Many years had past, report ran at last,
   The rich Alderman Smith was dead. 
Then each knight and dame, and each merchant came,
   To hear his last testament read.

I, Harry Smith, found of mind clear and sound,
   Thus make and devise my last will: 
While England shall stand, I bequeath my land,
   My last legacies to fulfil.

“To the muddy spot, where they cleaned them not,
   When amongst their fields I did roam;
To every one there with the unkempt hair
   I bequeath a small-toothed comb.

“Next, to Mitcham proud, and the gaping crowd,
   Who for nobody’s sorrows grieve;
With a lash double-thong, plaited firm and strong,
   A horsewhip full stout do I leave.

“To Walton-on-Thames, where, ’mid willow stems,
   The lads and the lasses idle;
To restrain their tongues, and breath of their lungs,
   I bequeath a bit and a bridle.

“To Betchworth so fair, and the households there
   Who so well did the stranger cheer,
I leave as my doles to the pious souls,
   Full seventy pounds by the year.

“To Cobham the thrifty I leave a good fifty,
   To be laid out in cloth dyed dark;
On Sabbath-day to be given away,
   And known by Smith’s badge and mark.

“To Leatherhead too my gratitude’s due,
   For a welcome most freely given;
Let my bounty remain, for each village to gain,
   Whence the poor man was never driven.”

So in each sweet dale, and bright sunny vale,
   In the garden of England blest;
Those have found a friend, whose gifts do not end,
   Who gave to that stranger a rest!

Henry Smith’s history is literally true.  He was a silversmith of immense wealth in London in the latter part of the sixteenth century, but in his later years he chose to perambulate the county of Surrey as a beggar, and was known as ‘Dog Smith.’  He met with various fortune in different parishes, and at Mitcham was flogged at the cart’s tail.  On his death, apparently in 1627, he was found to have left bequests to almost every place in Surrey, according to the manners of the inhabitants—­to Mitcham a horsewhip, to Walton-on-Thames a bridle, to Betchworth, Leatherhead, and many more, endowments which produce from 50 to 75 pounds a year, and to Cobham a sum to be spent annually in woollen cloth of a uniform colour, bearing Smith’s badge, to be given away in church to the poor and impotent, as the following tablet still records:—­

1627

Item—­That the Gift to the impotent and aged poor people, shall be bestowed in Apparell of one Coulour, with some Badge or other Mark, that it may be known to be the Gift of the said Henry Smith, or else in Bread, flesh, or fish on the Sabbath-day publickly in the Church.  In Witness whereof the said Henry Smith did put to his Hand and seal the Twenty-first day of January in the Second Year of the Reign of our most gracious Sovereign Lord King Charles the First.