Qnd S. No 15., Arrim 12, 756.) 
LONDON, SATURDAY, APRIL 12, 1856. 
Notes, 
DINNER CUSTOMS: THE SONG OF THE BRODERERS. 
COMPANY. 
When I recently communicated to you the ac- 
count of the Clifford’s Inn Dinner Custom (2"¢ S. 
i, p. 79.), it occurred to me how interesting a col- 
lection of such customs, graces, &c., still existing 
in our Inns of Court, Colleges, Grammar Schools, 
and Livery Companies, as well as municipal cor- 
porations, might prove: my attention has been 
again drawn to the subject by the remarks of 
Y.B.N.J., in his article on “ Grammar Schools 
and their Traditions” (2™4 S. i. p.145.), in which 
he somewhat suggests the idea, and points out 
your own columns as their safest asylum for pos~ 
terity. I am induced, therefore, to renew the 
subject ; and to submit the following song, which 
I recently heard sung at a Court dinner of the 
Broderers’ (Embroiderers’) Company. The legend 
in the Company is, that an estate was inherited, 
and would be forfeited if the song, which is styled 
“The Broderers’ Song,” is not sung or said by 
the master of the Company at every Court dinner. 
It appears that this custom has now prevailed in 
the Company for above 400 years, and has always 
been punctually observed; although the estate 
said to depend upon it is now only mythical, if 
indeed it has ever been otherwise. ‘The song, 
which is in antique MSS., is handed with much 
formality by the clerk of the Company to the 
master, who introduces it immediately after the 
usual toasts: the whole company present joining 
in chorus. 
“THE BRODERERS’ SONG. 
“ Air. ‘How happy could I be with either.’ 
“ Come give us your plain dealing fellows, 
Who never from honesty shrink ; 
Not thinking of all they should tell us, 
But telling us all that they think. 
Fol de rol, &c. 
“ Truth from man flows like wine from a bottle, 
His free-spoken heart’s a full cup; 
But when truth sticks halfway in the throttle, 
Man’s worse than a bottle cork’d up. 
Fol de rol, &c. 
“ Complaisance is a gingerbread creature, 
Used for show, like a watch by each spark; 
But truth is a golden repeater, 
That sets a man right in the dark. 
Fol de rol, &e. 
« Half nods, shrugs, and winks are deceivers, 
The cunning man’s art to seem wise ; 
But trust me, plain dealers will ever 
Such paltry practice despise. 
Fol de rol, &c.” 
The sentiments embodied in the song are supe- 
rior to its versification, although there is a quaint 
oddity about the whole thing which gives a raci- 
ness to it; and of this there can be little doubt, 
NOTES AND QUERIES. 
285 
that such sentiments so persistently uttered before 
the worshipful Company of Broderers for more 
than one hundred years, are likely in no little 
degree to have tended to the truth, honesty, and 
plain dealing of its members. 
Mmpre Temrre Gate. 
MUTILATED EXCHEQUER RECORDS. 
In the year 1840, it was my lot to examine 
several large sacks filled with the remnants and 
fragments of the Exchequer documents so wan- 
tonly and ignorantly destroyed by order of the 
government. ‘They consisted chiefly of — 
1. Original Warrants, from the reign of Henry VI. to 
the reign of George III., inclusive. ~ 
2. Rolls of the Wages and Diet of the Band of Gen- 
tlemen Pensioners, during part of the same period. 
3. Notes or Docquets of Receipts from Fee-farm Lands, 
Collectors of Subsidies, &e.; entered on narrow slips of 
parchment. 
4. Indentures for Receipts of Exchequer Measures and 
Weights, &c. 
5. Ushers’ Rolls of Expenses for the Conveyance of 
Writs. 
6. Orders for Payment of Annuities out of the Sinking 
Fund, Excise, on Army Debentures, &c. 
7. Certificates and Receipts for Payment of Money for 
the Apprehension of Felons. 
The whole of these (with the exception of 
No. 3.) were cut into pieces, most of which were 
not larger than the palm of the hand. The War- 
rants (to judge from some handfuls of them 
pulled out of the sacks at hazard,) were of con- 
siderable interest; but, unfortunately, not one 
could be found entire. Among those examined 
were the following : 
Henry VI. Grant to the Hospital of St. Giles’s near 
the Tower, a° r. 6. [1428]. 
——— Grant to the Convent of Friars Preachers 
at Cambridge. 
Evizazeta. Warrant for the Payment of Money to 
Thomas Leighton, Captain of the Isle of Guernsey, for 
the Fortifications there, a% r. 17, [1575}. 
Grant to Lady Lennox, widow of 
Charles, Earl of Lennox, of a Pension of 3002. per annum 
for the Maintenance of her daughter, a®. r. 20. [1578]. 
JAmes I. Warrant for the Erection of the Tomb of 
Mary, Queen of Scots, by Cornelius Cure, Master-mason, 
in Westminster Abbey, for which he was to receive 
825/. 10s., exclusive of materials, a°. r. 4. [1606]. 
— —— Warrant for the Erection of the Tomb of 
Queen Elizabeth, in Westminster Abbey. 
—-—— Warrant for the Erection of a Tomb to his 
daughter in Westminster Abbey; to be made by Maxi- 
milian Poutrayne. 
{Neither Cure nor Poutrayne are mentioned by 
Walpole. } 
Cuarves I. Grant of a Pension of 2002. to Sir Anthony 
Vandyke; and the sum of 6037. for [pictures?] sold to 
the King. 
rom the above specimens, the value of the 
mass may be judged of, before the documents 
were so barbarously mutilated and sold as waste 
