“William de Coningsby Came out of Brittany, With his wife Tiffany And his maid Manfas And his dog Hardigras.”

A testator who spends careful thought upon his servants may not unnaturally have a concern for the welfare of his animals and pets. When Boswell notes Dr. Johnson’s “uncommon kindness to his servants,” he proceeds immediately to speak of his fondness for animals under his protection. “I never shall forget the indulgence with which he treated Hodge, his cat; for whom he himself used to go out and buy oysters lest the servants, having that trouble, should take a dislike to the poor creature.”

Of this, Sir Humphry Morice is an excellent and a quaint example. Besides the care shown for his servants, he thus provides for his animals at home. “Nice. 10 October, 1728. Dear Sir, The trust I have troubled you with in my will is this: you and Mr. Claxton, my other [Pg 179] trustee, ... are to receive ￡600 a year from my estates in Devon and Cornwall to pay for the maintenance of the horses and dogs I leave behind me, and for the expense of servants to look after them, besides Will Bishop the groom. He is, I am persuaded, very honest and will not let bills be brought in for any oats hay straw or tares more than have really been had. As the horses die off the overplus of monies expended on their account will increase, and it is to be paid to Mrs. Luther, whom I have made my heir. Was she not circumstanced as she is I should never have thought of taking this precaution as I have an implicit confidence in her. She indeed desired annuities might be left to all the animals in my will, but I thought it better to make my intention known to you by a private letter as their being mentioned in my will would perhaps be ridiculed after my death, and though I should be ignorant of it and of course not care about it, yet the friends I leave behind me might not like to hear it.... I hope the trust will not be a troublesome one to you except just at first. Pray excuse it. When you receive this I shall be no more, but at the time of writing it am, my dear Sir, most sincerely yours—H. Morice.”

Other testators have no hesitation in embodying their humanitarian or eccentric desires in the formal texture of a will. In 1828 a testator named Garland bequeathed “to my monkey, my dear and amusing Jacko, the sum of ￡10 sterling per annum, to be employed for his sole and exclusive [Pg 180] use and benefit; to my faithful dog Shock, and my well-beloved cat Tibb, a pension of ￡5 sterling; and I desire that, in case of the death of either of the three, the lapsed pension shall pass to the other two, between whom it is to be equally divided. On the death of all three the sum appropriated to this purpose shall become the property of my daughter Gertrude, to whom I give this preference among my children, because of the large family she has and the difficulty she finds in bringing them up.”

Similar provisions are very common to-day. Gustav Saleman Oppert, professor of Indian tongues, left 150 Pfennige a day for the maintenance of his cats Lottie and Peter. Dr. Bell Taylor, a Nottingham oculist, directed his animals to be kept in comfort. They included four horses, two of which were named Soldier Boy and Dancing Doll, an Aberdeen terrier named Billie, a Persian cat called Fluff, and some fowls. In the sixteenth century names were given to cattle as now they are given to horses or household pets, and such names may profitably be compared with modern equivalents. Richard Bayden, of Kent (1539), left cattle called Ros, Thurst, Coppe, Pryme, Mowse, Calver, Skulle, Gentyll, Bren, and Swallowe; surely a quaint and sweet decade of names. Alblake, Brodehead, Byrkell, Defte, Dowglas, Flowrill, Gallande, Gareland, Grenehorne, Lowley, Lyllye, Marrigold, Mother Like, Scubeld, Setter, Sperehorne, Spinkeld, Taggeld, and Toppin are names of cattle found in Yorkshire wills. [Pg 181]

One of the conditions on which Richard is to inherit Timothy Dudgeon’s estate in Shaw’s drama, “The Devil’s Disciple,” is, “that he shall be a good friend to my old horse Jim.” “James shall live in clover,” says the compliant legatee. Addison’s Sir Roger de Coverley “bequeathed the fine white gelding, that he used to ride a-hunting upon, to his chaplain, because he thought he would be kind to him.” Recently a solicitor directed that his wife should on no account dispose of his old pony Kruger, his mares Victoria and Jenny, or his dogs Major, Bell, and Pharo, but when she should have no further use for them they should be painlessly destroyed; and a lady left ￡1 a week for the maintenance of her fox-terrier Rosie and her cockatoo. Another recent bequest of a similar nature was ￡20 a year for the care and keep of each cat. The testatrix begged her executors to see that her pets were properly cared for, and directed that her horses should be provided for or mercifully destroyed.

“I do not want her to be kept alive and miss my loving care,” said a testatrix recently of a pet schipperke named Susie, and desired, therefore, that she should be painlessly and expeditiously destroyed, not sent to a dog’s home and put in a lethal chamber to be “frightened by a lot of strangers.” This will was disputed in the court but its validity upheld. Another testatrix directed that as soon as possible [Pg 182] after her death her pet cats Tiger and Darkey, her dog Nip, and her horse Boy, should be humanely put to death by a veterinary surgeon in the presence of her coachman, to whom she left the carcass of the horse and ￡150. An eccentric testator often shows his eccentricity in more than one provision of his will. A wealthy member of a Grantham firm directed that his remains should be buried as quietly as possible between those of his two brothers; that no females should attend his funeral, stating that he made this provision to prevent unnecessary pain to his wife; and that his old shooting pony Tommy should be shot within fourteen days of his death and buried with its skin on, unless his son should particularly desire to have the skin.

In old days, perhaps, testators were less unwilling for their animals to pass to others. Ralph Bigod, of Seaton (1545), gives “to my nawnte Warrayn the graie horse whiche I had of her, if he goo streght, and if he goo not streyghte, then she to have the white amblinge mare whiche I had of Maister Baites.” Thomas Brigham (1542) bequeat............