Now! Then! 2024! - Yorkshire On This Day

Excerpt

This is my last will, I insist on it still,
So sneer on, and welcome, and e’en laugh your fill.
I, William Hickington, poet, of Pocklington,
Do give and bequeath, as free as I breathe,
To thee, Mary Jaram, the queen of my harem,
My cash and cattle, with every chattel,
To have and to hold, come heat or come cold,
Sans hindrance or strife (though thou art not my wife),
As witness my hand, just here as I stand,
This twelfth of July, in the year seventy.

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To facilitate reading, the spelling and punctuation of elderly excerpts have generally been modernised, and distracting excision scars concealed. My selections, translations, and editions are copyright.

Abbreviations:

• ER: East Riding
• GM: Greater Manchester
• NR: North Riding
• NY: North Yorkshire
• SY: South Yorkshire
• WR: West Riding
• WY: West Yorkshire

Comment

Comment

This is much anthologised, but I haven’t found anything else by him.

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Original

This is my last will,
I insist on it still,
So sneer on, and welcome,
And e’en laugh your fill.
I, William Hickington,
Poet, of Pocklington,
Do give and bequeath,
As free as I breathe,
To thee, Mary Jaram,
The queen of my harem,
My cash and cattle,
With every chattel,
To have and to hold,
Come heat or come cold,
Sans hindrance or strife,
(Though thou art not my wife,)
As witness my hand,
Just here as I stand,
This twelfth of July,
In the year seventy.

W. Hickington.

Signed in the presence of

121 words.

Tags

Tags are assigned inclusively on the basis of an entry’s original text and any comment. You may find this confusing if you only read an entry excerpt.

• Hickington, William (ca. 1731-ca. 1772) (1), Pocklington poet, contemporary there of Wilberforce ·
• Pocklington (2) ·
• Poetry (70) ·
• Will and testament (11) ·

All tags.

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