> as lemmas

c1300 (?c1225) King Horn (Cambr.) (1901) 1070 (MED) Horn bad vndo softe Mani tyme & ofte; Ne miȝte he awynne Þat he come þerinne.

1446 in L. Morsbach Mittelengl. Originalurkunden (1923) 34 (MED) Y herd my seyd mastyr sey in hys good lyve..mony tymes and ofte, that he neuere seled dede..to the seyd john Rope.

c1450 Jack Upland's Rejoinder (Digby) l. 285 in P. L. Heyworth Jack Upland (1968) 110 Ȝe begge or ȝe preche, many tymes & oft.

?1492 tr. Raymond of Capua Lyf St. Katherin of Senis (de Worde) i. xii. sig. e iij/2 She be knewe many tymes and ofte to her confessour maister Reymound wyth grete drede & fere that [etc.].

1533 T. More Apologye xl. f. 220 Thys fynde we..in many temporall maters amonge our self, wherof I haue hadde experyence many a tyme and ofte.

1560 T. Ingelend Disobedient Child D ij b Many a tyme and oft, I am fayne To playe the Priest, Clarke, and all.

1623 J. Webster Deuils Law-case iv. i. sig. H^v Many a time and often, when a Cause Has prooued like an after-game at Irish.

1750 E. Kimber Life & Adv. Joe Thompson I. iii. 19 Many a Time and often, he and his Wife and Family had heard very strange Bustling in the Room where the Gentleman murdered himself.

1770 H. Brooke Fool of Quality V. xvii. 10 Many a time, and oft..you carried me in your arms.

1888 Referee 14 Oct. 1/4 A once member of the dangerous classes, who has been ‘inside’ many a time and oft.

1907 Auk Apr. 136 The two birds..crossed and recrossed each other's courses many times and often in close proximity to each other.

1936 P. G. Wodehouse Laughing Gas xxiii. 247 You have many a time and oft referred to her as a piece of cheese.

1996 ‘J. le Carré’ Tailor of Panama (1997) iii. 39 No suit should be worn two days running... As I'm sure your good father will have told you many a time and oft.