Chapter VIII: Part 8

"... many persons of that trade, by fire and the smoke of
quicksilver, had lost their sight, and that others of them by
working in that trade became so crazed and infirm that they
were disabled to subsist but of relief from others; and that
divers of the said city, compassionating the condition of such,
were disposed to give and grant divers tenements and rents in
the said city to the value of twenty pounds per annum to the
company of the said craft towards the maintenance of the said
blind, weak and infirm."

Legacies were also bequeathed to the companies for the same object, and thus we find them in the fourteenth century administering large charities for the benefit of the poor of London, and with the help of the monasteries providing a system of relief and educational organisation in the absence of any poor-law administration or State education.

_From an old print published in 1804._]

These city guilds were also of a distinctly religious character, and prescribed rules for the attendance of members at the services of the Church, for pilgrimages, and the celebration of masses for the dead. Each company had its patron saint, and maintained a chantry priest or chaplain. They founded altars in churches in honour of their patron saint, who was usually selected on account of his emblem or symbol being in some way connected with the particular trade of the guild. Thus, St. Dunstan, who was a worker in precious metals, became the patron saint of the Goldsmiths; the Fishmongers selected St. Peter, a fisherman, and held their services at St. Peter's Church; the Merchant Taylors venerated St. John Baptist, whose symbol is the _Agnus Dei_. In several cases, the saint to whom the church where they attended was dedicated, was adopted as their own patron. Thus, the Grocers called themselves "the fraternity of St. Anthony," because they had their altar in St. Anthony's Church; the Vintners, "the fraternity of St. Martin," from the like connection with St. Martin's Vintry Church. Indeed, it has been truly observed that the maintenance of their arts and mysteries during several ages was blended with so many customs and observances, that it was not till the times subsequent to the Reformation that the fraternities could be regarded as strictly secular. On election days, when the master and wardens were chosen, the company marched in solemn procession to the church to hear Mass. Stow tells of the Skinners going to the church of St. Lawrence, Poultry, on Corpus Christi day, with more than 200 torches of wax borne before them, costly garnished, burning bright, and about 200 clerks and priests in surplices and copes, singing. The brethren were clad in their new liveries, the mayor and aldermen in scarlet, and on their return to their hall enjoyed a great feast. On the Sunday following the election day the brethren attended a mass of requiem for their deceased members, when the Bede Roll was read and prayers offered for the souls of the departed members, as well as for those who still survived, each brother being mentioned by name.

THE PROMOTION OF TRADE

But the chief object of the existence of the companies was the promotion of the prosperity of the trades with which they were associated. They were appointed by charter "to settle and govern their mysteries," to elect officers "to inquire of the concerns of their trades," and to correct and amend the same. They had the right of search through their respective trades, in order that each of them might detect dishonest practices in his own craft and punish offenders, and to keep out and suppress all "foreigners" who dared to carry on a trade and yet did not belong to the particular company which governed and regulated it. To preserve the secrets of the craft and to regulate apprenticeships were also some of the duties of the guilds. Each fraternity had its own duties to perform. Thus, the Grocers had the oversight of all drugs, and their officers were ordered "to go and assay weights, powders, confeccions, plasters, oyntments, and all other things belonging to the same craft"; the Goldsmiths had the assay of metals; the Fishmongers the oversight and rejection of fish brought to London which they did not deem fit for the use of the people; the Vintners had the tasting and gauging of wines. Many curious and obsolete trades are disclosed in the records of the companies. The Mercers were the _Mercatores_, or Merchants, no simple pedlars or small tradesmen, but persons who dealt in a varied assortment of goods, such as linen cloths, buckrams, fustians, satin, jewels, fine woollen and other English cloths, drugs, cotton, thread and wool, silk, wood, oil, copper, wine, lead, and salt. The Grocer was one who dealt _en gros_--wholesale, as opposed to retail merchandise. The original title of the guild was "the Company of Pepperers of Soper's Lane." The Drapers were makers of woollen cloth. The Fishmongers united into one body the two ancient guilds of the Salt-fishmongers and the Stock-fishmongers. The title of the Merchant Taylors in the time of Edward I. was "the Fraternity of the Taylors and Linen Armourers of St. John the Baptist," and manufactured everything pertaining to armour, including the linings, surcoats, caparisons and accoutrements, Royal pavilions and robes of state, tents for soldiers, as well as ordinary garments and wardrobe requirements, except only the actual metal work. It may be observed how minutely the work of the trades was divided and subdivided, and how zealously each craft was guarded, lest one tradesman or craftsman should interfere with the work of another. The whole system of the companies was to form an absolute monopoly for each craft. A Universal Provider, or a man who could "turn his hand to anything," was unknown in the palmy days of the City Companies.

The Skinners, or _Pelliparii_, naturally dealt in skins and furs, which, before the days of sombre black coats and tweed suits, were in great request, and were the distinguishing badge of rank and high estate. The Haberdashers united into one guild the Hat Merchants; the Haberdashers of Hats including the crafts of the Hurriers or Cappers, and the Millianers or Milliners, who derived their name from the fact that they imported their goods chiefly from Milan. The Salters naturally dealt in that necessary article of consumption, and conveniently had their quarters near the Fishmongers. The Ironmongers were both merchants and traders, having large warehouses and yards whence they exported and sold bar iron and iron rods, and also had shops for the retail of manufactured iron goods. The Vintners, or Merchant Wine-Tonners of Gascoyne, were divided into two classes--the Vinetarii, or importers of wine, residing in stately stone houses adjoining the wharves; and the Tabernarii, or keepers of taverns, inns, or cook-houses. The Clothworkers combined the ancient guilds of the Fullers and Sheermen.

The above twelve companies are styled the Great Companies, and in addition to these there are sixty-two minor companies, several of which are less only in name than their greater brethren. In point of numbers and wealth some are equal to the less opulent of the great companies. The Armourers, Carpenters, Leather-sellers, and Saddlers are especially wealthy corporations, and have fine halls, which are scarcely surpassed by any in the city. Some have no halls and small incomes, but there is scarcely a company which has not an interesting history, or which does not have some attractive and interesting historical associations.

THE MINOR COMPANIES

The Apothecaries have a charming little hall in Blackfriars, and have for centuries waged war against unsound medicines and ignorant quacks. They would not allow anyone to "use or exercise any drugs, simples, or compounds, or any kynde or sorte of poticarie wares, but such as shall be pure and perfyt good." Their good work continues. The Armourers' and Braziers' Company performed useful duties in the days when the lives of knights and warriors depended on the good and true work of the makers of armour. They have an interesting modern hall containing a good collection of their wares. The Bakers' Company is an ancient corporation, and received its charter in 1307. The Barbers, or Barber Surgeons, were incorporated in 1461, but they existed at least a century earlier. They combined the skill of "healing wounds, blows, and other infirmities, as in letting of blood and drawing teeth," with that of shaving, and no one was allowed to perform these duties unless he were a member of the company. In their hall they have the well-known picture of King Henry VIII. granting a charter to Barber Surgeons in 1512, but more probably it represents the union of the Barbers' Company with the Guild of Surgeons in 1540. The Blacksmiths have a long history, dating back to their incorporation by Edward III. in 1325. They combined the trade of makers of ironwork with that of Dentists and Clockmakers, and were by Queen Elizabeth united with the Spurriers, or makers of spurs. The motto of the Bowyers' Company, "Creçy, Poictiers, Agincourt," tells of the prowess of our English archers when archery was the national pastime of Englishmen, as well as their support in war. Other allied crafts were connected with the bowyers' art, including the Stringers, or long-bow string makers, and the Fletchers, who made the arrows. The guild of the latter still exists, and forms one of our minor companies. The Brewers were in existence in 1418, and were incorporated by Henry VI. The Broderers, or makers of embroidery, flourished in the fourteenth century, and with them were united the Tapissers, or tapestry makers; their artistic skill was remarkable, and the funeral palls, still in the possession of the Merchant Taylors, the Vintners, and Fishmongers, are evidences of their excellent workmanship.

The Carpenters' Company ranks high among its fellows, and has a very interesting history. Its first charter was granted by Edward IV. in 1477, but it existed years before, as Chaucer witnesses--

"An Haberdasher and a Carpenter,
A Webbe, a Deyer and a Tapiser,
Were alle y clothed in a livere
Of a solempne and grete fraternitie."

In the days of half-timbered houses their skill was in great request, and they had a large and flourishing guild, which failed not to take part in all the pageants, processions, and "ridings in the Chepe," and in all the State functions of the city. They have a noble modern hall, but one rather regrets the disappearance in 1876 of the old mansion house of the Carpenters, which survived the Great Fire and recalled many memories of the past. In order to "seek for and destroy faulty and deceitful work of clock and watchmakers or mathematical instrument makers," the Clockmakers' Company was formed in 1631. Some of the members wanted a hall, and objected to meet "in alehouses and taverns to the great disparagement of them all"; but this dream has not been realised, and the company use the halls of other guilds. The Coach and Coach-Harness makers have a hall in Noble Street, noteworthy as being the place where the Gordon riots were organized. The company was formed in 1677, and performed useful functions in examining defective wheels and axle-trees and in the construction of coaches. The Cooks, formerly known as pastelers or piebakers, are a very ancient fraternity, but most of their documents were destroyed in the Great Fire. An _inspeximus_ charter of George III., however, informs us that it was incorporated by Edward IV., but their history has been uneventful. The Coopers can date back their existence to the reign of Edward II., but were not incorporated until 1501, one of their duties being to pray for the health of King Henry VII. and his Royal consort Elizabeth while they lived, and for their souls when they shall have "migrated from this light." The wardens had power to gauge all casks in the city of London, and to mark such barrels when gauged. Brewers were not allowed to use vessels which did not bear the Coopers' marks. They have a hall, and a very interesting history, upon which we should like to dwell if space permitted.

The Cordwainers, or _Allutarii_, regulated the trades connected with the leather industry, and included the flaying, tanning, and currying of hides, and the making and sale of shoes, boots, goloshes, and other articles of leather. The Curriers have a hall, and at one time were associated with the Cordwainers. Their documents were burnt in the Great Fire, but their records are complete since that date. Their ranks were greatly thinned at the close of the sixteenth century, as we gather from the record, "the journeymen free of the company are altogether dead of the late plague." The Cutlers date back to the time of Edward III., and their trade embraced all manner of swords, daggers, rapiers, hangers, wood-knives, pen-knives, razors, surgeons' instruments, skeynes, hilts, pommels, battle-axes, halberds, and many other weapons. They have a modern hall in Warwick Lane, their former home having been destroyed by the erection of the Cannon Street railway station.

The Distillers' Company was founded by Sir Theodore de Mayerne, Court physician to Charles I., for the regulation of the trade of distillers and vinegar makers, and of those engaged in the preparation of artificial and strong waters, and of making beeregar and alegar. The Dyers have an ancient and honourable company, which once ranked among the first twelve. Theirs was a very flourishing industry in mediæval and later times, when the coloured liveries of guilds and the brilliant hues of the garments of both male and female city-folk testified to the extent of the Dyers' industry. A charter was granted to them by Edward IV., and they have taken their share in the great events of civic and national history. They, with the Vintners, have the right to keep a "game of swans" on the Thames. The Dyers' mark was formerly four bars and one nick; now it has been simplified, and one nick denotes the ownership of the swan by the company.

The Fanmakers obtained a charter from good Queen Anne, their company being the youngest of all the guilds. They encourage the production of a female weapon, which is often used with much effect in the warfare of courtly fashion and intrigue. The Farriers were incorporated by the Merry Monarch, in order to prevent unexpert and unskilful persons destroying horses by bad shoeing, and have extended their good work to the present day by devising an admirable system of examination and national registration of shoeing smiths. The trade is naturally an ancient one, and a guild existed as early as 1356, and we read of one Walter de Brun, farrier, in the Strand, in the time of Edward I., who had a forge in the parish of St. Clement on the peculiar tenure of paying to the King six horse-shoes.

The Feltmakers, incorporated by James I., regulated the manufacture of felt hats. Of the Fletchers, or arrow makers, whose motto is "True and sure" we have already written. The Founders extended their jurisdiction over the manufacture of candlesticks, buckles, spurs, stirrups, straps, lavers, pots, ewers and basins made of brass, latten, or pewter, and have an interesting history. They had a guild in 1472, when they began their career with "twenty-four poor, honest men." Their ancient ordinances contain directions about masses, burials, and almsgiving, the carrying of wares to fairs, hawking them, and the governing of apprentices. Their young men caused much difficulty. They loved riots and sport, and one of the ordinances of 1608 prohibited the playing of bowls, betting at cards, dice, table and shovel-board. One of the principal duties of the company was the approving and signing of all brass weights within the city, which were ordered to be brought to Founders' Hall and there "sized and made lawful according to our standard of England," and then marked with the common mark of the mystery, "being the form of a ewer," the company taking the ancient allowance for sizing. This was a very important public trust, which the Founders continue to discharge.

The Framework Knitters' Company owes its existence to an ingenious curate, one William Lee, of Calverton, who invented the stocking-loom in 1589. We should like, if space permitted, to dwell on his romantic story, but in this brief sketch it is impossible. The company of Framework Knitters sprang into being in the time of Charles II., and was then extremely prosperous, indulging in expensive pomp and pageantries. A gilded barge, a large band of musicians, a master's carriage, attendants resplendent in gold-lace liveries, and banners emblazoned with their arms, were some of the luxuries in which they indulged. But their glory waned and their trade passed from London to the Midlands, and little of their ancient state remains.

The Fruiterers have an active little company incorporated by James I., and still do useful work in promoting the cultivation of home-grown fruit by cottagers and small holders of land. The Girdlers' Company is an ancient fraternity, once styled the "Zonars," and formerly had the regulation of the manufacture of girdles of silk or wool, or linen and garters. Though the use of girdles has died out more than two centuries, the company remains, and has a charming hall and some valuable property. It owed its origin to a lay brotherhood of the Order of St. Laurence, the members of which maintained themselves by the making of girdles, and the guild was in existence in the days of Edward III., who addressed them as "Les ceincturiers de notre Citée de Loundres."

The Glass-sellers have a charter granted by Charles II. to his "well-beloved subjects the glass-sellers and looking-glass makers, which authorised them to search in all places where glasses, looking-glasses, hour-glasses and stone pots, or bottles, shall be made, showed, or put to sale." The ordinances are very severe on apprentices, who, if guilty of haunting taverns, alehouses, bowling alleys, or other misdemeanour, were brought to the hall and stripped and whipped by persons appointed for that purpose. Another company connected with the same substance, the Glaziers, has little history, and we pass on to the Glovers, who existed in 1349, and have had an honourable career. Gloves have played such a notable part in our national life, that it would be a pleasant task to record their history, but we must confine ourselves to their makers. These had many allies and were united with the Pursers, and later on with the Leather-sellers. In 1638 they recovered their independence, and their charter states that 400 families were engaged in the trade, and were impoverished by the confluence of persons of the same art, a disordered multitude, working in chambers and corners, and making naughty and deceitful gloves. Queen Victoria confirmed the charter of the Glovers, whose corporation was the only guild so honoured during her late Majesty's long reign.

The Gold and Silver Wyre Drawers have an ancient guild incorporated by James I., though existing in 1461. They were concerned in fashioning the gold and silver embroidered finery of our forefathers, who loved to make themselves, their pages, and their horse-gear resplendent with gold and silver. The Gunmakers perform the useful work of protecting our countrymen from the dangers of defective guns, and their company was incorporated by Charles I., on the ground that divers blacksmiths and others inexpert in the art of gunmaking had taken upon them to make, try, and prove guns after their unskilful way, whereby the trade was not only damnified, but much harm and danger through such unskilfulness had happened to his Majesty's subjects. They had the power of destroying all false hand-guns, dogs, and pistols--to stamp all sound goods with the letters G P crowned. This good work is still carried on by the company. The Horners, in the days of horn cups and winding horns, were a prosperous community, and their company existed in the days of Edward III., exercising the right of search at the fairs of "Stirbridge and Elie," their fortunes declining when glass vessels were used instead of the old horn cups. The Innholders remind us of the old-time inns of London, which Mr. Philip Norman in these volumes so well describes. At one time they were styled hostelers or herbergeours, and objected to the former title, inasmuch as their servants were really called hostillers, the hostlers or ostlers of modern time. St. Julian was their patron saint, for he made a hospital or inn by a river where men passed oft in great peril. Very curious regulations were ordained for their government, and no one was allowed to remain at an inn more than one day and a night unless the innholder was willing to answer for him. They have a hall, which has been newly erected, and some good portraits.

In no work was the amazing subdivision of labour so marked as in that which related to wood. Carpenters, joiners, sawyers, and planers had each their own separate work and organization. The joiners' work was concerned with cupboards, bedsteads, tables and chairs, and "rayles, sealinge boards, wainscott, chappboards and bedd timber" were their raw materials. Their company was in existence in 1309, and they have a hall in the Vintry. The Leather-sellers have an active and flourishing guild, which is first mentioned in 1372, when their _probi homines_ or _bonz gentz_ petitioned for some regulations for the prevention of the sale of fraudulent leather. By the charter of James I. they have the full oversight of "skins and felts called buff leather, shamoy leather, Spanish leather, and that of stags, bucks, calves, sheep, lambs, kids frized or grained, dressed in oil, allum, shoemack, or bark or rawed." All proper leather was stamped with the arms of the company. They have a fine modern hall, and can show a good record of useful work.

The ancient Loriner made bits, spurs, and all the smaller trinkets of a horse's harness, and the guild dates back to the days of Henry III., but its history is uneventful. The Masons have few records. By their charter of Elizabeth they had power to view stones intended for building--as to whether these were of proper length and measure, and well and sufficiently wrought. The Musicians have recently celebrated their tercentenary, commemorating the granting of their charter by James I. in 1604. They might have claimed a longer period of existence, as their first charter was granted by Edward IV. Their bye-laws are particularly interesting, and give minute directions with regard to their profession. They tested the skill of music and dancing masters, forbade the singing of ribald, wanton, or lascivious songs, or the playing of any instrument under any knight or gentleman's window without the company's licence. The Needlemakers existed in the time of Henry VIII., but have little history. The Painters' or Painter-stainers' Company suggests many reflections on their art and skill, and its history would require many pages. Their guild existed in the time of Edward III., and received its first charter from Edward IV. Their bye-laws order that if any member be found rebel or contrariwise to the wardens he shall pay one pound of wax for certain altar-lights. No tin-foil might be used, but only oil colours. They derive their name Painter-stainers from the custom of calling a picture a "stained cloth." The principal artists in England were members of the guild, and in their hall are numerous examples of the work of its members. The Pattenmakers' Company suggests a picture of the condition of the streets of London in mediæval times, when garbage and refuse were thrown into them, when drains and watercourses were things unknown, and pattens were invented as a useful foot-gear, and clogs and goloshes were sorely needed. The company appears on the scene in the fifteenth century, and the name of the city church of St. Margaret Pattens, Rood Lane, points out that locality as the seat of the industry. The Pewterers, a company of "friendly and neighbouring men," existed in 1348, and did much to make English pewter famous and highly esteemed in other lands. They visited markets and fairs throughout England, and seized and condemned base pewter ware, brass goods, and false scales. They furnished men with arms for the defence of the city, and kept in their hall corselets, calyvers, bill pikes, and other weapons, and paid an armourer to keep them in good order. Their history, written by Mr. Charles Welch in two large volumes, abounds in interesting facts, and we can only here refer our readers to those records.

The Plaisterers, formerly known as Pargetters, were skilful in contriving curious elaborate and beautiful ceilings, which form such an attractive feature in many old houses. They were incorporated by a charter of Henry VII. The Playing-card Makers' Company was founded in 1628, with the object of counteracting the deceits and abuses practised by the inexpert in the art and trade of making playing-cards, and by the importation of foreign cards into this country. It has no records and little history. The Plumbers' Company stands high in public estimation, and has been in existence several centuries, though not incorporated until 1611, when a charter was granted for "the utility, advantage, and relief of the good and honest, and for the terror and correction of the evil, deceitful, and dishonest." Their modern efforts to initiate a national registration and training of plumbers are worthy of the highest praise.

Every citizen knows the Poultry in the city--the locality where the Poulters anciently carried on their trade, selling "rabbits, fowls, and other poultry." The trade was not without its dangers. Unsound poultry doomed the seller to the pillory, the articles being burnt under him--a peculiarly disagreeable penalty. The company existed in 1345, but was not incorporated until 1504, and its history has been uneventful. The Saddlers' Company is a very honourable and wealthy corporation, and possesses records of unusual importance, dating back to Saxon times. The early colony of saddlers settled near the church of St. Martin-le-Grand, and they have never strayed far from there, their present hall being in Foster Lane. They can boast of having received many charters, the earliest having been granted by Edward I. In early days they were associated with a collegiate brotherhood, the house of which was situated where the General Post Office now stands. This religious fraternity offered masses for the souls of deceased saddlers, and shared with them a common graveyard. They disputed much with the joiners, painters, and loriners, who were always trying to trespass upon the rights of the saddlers. The introduction of coaches alarmed them as much as the invention of railways frightened the coachmen, but with less cause. The saddle trade prospered. The Civil War caused many saddles to be made and many emptied. Their records tell of much old-time civic life and customs. They had a barge on the river; they buried their deceased members with much ceremony, and their old hearse-cloth still remains; they can boast of having a Royal master, Frederick Prince of Wales, in 1751.

The Scriveners formerly discharged many of the duties now performed by solicitors, such as making wills, drawing up charters, deeds relating to lands, tenements, and inheritances, and other documents. They were known as the "Scriveners, or writers of the Court Letter of the city of London." Their earliest set of ordinances was granted to them in the time of Adam de Bury, mayor, in the 38th year of Edward III., a document couched in old law French. They complained bitterly against certain chaplains and other men out of divers countries who called themselves Scriveners, and took upon themselves to make testaments, charters, and other things belonging to the mystery, to the great damage and slander of all honest and true scriveners. Their apprentices caused them trouble, because they had not their "perfect congruity of grammar, which is the thing most necessary and expedient to every person exercising the science and faculty of the mystery." Every apprentice found deficient was ordered to be sent to a grammar school until "he be erudite in the books of genders, declensions, preterites and supines, equivox and sinonimes." Their first charter was granted in 1617. John Milton, the father of the poet, was a member of the company.

The Shipwrights have had a corporate life of four centuries, originally known as the Brethren and Sisters of the Fraternity of SS. Simon and Jude, and were established on the river side at Southwark or Bermondsey. The use of "good and seasonable timber" in the building of ships was enjoined by their ordinances. Their well-stored yards of timber were, however, considered dangerous to the city, and the constant noise of hammering offended the ears of the citizens; hence the shipwrights migrated to Radcliffe, and they had much trouble with a colony of "foreigners," who dared to set up their yards at Rotherhithe, and actually obtained a charter from King James. A long and bitter struggle for supremacy ensued, and was not settled until 1684. The art of shipbuilding has been revolutionized by the advent of steam and the use of iron; the Thames side is no longer the great centre of the industry, and the importance of the company has waned, though it still exercises some useful functions.

The Spectacle-makers' Company has no great history, though their first charter dates back to the time of Charles I. Its membership is large, including many illustrious names, and no less than twenty lord mayors. It does much good in modern times by improving the skill of opticians. The Stationers have a noteworthy history, which has been graphically told by Mr. C. R. Rivington, and celebrated their five-hundredth birthday four years ago. For an account of their powers, privileges, and the story of their copyright register, I must refer the curious reader to Mr. Rivington's book, or to my larger history of _The City Companies of London and their Good Works_.

The Tallow Chandlers can boast of great antiquity, and possess several charters and documents of much interest, and also the Tin-plate Workers, _alias_ Wire Workers' Company. The Tylers and Bricklayers formed a fraternity in 1356, and have received charters from Queen Elizabeth and subsequent monarchs, which contain no remarkable provisions. The Turners or "Wood-potters" showed their skill in mediæval times in the manufacture of household furniture, and their fellowship was recognised in 1310. They received a charter from James I., and in modern times have shown much activity, and have enrolled many distinguished men in their rank of Freemen. The Upholder is really an upholster, or upholsterer, who now supplies furniture, beds, and such-like goods. His company was founded in 1460, and received a grant of arms from Edward IV. Cornhill was the original home of the upholder, or fripperer, as he was sometimes called, and he used to deal in old clothes, old beds, old armour, old combs, and his shop must have been a combination of old curiosity shop and a store-dealer's warehouse. Later on, he concentrated his attention on furniture; his status improved, and his guild became an important association, though never very wealthy or remarkable.

The Wax Chandlers lived in palmy days, when they furnished the great halls of the nobles with the produce of their skill, and innumerable lights burned before every altar in our churches. Their guild existed in 1371, and was qualified to make "torches, cierges, prikits, great candles, or any other manner of wax chandlery." They still possess a hall in Gresham Street and Gutter Lane. The Weavers claim to possess the oldest company of all the city guilds. It certainly existed in the time of Henry I., and they have a charter of Henry II. which is signed by St. Thomas of Canterbury, and no less than eleven others. In the palmy days of the cloth industry they were very prosperous, but unfortunately few records of their former greatness remain. The Wheelwrights' Company suggests the fascinating study of the introduction of coaches and cars, upon which we cannot now embark, nor listen to the wails of the Thames watermen, who complained against new-fangled ways. This guild received a charter from Charles II., and did good service in protecting the lives of his Majesty's subjects from "the falling of carts and coaches through the ignorance and ill-work" of foreign craftsmen. Last, but not least, on the list stands the Woolmen's Company, founded in 1300, when the trade in wool was at its zenith. It has borne several names, and was identical with the guild of the wool-packers or wool-winders. Wool-combers were also licensed by the company. A noted member of this ancient fraternity was Sir John Crosby, the founder of Crosby Hall, "Grocer and Woolman," alderman of the city in the reign of Edward IV., whose noble house London has at length declined to spare.

THE VICISSITUDES OF THE COMPANIES

From this brief record of the City Companies, and of the part each one played in the drama of the life of London, it will be gathered that most of these guilds showed strong and vigorous growth in the fifteenth century, and were thoroughly established. Then came the period of the Reformation, which proved a time of storm and stress to the companies. They held much property bequeathed to them for the endowment of chantries, for the celebration of masses for the dead, and for other purposes which were deemed to be connected with "superstition." The companies were rich. Greed and spoliation were rampant, and many powerful courtiers were eager enough to prove "superstitious uses" as an excuse for confiscation. Hence a very large amount of the property of the companies, as well as of plate and other valuables, was seized by these robbers, and the guilds were compelled to redeem their lands and wealth by paying down hard cash to the plunderers. It was a grievous time, but the companies weathered the storm, and regained by much sacrifice their possessions. The system of forced loans instituted by the Tudor and Stuart monarchs also pressed hard upon the companies. Henry VIII. required of them £21,000--an enormous sum in those days--for his war with Scotland. Philip and Mary demanded £100,000 for the war with France. The Mercers alone supplied Queen Elizabeth with £4,000 after the defeat of the Spanish Armada. Before the Petition of Rights put an end to these forced loans, Charles I. extracted a loan of £120,000 from the city, and the Civil War made further demands on the funds of the companies, both contending parties pressing them for money. It need not be added that little of this enormous wealth was ever returned to the guilds, and they were much impoverished. Many of them were compelled to sell their plate and other valuables, and some were almost reduced to the verge of bankruptcy.

Another drain upon the resources of the companies was the scheme of James I. to establish the Ulster Plantation upon land forfeited to the Crown through a recent rebellion there. The King offered the land to the City Companies for a colony, pointing out the very great advantages which the land afforded. These were painted in very glowing colours, but scarcely answered the expectations of the colonists. The active citizens of London at once formed the Irish Society, raised £60,000 for the purchase of the land from the sagacious King, and each company took an equal share. The old county of Derry was the chief scene of this enterprise, and in token of its new masters was rechristened London-Derry. The colony had scarcely been established when Charles I., with his strange arbitrariness, removed the grant, but it was restored by Charles II., and most of the estates still belong to the energetic companies, and have been made the most prosperous part of the "distressed island."

But the greatest of all the misfortunes which have befallen the companies was the Great Fire. Hall after hall, replete with costly treasures bequeathed by departed brethren of the guilds, with all their archives and documents, perished in that hideous holocaust. All the wealth that rapacious kings and the troubles of the Civil War had spared was engulfed in that awful catastrophe. Again and again, when we try to read the history of a company, we meet with the distressing intelligence that all its records were destroyed in the Great Fire. Very few escaped. The leather-sellers, pinners, and ironmongers were happily without the range of the conflagration. All the books of the companies abound with graphic details of this calamity. It melted their plate, burned their records, and laid their property, from which they chiefly derived their incomes, in ashes. At the same time they were burdened with a load of debt, the consequence of the compulsory loans to which I have referred, and saw no means left of paying. The clouds that hung over the companies were as black as the clouds of smoke that issued from the burning ruins of their halls. But their English hearts were not daunted, and bravely did they struggle with their adversities. They immediately set to work to do what they could to save the relics of their fortunes. They first took steps to secure their melted plate from the ruined buildings. Then they set about the rebuilding of their properties. Extraordinary exertions were made. The wealthier members subscribed vast sums of money. The houses of their tenants rose like magic from the ruins, and it is remarkable that in no more than two or three years' time most of the halls of the companies were rebuilt, and many shone forth with additional splendour. The reign of Charles II. did not, however, conclude without involving the companies in additional anxiety, occasioned by the King's arbitrary interference in their affairs by his _quo warranto_ proceedings. He presumed to call into question the validity of the charter of the city of London, and declared it to be forfeited; and not only that, but also the charters of all the corporations in England, including those of the City Companies. The whole business, when regarded in the light of history, appears farcical and absurd, but the danger to the life of the corporations appeared very real and tremendous to the good citizens of London in the year 1684. They behaved in a most loyal and submissive manner, surrendered their charters, expressed their fear that they had offended their sovereign, who, "in his princely wisdom," had issued a _quo warranto_ against them, and earnestly begged to have their charters renewed. The King granted them new charters, which rivetted strong fetters about the guilds, placed them, bound hand and foot, at the mercy of the King, and reduced the city to entire subservience. James II. showed no inclination to release the city and the companies from their bonds, until the news of the advent of the Prince of Orange forced him to make an act of restitution; the old charters were restored, and the proceedings _quo warranto_ were hastily quashed. One of the first acts of William and Mary was to renew the old charters and declare that all the acts of the Stuart monarchs, with regard to the suppression of these ancient documents and the granting of new ones, were entirely null and void. This action endeared the new sovereign to the citizens, and, doubtless, helped greatly to secure for him the English throne and the loyalty of his people.

Public confidence being restored, the affairs of the companies began to improve. Though still hampered by the loss of much wealth, and by the misfortunes through which they had passed, their members were wealthy, and gifts and bequests were not lacking. It is true that their connection with the trades which they were supposed to govern was fast dying out--indeed, many of their trades had for a long time become obsolete--but the corporations still cared for their poor members, managed their estates, promoted in some measure the trades with which they were associated, and took their part in the government of the affairs of the city. The value of their city property increased enormously, and raised them from poverty to affluence. This has enabled them to institute vast schemes of charity and munificence, which enormously benefits the whole country, and to maintain, preserve, and develop those magnificent educational and charitable establishments which pious benefactors have committed to their care. In my book on _The City Companies of London and their Good Works_ I have told at some length their interesting story, and given a full account of their charities and treasures, and how by wise schemes they have adapted old bequests to modern needs, and how they maintain the hospitable traditions of the city of London. But that story relates not to Old London, and need not be told again.

THE HALLS OF THE COMPANIES

Time and space will only allow a very brief inspection of a few of these interesting buildings, the homes of the companies, which are, without doubt, the most interesting features of the city of London.[154] In Cheapside is Mercers' Hall, a fine building, erected after the Great Fire. The usual entrance is in Ironmonger Lane. If you would try to realize the former hall and the hospital of St. Thomas and its noble church, you must read Sir John Watney's work, if you are fortunate enough to obtain a copy of that admirable privately printed quarto volume. In the present hall you will see (if permitted) a fine store of plate, four pieces of which escaped the Great Fire, including a curious waggon and tun, the gift of W. Baude in 1573, which moves along the table by clockwork. The entrance colonnade, which occupies the site of the ancient cloister, with its Doric columns, is attractive, and a fine stone staircase protected by a wooden portcullis leads to the hall and court rooms. The hall itself is a noble chamber, panelled by Rowland Wynne after the Great Fire, and hung with banners and paintings. The most interesting paintings are: an original portrait of Sir Thomas Gresham by Holbein; Dean Colet; and a fancy portrait of Sir Richard Whittington with his famous cat.

Grocers' Hall has been recently rebuilt, and Drapers' Hall is modern, situated around a lovely court and garden, where a quiet stillness reigns in refreshing contrast to the noise of the bustling throng of busy stockbrokers in the adjoining street. Two fine pieces of statuary, splendid specimens of Gobelins tapestry, much interesting plate, and fine portraits of kings and queens and other worthies, are among their treasures. The present hall of the Fishmongers was built in 1831, when the new London Bridge, of which Mr. Tavenor-Perry, a member of this company, tells in this volume, was erected. They have many treasures, including the Walworth Pall, said to have been worked previously to 1381, and to have been used at Walworth's funeral, though it is evidently the work of the sixteenth century. Numerous royal and other portraits adorn the walls, paintings of fish by Arnold von Hacken, Scott's pictures of old London and Westminster Bridges, and a large representation of a pageant of ancient days, affording some idea of one of London's scenes of old civic state.

Goldsmiths' Hall, built in 1835, is perhaps the most imposing of all the homes of the companies, and is rich in plate, sculptures, pictures, and other works of art. A magnificent marble staircase leads from the ground floor, monolith pillars support the roof, and a bust of the founder of the company, Edward III., faces the entrance. Two fine sculptures by Storey, the Libyan Sibyl and Cleopatra, adorn the vestibule. The oak panelling of the court room was taken from the old hall. This room contains a painting of St. Dunstan, the patron saint of the company, some portraits of worthies, a silver vase and shield by Vechte, and a small Roman altar, discovered when the foundations of the hall were being laid. This altar is mentioned in the Ingoldsby Legend of the "Lay of St. Dunstan." The plate of this company is remarkably fine.

In Threadneedle Street is the hall of the Merchant Taylors, the name of that thoroughfare being doubtless derived from their trade. This hall is one of the most interesting of all the palaces of the companies, inasmuch as the Great Fire did not completely destroy the old building, and was stayed on the premises; hence the present hall is a restoration of the ancient building, and not an entirely modern erection. There is an ancient vaulted crypt, the use of which is not quite clear. It may have been a passage leading from the street to the chapel. In the fourteenth century Edmund Crepin granted the hall to John de Gakeslee, the King's pavilion maker, who purchased it on behalf of the company. The property was enlarged by the gift of the Oteswich family, who gave to the company the advowson of the church of St. Martin Outwich (or Oteswich), and certain shops for the benefit of the poor brethren and sisters. The company built their almshouses on the west end of the parish church, and attached to them a new hall, the interior of which was adorned with costly tapestry representing the history of St. John the Baptist, and a silver image of the saint adorned the screen. Heraldic arms appeared in the windows, the floor was strewn with rushes, and silk banners hung from the ceiling. A garden with alleys and a terrace was at the rear of the hall, and in it stood the treasury, in which plate and other valuables were stored; and there was a building called the King's Chamber set apart and well furnished for the reception of Royal guests, who frequently honoured the company with their presence. This chamber, called the banqueting hall, was rebuilt in 1593, and a few years later the space above the ceiling was deemed the most convenient place for the storage of gunpowder. The great hall was restored in 1671, and is "old-fashioned, ample, and sumptuous," having all the characteristics of the fifteenth-century edifice. It is impossible to describe all the treasures of the company, but we must mention the two hearse-cloths of Italian fabric of early sixteenth-century work, some valuable portraits of royalty and of worthies of the company, two being painted by Sir Godfrey Kneller. Happily, all the old deeds, charters, and documents were saved at the Great Fire, and these add greatly to the history of this important company.

Skinners' Hall was not so fortunate, and a new one was erected, thus described in 1708: "a noble structure built with fine bricks and richly furnished, the hall with right wainscot, and the great parlour with odoriferous cedar." It has been much altered, a new front being added in 1791, and redecorated a hundred years later. The company can boast of many noble and distinguished members, amongst whom we find Edward III. and his Queen, the Black Prince, Richard II. and his Queen, Henry IV., Henry V., Henry VI., Edward IV., and their Royal consorts.

Haberdashers' Hall is modern, built in 1864 on a site bequeathed to the company by William Bacon in 1478, but the court room was erected by Wren after the Great Fire, and has a fine ceiling. Salters' Hall--they have had no less than five--was finished in 1827, and is very magnificent, having a large open space in front, which adds greatly to its imposing appearance. Some pictures were saved at the Great Fire, and there are two fine paintings of Queen Charlotte and George III. by Sir Joshua Reynolds. Ironmongers' Hall, spared by the Great Fire, was pulled down in 1903, and a new hall, we believe, is in course of erection.

_In the possession of the Clothworkers' Company._]

The Vintners have a very interesting hall, built partly on the foundations of the old hall destroyed in 1666, and very rich in its treasures: its beautiful carvings by Grinling Gibbons, its ancient tapestry, hearse-cloth, portraits, and valuable store of plate. Pepys tells of the destruction of Clothworkers' Hall. He wrote, "But strange it is to see Clothworkers' Hall on fire these three days and nights in one body of flame, it having two cellars full of oil." After that mighty destruction a new hall arose, worthy of the greatness of the company, the present great hall itself being added in 1859, a noble building lighted by fine windows containing the arms of distinguished members. Pepys was master of the company in 1677, and presented a loving cup, which is still amongst the company's treasures.

It is impossible in this brief survey of the Livery Companies to include a description of the halls of the minor companies, some of which are very fine and interesting. It has been my privilege to visit nearly all of these ancient edifices, and to inspect many of their records and valuable treasures. These I have tried to describe in my larger work on the history of the companies. No volume relating to London would, however, be complete without some reference to the ancient state and glories of these venerable institutions, which, in spite of many vicissitudes, much oppression, heavy losses and crushing calamities, have survived to the present day, and continue their useful careers for the benefit of the present generation of men. The story of the Livery Companies furnishes wonderful examples of the tenacity of the national character of Englishmen, of their firm determination to overcome difficulties, and of their resolution to hand down to their successors the traditions which they have received from a great and historic past.

FOOTNOTES:

[154] A full account of the history of each hall, its description and treasures, is contained in my book on _The City Companies of London and their Good Works_ (Dent & Co.), with illustrations by A. R. Quinton, and reproductions of old pictures, tapestry, and plate.

LONDON AND THE HANSEATIC LEAGUE

BY J. TAVENOR-PERRY

A remarkable episode in the early history of London, and an element in its making, which through the Middle Ages exercised an important and beneficial influence on its progress and growth, was the settlement of foreign merchants, who, at first as individuals, and later under the control of the Hanseatic League, made it one of the principal trading centres of Northern Europe; and no account of mediæval London would be complete which omitted a reference to the part played by these German and Flemish adventurers. Although it was not until the middle of the twelfth century that the League reached that complete organization which made it for some centuries a great northern power, the trading communities of Germany early acquired some sort of cohesion; and we find them established in London as early as the reign of Ethelred II. The encouragement this Saxon King afforded them was doubtless due to the fact that they were able to offer him the money of which he always stood in need, in return for the privileges he was able to confer on them; and he may have felt that he could always rely on their active support against their common enemy--the Danes. But these first merchants were few and unorganized, and although as time went on they increased in number and importance, it was not until the League itself had become a power that, in the reign of Henry III., they obtained a recognized corporate existence.

The foundations of this originally peaceful confederacy were, curiously enough, laid in war, and that of the baser sort--war for the sake of pillage. The Vikings, finding themselves unable to realize the spoil with which they were sometimes gorged, conceived the idea of founding a market-place to which, by assurances of safety and immunity from further theft, they could induce peaceful merchants to attend and receive, and pay for, the goods which they had stolen. Such was the now vanished town of Jomsborg which Pálnátoki, the Jarl of Fjon, founded about 950 in the country of the Wends, near the mouth of the Oder. This town was intended to be an abode of peace, where not only could the merchants reside in safety, but to which the Viking Jarls, fighting elsewhere between themselves, might resort to exchange the results of their raids. And this city gradually became not only the market for the goods which the sea-rovers gathered from sacked cities and ruined monasteries, but also the emporium of the merchandise of the East, which reached the Baltic from Byzantium by the Euxine and the Dnieper. It was in this Viking market town that the first German merchants established among themselves that association which eventually grew to be the most important trading community of the Middle Ages.

The name which the association took to itself was a Gothic word, and was not improbably conferred upon them by the Vikings themselves, since Hansa means--in the language of the Goths--"a company," or "a troop," and in that sense it occurs in the Gothic version of the Scriptures by Ulphilas, a copy of which is preserved in the library of Upsala. Some of the rules which Pálnátoki made for these merchants remained in force throughout the existence of the League, and formed the basis of the laws by which all the factories of the Hansa were governed. The _Joms Vykinga Saga_ contains some of these rules:--"No man older than fifty years or younger than eighteen winters could be received." "Anyone who committed what had been forbidden was to be cast out, and driven from the community." "No one should have a woman within the burgh, or be absent from it for three nights." Governed by such rules, the Kontors of the League formed among the alien populations in which they were placed semi-monastic establishments, holding only such intercourse with their neighbours as their business required, much like the early British factories established in India.