The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1874-01-06 00:00:00

HINTON M&RTEL.

A CURIORS OLD WILL—In the principel Registry
of tier el•j sty's Court of Probate, at Dootors'econmon,
there are wills of which "•pprobstlou" was "hail and
obtained"
nearly 500 years ago. The first will recorded
is In the year 1383, and is in Lathe, as most of the very
early wills are. The first will written in &relish is that
of Lai), Alice West, widow of Sir Thomas West, and
was proved on September Ist, 1305. It beirins thus :
"In dei Domino. Ames. On Thursday—that Is to ray,
and in
tinhonitild7'anr doith"ree
Inca,ht huan
dz., vel dayio..(l,4olfoot: the
u. •
or
emrod:usidthhufi of u
ut.t Jul,ul
Altos West, lady
as hit foliveth hereafter: In the begynnyog I bequethe
my souls to God Almighty on 1 to tali moder, buynte
gofoodilYmnyteliart.beyogi.e,inmahrelmseytatetstoafmmenyt blt:dtyhe manor
Merle, and to al the crumb, of hetiane, and my body to
be beryed in Chrischurcla, in the priori. of the chansons&
in Eampteehire by the News Forest, where as Layne
annoestres leggeth." The lady conineemoe* the dlspoei-
tion of her property as follows :—" Also 1 devyse to
Thome', my sons, a bed of taploars work, with • le the
topics. of sate, red of oolour, >poulherod with °haps
and seochons in the corners of myn annoestres :armee,
with that I bequethe to the said Thomas the skiffs
longyng thereto—that is to soy*, my bode felher-bed
and a blue Genoese and a material; and twey blankets's
and • payee eel:totes of mynas and sex of my best
;Awes," which be will chows. "Also, I begucthe to
the same Thomas, my sons, • peyre inetyna books soda
peir bodes, and a ryng with which I was yepouted to
God, which were my lords, his talents." There are
several bigu:sts of beds in the will—in one 40 tnar:s
are bequeathed to Bosnia° Wareyn, "and • bid en.
venahle for • gentlewoman ;" in &pother tenant:
veathe "to Tetley ne, my ohatobrer, £2O, and, a lotil
tots e,•Lat.le for her °stet." Testatrix next thinks of
her d,iughter-ie-law. " Also I Lew:onto to Jehane,
my doieeiter, my son is wyfs • mesas book and silo the
b hes that I have of latyn, englirch, and /repack out
tee, the forsayd mat' s beak that is totqueth
T.. Anne my soap. Also I bequothe to the slime Jedisne
all my vratyluenis of icy olispell an/ my tapites whit
and re i paeod, an.: bin and red melee with all my
greeco tapitte that longeth to my ohapoll foroayd, aid
with the hostels of the forsayd aut, r, atd with &Ile-
the rydelles end tutoring oohs, and &II other spearaile
that loogeth to my chapel! forseyd." We weeder what
books she had, aim pertioularly what Enetirh b,olcg ; a
Het of them would be mo,t inter.ercing. She oould not
here bad man 7. and we sonnet suggest wliet they
were. It must be remembered that this will was mode
more than live years before the death of Chaucer, and
nearly 80 years before the first book was printed la
English, and books in Reglleh must coneeceaent,y have
boon few Indeed; their scarcity m•do them of great
eater, they were carefully treasured, and their future
ownership rpeoially peool.i€d for by will. Teens
are revers' other legacies to teatatrla's daughter-in-
let!, Johan,. She gets, amorg other thing, "a basyn
of silver, with betas upon the trerdes, ard a chairs,"
we suppose for use in her chapel; and -" my ohero, and
the. I have longyng there to. A:ro a oharkt with trfty
standards* holed with Wiser which that serv,th for
myn hernia." Then come gifts to ot',er members of
her family. To "Sir Nichol Clifton, Knight, and to
Allanore Lis cif, my donghter, and to Thome' Caton
here sou, £l2O, eneellebo to be departed betwix ham
thee; and if Thomas here son terseyal deyetb. I wol
that it tonne to profet of his ieder and his sealer ;" sed
to "my muster Dame Lace Fitoherberd, prioraso of
Matti:bury, £10." The three foliosin.r legatees ..ik
for thetnaolv, • : "Also I bequethe £4O to ho departed
among sole my servents, men and women of myn house-
hold, al well for their attendanee on Thomas Ler Irene
as for her, end as wet to hem that I hive cry aye(
bequethe to in this testemcct co to hem that I hate ,
nothyng bequethe, and I ru,le thet it be diverted •
trewtly to every Mon oral commll at ter their degree.
Also 1 b gnethe £4O re be dep among my Feuer°
tehantes whore I have lordellype—that is to eoye, to
hem that have moat Lode." Also I brgeothe to
Amhara Fforster, which is A blyndeu)n that was sem-
tyme servant with my toned lord, 20 mares." We
sheuld not expect to find any will previousy to the
Reformation without a idgloy to 'ay macse,. Laity
West gives IEIB lO "fur to eyugo and mist 4.400
neves, for my lord Sir Thomas Weet is Emil-, sod for
myne, and for ally crieteme souls.," and they are to
be "dour," within "fourteen night after her decor." '
It it is reckoned up it will be found that masses then
Gott about • penny each. There is another te ;nest to 1
Christ Cettroh, whore she was to be burled, "to bilde
and to rods and 'yoga for my ',ries soul.) Jersey d, and
myn, and elle orLtene coulee, while the weed ce,al
lack." Testatr4 gives many sumo of 103 shillings to
bodli a of religious women sod communities at brothers,
moot/ others to the religious weruen the " menour-
tease living without Aldgate, of London, the "hares
preeboure" within Ludgeto of London, in Fist•street,
the Agustin° brothers within liishomg..te ad the
hospital of Sopa Marie In ende•lnyes above Winchester,
and sometimes is added "to the prbsets beheaging to
tho name" "to be departed among thorn by crone per.
lions for to synge and redo divine service and to preys
for my forseyd lord., soul. and myn, anJ for all
ortatene souls, and for the 'stet of Thomas my sone
and Johaze his wit and her children," and some smaller
EMS to several recluses for the same object. Having
given all the legacies she desires, the teatatrlx thou
dispoees of the remainder of her property—" An all
the residue of my sodas, after the dettys that I owe
ben quit, and after my testament is parfoned, I
Lerman)* to the forsayd Thomas my sena" and, after all
these directions and legacies, the good lady finishes
her will by ordering the manner of her own interment;
when she dies her body is to be carried to the
"forsayd priorie of Crischeroh, and with right Ind
oust," hurled at the first moose, with • taper of lex
pounds of WAX burning at her heed, net muleteer taper
of six pounds of wax burning at her fest.—.lllrotrated
Louisa News.