270 



Chippenham. Notes of its History. 



head-pieces and the bow-and-arrow-men were not all it had to 

 depend upon : for by another law " every Burgess was to keep in 

 his house a staff and a club : and every other inhabitant was to 

 keep a club ; and they were all to bring their weapons when 

 properly called." We have known since the days of Queen Mary 

 occasions in the streets of Chippenham, when a little application 

 of these staves and clubs would have had a wholesome effect. 



In those earlier days a mischievous fashion prevailed. Every 

 gentleman walked about with a sword by his side : other people 

 wore daggers. It was a part of the dress of the day. It was a 

 very foolish fashion indeed, yet it lasted a long time in England. 

 It was foolish and dangerous, because upon the least quarrel arising 

 out came the sword or the dagger. There are on record many 

 instances in the society of those times, when gentlemen, followed 

 by a train of servants, in the streets of London, or elsewhere, 

 having any private quarrel among themselves fell out at their 

 encounter, first with words and then with blows, often followed by 

 blood-shed and death. 



This explains another of the rules, that " Any person drawing 

 a dagger or other weapon within the borough, to strike a townsman, 

 or to call him any opprobrious name, is to forfeit the weapon and 

 be put in the stocks." 



In order to encourage sobriety in this ancient town in Queen 

 Mary's days, the Bailiff and Corporation also laid down a rule. 

 Nobody could serve the town with beer or ale unless he had been 

 properly appointed ; and the price of the article was also fixed for 

 him. There were of course, then as now, various qualities of the 

 said article. " The small ale, called Penny ale, was to be sold for 

 a penny the gallon." The brewers and tiplers were to have their 

 measures examined and sealed with the standard seal. If anything 

 was wrong the brewer forfeited 4d. a gallon, and the tipler 2d. a 

 gallon. 



A " Tipler " in those days meant a different character from him 

 who earns that title now. 



A tipler, now a days, means one who is understood to take his 

 refreshments a little more frequently than there is any positive 



