fairly 
consistent variety of written English in both spelling and grammar had developed, and as 
the language of official use it was likely to have influence in similar situations 
elsewhere.
47
With the introduction of printing in 1476 a new influence of great 
importance in the dissemination of London English came into play. From the beginning 
London has been the center of book publishing in England. Caxton, the first English 
printer, used the current speech of London in his numerous translations, and the books 
that issued from his press and from the presses of his successors gave a currency to 
London English that assured more than anything else its rapid adoption. In the sixteenth 
century the use of London English had become a matter of precept as well as practice. 
The author of 
The Arte of English Poesie
(attributed to Puttenham) advises the poet: “ye 
shall therefore take the usuall speach of the Court, and that of London and the shires 
lying about London within 1x. myles, and not much above.”