residue of the said term of fourscore and twelve years which be yet to come and unexpired, the rents hereafter mentioned, in manner and form following: that is to say, unto the bailiff and burgesses of Stratford aforesaid, and their successors, the yearly rent of seventeen pounds at the feasts of St. Michael the Archangel and the Annunciation of blessed Mary the Virgin by equal portions, and unto the said John Barker, his executors, administrators, or assigns, the annual or yearly rent of five pounds. . . . And the said William Shakespear doth by these presents, for him, his heirs, executors, and administrators, covenant and grant to and with the said Raphe Hubande, his executors, administrators, and assigns that he, the said William. Shakespear, his executors, administrators, or assigns, shall and will, during the residue of the said term of fourscore and twelve years which be yet to come and unexpired, yearly content and pay the several rents abovementioned, viz.; seventeen pounds to the bailiff and burgesses of Stratford aforesaid, and five pounds to the said John Barker, his executors or assigns, at the days and places aforesaid in which it ought to be paid according to the purport and true meaning of these presents, and thereof shall and will discharge the said Raphe Hubande, his executors, administrators, and assigns. In witness whereof the parties abovesaid to these presents have set their seals the day and year first above written.
Note. The entire document, which runs to over four thousand words, is printed by Halliwell-Phillipps, Outlines, 7th ed., ii. 19–25. The original lease of the tithe estate for 92 years had been made in 1544 by a since extinct ecclesiastical corporation, the College or Collegiate Church of Stratford. When Shakespeare
