Obs. Also 5 too; pa. t. 4–5 to, pa. pple. 4–5 ton, 6 tone. The ME. apocopate northern forms tā, tān for TAKE, taken, with the ā rounded in north midland speech, or transliterated by midland or southern writers to tô, tôn; in the pa. t. to was apocopated from the original tóc.
All the rhymed examples of the pres. and pa. pple. rhyme with words having ā in northern dialect; in earlier instances the change of a to o was mostly scribal; but in late Sc. it was mostly the work of the author anglicizing his native ā to ô on the analogy of sā, sô, bān, bône, etc.
13[?]. Cursor M., 16454 (Cott.). Quen þai þe fine gold for-soke, And to [v.r. toke] þam to þe lede.
c. 1320. Sir Tristr., 947. Þe truage was com to to [rhymes so, þo, go] Moraunt, þe noble kniȝt. Ibid., 1484. His tong, haþ he ton [rhyme nek bon] And schorn of bi þe rote. Ibid., 2112. Þen sall þis rewel eft furth be ton [rhyme gon].
c. 1425. Seven Sag. (P.), 1432. To speke fayre he to hede.
c. 1440. Bone Flor., 887. And Awdegone hur cowncelde soo Oon of thes lordys for to too.
1500–20. Dunbar, Poems, xlvi. 102. That he … nocht in the feindis net be tone [rhyme allone].
