> as lemmas

OE Beowulf 319 Ic to sæ wille, wið wrað werod wearde healdan.

a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) l. 2202 But ward was þer set wide wher a-boute, of bold burnes of armes þe beres forto seche.

1393 W. Langland Piers Plowman C. vi. 186 Let no kynne consail ne couetyse ȝow departe, That on wit and on wil alle ȝoure wardes kepe.

1502 tr. Ordynarye of Crysten Men (de Worde) iii. iii. sig. q.ii And therfore watchen they vpon theyr warde.

1546 in J. H. Burton Reg. Privy Council Scotl. (1877) 1st Ser. I. 52 Rise with the said Eirle and pay ward and watch with him during the tyme of were.

1563 P. Whitehorne tr. Onasander Of Generall Captaine & his Office f. 47 Those, whiche shalbe appointed to make the ward, let them go before the Campe,..and make fyres after suche sorte, that they may see those farre of.

1585 T. Washington tr. N. de Nicolay Nauigations Turkie i. xx. 26 [We] gaue to vnderstand too him that had the warde, that the Ambassadour was there.

1649 C. Wase tr. Sophocles Electra 50 Had not I light in the house to keep A faithfull ward.

1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis vi, in tr. Virgil Wks. 384 And dire Tisiphone there keeps the Ward.

1765 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. I. ix. 345 Ward, guard, or custodia, is chiefly intended of the day time... Watch is properly applicable to the night only.

1778 R. Lowth Isaiah xxi. 8. 51 O my Lord, I keep my station all the day long; And on my ward have I continued every night.

1813 W. Scott Bridal of Triermain iii. x. 141 Sounds were heard, as when a guard, Of some proud castle, holding ward, Pace forth their nightly round.

1835 R. C. Trench Gibraltar in Poems I..saw thy gallant children to and fro Pace, keeping ward at one of those huge gates.

1390 J. Gower Confessio Amantis II. 202 Thei..maken thanne warde and wacche, Wher thei the profit mihten cacche.

c1425 in Black Bk. Admir. (Rolls) I. 284 That every man be obeissant to his capitene to kepe his wacche and warde.

?1473 W. Caxton tr. R. Le Fèvre Recuyell Hist. Troye (1894) I. lf. 46^v He doth yow to wete that ye do kepe yow wyth good wacche and warde.

1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. ccccxxxiii. 308 Thus they stode styll kepynge watche and warde, redy at their defence.

1576 G. Gascoigne Complaynt of Phylomene in Steele Glas sig. K But I which spend, the darke and dreadful night, In watch & ward, when those birds take their rest, Forpine my selfe.

1596 E. Spenser Second Pt. Faerie Queene i. iii. sig. C2^v Still when she slept, he kept both watch and ward.

1630 tr. G. Botero Relations Famous Kingdomes World (rev. ed.) 137 As for their Watch and Ward, it goes by course, as in the City of Embden, and divers other in those low countries.

1687 Declar. Dubl. 8 Dec. in London Gaz. No. 2222/3 We do hereby further Require..that the Laws of this Realm concerning the keeping of Watch and Ward, and for raising the Hue-and-Cry be duly observed.

1780 E. Burke Speech Bristol previous to Election 60 But let government..comprehend the whole in its justice, and restrain the suspicious by its vigilance; let it keep watch and ward;..and then it will be as safe as ever God and nature intended it should be.

1817 S. T. Coleridge Biographia Literaria I. x. 191 At least let us not be lulled into such a notion of our entire security, as not to keep watch and ward, even on our best feelings.

1847 C. Dickens Dombey & Son (1848) xi. 98 Mrs. Pipchin had kept watch and ward over little Paul and his sister, for nearly twelve months.

1859 C. Dickens Tale of Two Cities ii. iii. 50 The jury..were not agreed... My Lord..signified his pleasure that they should retire under watch and ward, and retired himself.

1868 Act 31 & 32 Victoria c. lix. Preamble Whereas the Power of Watch and Ward within the University and City of Oxford has heretofore been customarily exercised during the Night by the Chancellor, Masters, and Scholars of the University of Oxford, and during the Day by the Mayor, Aldermen, and Citizens of the City of Oxford.

1873 W. Black Princess of Thule xvii. 267 The necessity of keeping some watch and ward over his tongue.

1906 S. J. Reid Life & Lett. Ld. Durham II. xviii. 32 Along the southern line of the Russian frontiers it was necessary to keep military watch and ward against the predatory incursions of Tartar tribes.

1583 G. Babington Very Fruitfull Expos. Commaundem. x. 499 No more quench you the fire by withdrawing the wood, than assuredly you staie the course of wicked conceites, when you watch and warde well ouer your senses.

1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene ii. viii. sig. T3 They for vs fight, they watch and dewly ward, And their bright Squadrons round about vs plant.

1601 W. Parry New Disc. Trauels Sir A. Sherley 6 Either part liued watching and warding.

1620 in J. Harland House & Farm Accts. Shuttleworths (1856) II. 242 To a man, watchinge and wardinge at Burneley faire, iiij^d.

1681 W. Robertson Phraseologia generalis (1693) 1296 To watch and ward, excubare.

1693 T. Urquhart & P. A. Motteux tr. F. Rabelais 3rd Bk. Wks. Prol. 4 Every one did watch and ward, and not one was exempted from carrying the Basket.

?a1400 Morte Arth. 547 He wylle werraye i-wysse, be ware ȝif the lykes, Wage many wyghtemene, and wache thy marches.

?a1400 Morte Arth. 613 Thane yschewes þe emperour..Arayede with his Romaynes..Sexty geauntes be-fore,..With weches and warlaws to wacchene his tentys.

1451 J. Gloys in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) II. 68 Gonnore was wetched at Felbrygge Halle with xl persones of þe Lady Felbrygges tenaunts.

1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) xv. 128 Bot for the trewis he lefit noucht Wachis till set to the Castele; Ilk nycht he gert men wach it wele.

a1500 (?c1450) Merlin xi. 166 Than thei leged and pight teyntes and pavilouns, and hem rested, and lete the hoste be wacched.

1549–62 T. Sternhold & J. Hopkins Whole Bk. Psalms cxxvii. 1 Likewise in vaine men vndertake, Cities and holdes to watch and ward.

1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 207 The King of Indians was watched with foure and twenty Elephants.

1820 W. Scott tr. Noble Moringer in Edinb. Ann. Reg. 1816 9 ii. p. ccccxcvi Wilt thou receive this weighty trust when I am o'er the sea? To watch and ward my castle strong, and to protect my land.