Perrow—The Last Will and Testament in Literature. 725 
adventures. Wlien this is ended the testator makes some sati¬ 
rical legacies. Among these we find negligence, sloth, and ig¬ 
norance left to his curate, despoilment of the poor for burial 
charges left to the vicar, oppression, to the parson, pride and an¬ 
noyance, to the abbot, and flattery, to the friars. The testator 
then indulges in adieux to his native land and closes with an 
In manus tuas. The poem is written in rime royal, the usual 
measure for Scottish testaments. 
Jyl of Brentford's Testament, by Robert Copland, belongs 
also the first half of the sixteenth century. 1 It was apparently 
written as a humorous explanation of a common proverb. The 
poem relates how Jyl invited several neighbors to a banquet 
and sent for the curate to make her testament. After calling 
on her neighbors to take note of her penitence, she bequeaths 
her soul to God and her body to the earth. Her sins she com¬ 
mits to the devil and her goods to the world. She then makes 
satirical bequests to some twenty-five classes of fools and a like 
bequest to the curate for his services in drawing up her will. 
The piece is inexcusably obscene, and it is without a sparkle 
of wit. For our purpose it is useful as showing the close 
relation of the Testament and the Confession. The curate 
himself draws up the will and the neighbors witness Jyl’s peni¬ 
tence at the time of her testation. 
Le Testament de Carmentrant, a farce of eight characters, 
by Jehan d’Abundance, written about 1540, though called a 
Testament, is really an Adieu. 2 In this piece Carmentrant, the 
king of Glottons, address adieux to his past life and the per¬ 
sons and places with which he has been associated. 
Montaiglon prints in his Eecueil a piece called Le Yin du 
Notaire qui a passe le Testament de Quatre-Toum'oys . 3 In 
this poem, written about the first half of the sixteenth century, 
a reply is made to another piece, a testament which was attri¬ 
buted to one, Quatre-Tournoys, who is represented “comme une 
folle et drolesse a legs qui n’etaient pas a son honneur. As far 
as I know, this testament has not been found. 
1 Edited by Furnivall for private circulation, 1871. 
2 Campaux, 280. 
s X, 0. 
