312 
‘ NOTES AND QUERIES. 
[2"4 S. No 16., Aprit 19, 56, 
under the Duke of Wellington in the Peninsula, and at 
Waterloo; and had the honour of dressing the only 
wound his Grace received.” — Times, April 9, 1856. 
R. W. Hacxwoop. 
How Calumniators were punished in Poland. — 
The enclosed extract deserves a corner in “N, 
& Q.”:— 
“The convicted calumniator of a senator in Poland was 
compelled, in full senate, to lie upon the ground under 
the stall of him whose honour he had attacked, and then 
declare aloud, that in spreading abroad injurious reports 
against the honourable senator, he, the calumniator, had 
lied like a dog. He must then, three different times, 
imitate the barking of a dog.” — General History of Po- 
land, by M. le Chevalier de Polignac, vol. iii. ka 
Mueries., 
TOWN AND CORPORATION SEALS. 
Has any illustrated history of the town and cor- 
poration seals of the various counties of England, 
Scotland, and Ireland yet been published? I 
make this Query, though I believe that there is 
yet none; and I am greatly surprised that no one 
has yet undertaken it, as the subject is a most in- 
teresting one in an antiquarian, historical, and 
“fine art” point of view, many of the matrices of 
the older seals being really “gems” in their de- 
sign and execution, and having quaint legends 
attached to the devices which they bear. Repre- 
sentations of ancient seals are often given in town 
and county histories, and others are now and then 
described at the meetings of the various anti- 
quarian societies; but, so far as I know, the sub- 
ject of our corporation seals, as a distinct work 
by itself, has never yet engaged the attention of 
any one; and I would therefore strongly urge the 
importance of this rare archzological mine being 
worked by men who have leisure and opportuni- 
ties for consulting the necessary books, charters, 
and MSS., as the result of their labours would, I 
am satisfied, be most gratifying. If England was 
taken up by one, Scotland by another, and Ire- 
land by a third, and a quarto volume, to match, 
advertised as being in preparation by each, con- 
tributions of impressions, or drawings of seals, and 
other information would, I doubt not, be cheer- 
fully sent in to them by brother antiquaries from 
all quarters, as well as by the various town clerks. 
The latter I always found most ready not only to 
ive me any information in their power, but also 
impressions from ancient matrices, complete sets 
of which, from the earliest, are still in existence 
in many places in Scotland, such as St. Andrews 
and Lanark, and I doubt not that similar sets are 
still extant in England and Ireland. 
In my younger days I proposed compiling such 
an illustrated history of the town seals of Scot- 
land, and collected for this purpose numerous 
specimens of them, both ancient and modern, 
from the various town clerks; but a residence in 
a foreign country, and subsequent want of leisure, 
and of access to the necessary works, prevented 
me from carrying out my wish. I gave copies, or 
casts, however, of several of the specimens I then 
collected to Mr. Laing of Edinburgh, whose most 
valuable collection of ancient Scottish seals in 
sulphur would now render the task I then pro- 
posed a very light one. I often recall with plea- 
sure recollections of my “raids” after ancient 
seals, and the delight I felt when I secured some 
of them, such as those of Stirling, St. Andrew’s, 
and Arbroath, which were nearly as large as 
breakfast-plates, and covered with the quaintest 
old devices in high relief. The same enthusiasm 
would, I am convinced, be felt by others, if the 
subject was taken in hand; and as [I sincerely 
hope it may by three kindred spirits in the sister 
kingdoms, I may mention the plan I proposed 
adopting in my contemplated history of seals, as I 
think it would be the best system to follow, if 
what I now suggest is carried out. 
The form of the volume to be quarto, as many 
of the seals are very large ; to commence with an 
introduction as to the origin of corporations and 
their seals; then to divide Scotland into counties, 
giving an account of the origin of the armorial or 
other devices on the seals of each town separately 
in that county, with engravings of the several seals 
employed, from the earliest to those now in use; 
these to be outlined woodcuts merely, as the ex- 
pense would not be great, and the design of each 
seal could be at once seen, in connexion with the 
illustrative letter-press; the materials for these 
woodcuts to be derived from impressions of ma- 
trices, old deeds, ancient carvings, town histories, 
and other sources; the historical incidents, or le- 
gendary tales connected with the change in each 
device, I meant to have narrated in a pleasant, 
ehatty, gossiping manner, so as to have made the 
book a really readable one; while its series of 
woodcuts of the seals of each town would, I well 
knew, from what I had seen of them, especially 
of the older ones, be a rare treat, from their 
beauty and singularity. Where guilds or other 
societies possessed ancient matrices of seals, such 
as those of the Hammermen of Edinburgh and 
Dundee, I meant to have added outlines of them 
also, in connexion with their several towns. 
Such is the method I would suggest, while 
forming histories of corporation seals of England, 
Scotland, and Ireland, and I sincerely trust that 
my suggestions will be carried out by some three 
of your readers possessing more leisure and greater 
facilities than I now do. .C. 
Glasgow. 
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