294 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2"* S. X. Oct. 13. '60. 



These abuses must cease — they had lasted too long — 

 Was there anything right.'' — was not everything 



wrong ? — 

 The Crown was too costl}', — the Church was a curse, — 

 Old Parliament's bad, — Reform'd Parliament's worse, — 

 All revenues ill manag'd, — all wants ill provided, — 

 Equality, — Libert}', — Justice, derided. — 

 But the People of England no more would endure 

 Any remedy short of a Radical cure. 

 Instructed, united, a Nation of Sages 

 Would look with contempt on the wisdom of Ages, 

 Provide for the World a more just Legislature, 

 And impose an Agrarian Law upon Nature." 



Hekus Frater. 



TRADE MARKS, ETC. 

 (2'"» S. X. 229.) 



Perhaps some more explicit or satisfactory reply 

 to E. C. may anticipate what follows in relation to 

 that particular of his query in which, after alluding 

 to what he calls " a cutler's guild in Sheffield," he 

 asks, " is there any publication of its regulations, 

 and what king granted it ? " If not, I may just say, 

 1. Hunter's Histoi'y of Uallamshire contains, of 

 course, a full account of the public body in ques- 

 tiop ; 2. That no work on " Trade Marks " can be 

 complete that does not include something more 

 than a mere allusion to those granted by the 

 Corporation of Cutlers within the district above 

 named. As this is a somewhat curious and in- 

 teresting topic per se, I may be permitted farther 

 to state that although the exact date of the 

 origin of such " Marks " in the Sheffield trades, 

 is not ascertainable, there is evidence that they 

 were in use long anterior to the grant of the 

 charter under which they have so long been 

 granted and protected. In 1565 the Court Rolls 

 of the manor of Sheffield recite that a jury of 

 cutlers was impannelled with the other juries, 

 to assign marks to the different manufacturers, 

 whereby to distinguish their respective wares, to 

 enrol indentures of apprenticeship,' &c. This 

 is, I believe, the earliest local evidence on the 

 subject ; but as the regulations were agreed to 

 " by the whole fellowship of cutlers, and sanc- 

 tioned by the lord of the manor," the Earl of 

 Shrewsbury, the practice was probably already in 

 existence.^ In 1624, this " holy fellowship," which 

 had previously subsisted under the patronage of 

 the lords of " Hallamshire," received an act of 

 incorporation " for the good order and govern- 

 ment of the makers of knives, sickles, shears, 

 scissors, and other cutlery wares." By this act 

 " the amercements of the lord's court, juries, fees 

 on indentures, and mark rents," were transferred 

 to the new body, who, in 1638, built a hall for 

 the transaction of business, and which in after 

 years became fraught with many interesting re- 

 miniscences besides those connected with the 

 " Feast" annually given there by " the Master 

 Cutler" on his official inauguration. This is not 



the place to record the vicissitudes of the Com- 

 pany, statutory, municipal, or personal; it may, 

 however, be mentioned that the marks granted 

 have mostly belonged to one of three classes: 1. 

 One or more letters, as " IXL." ; 2. Single words, 

 as names of persons or places, as "Calvin," 

 " China." 3, Design?, as the dagger, cross, anchor, 

 crown, &c. The history of these symbols, of 

 which a large collection may be seen in the first 

 Sheffield Directory, pi-inted by Gales & Martin in 

 1787, would be a curious illustration of the tastes 

 and fancies of the owners. Comparatively few 

 of these marks, however, have any special value ; 

 the makers of steel articles generally striking upon 

 them their own names, and these have often led to 

 piracy and litigation. There exists one incidental 

 illustration of the importance of these " trade 

 marks," which I will venture to introduce here. 

 In 1626 Felton stabbed the Duke of Bucking- 

 ham ; and on exaniining the knife which w^s 

 found in the duke's body, a corporation mark 

 was observed upon it, whereupon an inquiry was 

 instituted as to whether the knife was made in 

 London or at Sheffield. All agreed it was the 

 latter place, and that the actual maker would 

 soon be found out. An express was immedi- 

 ately sent to Sheffield, and Thomas Wild, living 

 in Crooked Billet Yard, High Street, was sent 

 to London to the Earl of Arundel's house, and 

 there examined. He acknowledged at once that 

 the mark was his, and the knife one of two 

 which he had made for Lieut.-Col. Felton, who 

 was recruiting in Sheffield, and for which he 

 charged him tenpence. The Earl was at once 

 satisfied with the truth of Wild's testimony, and 

 ordered the payment of the expenses of his journey 

 home. li. 



In that interesting and learned fragment by the 

 late Rev. Edw.Duke, Prolusiones Historicce, or Es- 

 says on " the Halle of John Halle," at p. 53. of the 

 first (and only) volume of that undertaking, will be 

 found some particulars on the " origin and history 

 of the Staple and Merchants' Marks" ; in the 

 course of which reference is made to the remarks 

 of Sir H. Englefield in his " Walk " through South- 

 ampton on the existence of two specimens still 

 extant, and of which a sketch is given on the title- 

 page of that work. To what is there stated I 

 would add, that the one alluded to by that writer 

 as belonging to Some ancient almshouses in this 

 place, is still very perfect, and is accompanied 

 (besides the date 1565) with a representation of a 

 bird or fish's head, and is surmounted by a shield 

 of the arms of the town. The date and monogram 

 have been deeply cut, and filled in with lead: 

 the face of the stone has been much worn away, 

 but the figures remain in sharp relief. The stone 

 has been removed with the site of the almshouses, 

 and occupies a prominent position in a street at 



