[antir-heralds] OED Period spellins for red and greene

[Ursula Whitcher]

Suzanne Jacquest wrote:
> Hi all,
> 
> Would someone with access to the OED please help my with finding
> spelling options for Red and Green. I know "greene" is often used but
> I  don't know how that is dated... and I was hoping there was
> something  more interesting than "red". Ursula already helped date
> that one to  1175.

Here are some quotes.  There are a couple different ones in here which 
mention "rede" and "grene" in the same quote.

Various spellings of green from the OED (date, source, quote):

Foliage:

a700 Epinal Gloss. 298 Carpassini, gresgro[e]ni.
c1000 Sax. Leechd. I. 72 Wi{edh} earena sar {asg}enim {th}ære ylcan 
wyrte leaf {th}onne heo grenost beo.
c1250 Gen. & Ex. 2775 {Edh}o sa{ygh} moyses, at munt synay..fier brennen 
on {edh}e grene leaf.
a1300 Cursor M. 1256 {Th}at gresse..euer has si{th}en ben gren.
1390 GOWER Conf. II. 188 Like to the tree with leves grene, Upon the 
which no fruit is sene.
1590 SPENSER F.Q. III. v. 40 A dainty place..Planted with mirtle trees 
and laurells greene.
1610 SHAKES. Temp. II. i. 52 How lush and lusty the grasse looks? How 
greene?

The sea:

a1500 Chaucer's Dreme 1267 Sailing..Over the waves high and greene.
1606 SHAKES. Ant. & Cl. IV. xiv. 58, I, that with my Sword, Quarter'd 
the World, and o're greene Neptunes backe With Ships, made Cities.
1611 {emem} Wint. T. IV. iv. 28 The greene Neptune.

Other things:

c725 Corpus Gloss. (Hessels) A 957 Aurocalcum, groeni aar.
c1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 163 Hire winpel is wit..and hire mentel grene 
o{edh}er burnet. \a1300 Cursor M. 9983 {Th}e roche..{th}at painted es 
wit grene heu.
c1330 R. BRUNNE Chron. (1810) 174 {Th}e sailes..some were blak & blo, 
Som were rede & grene.
1398 TREVISA Barth. De P.R. XIX. xix. (1495) 875 Hunters clothe themself 
in grene for the beest louyth kyndely grene colours.
c1420 Liber Cocorum (1862) 37 Bothe grene and rede thow may hit make, 
With iuse of herbz.
1463 Bury Wills (Camden) 16 A bagge of grene silk.
1500-20 DUNBAR Poems lxxxvii. 37 The emerant greyne.

Various spellings of red:

a700 Epinal Gloss. 404 Flavum vel fulfum, read.
c725 Corpus Gloss. 1758 Ruber, read.
c888 K. ÆLFRED Boeth. xxxii. §3 Æ{asg}{edh}er {asg}e hwite {asg}immas 
{asg}e reade.
c897 {emem} Gregory's Past. C. xv. 94 On {asg}emong {edh}æm bellum 
[sceoldon hangian] reade apla.
a1000 Riddles xxvii. 15 (Gr.) Se reada telg. c1175 Lamb. Hom. 83 Alse 
{th}e sunne scine{edh} {th}urh {th}e glesne eh{th}url... {Ygh}if {th}et 
gles is red ho schine{edh} red.
c1205 LAY. 15940 {Th}e oder is milcwhit..{th}e o{edh}er ræd alse blod.
1297 R. GLOUC. (Rolls) 2786 Tueye grete dragons out of {th}is stones 
come, {Th}e on was red, {th}e o{th}er wyt.
1377 LANGL. P. Pl. B. II. 12 Hir fyngres were fretted with golde wyre 
And there-on red [v.r. rede] rubyes as red as any glede.
c1400 MANDEVILLE (1839) v. 57 In some place thereof is the Gravelle 
reede: and therefore Men clepen it the Rede See.
1432-50 tr. Higden (Rolls) I. 129 We wryte vn to this tyme the capitalle 
letters with a redde color.
a1500 Flower & Leaf 35 Leves new..Some very rede, and some a glad light 
grene.
1523 FITZHERB. Husb. §49 The pockes appere vppon the skyn, and are lyke 
reed pymples.
a1585 MONTGOMERIE Cherrie & Slae 229 The starnis..flew sa thick befoir 
my ein, Sum reid, sum {ygh}ellow, blew, and grein.

(Lots more if you want them!)

Ursula Georges.