Falkinkr — lUudrations of Commercial History of Dublin. 145 



as a convivial association. Its roll being limited to forty members, 

 admission to it was bighly prized. The list of its members for a 

 period of a hundred and forty years, contains, it is no exaggeration 

 to say, representatives of all that is most honourable in mercantile 

 Dublin, and attests the high character the Society continuously 

 enjoyed. The names of La Touche, Guinness, Hone, Pim, Jameson, 

 Hatley, Colvill, and others equally familiar constantly recur. 



The esteem in which the Society was borne, and the hold it had on 

 the affections of its members, was strengthened by the quaint and 

 characteristic customs which its constitution ordained and its rules 

 enforced. It was organized, in deference to its marine origin, on a 

 nautical basis. The affairs of the Ouzel Galley were administered by 

 a Council, of which the officers were : — "The captain, two lieutenants, 

 master, bursar, boatswain, gunner, carpenter, master's mate, coxswain, 

 boatswain's mate, and carpenter's mate " ; and a peremptory regulation 

 enacted that at the meetings of the Galley, of which three were held 

 annually, " the captain, or in his absence the senior officer on board, 

 has supreme command, and any disobedience to him is mutiny." The 

 introduction of officers and new members was conducted "according 

 to the ancient and immemorial usage of the Galley," part of the 

 ceremony being, it is understood, the draining, at a single draught, of 

 a bumper of claret fi'om the glass cup, a beautiful example of Irish 

 glass-work, a photograph of which is reproduced with this Paper. 

 Guests cordd only be introduced on the invitation of the " captain, 

 officers, and crew of the Ouzel Galley." At each meeting members 

 were bound, on pain of a fine, to wear a gold medaP pendant from 

 an orange ribbon. Finally, the members were "piped to dinner" 

 with a boatswain's whistle; and the minutes for 1754 record that a 

 silver whistle, probably that of which a representation appears below, 

 was ordered to be provided by the cai-penter for the boatswain's use.- 



^ The records of the Society for Feb., 13, 1772, contain the following : — 



" Ordered, that the medal be made of gold. That on one side of the medal the 

 ' Ouzel Galley ' be represented, and the motto ' Steady.' That on the reverse be 

 represented the figure of ' Equity,' with the motto ' cuique suum.' " 



These medals appear to have been struck at different periods. That acquired 

 by the Academy is believed to be from the design of Parks, a Dublin architect. 



2 The captain's oath, in 1754, was as foUoM-s :— " I, A, B, do swear that I 

 will be faithful to onr Sovereign Lord King George the Second ; and this galley, 

 entrusted to my command, I will, to the best of my power, defend against all 

 pirates either by sea and land ; the rules and orders established on board I will see 

 observed to the utmost of my power, and justice admisistered to the crew, and all 

 who put any freight on board. I will continue to be a good fellow, and, as long 

 as I can, hearty and merry." 



