[*] It is noteworthy that, notwithstanding the memorial inscription to the first Sir William, Reginald, or whoever was the author of the verses to Sir Thomas, only traces the pedigree to this fourth knight after Sir Reginald. Either then the first Sir William was then accounted somewhat mythical, or not being a knight of fame, he was not recognised as the same with Sir William Scott, the Chief Justice of England.

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WILL OF RAYNOLD SCOT.

_Extracted from the copy, not the original, in the Principal Registry of the Probate, Divorce, and Admiralty Division of the High Court of Justice._

S In the Prerogative Court of Canterbury.

In the Name of God Amen. I Raynolde Scott in the Countie of Kent gent beinge of the Parish of Smeth Doe make and ordaine and w^{th} myne owne hande doe write this my Last will and Testament on Saturdaye the fyfteenth of September Anno Dñi a thousand fyve hundred nyntie nyne and in the fortie one yeare of the raigne of o^r soveraigne Ladie Queene Elizabeth Fyrst I bequeath my Sowle to Almightie god and my body to be buryed as yt shall seeme good to Alice my wiefe whome I make and ordaine to be myne onely Executrix Item I bequeath to my sayde wief All my goods and chattells plate housholde stuffe Juelles and Chaynes with all my leases and goods moveable and vnmoveable savinge such as I shall by this my Will other Wise dispose of Item I (for the trust I repose in M^{r.} Edwarde Hall of Ashforde and of my neighbou^r Raynolde Keale of Smeeth in countie aforesaide doe make them two the overseers to this my Last will and gyve to eyther of the_m_ for theire paines and trouble w^{ch} they ar like to sustaine herebye fyve poundes Item I bequeath to S^r John Scott my lease of the banke or pond at Aldinge Item I bequeath to my graund childe Cisley Turno^r tenne poundes to buy her a little Chaine It_e_m I gyve to my daughter in Lawe Marie Collyar six poundes thirteene shillings foure pence to be paide unto her within one quarter after my decease, to be bestowed in app_ar_ell upon her selfe as she shall seeme good nether would I have her mothers hand anie thinge the shorter towardes her in that respect Item I give to my daughter Turno^r the Covenant that I have of my Cozen Charles Scott touchinge the renuinge of my lease when his grace doth renne [_read_ renue] his lease of Braborne Rectorie provided that my meaninge is, that my said wief shall enioye the full tearme that I nowe possesse and howsoever yt shalbe renued my daughter shall have the only renuinge which shalbe in effecte after the whole tearme w^{ch} I holde now be expired so as by any meane [intervening] renuinge my saide wief be not defeated of my true meaninge towardes her Item I do bequeath to my saied wief and to her heires for ever All my Landes Lyinge in Aldington and now in thoccupac_i_on of John Pollard and all my Landes in Ruckinge in thoccupac_i_on of —— Diggons and all my Landes in Sellenge in the occupac_i_on of —— Coakar All which Landes lye in the s̶a̶y̶d̶e̶ sayde[*] Countie of Kent Item I gyve and bequeath to my said wief all my other Landes in Rumney Marshe or els where in the said countye duringe her naturall lief[†] Item I doe gyve to my Servante Moyll Smyth the some of twentie shillinges yearelie duringe his n_atur_all Life to be paide out of all my Landes halfe yearelie and that for defaulte of payment yt shalbe Lawfull for him to distraine And so I ende desyreinge the worlde to iudge the best hereof and of the consyderac_i_ons for greate is the trouble my poore wief hath had with me, and small is the comforte she hath receyved at my handes whome yf I had not matched w^{th} all I had not dyed worth one groate.— Ray: Scott.

[*] Sic, first at end of line.

[†] Sic, to be paide is interlined above this.

By a short notice following the copy of the will, it was proved on the 22nd November 1599. There is also a document setting forth that Alicia Scott, relicta, and Elizabetha Turnor, als Scott, filia naturalis et legitima, had disputed, before certain functionaries named regarding the will, and that probate was granted as aforesaid on the 22nd November 1599. But as the cause or subject of the dispute is not mentioned, this, like the short notice, is not given.

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ABSTRACT OF INQUIS. POST MORTEM, 18 ELIZ. P. 1, No. 84.

Inquisition taken at Maidstone on the death of Lady Wynifred Rainsfoord, 30 March, 18 Eliz. [1575-6].

She was seised of the Manors of Nettlested and Hiltes with appurtenances in E. and W. Peckham, Brenchley, W. Barmling, Merewood, Marden; also of the Manor of Pympe with appurtenances in Yaulding, Marden, and Brenchley. Also various other lands, some of which, called Stockenbury, Motelands, and Souchefields, are in Brenchley.

She died 17 Oct. last, at Chelmsford in Essex.

Th. Scott, kt., is her next heir, viz., son and heir of Reginalde Scotte, kt., sonne and heir of Anne Scotte, wife of John Scotte, kt., daughter and heir of Reginald Pympe, brother of John Pympe, father of said Lady Winifred.

Thomas Scotte, kt., Charles Scott, Henry Scotte, George Scotte, and William Scotte [brothers of the first-named Thomas Scotte, kt.], and Reginald Scotte, are coheirs of the lands held in gavelkind. One moiety thereof descends to Thomas, Charles, etc. [as named above], sons and coheirs of Reginalde Scotte, kt., son and heir of Anne Scotte; and the other moiety to Reginald, son and heir of Richard Scotte, junior, son of the said Anne.

Thomas miles is 39 et amplius, Charles 34 [etc.], Henry 32 [etc.], George 30 [etc.], William 22 [etc.], and Reginald 38 years of age et amplius.

The exact words regarding the co-heirs are: “descendebant et de jure descendere debent præfato Thomæ Scotte militi, Carolo Scott, Henrico Scotte, Georgio Scotte et Will’o Scotte, fratribus dicti Thomæ Scotte militis et Reginaldo Scotte, consanguineo prædicti Thomæ Scotte militis, ut consanguineis et coheredibus prædictæ dominæ Winifridæ eo quod prædictæ terræ ... ultimo recitata sunt de natura de gavelkind.” This disproves the assertion of Mr. J. Renat Scott in Arch. Cant., xi, 388, and repeated in his genealogy of the Scott family, that the Reginald Scott mentioned in the former as receiving pay among those appointed in 1587-8 was “a son of Sir Thomas”.

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ABSTRACT OF INQUIS. P.M., 45 ELIZ., PARS. 1, No. 71.

Inquisition taken at Maidstone, 2 Dec. [1602], after the death of Reginald Scot, generosus.

He was seised of a tenement and 20 acres of land called Graynecourtte, held of Th. Scott, Esq., as of his manor of Brabourne, a tenement called Essex, and 20 acres of land in two parcels in Allington [Aldington], held of Edw. Hall, as of his manor of Pawlson. One parcel of land called Haythorne field, containing 20 acres in Bonington, held of the Queen in capite, and a tenement and one parcel of land lying in Barefield, containing two acres in Brabourne, tenure unknown, and one acre in Brabourne and 5 acres in Brabourne, and two parcels in Smeeth, and 30 acres of marsh called Gatesleaf, in Newchurch, held of Martin Barneham, Esq., as of his manor of Bylsyngton.

He died 9 Oct., 41 Eliz. [1599], at Smeeth.

Elizabeth, wife of Sackville Turner, gent., is his daughter and next heir, and was 28 years of age and more at his death.

Alice, his widow, has received the rents since his death.

[Elizabeth was the next heir to his own property, but that which was his own through his wife Alice, he specially devised “to her and to her heirs”.]

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The Cause and History of the Work.—That is, what induced Scot to write it, and why did he set it forth as he did? inquiries which involve, among other matters, a short notice of the position then and previously held by witchcraft in England. His Hoppe-garden shows him to us as a man of intelligence, foresighted and reflective of thought, and desirous of improving the state of his country and countrymen. It shows him also as one who could not only seize a thought and commend it to others, but as one who had perseveringly put his idea into practice, found it feasible, and then so learnt the processes necessary for growing the plant, and preparing its catkins and storing them for use, that a priori one would suppose that he had done what he did not, namely, visited Holland and learnt the processes on the spot. The same qualities are seen in his Witchcraft, as is also his independence of thought. No sooner had his suspicions been aroused than he proceeded, as shown by the work and its references, to investigate the matter thoroughly and perseveringly. To this also he was encouraged, or rather led, by yet other two qualities, his straightforwardness or honesty of purpose, and his compassion, for these taught him that he was engaged in a righteous work, that of rescuing feeble and ignorant, though it may be too pretentious and shrewish, old women from false charges and a violent death, and in a noble work in endeavouring to stem the torrent of superstition and cruelty which was then beginning to overflow the land.

Nor was this the result in any way of a mind sceptically inclined. His book shows that he accepted the opinions of his day, unless he had been led to inquire into them, and either re-receive them as facts or discard them. Led doubtless by his academic training, it is abundantly clear that he had inquired into the grounds of his belief in the Established Church, and into the additions that had been made to its faith in the course of illiterate ages by the Popish Church. He had read Plotina, who taught him that the so-called vicars of Christ and his vice-gerents on earth were often devils incarnate and standard-bearers of vice, and that the system which did now and again produce a St. Francis d’Assis—all reverence to his name—produced also the congeners of Loyola, and Loyola himself, whose followers, while assuming to themselves the holy name of Socii Jesu, made that name famous and infamous, and their tenets execrated throughout the civilised world. But he accepted with some doubting, having, as he thought, great authority for it and no means of investigation, the story of the Remora; and accepted without doubting the beliefs that the bone of a carp’s head, and none other, staunched blood, the value of the unicorn’s horn, and the like, and—notwithstanding his disbelief in astrology—that seed-time and springing were governed by the waxing and waning of the moon. He also believed that precious stones owed their origin to the influences of the heavenly bodies; and besides his credulous beliefs as to certain waters, narrated at the commencement, he in the next chapter gives the absurdly wonderful virtues of these stones, some, as he says, believed in by him, “though many things most false are added”.