2S4 REPORT OF MEETINGS FOR 1905 



town, and was elected by them annually. His duty was to 

 keep the Mace, and by order of the bailiffs to summon the 

 Freemen to attend meetings. He also was required to fix 

 the Seal of the Corporation to such deeds as required it, and 

 to deliver all summonses, and execute all processes, of the 

 Borough Court. After the Reformation Act, and the incor- 

 poration of the Municipal Borough, these duties of the Sergeant 

 devolved upon the Mayor's Messenger. The Mace itself is 

 composed of silver, with a rounded gilt head, on which are 

 inscribed the arms of the town, as well as of those following : — 

 (1) England, during the reign of James I. ; (2) Howard, 

 quartering Brotherton, Mowbray, and Warren ; (3) Thomas 

 Plantaganet, surnamed *'de Brotherton"; (4) Thomas de 

 Mowbray, 12th Earl of Mowbray and Ist Duke of Norfolk; 

 (5) John de Mowbray, 5th Duke of Norfolk; (6) Merlay, 

 Barons of Morpeth ; (7) Dacre, Lords of Gilsland; (8) Grey- 

 stock ; (9) Grimthorpe ; and (10) Howard. It was presented 

 to the town in 1604 by William, Lord Howard, and remains 

 in the custody of the Mayor, along with a silver punch- 

 bowl and ladle belonging to the ancient bailiffs. Much 

 interest was evinced in the specimen of the Branks, which 

 was also on view, and had been in use for the restraining 

 of members of the fair sex flagrantly addicted to the 

 abuse of their neighbours. Though a barbarous instrument, 

 consisting of a hoop of iron enclosing the head, and attached 

 to another which covered the mouth, and thereby supplied a 

 bridle for the "unruly member," it possesses traces of the 

 skill and taste of the craftsman in a chaste ornamentation 

 of the end of the clasp, where it was padlocked by the 

 representative of law and order. With reference to the 

 ''Patent of Arms of the Borough of Morpeth," it is stated 

 that the figure in the Patent is intended to represent William 

 Henry, Norry King of Arms in the reign of King Edward YI. 

 The arms are based upon those of Sir Roger de Merlay, the 

 founder of the ancient Corporation of the Bayliff and Burgesses 

 of Morpeth, and who obtained for the Borough the privileges 

 enjoyed under their charter. Having done full justice to the 

 ample provision of their host and hostess, and smoked a pipe 

 of peace in spite of frequent reminders of ill done by vengeful 

 Scots to the fair Borough, whose motto — *' Inter sylvas et 



