Birmingham age-herald., 1894-09-29
CURIOUS WILLS
EccENTRIclTlEsAN0 wHIMsIcALlTlEe '5es- OF TESTATORS.
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"CugtlnS Ou Wlth ShAti1nB EaForibe
 Plan-Leaving Parts of the Body to Doc.
 tors-Some Wills Are Humorous and Others Are Noticeable For Their Brevity There is a refreshing quaintness about some old bequests. Walter le Taillour for instance, in 1905, according to the will recorded in the city of London court of husting, left ito Richard, his son, the revcrsion of tenement held by Richard le Bakero for life, receiving yearly imme- diately after the testator's death a rent of half a mark and weekly penny tart in respect of the said tenement. He also left fourpencc to London bridge. There is however, spirit of geniality about this will which is very different from that of the man who left his son-in-law "one penny to buy him a whistle"
 The single shilling has of course been left in large number of cases, but we do not often hear of receipt being given for the money. Yet in 1899 Richard Harring ton of Guided Mor(en, in Cambridgeshire left his daughter, Mary Martin, and her husband shilling each, and his executrix paid it and got the receipt, still in exist ence, dated March IT, 1700 There was a man who in 1791 left his wife shilling to bo paid to her within six months after his death, and as his reason for doing so remarked Seeing that I have had the misfortune to be married to tho aforesaid Elizabeth, who ever since our union has tormented mo in every possible way"
 A good many single shillings have been left as cheap advertisement with the ob- ject of keeping tho testator's name alive, much in the style of the man at Wath who left, among other ct ceteras, shil- ling to every poor woman in the parish, guinea to seven navyies for pudding him up in his grave, e,'' guinea to the old woman who had tucked him up in his bed' and "4O dozen penny loaves to be thrown from the church roof at noon ev cry Christmas day forever" Of this kind of thing there are many examples, but most of the shillings, sixpences, pennies and penny buns have to be displayed in all their glory on the testator's tombstone.
 One man leaves his money to his son "on condition that he shave off his mus tache;" another leaves his to his nephews Ion condition that they rise at o'clock in the summer and 5 o'clock in the win ter" another leaves his to friend Ion condMfon that he always wears black" another that the fortunate man should wear 0 mourning ring. There was John
 
 so as to be used as the skull of Yorick in the play of 'Hamlet' by Shakespeare, ' having evidently felt the inconvenience of not having an article of the kind in stock. There was Dr. Wagner, who left his limbs to different friends for dissecting pur- poses. There was Dr. Ellerby, who left his heart to one man, his lungs to another, and his brain to another to be preserved from decomposition, and pleasantly add ed, "If either of the gentlemen named fail to execute this, I will come and tor ment them until they shall comply" thus reminding us of the Mr Zimmerman who desired in 1S40 to be buried plainly and in decent manner, land if this be not done will come again-that is, if canP'
 One gentleman, Q cremationist before his time, wishes his body to be placed in one of the gas retorts of the Imperial Gas com pany. Another, desiring his body to be converted to useful purposes suggests fiddle strings, smelling salts and optical lenses as being the forms in which he would like it to appear for tho benefit of mankind. Some prefer to bo disposed of in tho ordinary way, but in extraordinary places.
 ]. But what shall we say of the gentleman who wished his grave to be battlefield and left enough money to provide 20 Irish men every year with knives and stout shillalahs, armed with which they were to meet over his grave and drink whisky by the half pint, and then he grimly con tinues, Knowing what I know of the Irish character, my conviction is that with these materials they will not fail to destroy each other"
 Some people are most considerate in hoi ftllD fnr ha fnrn Ot those who have been dependent on them. Annuities have been left to animals of all classes. Count Mirandola left an annuity to his fish; Mrs Harper left 9100 to her black cat; a Mrs. Hunter left 9200 year to her parrot; another widow left $50 year to her canaries; Dr. Christiani left 60, 900 ilorns to his dogs, with remainder at their death to the University of Vienna; a Mr Garland left annuities to his monkey, his dog and his cat.
 A good many testators leave joke be- hind them, hoping apparently to enjoy it in future state. One of the most absurd examples of this elaborate fooling was that furnished by the trousers man, who owned no less than Fl pairs of those use- full garments These he directed to be taken as they were and sold by public auc- tion, no person being allowed to buy more than one pair. The first pair fetched but n triflc and great was the purchasers joy at finding bank notes to the value of e200 in the pocket. The bidding progressed by leaps and bounds as every subsequent pair was found to contain a similar amount, but the residuary legatee was anything but gratified at the return he got for that 414, 200 and the trousers.
 Some wills are in rhyme, like that of the worthy Smithers:
 As to all my worldly goods, now or to be in
 store,
 give to my beloved wife as hers for evermore give all freely. DO limit fix.
 This is my will, and she's executrix.
 Some arc commcndably short, like that of the city merchant who left 9400, 900 to his wife and children by Q few lines writ