What does the 'y' mean?

the Y has a small 'e' above it, so it is "ye", which I believe was still pronounced as "thee". There used to be actual letters in English for making the 'th' sound, but they disappeared and writers and engravers used substitute letters until a common dictionary was introduced and spread over a large area.

You're right, throughout much of history "ye" was "thee/the". This is a common mistake for readers of historical poetry and plays in modern interpretations. I saw the 'e' above it and didn't really associate it with Ye (even though all the other letters shown above the words like that were suffixes, I didn't make that connection for some reason), I guess I'm just stupid! Thanks for your reply