11 



including carriage, lOd. and Is. per load ; saud. 

 Id. per load. Labourers were sharply fined for 

 any faxUt, losses and breakages; For chiding, Hd.; 

 for playing, 2d. ; for letting (hindering) of his 

 fellows, 8d. ; for looking about, 2d. ; for telling of 

 tales, 2d.; for shedding lime, 6d.; and a stonemason 

 for leaving without license, 3d. 



With the mention of these figures (taken from 

 the accounts), I have, Mr. President, completed 

 the task I set myself, very inadequately and 

 sketchily, I am aware. It now only remains for 

 me to sum up in a few words and to answer the 

 question that so often comes to us when beholding 

 some splendid ancient building, Such as all are 

 familiar with " How was it the craftsmen 

 of old could produce such results?" Perfect 

 in craftsmanship, unsuriiassed in concep- 

 tion, in purity of style, in accunicy of detail, 

 possessing that peculiar charm impossible of 

 description. Siu-ely the answer is that the crafts- 

 man of old, having received a thorough training, 

 brought to bear upon his w^ork not only great 

 skill, but thorough conscientiousness and 

 honesty of purpose. There was no sxich 

 thing as the putting in of inferior material 

 or workmanship merely oecause it was out of sight. 

 The architect, in the modeni sense of the word, 

 i.e., as the detective, was not needed. A cnifts- 

 man did not call himself an artist in those days, 

 he was content to be known as a craftsman, a 

 mere stonemason, smith, or painter, but lacking 

 the title he did not lack tlie skill. The study of 

 design was never more enthusiastic, the desire for 

 excellence never more sincere. A draftsman was 

 always trying to improve his knowledge of his 

 craft ; but whatever their skill, perseverance and 

 enthusiasm they could not have achieved the 

 results they did had they not loved the work for 

 its own sake. A love which prompted them to 

 embellish with carving or other enxichment, not 

 only those features which were in the most 

 conspicuous places in a building but details 

 hidden away from sight, as for instance, the 

 carving upon some miserere seats in the stalls of 

 many of our parish churches, or, as one often 

 sees, a beautifully carved corbel away in some 

 obscxu-e comer or the exquisite and delicate 

 chasing upon some bell hidden away in a belfry 

 unseen, uncared for, known, pi-actically, only to the 

 cniftsman himself. This love of his ci*aft was the 

 real secret of his excellence, and this we must 

 cultivate to-day if oiu- work is to approach the 

 level of that of the medijcval craftsmen. 



The President expressed the indebtedness of the 

 membei's to Mr. Jennings for his interesting paper, 

 remarking that he had clearly shown that the 

 artizan and craftsman of mediaeval times was not 

 only a servant, but had his degree. He was a 

 mastt-r of k^arning, manifested through his clever 

 fingers and han«-ls. The paper liad been an 

 intensely suggestive one. and he hoped that before 

 long they might have another of equal interest 

 from Mr. Jennings. He would ask Mr. Moring, of 

 Dover, to move a vote of thanks. 



Mr. Moring said it gave him great pleasure to 

 move that proposition. He might mention that 

 he, the speaker, was one ot the craftsmen who had 

 i-eceived an apprenticeship and was a member of 



one of the old companies of London — the Cutlers' 

 Company — which, he believed, was almost the only 

 one which, in the present day, looked after th« 

 admission of its craftsmen. The decay of influence 

 of the craft guilds to which Mr. Jennings had 

 alluded was not, he thought, altogether the fault 

 of the guilds themselves, but arose through 

 unforeseen circumstances in the time of the 

 devastation caused by the plague, and which 

 must have had a gi-eat deal to do with th« 

 disorganisation of the guilds. But when they 

 compared the condition of things with modem 

 times, they foimd that the Universities were 

 taking the place of the guilds, insomuch that 

 they were establishing specialised degrees for the 

 promotion of industries. In London and other 

 Universities there were special degrees for 

 engineering ; it was the same with chemistry, and 

 he believed that in some northern tm.iversities the 

 practice was extending to a very great extent. 



Mr. "W. Cozens seconded the proposition, and 

 said Mr. Jennings had given them a wonderful 

 insight into what was done five hundred years 

 ago. As regarded the unemployment problem, he 

 believed that if the system of apprenticeships had 

 not been done away with so largely they would 

 not be experiencing the troubles which they had 

 at the present time. There were so many work- 

 men about who, when asked what they could do, 

 replied *' I can do anything." They, however, 

 did not know how to do anything properly, 

 Avhereas If apprenticeships had been continued 

 they would have been able to do work equal, and 

 he thought better, than that of the workmen of 

 medieeval times. He believed that among the 

 crafts the period of seven years' apprenticeship 

 was only maintained in the case of carpenters. 

 Stone masons were apprenticed for five, four, and 

 sometimes only three years, but in all other 

 ti-ades as far as building was concerned, the 

 apprenticeship was much shorter, with the result 

 that they never turned out to be the workmen 

 they ought to be. He would like to ask if Mr. 

 Jennings could gire them any information as to 

 the way in which architects laid their work before 

 the craftsmen in the shape of specifications and 

 details. Did they draw them ? 



The vote was carried by acclamation, and in 

 returning thanks Mr. Jennings said it was diffi- 

 cult to get precise information as to how archi- 

 tects used to design and control their work, but he 

 believed that architects, as we understood the tenu 

 now, did not exist then. Genei-ally there was pro- 

 bably one exceptionally skilled ci*aftsman, perhaps 

 a mason or carpenter, and it was this craftsman 

 who, being constantly upon the work, would 

 direct the men under hini, showing^the masons 

 where to build the piers and walls on the spot. 

 Except in quite exceptional cases, there 

 were probably no plans on paper. There 

 would also be a le-ading cai-penter, with whom 

 the mason would work, and so their workman- 

 ship, as the i-esult of personal intercourse, 

 would be moulded into one harmonious whole. 

 Of course when they came to elaborate buildings 

 such as the Palace at Westminster or Canterbury 

 Cathedial there must have been some looking 

 further forward, becaiise no one man lived long 



