Excursion on Saturday, August Zist. 



109 



to ascertain from him by what right and title he held that office, and 

 also whether he had any right to carry the cup ; and he said he was 

 not aware of there being any charter authorising him to do so : all 

 he knew was that he was elected by the Mayor and Corporation, 

 and that this cup was his wand of office. Of the bowl he could say 

 very little, and the town of Devizes could not help him. It ap- 

 peared to have belonged to a society called " The Brittox Club " — 

 he presumed that would be, those gentlemen and tradesmen who 

 in former days lived in the Brittox close by. — It bore the Prince 

 of Wales's feathers, and was of the date of George the Second ; 

 but under what circumstances they bought this punch-bowl he 

 could not tell, as there appeared to be no record and no vestige of 

 the club, except, he believed, that they met about once a year. The 

 ladle was in two pieces. Originally it had a very large spoon at 

 the end, and they found that type of spoon head as far back as the 

 time of James the Second. He fancied they were used as preserving 

 spoons more than as punch ladles. The present spoon, which was 

 only of two or three years later date, had been substituted for the 

 original ladle, and had been adjusted to the old handle, and was 

 used as a strainer for taking the pips out of the liquor. The mace 

 he had now to speak of (the Rector's mace) he did not understand. 

 He was told it was the Mayoress's mace. They found a Mayoress's 

 mace at Cambridge, and at York the Lady Mayoress had a mace. 

 When James the First's children passed up to Scotland they were 

 preceded by a mace. It was an exceedingly pretty ornament there 

 could be no doubt. It was a very beautiful piece of work, and as a 

 rule it was carried immediately before the Rector of the parish. 

 There are four other maces, borne by members of the Corporation. 

 Two of these have large round brass heads, and are also ornamented 

 with portraits of King William and Queen Mary. They both bear 

 the following inscription " This staff was presented to the Corporation of 

 the Devizes by John Smith Citizen of London in commemoration of the 

 putting down of Poperyand the destruction of an Arbitrary Government 

 — 1709/' The other two staves are smaller and bear no inscription. 



He would now call attention to what was not quite so grand as 

 the maces and cup, nevertheless very important and curious. It was 



