The Danish language was still spoken by the Normans of Bayeux on the sea-coast, at a time (A.D. 940) when it was already forgotten at Rouen, in the court and capital.
Quem (Richard I.) confestim pater Baiocas mittens
Botoni militiae suae principi nutriendum tradidit, ut, ibi
lingua eruditus Danica, suis exterisque hominibus sciret
aperte dare responsa (Wilhelm. Gemeticensis de Ducibus
Normannis, l. iii. c. 8, p. 623, edit. Camden.).
Of the vernacular and favourite idiom of William the Conqueror (A.D. 1035), Selden (Opera, tom. ii. p. 1640 - 1656) has given a specimen, obsolete and obscure even to antiquarians and lawyers.