Notes on some Wiltshire Mei'chants' Marks. 325 



They are found on rings, seals, oak chests, doors, windows, and 

 panels of old houses, painted on windows, and engraved on brasses. 

 They were used on the Continent and by wine merchants in Oporto 

 and Lisbon. 



When the younger sons of the nobility or others bearing arms 

 engaged in trade, they often had on their tombs their paternal 

 coat of arms as well as their merchant's mark, impaled or on 

 separate shields. 



In 1459 one Robert Thompson was appointed tokener to seal 

 all cloths called Norwich cloth with a lead seal or token after 

 being found of correct measurement, and the woollen weavers were 

 obliged to bring in a roll of the names of their craft with each 

 man's token, by which the goodness of the cloth might be known 

 by the mark as the measurement was by the token. Sometimes 

 the Merchant Adventurers Arms, or the arms of the city company 

 to which the merchant belonged are found in connection with his 

 mark." 



. The accompanying plates contain Merchants' Marks, the 

 majority of which are to be found on the seals attached to 

 deeds belonging to the Corporation of Salisbury, but it by no means 

 follows that the seal contains the mark of the person who executed 

 the deed, as it is evident in many cases that it was engraved for 

 his ancestors. 



The Eev. E. E. Dorling, late incumbent of Burcombe, drew to 

 uniform size the whole of the marks engraved for this paper. 



A Key to the Plates. 



Unless otherwise stated these are from seals attached to docu- 

 ments amongst the municipal records, Salisbury. In this list the 

 persons to whom I have assigned the marks are, in many cases, 

 j not the persons using the seal and executing the documents. On 

 | the other hand, where the seal itself gives no evidence to the 

 contrary, it is assumed that it belongs to the person using it on 

 the document. This attribution, however, must not be regarded 

 j as always certain. 



