Burford: 'I geve unto thee a cowe'
The parish church of Burford, in the Cotswolds area of England, not only has a fascinating and absorbing churchyard, but also some interesting and eye-catching memorials inside.
This, for instance – an old plaque commemorating a gift to the poor from Ralph Willett in his will dated 28 March 1573:
'RALPH WILLET [sic] of Kingham Clerk Gave a Cow for ye Benefit of ye Poor which was afterwards Sold for £1 10s which Summ together with 10s added to it by ye Burgesses is Set out to Interest for ye Benefit of ye Poor.'
Willett left a cow to each of three almshouses in Burford, Chipping Norton and Stow on the Wold, for the relief of ‘the poor people there forever, provided that two or four honest men of each town will be bound to my Executors to maintain and keep the cows’.
And here, thanks to the meticulous work of the Oxfordshire Family History Society, is the original. For anyone interested in the development of the English language, this is fascinating:
‘I geve unto the three Almes houses that is the Almeshouse of Chepingnorton the Almes house of Burford and the Almes house of Stowe of the Wolde to everie of them a cowe to the mainten’nce of the poore people there for ever So that the honest men of everie towne twoe or fouer of them will be bounden to myne executours to mainteyne and kepe the said stoke to the relieve of the poore people there for ever.’
Burford: 'I geve unto thee a cowe'
The parish church of Burford, in the Cotswolds area of England, not only has a fascinating and absorbing churchyard, but also some interesting and eye-catching memorials inside.
This, for instance – an old plaque commemorating a gift to the poor from Ralph Willett in his will dated 28 March 1573:
'RALPH WILLET [sic] of Kingham Clerk Gave a Cow for ye Benefit of ye Poor which was afterwards Sold for £1 10s which Summ together with 10s added to it by ye Burgesses is Set out to Interest for ye Benefit of ye Poor.'
Willett left a cow to each of three almshouses in Burford, Chipping Norton and Stow on the Wold, for the relief of ‘the poor people there forever, provided that two or four honest men of each town will be bound to my Executors to maintain and keep the cows’.
And here, thanks to the meticulous work of the Oxfordshire Family History Society, is the original. For anyone interested in the development of the English language, this is fascinating:
‘I geve unto the three Almes houses that is the Almeshouse of Chepingnorton the Almes house of Burford and the Almes house of Stowe of the Wolde to everie of them a cowe to the mainten’nce of the poore people there for ever So that the honest men of everie towne twoe or fouer of them will be bounden to myne executours to mainteyne and kepe the said stoke to the relieve of the poore people there for ever.’