Subscribe (RSS)The apostrophe (‘) in the plural is a modern invention used to denote the possessive case. In Lord Grey’s letter to the Prince of Wales, written in the latter part of the twelfth or the first of the thirteenth century, are these expressions:
Our liege Lordes pryve seal
The Kynges commaundement
The Erles ground
Notice that none of these possessive nouns, Lordes, Kynges, and Erels use the apostrophy as they would in modern English. In modern English they would be written Lord’s, King’s, and Earl’s.
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