The poem reads like a short, wry account of what gets handed down. The land is described as "velvet," a soft, rich word, yet it was "given to make money," so it comes with an expectation of profit rather than care. The second line suggests that expectation did damage: "the hole bad usage made of it." The well and the firkin (a small cask) are listed almost like leftover objects, one empty and one a container, both hinting at something dug out or used up.
Then the speaker steps in. "I take half" sounds calm and practical, not angry. What they want is modest: a bridge "to elsewhere," a way out or across, and water to comb their head in the kitchen. That last image is small and homely, a plain act of washing and tidying.
The mood is quiet, dry, and a little rueful. The speaker seems to accept a damaged legacy but keeps only what gives freedom and ordinary comfort.