> as lemmas

a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) l. 34 Þe couherdes hound..fast þider fulwes, & sone as he it seiȝ, soþe forto telle, he gan to berke on þat barn.

a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) l. 160 But trewþe for to telle whan time come of daye [etc.].

a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) iii. l. 1598 To telle trowthe, Sche..Were worthi thanne to be blamed.

c1475 (c1399) Mum & Sothsegger (Cambr. Ll.4.14) (1936) ii. l. 77 For to telle trouthe..me thynketh That no manere meyntenour shulde..haue lordis leuere þe lawe to apeire.

1553 C. Tye Actes of Apostles (new ed.) viii. sig. G.vi A certayne man, there was whose name Was Simon truth to tell.

?1566 W. P. tr. C. S. Curio Pasquine in Traunce f. 43^v If these newes displeased them, it doth the more please me, for (to tell the truth) they are growen into suche a deadly hatred with me..that [etc.].

1582 J. Yates Castell of Courtesie f. 49 But sooth to tell, Time with her Time can euery thing bestowe.

1613 F. Beaumont Knight of Burning Pestle iv. i. sig. H2 Lady before I go, I must remember Your fathers Officers, who truth to tell, Haue beene about me very diligent.

1665 R. Head Eng. Rogue I. xiii. 133 Mother Cunny (to tell the truth) was the Nick-name of that Corpulent Matron.

1756 D. Hume Let. 20 Apr. (1932) I. 229 But to tell the truth, we people in the country (for such you Londoners esteem our city) are apt to be troublesome to you people in the town.

a1777 S. Foote Maid of Bath (1778) iii. 57 Dost think one could not get her on easier terms than on marriage?..To tell truth, Billy, I have always had that in my head.

1837 Flowers of Fiction 235/1 To tell the truth, you're looking very ill.

1855 H. Rogers Ess. II. vii. 323 Sooth to tell, the narrative of the achievements..draws largely on our faith.

1877 Spirit of Times 24 Nov. 454/3 It is called The Sorcerer, and, truth to tell, it is very wild, even wilder than the farce at the Haymarket.

1903 Lippincott's Monthly Mag. Aug. 230 To tell the truth, Barrett's calm philosophy irritated her not a little.

1946 C. Bush Case Second Chance xv. 209 And, to tell the truth, the more I delved into those dark obscured possibilities of the past, the more I began to feel something of horror.

1971 J. Blume Then again, maybe I Won't (1979) 38 To tell the truth I don't know how I would manage in Rosemont without my ten-speed bike.

1998 N. Lawson How to Eat (1999) 331 I am working on banishing the starter from my dinner-partying life. (Truth to tell, I don't have much of a dinner-partying life.)

2005 J. MacGregor Sunday Money i. 29 It was all pretty unspectacular, to tell the truth.