660 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences , Arts, and Letters. 
Instead, therefore, of considering an individual haber¬ 
dasher or dyer, we shall consider the respective guilds and 
several members from each guild. In this way it may be 
possible to throw light in such a way as may serve to 
illuminate the descriptions of the prosperous and self- 
satisfied craftsmen who appear in the General Prologue. 1 
The Haberdashers, 2 as has been noted, had two repre¬ 
sentatives in the City Council of 1376,—Robert de Lynne 
and Thomas Botstone. 3 The latter does not appear to have 
been prominent. At any rate no other reference to him seems 
to occur. As to Lynne, however, we are more fortunate. In 
1378 he was a “maintainer in a plaint.” 4 He was sufficiently 
prosperous in 1379 to be mentioned as “one of the good folk” 
of London who lent the City 5 marks. 5 He likewise con¬ 
tinued to be a member of the Common Council after the 
election by Wards instead of by Misteries. For example, 
he was one of the two dozen summoned in 1384 from Farn- 
done Ward. 6 He was again a member in 1386 7 , and in 1388 8 . 
The following interesting entry will throw light on the 
standing of the burgesses in Chaucer’s day. In 1380 Henry 
1 I have consulted, for the several dozen individuals under discussion, 
all contemporary documents where one might expect information. When 
the Calendar of Close Rolls, which are now being published, will have 
completed this important gap to a student of Chaucer, much information 
should come to light. 
2 There were two kinds of Haberdashers: sellers of small wares, as 
needles, tapes, buttons, etc., and those who dealt in hats {Letter-Book, 
H, p. 366 n.). In 1391 a maker of caps was charged with making caps 
falsely, i. e., “they had been fulled by the feet instead of by hand” {Ibid., 
p. 366). The spelling “aberdasher” occurs {Cal. Pat. Rolls, 1377-81, 
p. 449). It is not recorded in the N. E. D ., and I have found no other 
instance. 
* Letter-Book, H, p. 43. 
4 Ibid., p. 114. This unlawful intermeddling became so common that 
Parliament in 1377 strictly forbade the practice {Letter-Book, H, p. 93, note 
3). Three pages {Ibid., pp. 112-115) are devoted to London burgesses 
who were maintainers, an excellent proof they had money. Frequently 
the suit was between parsons. 
6 Letter-Book, H, p. 126. Hugh Fastolf and Richard Morell (cf. 
my article on Some Friends of Chaucer in P. M. L. A. XXIX, 2, pp. 270 
ff.) lent a like amount {Ibid., p. 125). This was the amount given by 
most of the individuals. None gave any less, and only a few gave more. 
e Ibid., p. 239. 
7 Ibid., p. 281. 
8 Ibid., p. 332. 
