I am transcribing the 1543 will of John NASON parson of Hampton Poyle, Oxon and request suggestions for a particularly obscure word. The context is the following clause: 'It[em] to Thomas ?Haygn vj pence and the residue of all my goods I wyll that they ?shalle/shalbe ?[bescomd] for the wellthe of my soule by my executors' The word 'bescomd' is the one in question. The proposed spelling is consistent with the scribe's hand elsewhere in the document - for example the minims of the 'm' are identical with the 'm' in 'my'. The only peculiarity immediately evident to me is that the final 'd' is identical with the symbol denoting 'pence' in bequests of specific amounts of money. Can anyone suggest what this word might actually be? The other doubt in my mind in this particular clause is that it appears to contain two separate bequests, one of 6 pence to Thomas ?Haygn and a second of the residue of his goods. All other bequests are preceded by 'It[e]' yet this second part does not. It might, therefore, be interpreted that Thomas Haygn also gets the residue of the goods - but then the remainder of the clause is then without an object. I will be grateful for any advice and, if an interest is piqued, can provide a PDF of the peccant clause.! MC

Hi Mango. I can only attempt a bit of logic as a complete amateur; I have however recently been transcribing churchwardens' accounts and one or two wills from the same period in another location, as well as several wills of different periods here and there. I don't think there are two separate bequests; to my mind, going by a vague familiarity with the language of old wills gained through transcriptions I've made over the years, I would say that Thomas H was to get both the sixpence and the residue of goods. I would suggest that the phrase 'I will' (or more likely 'I Will') signifies the start of a further, separate wish of the testator. Such a device is often found in other wills, alongside the use of 'Item'. It always has a capital W, as far as I am aware. So what does this last bit mean then? I think it might be some sort of concluding comment made after a list of bequests that all of them, not only the 'residue' given in your transcript, be "bescomd" in the best possible manner for the well-being, or spiritual health (expressed as "wealth") of the testator's soul, presumably on its impending journey in the afterlife. This will was written just post-Dissolution, so it would be reasonable to guess that the person's sentiments were still fairly Catholic at heart, assuming he died at a reasonable age and only witnessed the new religion during a very small part of his life; in this case 'the afterlife' as I put it would have been purgatory. Of course I might be wrong - he could well have been Protestant; other sections of the will should identify which. So what could "bescomd" be? I repeat I can only guess, but I would say it probably includes truncation of a word and might also join more than one word together. Bearing in mind your observations on the final d being similar to the symbol for 'pence', could we then have something like 'best compenced' - as in the modern 'recompensed'? In other words, I think the testator was asking his executors to make as much increase (profit) as they could when dealing with his estate, which could well have included rentals, property fines, live and deadstock, and so on. He could even have profited in some way from the recent dispersal of monastic building materials and property. It seems that the testator believed that the 'worth' of his own soul, in the eyes of its creator, would be weighed, or weighted at any rate, according to these 'gains'. Just a guess; hope it's one that takes you a step further. Regards, Lawrence Greenall. > -----Original Message----- > From: Mango Chutney [mailto:trilobyte.uk@btinternet.com] > Sent: 07 May 2006 12:12 > To: SOG-UK-L@rootsweb.com > Subject: [SoG] Interpretation of will > > > I am transcribing the 1543 will of John NASON parson of > Hampton Poyle, > Oxon and request suggestions for a particularly obscure word. The > context is the following clause: > > 'It[em] to Thomas ?Haygn vj pence and the residue of all my > goods I wyll > that they ?shalle/shalbe ?[bescomd] for the wellthe of my > soule by my > executors' > > The word 'bescomd' is the one in question. The proposed spelling is > consistent with the scribe's hand elsewhere in the document - for > example the minims of the 'm' are identical with the 'm' in > 'my'. The > only peculiarity immediately evident to me is that the final 'd' is > identical with the symbol denoting 'pence' in bequests of specific > amounts of money. Can anyone suggest what this word might > actually be? > > The other doubt in my mind in this particular clause is that > it appears > to contain two separate bequests, one of 6 pence to Thomas > ?Haygn and a > second of the residue of his goods. All other bequests are > preceded by > 'It[e]' yet this second part does not. It might, therefore, be > interpreted that Thomas Haygn also gets the residue of the > goods - but > then the remainder of the clause is then without an object. > > I will be grateful for any advice and, if an interest is piqued, can > provide a PDF of the peccant clause.! > > MC > > > -- > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG Free Edition. > Version: 7.1.392 / Virus Database: 268.5.5/333 - Release > Date: 05/05/2006 > > -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Ha Haa! Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.392 / Virus Database: 268.5.5/333 - Release Date: 05/05/2006

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