Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 4, 1893.djvu/527

 Rh Alphe a forseyde shal haue the seyde cuppe to be boryn a fore them att the manage yff they come to the church wardens and dezier itt."

I should be glad to know whether any other such bequests are on record, and also what special significance the bearing of a cup before the bride could have had.

One of the ancient revenues of the king was the lathe-silver, collected by lathes from each hundred of the county, the lathe for this purpose being sometimes farmed out by the sheriff. Its origin has, I believe, not been settled, and although it was a very small burden, it was—like most other taxes—considered a grievance. John Passey of Eltham, in his will, dated 5th July 1509 [Book VI, fo. 252b], consequently thought to do his friends a good turn, and so bequeaths

This lathe-silver has ceased to be paid in Kent for about a century.

In the will of William Colt of Sent Warborugh, Hoo, dated 1516 [Book VII, fo. 83a], is a bequest for distributing cakes. He desires that

It was, I conclude, some such bequest as this which led