"Ye Olde" is one of those phrases we throw around for cheap
laughs, but do you have any idea where that first part comes
from? Or how to pronounce it? Probably not! Minute Physics takes
a stab at explaining, and like most things in life, "Ye" was
born out of laziness—and totally France's fault.  Back in the
days of old English, the "Th" sound was represented by a single
rune shaped something like a letter P. Over the years, it was
Babelfished back and forth between French and modern English
enough that printers threw their hands up and decided to use a Y
instead of two scrunched together letters to represent a "th"
sound. Which means that "Ye" is actually "The," and is still
supposed to be pronounced as "The." Which, you know, invalidates
just about everything that ever happened at your local
renaissance faire. Sorry, Harwin! [MinutePhysics]