– ORIGIN graphic variant; in late Middle English þ (see thorn) came to be written identically with y, so that the could be written ye. This spelling (usually ye) was kept as a convenient abbreviation in handwriting down to the 19th century, and in printers' types during the 15th and 16th centuries. It was never pronounced as ‘ye’ in the past, but this is the pronunciation used today.
ye (2)
EnglishOxford Dictionary of English