81 
These leather bottles, much used in the middle ages, appear to 
have been a peculiar branch of English industry. The upper edge 
of the vessel is squeezed into a slight lip in front, and the stout loop 
handle at the back is firmly stiched on either edge, thus making it 
strong, hard, and enduring as oak, and seeming to justify the old 
and oft-repeated adage, that “ there is nothing like leather.” 
At the beginning of the sixteenth century wooden trenchers and 
pots of earth were commonly used at the tables of even the higher 
classes. The former were not easily to be broken; but the case 
was different with the earthen pots, which, from their fragile 
nature, were, it seems, a continued source of expense. In the 
Household Book of the Duke of Northumberland in 1512 it was, 
therefore, ordered that, “ whereas erthyn potts be bought, that 
ledder potts be bought for them for serving meallys in my lord’s 
hous.” 
In the time of Queen Elizabeth, leathern bottles were in common 
use, as is seen by the following quotation from a Lansdown MS. 
“ Leathern cups, small jacks, we have in many ale-houses of the 
city and suburbs*dipt with the silver, besides the great black-jack 
and bombarts at the court, which, when the Frenchman first saw, 
they reported at their return into their country, that the English¬ 
men used to drink out of their boots.” 
3 and 4. Two small specimens of the leather jack, one is inscribed 
R.S.M., 1658. Deposited by Mr. E . T. Stevens. 
A smaller measure called the jill or gill, is described in Dyche’s 
Dictionary, 1744, as “ a measure containing a quarter of a pint, 
much used by wine drinkers in a morning.” The nursery rhyme 
concerning Jack and Jill probably refers to these cups. 
5 and 6. Two plates of pewter, formerly belonging to the Joiners’ 
Company at Salisbury, inscribed Henry Lake, Thomas Minty, 
Wardens, 1688 ; Jefery Barnes, Chamberlain. Presented by 
Mr. C. Wyndham. 
7. A brass-bound wooden measure, inscribed “ New Sarum 
Standard Pint.” Presented by the Archaeological Institute . 
Seals. 
The use of seals as a legal formality was introduced into this 
country by the Normans. It is a remarkable circumstance, that 
previous to the reign of Edward the Confessor, the Anglo-Saxon 
kings contented themselves with making a simple cross to authen¬ 
ticate their charters: the practice of sealing having prevailed 
among the Franks from the time of Clovis. There are, however, 
a few examples of the practice among the Anglo-Saxons, but they 
are excessively rare. One of the most remarkable is that of the 
seal of the Abbey of Wilton, one of the oldest monastic seals in 
existence. 
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