470 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2n<» S. V. 128., June 12. '58. 



pommel of adequate dimensions. But the pride 

 of Southampton was the large silver oar borne be- 

 fore the chief magistrate in token of the Admiralty 

 rights of the port. Here likewise is a silver 

 tankard, but of no very ancient date : filled with 

 ale and spices, it was wont to be handed round to 

 the guests on festive occasions, previous to the 

 removal of the cloth. 



The insignia of the city of York is particularly 

 interesting. It consists of an ancient silver mace, 

 and two swords of state : the larger, dated a.d. 

 1439, presented by the Emperor Sigismund, father- 

 in-law to Richard II., is used only on such festi- 

 vals as Easter Day, Christmas Day, &c. ; it is 

 very heavy, and could only be wielded by a power- 

 ful man. The smaller sword was the gift of Sir 

 Martyn Bowes, Lord Mayor of London a.d. 1545, 

 and is usually borne on state occasions. The city 

 of York possesses also the " Cap of Maintenance." 

 It is represented above the municipal arms, and 

 an obliging communicant has informed me, " that 

 on Christmas, St. Maurice day, and days of high 

 solemnity, the sword-bearer wears his cap of 

 maintenance, which he puts off to no person what- 

 soever ; and he is entitled to sit with it on during 

 divine service at the cathedral or elsewhere." 



Winchester has four handsome silver maces of 

 the time of Charles II., and a seal of the age of 

 Edward I., beautifully executed, and in fine pre- 

 servation. 



Norwich has a sword of state and three maces : 

 one of the latter, presented by Queen Elizabeth, 

 bears date a.d. 1578 ; also a mace presented by 

 Sir Robert Walpole, and two silver castles, dated 

 A.D. 1705. 



Carlisle has silver maces and a sword of state, 

 a silver tankard, and a " silver loving cup," dated 

 A.D. 1701, presented by the Earl of Carlisle. 



Oxford and Cambridge have silver-gilt maces, 

 and smaller maces for the sergeants of their cor- 

 porations. 



Bristol has nine maces, and four swords : one 

 of the swords dates back to a.d. 1431 ; it was 

 called the " Pearl" sword, and is inscribed : — 

 " John Willis of London, Grocer and Mayor, 

 To Bristow gave this sword faire." 



Hertford has a sword of state only. 



The following incorporated places, namely, An- 

 dover, Banbury, Canterbury, Coventry, Chester, 

 Fordwich, Deal, Dover, Guildford, Holt, Hythe, 

 Hull, Llanidloes, Newcastle, Preston, East Ret- 

 ford, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Salisbury, Sandwich, 

 Scarborough, Tenterden, Westbury, Wokingham, 

 Warwick, Wenlock, and Wareham, all used or 

 possessed the mace among their insignia. 



At Wycombe (Bucks), the mayor carries a 

 silver-gilt stick, while the maces are borne before 

 him. 



Chard for insignia had six rusty helmets, a 

 sword, and two musquets. Loughor, said to be 



the Leucarium of Antoninus, possessed two old 

 maces, made of wood, ornamented with tin ; they 

 have been replaced by brass ones. This corpora- 

 tion, which by the charter of Edward II L con- 

 sisted of a Portreve, or Praepositus, and eleven 

 aldermen, numbered among its officers an " ale 

 taster," and a "howard" [hayward?]. The " ale 

 taster," or " ale konner," made one of the sub- 

 ordinate officials at Folkstone, where also we find 

 a " flesh- searcher." 



Pontefract has two maces and an ancient cup, 

 inscribed " Si Deus nobiscum, quis contra nos ? " 

 Saffron Walden has, besides the accustomed maces, 

 a shell, fitted with a silver rim, of the capacity of 

 a quart and a half, with the figure of a Virgin 

 and child engraved inside on a silvS- plate at the 

 bottom. On the cup are engraved four angels. 



The old Burghmote horn appears among cor- 

 poration insignia. It was used at Canterbury 

 from time immemorial to summon the members of 

 the court to burghmote. The horn was sounded 

 by one of the town sergeants near the residences 

 of the aldermen or common councilmen. At 

 Folkstone, on the election of mayor previous to 

 the enactment of the Municipal Corporations' Act, 

 the citizens were summoned to the churchyard by 

 the burghmote horn ; thence they proceeded to 

 church to hear divine service ; the outgoing mayor 

 and the jurats then withdrew to the cross and 

 pedestal in the churchyard, where the commons 

 and freemen being assembled, the mayor ad- 

 dressed them, and requested them to depart into 

 the chancel of the church to elect the mayor for 

 the year ensuing, which they did accordingly. 



The following extract from the Burghmote 

 Rolls of the City of Canterbury, dated July 5, 

 5 & 6 of the reign of Philip and Mary, may not be 

 out of place in exhibiting a contention between 

 the mace of the mayor and the rod of the sheriff 

 of the county ; showing at the same time how 

 closely these ensigns of office were considered as 

 direct repi'esentatives of the officials who bore 

 them. 



Queen Mary had been staying at Canterbury, 

 and was proceeding thence through the suburb 

 of Wincheap to Eastwell, now the seat of Earl 

 Winchelsea, on a visit to Sir Thomas Moyle : — 

 " Before Her Grace rides Master Mayor, bearing 

 the mace of the city" (the Mayor we perceive rode 

 mace in hand before the Queen), " till he came to 

 the land leading to the meadow of the late Sir 

 Thomas Hales, Knight. At this place Sir Thomas 

 Moyle, High Sheriff of Kent, required Master 

 Mayor to lay down his mace, which the Mayor 

 denied to do, but said, ' he would bear the mace as 

 far as the liberty of the said city went,' which was 

 to the utter part of the stone wall of Saint 

 Jacob's, and so he did. All which way the Sheriff 

 of Kent gave place, and wore no rod, and at the 

 utter part of the said wall the Major took leave 



