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diff --git a/old/53820-0.txt b/old/53820-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index c0b73de..0000000 --- a/old/53820-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1685 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Short History of the Worshipful Company -of Horners, by H. G. Rosedale - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: A Short History of the Worshipful Company of Horners - -Author: H. G. Rosedale - -Release Date: December 28, 2016 [EBook #53820] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SHORT HISTORY--COMPANY OF HORNERS *** - - - - -Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images -generously made available by The Internet Archive) - - - - - - - - - - A SHORT HISTORY - - OF - - The Worshipful - Company of Horners - - ------------------ - - Price Five Shillings net. - - ------------------ - - - - - London: - BLADES, EAST & BLADES, 23, ABCHURCH LANE, E.C. - - ------- - - JANUARY, 1912. - - - - - The Worshipful Company of Horners. - - ------------------ - - - Master: - - CHARLES EVES, Esq., Capel House, 62, New Broad Street, E.C. - - - Upper Warden: - - W. B. CRANFIELD, Esq., 6, Poultry, E.C. - - - Renter Warden: - - Capt. L. G. MARCUS, C.C., 65, London Wall, E.C. - - - Court of Assistants: - - *Mr. Deputy MILLAR WILKINSON, Seatonross, Christchurch Park, Sutton, - Surrey. - Sir DAVID STEWART, Banchory House, Aberdeen. - *W. SPENCER CHAPMAN, Esq., The Cottage, Warminster, Wilts. - *A. W. TIMBRELL, Esq., C.C., 44, King William Street, E.C. - *Dr. W. J. HILL, 25, Craven Street, Strand, W.C. - *H. BURT, Esq., J.P., Parkfield, Potters Bar. - *Col. Sir J. ROPER PARKINGTON, J.P., D.L., 58, Green Street, Park Lane, - W. - *W. PHENE NEAL, Esq., C.C., 62, London Wall, E.C. - *P. H. P. WIPPELL, Esq., LL.M., B.A., 4, Paper Buildings, Temple, E.C. - *J. DIX LEWIS, Esq., J.P., 85, Gresham Street, E.C. - *Rev. C. C. HOYLE, M.A., New Westminster, Canada. - CECIL HARTRIDGE, Esq., 17, Old Broad Street, E.C. - *H. S. FOSTER. Esq., J.P., Grosvenor Mansions, 82, Victoria Street, - Westminster, S.W. - *J. T. EDMONDS, Esq., 19, Great Winchester Street, E.C. - W. R. TAYLOR CARR, Esq., 108a, Cannon Street, E.C. - A. GOODINCH WILLIAMS, Esq., Union Place, Stonehouse, Plymouth. - Major CHARLES WALLINGTON, V.D., 4, Tokenhouse Buildings, Bank, E.C. - G. R. BLADES, Esq., 23, Abchurch Lane, E.C. - Ald. JAMES ROLL, Adelaide Place, London Bridge, E.C. - Rev. H. G. ROSEDALE, D.D., F.S.A., 7, Gloucester Street, Victoria, S.W. - A. F. BLADES, Esq., 23, Abchurch Lane, E.C. - E. PARNELL, Esq., Devon Lodge, 14, Wickham Road, Brockley, S.E. - Col. and Ald. Sir W. H. DUNN, 11, St. Helen’s Place, Bishopsgate, E.C. - G. R. GLANFIELD, Esq., 58, Canfield Gardens, Hampstead, N.W. - Rev. H. T. CART DE LAFONTAINE, M.A., 49, Albert Court, Kensington Gore, - S.W. - JAMES WEBSTER, Esq., 38, Wickham Road, Brockley, S.E. - HUGH T. TAYLOR, Esq., 9, Wood Street, E.C. - HORACE E. BOWLES, Esq., 66, Bishopsgate Street, E.C. - A. H. MICHELL, Esq., 5, Devonshire Place, W. - M. R. SEWILL, Esq., C.C., 2, Porchester Square, Hyde Park, W. - JAMES CURTIS, Esq., 179, Marylebone Road, N.W. - - - Hon. Chaplain: - - Rev. H. G. ROSEDALE, D.D., F.S.A., 7, Gloucester Street, Victoria, S.W. - - - Clerk and Solicitor: - - HOWARD DEIGHTON, Esq., C.C., 44, King William Street, E.C. - - ------------------ - - Those marked (*) have served the office of Master. - -[Illustration: shield] - - - - - PREFACE. - - -The discovery of the “Old Book of the Worshipful Company of Horners,” -which has probably been missing for some 250 years, has brought added -interest to the consideration of what is, perhaps, the oldest of the -City Gilds. - -In studying the documents and compiling the account of that book, -recently distributed to the members of the Company by the kindness of -the late Master, Mr. Edmonds, I was drawn to take in hand the lengthy -and difficult task of reconstructing the life history of this -interesting Craft Gild. Such a work is the product only of years of -patient labour, but, in the meantime, at the request of the Court, I am -glad to offer some preliminary details which may serve at least to show -the age and dignity of the Worshipful Company of Horners. - -I have endeavoured, where possible, to incorporate passages from the -late Mr. Compton’s paper before the British Archæological Society, but, -owing to many discoveries having been made which were not at his -disposal, I have had to take a different course in some respects. - -I wish, however, to state that this short history cannot in any sense be -considered a complete or even sufficient account of the Company, but -must hide behind the expressed wish of the Court that, in this instance, -it should be of modest dimensions. - - H. G. ROSEDALE, D.D. - -[Illustration: Casket presented to King Edward VII] - - - - - A SHORT HISTORY OF - THE WORSHIPFUL COMPANY - OF HORNERS. - - ------- - -[Sidenote: Origin of Gilds.] - -The study of Gilds, their origin and development, is amongst the most -fascinating of all literary pursuits, but though many whose names rank -high in the world of letters have gone deeply into the problems which -the subject presents, the early days of gild life, at least, in this -country, are still to some extent shrouded in the mists of speculation. - -Whether Craft Gilds came to England from the far-off glories of Greece -and Rome, whether they were the descendants of the early Saxon or Danish -“blood brotherhoods,” or even derived partly from the one and partly -from the other, is still a moot point. - -There are practically no records of any importance of Craft Gilds in -this country before the arrival of the Normans, though during the time -of the Roman occupation there must have been many such extant. At quite -an early period of the Roman occupation, we know that the Gild of -Smiths, “Collegium Fabrorum,” existed in this country. - -At a later period it is clear that England was covered with a network of -Frith Gilds, but whether these were Trade Gilds in the accepted sense or -not has yet to be shown. It seems probable, however, that they were -Agricultural Gilds enforced upon the inhabitants by their Saxon -conquerors, and that in the more populous neighbourhoods and towns, -craftsmen and merchants were included under their own special “tything” -or possibly even had their own “hundred”. - -Whether this were the case or not, it will be obvious to all that in -Saxon and Norman England alike, wherever several persons were plying the -same trade, there must have existed some sort of organization for mutual -protection and for the instruction of others. Throughout the known world -from the very earliest periods, workmen of the different classes have -always formed their own aggregations and have always associated -themselves together for mutual assistance and protection. The need for -something of this sort must have been very urgent in days when there was -less security to life and property, and in days when, as we are led to -suppose, the Saxon rulers felt scant sympathy for the towns where trades -would be found to exist most extensively. - -[Sidenote: Antiquity of Gilds in England.] - -The more we study mediæval life in our own country, the more impossible -it becomes to imagine any regular trade as existing apart from some -official or semi-official organization, combining one or more of the -following obligations: Control of the workers, education of novices, -civil representation (generally through some influential patron or -head), and nearly always carrying out the work of a burial and insurance -society. That such a banding together of those, whether merchants or -craftsmen, interested in any particular occupation, must have existed -during the Saxon period with the object of promoting one or more of the -objects mentioned, is hardly open to doubt. It would be specially in the -towns, such as London, in which, as Sir Lawrence Gomme has pointed out, -the Roman ideals of organization still persisted, even into Norman -times, that Gild life or its analogue would be most definitely marked. - -[Sidenote: Gild, not Guild.] - -Such Societies, Unions, or Combinations for common interests, whether of -Trade, Religion, or social needs, were called Gilds, the word being -derived from the Anglo-Saxon _Gildan_ or _Gildare_, to pay, an allusion -to the contribution demanded from every member towards the common fund. - -[Sidenote: Antiquity of the Horner’s Craft.] - -It may be justly claimed that amongst the earliest trades or crafts of -this country was that of the Horner, who was indispensable to the -community, inasmuch as he was the purveyor of many articles absolutely -necessary for domestic purposes. In the days, for instance, of Kings Ina -and Alfred metals of any kind were rare and consequently costly. -Articles required for eating and drinking, such as cups, plates, forks, -etc., as well as vessels for the preservation of liquids and powders, -were made from horn, that being the least expensive and the most easily -attainable material for those who had risen above the use of wooden -articles for similar purposes. - -[Sidenote: Laws of Ina.] - -That trades did exist throughout the Saxon period is clear, nor should -it be doubted that among the more important of those trades was that of -the Horner. Indeed, though little else of a commercial character is -alluded to in the laws of King Ina (A.D. 688-726), those laws lay down -the price at which horns are to be bought and sold, and thereby indicate -the importance of the horner to the community. “Bovis cornu decem -denariis valeat Vaccæ cornu duobus denariis valeat.”—No mean price, -surely, at that early period. - -[Sidenote: Horn Tenure.] - -Not only are horns mentioned in the early Norse Runic inscriptions (see -_Deutsches Literatur Zeitung_, April 2nd, 1910), but there have been, -from the earliest days, many well-known instances of beautifully worked -horns used as a method of conveyancing property. Ulphus’s Horn, a -drinking horn now at York, is, perhaps, the best known example. It was -presented by him to the Church in token of the conveyance of his lands -to the Church Authorities. King Edgar granted privileges to Glastonbury -Abbey by means of a horn. For a very long period the family of Pusey -held the village of Pusey by virtue of a horn, given to William Picoli -by King Canute. Edward the Confessor granted the Rangership of Bernwode -Forest, Bucks, to be held by a horn, while Randal de Meschines, third -Earl of Chester, conferred on Allan Silvestris the Bailywick of the -Forest of Wirall by delivering to him a horn, which was ever after -preserved at Hooton. Ingulphus, Abbot of Croyland, mentions the horn -amongst those things whereby land was conveyed in the Conqueror’s reign. -This recalls the lines of Wordsworth in the “Horn of Egremont Castle.” - - “Eustace pointed with his lance - “To the horn which there was hanging, - “Horn of the Inheritance.” - - * * * - - “Who of right claimed the Lordship - “By the proof upon the Horn.” - -[Sidenote: Drinking Horns.] - -Both Pliny and Cæsar allude to the elaborate horn cups of their period. -Johannis Salisburiensis tells us that the Danes used horns as well as -the Saxons, and Giraldus Cambrensis mentions the Horn of St. Patrick. - -Sometimes these horns were so skilfully made that they could be used -both for blowing and drinking; _vide_ Chaucer’s “Frank Tale,” l. 2,809: -“And drinketh of his bugle horn the wine.” Perhaps, however, the most -interesting and historic horn cup was that which Witlaf, King of Mercia, -gave to the Abbey of Croyland, “cornu mensæ suas ut,” etc.—the horn from -his own table that the elder monks might drink out of it on Festivals -and Saints’ Days, and that when they gave thanks, they might remember -the soul of Witlaf the donor. Ingulphus mentions that when the Monastery -was almost burnt down this horn was saved. - -[Sidenote: Medical Horns.] - -From Payne’s “English Medicine in Anglo-Saxon Times” we ascertain that -during the tenth and eleventh centuries, at least, the Horners’ trade -was called into use by the apothecary. The author relates that in -“cupping” operations and the administration of clysters, horns were -used, indicating a nicety of manufacture which must have placed the -trade on a high level. - -[Sidenote: Importance in Saxon times.] - -To such a pitch of development had the trade of a Horner attained at -least 250 years before the Norman Conquest, that even the patens and -chalices used at the Church services were made of this substance, as may -be evidenced from the fact that at the Council of Chelsea, held A.D. -789, after careful discussion, it was decided that the chalices and -patens used for ecclesiastical purposes should no longer be made of -horn, but of metal, no doubt to distinguish them from similar articles -which had already come into general use for common and domestic -purposes. - -At this time glass was probably almost, if not entirely, unknown in -England, and, in consequence, thin sheets of horn had to be manufactured -to serve many of the purposes to which glass is now applied. - -These facts, and the general tendency of town life in this country, make -it practically certain that long before the tenth century the Horner’s -trade, in common with some others, was in full swing, and with it that -which we may deem inseparable from any considerable trade at that time, -something in the nature of what we now call a Trade or Craft Gild. - -[Sidenote: Horners’ probably the oldest City Gild.] - -Both tradition and documentary evidence are agreed that the Horners’ -Gild dates back to the far off ages of antiquity, and we may justly -claim that its foundation is as early as, if not anterior to, any of the -existing City Companies. - -[Sidenote: Old book of the Worshipful Company of Horners.] - -Considerable light has been thrown on the vicissitudes of the Horners’ -Gild by the recent discovery, as well as recovery, of the most -interesting and ancient MSS. book already alluded to. The existence of -this book, which formerly belonged to the Company, and was, in fact, its -official record, was brought to the notice of the Clerk of the Company -by Dr. Warner, of the British Museum. After many negotiations between -Mr. Howard Deighton and the then owners of the volume, it was purchased -for the sum of £40. - -A detailed account of this precious possession has been given in the -form of a publication entitled “Some Notes on the Old Book of the -Worshipful Company of Horners,” which was distributed to the members of -the Company and their guests at their last Livery Dinner, by the late -Master, Mr. J. T. Edmonds. - -Though records relating to Craft Gilds in the eleventh, twelfth and -thirteenth centuries are very meagre and difficult to discover, the “Old -Book of the Worshipful Company of Horners” has proved extremely useful -in helping to build up a consecutive history of this extremely early -Gild. It demonstrates the fact that at least as early as the fourteenth -century, both Horners and Bottlemakers were taking their full share of -civic and commercial life. - -[Sidenote: The Gild in Saxon days.] - -Probably, during the Saxon period, the workers in horn, in common with -other craftsmen, were enrolled amongst the members of the Frith Gild and -not differentiated until the Anglo-Norman period. It might even be -admitted that the Horners’ Gild was a subdivision of one of the many -“Gilds Merchant” so prominent as mercantile forces in the eleventh and -twelfth centuries; but it is more than probable that before the end of -the eleventh century, so important a trade as that of the Horner would -have begun to assert itself separately and individually, more especially -as there does not seem to have been any larger or more important Gild -under which it could have found shelter. - -[Sidenote: Horn Fair, 1268.] - -[Sidenote: Horners’ Statutes in 1284.] - -We do not know whether the Horners’ Company had any connection with -“Horn Fair,” which took place at Charlton, in Kent, and for which Henry -III granted a Charter in 1268. Of this fair, Philpot, writing in 1639, -tells us it was called Horn Fair because of “the great plenty of all -sorts of winding horns, cups and other vessels of horn there bought and -sold.” We are, however, on sure ground when we point to an interesting -proof of the great antiquity of the Horners’ Company, which comes to us -from the official letter books of the City of London. In Letter Book A, -fol. 40, 12th Edward I (September 8th, 1284), we find that the ancient -Gilds are drawing up Rules for revision by the authorities, an event -which, no doubt, took place every few years in early times. The entry -includes the following:—“The same day the said John (Pesemers) received -the Statutes of the Horners for correction.” - -[Sidenote: Notable Horners in 1303.] - -In 1303 (31st of Edward I), an incident took place which illustrates at -once the prominence of Horners at the time and the variety of persons -who were members of the Gild. The Royal Treasury at Westminster had been -robbed. Richard of Pudlicote and William du Palais were accused. During -the Inquisition held by the Bishop of London it transpired that amongst -the friends of this Richard were several persons, notably one “Jacobus -le Horner et Boten^r manens apud Kandelwickestrate,” whose character is -described thus:—“It is unknown whether they were aware of the felony—tñ -male credunt de eis” (_i.e._, they have a bad name). As a set-off, -however, against this undesirable person, it is recorded that two other -Horners, viz., Rogerus le Cornur and Stephanus le Cornur succeeded in -arresting Robert le Convers, another actor in the drama. - -[Sidenote: Notable Horners in 13th and 14th centuries.] - -Throughout the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries there is frequent -mention made of Horners, many of whom seem to have been persons of great -importance. In 1284 we have recorded the name of Thomas att or de -Corner, and in 1285 Clement le Cornur. In 1295, of William le Horner, -and others are mentioned in the years 1226, 1320, 1342, 1346, 1352 as -doing some official act. This frequent mention of Horners to be found in -early records does not apply to London only, but to other places. For -instance, Peter le Horner, resident at the Heywarde, Cambridge, is -mentioned as paying taxes in that town in 1314-1315. - -[Sidenote: 15th century.] - -In 1441 (20th of Henry VI), we are told that “at the instance of -‘Sympkin horner of London,’ together with two others, the King directed -letters to the Mayor and Bayliffs of Hampton Sandwys, asking how -Englishmen repairing to ‘Pruce, Hanze and Danske’ are treated.” - -Well might a learned legal luminary, delivering judgment in 1692, -say:—“A Horner is a particular Trade and a very ancient Company in -London!” - -[Sidenote: Horners take Bottlemakers under their protection.] - -In the year 1362 the Horners were in so flourishing a state that another -Craft Gild, the Bottlemakers, who, as we read in the MS. book just -referred to, dated back, like the Horners, to “time out of mind,” found -it desirable to place themselves under the protection of the Horners’ -Company, and, for a period of 115 years, remained under its protection, -until, in the sixteenth year of Edward IV the two Companies became -amalgamated. The interesting document which authorized the fusion of the -two Companies is to be found in Letter Book L, fol. cxvi, of the City of -London. It prays that the Company of “Bottell Makers,” which had been -for some time intimately associated with the Horners, be united with it -and become one and the same Company, and “that from hensfurth the saide -persones of both the said Crafts may be as bretheren and accupie and -Joyne together as well in all things to be borne and doone within the -said Cettie. As in observing,” etc. - -The petition to the Mayor and Aldermen was granted, and from that day -forward the three bottles as well as three horns have emblazoned the -arms of the Horners’ Company. - -[Sidenote: Important Record.] - -In the very ancient and interesting book belonging to the Horners’ -Company there are two early entries relating to the period during which -the two Companies were legally separated though in a certain close -relation to each other. The entries, which are identical, are as -follows:—“The bottellmakers have continued in the Company of the Horners -a hundred fourscore nine yeres and nine monthes, wrytten the last daie -of November Anno Dni One Thousand five hundred fiftie and seaven.” - -[Sidenote: Horners, the 26th City Gild in 1376.] - -Following upon this remarkable evidence of official recognition as a -Craft Gild, carrying with it all the legal privileges which were later -conferred by recorded Charters, we find as early as 1376 an entry of the -fact that the Horners’ Gild was recognized as the twenty-sixth out of -forty-eight “mysteries of the City of London,” and successively sent two -of its members to the Court of Common Council, not only to represent the -members of the Gild in the election of a Mayor and other officers of the -City, but also to form a representative body to withstand all -encroachments on their liberties and those of the City generally, which -the claims and pretensions of Edward III seemed to threaten. - -[Sidenote: Petition to regularize Proceedings granted 1391.] - -This event preceded a time of great commercial activity, when many -political circumstances compelled the City Craft Gilds to legalize -themselves by obtaining from the Civic authorities (now so considerably -strengthened by the success of the resistance offered to Edward III), a -recognition of the practices which for a very lengthy period they had -made use of, in the conduct of their affairs. - -[Sidenote: Gild Officials and their importance.] - -Such an application took place in 1391, during the reign of Richard II, -on the part of the Horners’ Company. The petition was mainly concerned -with the recognition of their right to elect two Wardens to preside over -the Horners in accordance with the ancient practice common amongst other -Gilds. At this time it would appear that there were no Masters elected, -but that the position of Master of a Gild was filled either by the -Alderman of the Ward or some other influential and important person, -called the “Guardian,” who represented the interests of the Craft on the -Council of the Mayor and Aldermen. - -According to Madox, in his “Firma Burgi,” it would appear that a still -earlier form was to elect an Alderman and two Masters for each Gild. -This will readily account for the fact that some aldermanries were -territorial, as in the case of the Knighten Gild, whose ruler was -Alderman of the Portsoken Ward, others were connected with Gilds apart -from locality, and possibly some were ecclesiastical or even commercial. -A quaint illustration of this practice is found in the Confirmation of a -Norwich Fraternity by Henry V. The members are authorized to elect an -Alderman and two Masters, who, when the name of Gild was changed to that -of Craft Mystery, became respectively the Guardian or Alderman and -Wardens of the Mystery. - -The privilege of electing Wardens was always in the forefront of every -grant, since it was of great importance to the Crafts to have this right -at a time when constant efforts were made to put in representatives and -nominees of the monarch, in order to bring the Crafts, and, through -them, the City of London, into subjection. - -[Sidenote: William Karlile and Richard Baroun.] - -It is highly probable that in 1391 the deputation from the Horners’ Gild -on presenting its petition was introduced by one Richard Baroun, Horner, -of London, Alderman of Aldgate, and Master of the Gild in 1391. He was -not only the Guardianus or Master of the Gild, but a person of great -importance during the reign of Richard II, being Horner to the King. His -predecessor in the office of Alderman, it is interesting to note, was -one William Karlile, Master of the Bottlemakers’ Gild. This fact will -help to explain the close relations existing between the two Crafts. - -[Sidenote: Confiscation of Charters and their return in 1397.] - -In a newly discovered MS. of great interest which is being edited by E. -H. Dring, Esq., there appears the following passage, A.D. 1397 (? -1398):—“And thanne after the presentacion of the said supplication (from -the Citizens of London to the King) ther were made mony blank charteres -and all the men of every crafte of the said Cite as well as all manne -servaunts and maisters were charged to come to the Guylde halle to sette -her seales to the said blank charteres.” It must, have been from this -MS. that Stow gathered much of his information, and this passage was -copied by Fabian in 1516, Grafton in 1659, and Hollingshead in 1577. - -Richard II, furious with the citizens of London for assisting the Duke -of Arundel, had taken the opportunity of a brawl in the City, to -humiliate the citizens. He confiscated their charters and laid the City -under a fine of £1,000,000. This was late in 1397, and the following -Spring (which until March 25th was A.D. 1397, and after that date A.D. -1398, whence possibly the confusion in dates) the City, which, as we -have seen, would be the Common Council, more especially as the King had -imprisoned the Mayor and put in a “Custos” to govern, bought back the -King’s favour, and, consequently, their own charters, by the most -expensive procession and gifts. All the brethren of each Gild, in return -for this forgiveness, had to put their seals to these blank charters, -which were an acknowledgment of the King’s power and their willingness -to do and pay what was left in blank in that charter, so that the King -could insert what he chose in the blank spaces, or, as Grafton puts it, -“by which he might, when he would, undo any of his subjects.” - -Amongst the Companies called upon to do this was certainly the Horners, -who would not have been foolish enough to seal the “charters” had they -not needed the support of the City in the maintaining their own -prescriptive rights based on Royal grants. The term sealing is quite a -natural one, inasmuch as no charters were signed until Tudor times. - -[Sidenote: Renewed activity.] - -Doubtless the troubles of the period and the expenses to which the -fraternity had been put, caused the Gild to value its rights and to -claim further recognition, even to the extent of promoting a special Act -of Parliament. They did not seek to obtain a charter, be it noted, which -rarely meant any advantage to the unfortunate persons who were -practically compelled to accept such charters, but, on the contrary, in -most cases proved to be an invasion by the Crown of former prescriptive -privileges. - -The Horners were successful in obtaining a special Act of Parliament in -the year 1465. The Act is worth quoting as showing to what importance -the Horners’ Company must have risen by that date. - - - IV EDWARD IV, C. 8. - -[Sidenote: The Horners’ Act.] - -“Our soveraigne lord the Kyng perceyving by grevous complaint made in -this Parliamente, by men of occupation of horners beynge enfraunchysed -in the Cytie of London, howe that the people of straunge landes hath -come into this lande, and into dyvers partyes thereof, and hath boughte -by the handes of theyr hostes and guydes, the great and chiefe stuffe of -Englyshe hornes unwrought, of tanners & bochers, & cary the same over -the sea, and there employ the same in dyvers workes, to the great damage -of this land and to the finall preiudice of a great numbre of men beinge -of the same occupacion: hath by the advice and assent of the sayd -Lordes, & at the request of the sayd commons, and by the auctority -aforesayd, ordeined established & enacted, that from the feast of -Easter, which shall bee in the yere of our Lord God M.CCCCLXV, no maner -straunger nor alien by himselfe or by any other, shal buy any Englysh -hornes unwrought of any Tanners, bochers, or any other persons Gathered -or growing within the sayd city and, xxiii myles on every syde of the -sayd city next adioyning. And that no Englishman nor other personne sell -anye Englyshe hornes unwrought to any straunger or cause them to be -sente over the sea, so that the sayd horners will buy the sayd hornes at -lyke pryc as they be at the tyme of the making of this acte, uppon payne -of forfayture of all suche hornes so bought, sold, or sent. And that the -Wardeins of the sayd mistery for the tyme beyng by the sayd authority -shall have full power to serch all manner ware perteyning to their -mistery wrought or to be wrought in all places within the sayd citye of -London, and xxiii miles on every syde next adioyning to the same citye, -and within the Feyres of Sturbrydge and Ely in whose handes they may be -founde, and if they by theyr serch fynd any suche ware or stuffe in any -place within the sayd citye of London and xxiii miles next adioyning to -the same citye or within the Feyres of Sturbrydge and Elye, in whose -handes soever they be to sell, that is defective & insuffycient. It -shall be lawful to them to take the same ware and stuffe, and bring it -before the Mayre of the same citye of London, the mayre & bayliffes of -the foresayd Feyres for the tyme beynge, and the same there beyng proved -defective to be forfayt: the one halfe thereof to oure Soveraigne lord -the king, and the other halfe to the sayd wardens, to be ordred at their -pleasure. Provyded alwayes that after that me of the sayd occupacion -within this land have taken out & chosen such as many hornes as shal bee -nedefull to theyr occupacions: that then it shal be lawfull to them all -and every of them and other persons of this realme of Englande, to sel -and deliver al the hornes refused, which be not able to be occupyed in -theyr mistery to any straunger or other persons to send or cary beyond -the sea or elles where, as shal please them.” - -[Sidenote: Bottlemakers absorbed by Horners in 1477.] - -This Act of Parliament must have proved of great benefit to the Horners; -but with it came greater demands from the Company on the part of the -King and the City. The frugal minds of the Craft rulers at once saw the -advantage of paying one set of assessments instead of two, and asked -that in future the Horners and Bottlemakers might be treated as one -Company, and not be called upon to pay the shares of two separate -Companies. Thus the prosperity of the Horners, coupled with the -increasing demands for money made on the City Gilds, led to the union of -the Horners and Bottlemakers just twelve years after the passing of the -Horners’ Act, _i.e._, in 1477 (sixteenth year of Edward IV), facts -indicating in no uncertain way that the Horners must have been very -firmly established and legally constituted at the time, both in order to -make the assessments possible as well as to give them the right to -absorb the Bottlemakers. - -[Sidenote: Deeds of Agreement.] - -[Sidenote: Deed of 1590.] - -[Sidenote: Deed of 1599.] - -In the reign of Elizabeth we find the Horners’ Company carrying on its -work as a Joint Stock Company. The stock being held in shares or -half-shares, it therefore became necessary to place the Wardens, who -alone had under the Act just mentioned, power to purchase horns, under -some agreement to do so only for and on behalf of the members of the -Gild. No doubt many such deeds were executed, but amongst the archives -of the Company there are still two extant, the one dated 1590 and the -other 1599. The parties to the deed are the Wardens and the rest of the -members. The Wardens therein bind themselves to buy, and the other -members not to buy, horns in London or twenty-four miles round. The -horns bought by the Wardens are to be purchased for the use of the whole -Company and to be divided equally between them by the Wardens. In the -deed of 1599 the limit within which the purchase and sale of horns was -prohibited was altered from twenty-four to one hundred miles “next in -and about the City of London.” - -[Sidenote: Horn industry an English secret.] - -From a document in the possession of the Company it would appear that -the horn industry was, during the fifteenth century at least, an English -monopoly, and from the official documents of Germany, Holland and France -the writer has been unable to discover a single record of such an -industry existing before 1600. The following interesting sentence from a -document which is dated 1455 (thirty-third year of Henry VI), -illustrates the contention:— - -“Inasmuch as the making of Hornes and other workes perteyning unto the -said mystery be not perfectly had nor knowne in any region or place of -the world, except in this land only: which causeth the people of other -lands & places to resort & repaire unto this Citie for Hornes yeerly, -unto the great proffitt & worship of the same Citie, whereas if such -people of strange lands might cleerly & perfectly understand the cunning -& feat of making of such English Hornes, would not heder repaire yeerly -to buy such English chaffer,” etc. - -Consequently, the Wardens were expressly authorized the same year by the -Mayor and Aldermen to punish any who should reveal the secret of the -Craft to any stranger. - -[Sidenote: Exportation of Horns.] - -So valuable a trade, however, could not remain long unknown to the -Continental nations, who were, in other respects, far in advance of -England, and consequently the demand for English horns on the Continent -became so great that, in spite of the Act forbidding the export of -horns, the members of the Gild seem to have done a considerable trade in -exporting horns, on the excuse that they were refuse horns. Indeed, so -profitable did they find this traffic that, about 1590, two City men, -the one a merchant and the other a scrivenour, entered into competition -with them and managed to secure from Queen Elizabeth,—no doubt for a -substantial payment,—permission to export horns to the Continent, though -not themselves members of the Horners’ Company. - -[Sidenote: Competition by Furner and Crayford.] - -The controversy which this occasioned between the Horners and their -opponents, Symon Furner and John Crayford, is to be found amongst the -records in the Manuscript Department of the British Museum. - -Lord Burleigh attempted to bring about a compromise, and instructed a -Mr. Carmarthen to endeavour to arrive at some arrangement between the -contending parties, but in vain. The issue at stake was a vital one. The -Horners claimed exclusive privileges under some Charter which they were -evidently able to produce, accorded them by one of the Kings of England, -whilst Messrs. Furner and Crayford argued their privileges under the -“letters patent” granted by the Queen. - -It would seem that the wealth and influences behind the private -adventurers were stronger than those of the Company, which was already -beginning to feel the pressure of competition from the Pouchmakers and -Leathersellers, who dealt in the same kinds of wares, as well as from -the introduction of glass vessels, etc., which took place in the -sixteenth century. - -[Sidenote: Withdrawal from public life.] - -From the year 1455 onwards, the Horners seem to have fallen into the -background and to have disappeared from the arena of public life. This -is not altogether to be wondered at, for, towards the end of the -fifteenth century, and for nearly 200 years after, City Crafts or -Mysteries were the object of predatory attacks of so deadly a character, -that though in 1455 we find forty-eight Crafts openly representing the -City, in 1575 only twenty-eight Companies were to be found on whom the -assessment for wheat could be placed. What the remaining Mysteries did -is difficult to say, but no doubt they attempted to carry on their work -unnoticed, either urging prescriptive rights, or claiming none, in order -to avoid spoliation. - -[Sidenote: Horners forced to re-appear.] - -The once important trade, but now the “little craft of Horners” was -evidently in this category, and had it not been for the necessity of -fighting for very existence, when the export of horns was making their -trade impossible by the increase in price of the raw material, they -doubtless would have preferred to keep in the background, even at the -end of Queen Elizabeth’s reign. This contention would seem the more -reasonable from the fact that had not the previous Charters or Royal -grants to the Horners’ Company been of very ancient date, and, -consequently, almost forgotten, and had that Craft not been, as it were, -keeping from the glare of public observation in order to avoid the cost -of “Inspeximus’s,” it is unlikely that the advisers of Queen Elizabeth -would have laid her open to the controversy which the grant of letters -patent to Furner and Crayford was bound to produce. - -[Sidenote: 1604. Repeal of Horners’ Act.] - -[Sidenote: Petition to Parliament, 1610, and revival of Horners’ Act.] - -It must have been a great blow to the Company when, in the first year of -the reign of James I, an Act (c. 25) was passed which repealed the -Statute of 4 Edward IV; but in the seventh year of that King’s reign the -Horners presented their petition to Parliament, stating, “that by reason -of the repeal of the prohibition, the Company had grown so poor and -decayed, as in a short time, if remedy be not provided, they and theirs -shall be utterly undone;” and the Act is thereby revived except as to -the powers of search in Stourbridge and Ely fairs, and a limitation of -the price of horns thereby secured. A penalty was imposed of double the -value of English horns sold unwrought to any stranger or sent over the -sea; one moiety of the penalty to go to the informer and one moiety to -the King. - -[Sidenote: 1627. Letters patent from the King.] - -Notwithstanding this Statute, the exportation of horns still continued, -and Letters Patent were granted by King Charles I, in the third year of -his reign, 1627, again prohibiting the exportation of horns until the -Company should first have made choice of the best and most convenient -number of the horns to supply the necessary occasions of the realm. - -In spite of the protection afforded by these Acts and Letters Patent, -the exportation of horns continued. - -[Sidenote: Evil days.] - -[Sidenote: 1635. New Orders allowed.] - -These were evil days for the Horners’ Craft, and it would appear that -the Horners themselves were not entirely guiltless in the matter. -Consequently, in 1635, to stem the tide of ill-fortune which seemed to -have set in, the Company approached the Mayor and Aldermen to give them -fresh rules “for the reformation of the Crafte.” The following rules -were allowed and confirmed by the then Lord Mayor, Christopher -Clitherow:— - - 1. Horns to be bought for the General good. - - 2. None to buy Horns within 20 miles of London. - - 3. Everyone to pay for his share as the Wardens shall think fit. - - 4. None to keep above one apprentice, except he hath been a partner - or sharer with the said Company seven years at least, in which - case he may keep two apprentices. - - 5. Apprentices shall be bound. - - 6. No one to be set to work at the trade unless he have served - seven years. - - 7. Every journeyman to serve two years after having been made “free - of the Company.” - - 8. None to enter for their shares until called by the Wardens. - - 9. Anyone elected a Warden must serve the office or pay a fine - of 20 shillings. - - 10. None shall sue or arrest another without permission from the - Wardens. - - 11. The Wardens may commit offenders to prison with the consent of - the Mayor. - -For two years the Company exercised their powers under these new rules, -but still harder times were in store for the Company. - -[Sidenote: Further troubles.] - -Whether as the result of an information laid by some member who was -suffering under these stringent regulations, or, as would appear most -probable, the King’s growing need of money to carry on the coming -political struggle between himself and his people, the Horners were -suddenly discovered to be acting illegally. Under the powers conferred -by the Act of 19 Henry VII, which was no doubt revived for the purpose, -no Master, Wardens, or Companies could make any acts or ordinances -except such as should be approved by the Chancellor and Treasurer of -England or Chief Justice of either Bench, or three of them. - -[Sidenote: The Legal Plight of the Company.] - -Though doubtless this Act was never intended to apply to alterations or -additions to regulations already in force, but rather to the -establishment of new Companies, it became necessary for the Horners to -comply with the regulations, and though it does not transpire whether -they were compelled to pay any fines or not, they finally obtained -confirmation of their new rules under the hands of Thomas Coventrie, -Lord Chancellor, and Chief Justices John Branston and John Finch, but -not until after they applied for and obtained a Royal Charter, and as -Charles I, in order to assert Sovereign rights, was unwilling to admit -ancient prescriptive claims, care was taken to justify this subversion -of the ancient rights of the Gild, by stating in the Charter that the -Horners had never been “incorporated.” - -[Sidenote: Grave peril.] - -[Sidenote: Difficulty evaded by purchase of new Charter.] - -The examination of the New Rules by the Judges just mentioned, had -revealed the fact that the Horners were a Joint Stock Company holding -property in perpetuity in opposition to the Statute of Mortmain. Here -was a splendid opportunity for the King to reap a harvest, and nothing -remained for the authorities of the Company but to obtain a Charter as -soon as possible and to avoid the heavy penalties to which they would -otherwise be subjected by assenting to the legal fiction that they had -not acted as a corporation, and never had been one, but merely an -association in existence from year to year, acting under ancient and -well-recognized privileges. Whether this claim was technically correct -or not, the antiquity of the Company was so great and the process of -proving any breach so lengthy and difficult that no doubt Charles I -thought it best to take the cash payment which always accompanied grants -and so close the matter. Thus the Charter of 1638, which is the only one -now extant, was obtained, and the proceedings of the Company as a joint -stock concern holding property in perpetuity were again legalized, -though doubtless long before that time the right to hold property and to -do all that was required of them as a Craft Gild had been regularly -accorded to the members in the persons of their several “Guardians.” - -[Sidenote: Charters of little value in determining dates of origin.] - -Like many other City Companies, the Horners have been accustomed to -believe that this Charter, which in its preamble for obvious reasons -takes for granted no previous Charter, was the first and only legal -instrument authorizing them to carry on their work as a Gild. Very -little reliance, however, is to be placed on the statements of the -Charters of this period, which were often little more than a temporary -instrument of protection against further encroachments on their -resources and powers by the ruling monarch. For this very uncertain -privilege large sums had to be paid, sums wrung again and again from the -unfortunate City Gilds by threats of suppression. - -It is mere than probable that at all times Charters were freely -purchasable by those who could afford to pay for them, and, having -served their particular purpose, were as easily lost or mislaid. For all -practical purposes, however, until the sixteenth century at least, they -offer no indication whatever of the antiquity of any Company, even where -they seem to state in the preamble that there has been no previous -Charter, a statement which should be taken only to indicate that the -Sovereign granting the Charter wishes it to be supposed that he, and he -alone, is the person to whom the Company is indebted for its privileges, -privileges which often existed only in name. In many cases the Charters -were really encroachments by the State on the ancient privileges which -had been inherited from the earliest times, and which were supported by -Municipal law, against which State law waged continuous warfare. - -[Sidenote: Previous Incorporations.] - -It is widely held by students who are not satisfied to be merely -superficial that in very early days aggregate bodies were deemed to have -perpetual succession without being “incorporated.” When the King granted -to a set of men to be a mercantile community, assembly, or meeting, this -was considered sufficient to incorporate them. As illustrating this -virtual “incorporation” we may note the words of the eminent jurist, Dr. -Williams, in his “Law of the Universities,” published only last year. He -says:—“A corporation, the creature of the Crown, may exist by Charter or -‘prescription,’ which presumes a Charter, even in cases where historical -evidence makes it morally certain that no Charters ever existed.” -Consequently, in the Charters of Edward III (which meant little and were -but a receipt for moneys loaned or given), there is no provision for a -common seal, liberty to accept or buy land, or to sue and be sued, etc., -all these being naturally taken for granted in the case of Gilds or -similar organizations then existing. It is no doubt true that in the -reign of Edward III Craft Gilds were generally chartered, _i.e._, had -their privileges _confirmed_ by Letters Patent; yet, in still earlier -days, as well as after the death of Edward III, it would seem that these -bodies exercised their functions under special protection or on -suffrance, probably always in return for their “fermes” or annual -payment to the King. - -[Sidenote: Horners never an adulterine Gild.] - -If further illustration were required, to demonstrate how great is the -right of the Horners’ Company to rank amongst the earliest of the -acknowledged Trade Gilds, that proof is to be found in the study of what -are known as “Adulterine” Gilds. These were unwarranted or unlicensed -Gilds, and from time to time were heavily fined. There is no mention, -however, of the Horners having been among such Gilds thus swooped down -upon by the King, though lists are given of those who were mulcted from -the twelfth century. The Horners could not have escaped had they been -unwarranted at the time, and must, therefore, have possessed -indisputable rights. - -Reference has been made to Richard Baroun and William Karlile. - -[Sidenote: Royal Grants must have existed.] - -Richard Baroun, we read, was one “whom the King retained to serve him -with Horns & other things pertaining to his Mistery, & to whom was -granted the King’s livery of clothing every year, in the great wardrobe, -as other Horners of his condition had been wont to receive.” Thus -William Karlile was a man of considerable importance in his own time, -and a man of great wealth. To suppose that so important a Craft Gild, -under the patronage of such influential persons, would neglect to arm -itself with every possible weapon of defence, such as Grants and -Charters, is to suppose the impossible, and, indeed, in the year 1455, -towards the end of the reign of Henry VI, on petitioning to have further -powers of administration conferred upon it, this Gild is expressly -mentioned as having been already “enfranchised in the City of London,” a -proceeding which could not possibly have been accomplished without -something in the nature of a Royal grant. It would seem that owing to -the very great antiquity of the Horners’ Company it held certain -prescriptive privileges originally obtained by it or its “Guardianus” in -exchange for certain goods from time to time supplied to the Royal -household, and on this point further light may still be thrown. One such -instance has come to light. Either the Company or the Guardianus in his -official capacity as Horner to the King, would provide the Horn Comb -used at the Coronation of every Sovereign until the time of Charles II. -We have evidence that amongst the Coronation relics connected with -Charles I which were sold, was a “Horn Comb.” This, in accordance with -the practice even now in vogue at the Consecration of Roman Catholic -Bishops, was used ceremonially after anointing the King’s head with oil. - -[Sidenote: Proof of earlier Charter.] - -As a culminating proof that the Caroline Charter was not the first and -only Royal grant held by the Horners’ Company, we have but to turn to -the Correspondence recently found in the British Museum, and it will at -once become evident that the Horners were possessed of a Charter long -before 1638. Mr. Carmarthen, writing to Lord Burghley in 1597, says: - -“The question resteth upon one word cheefly in thyr Charter,” etc., or, -again, “By the king’s grant in theyre Charter,” etc. This may allude to -a Charter granted by Edward IV, or, as seems probable, that in reality -the “Cornuarii” were well established as a legalized Gild certainly not -later than Richard II, and, in all probability, owned Charters of a much -earlier date, which would be in the nature of special grants to the -Guardian of the Gild, held by him, and would therefore at a later period -not necessarily be in the possession of the Company. Moreover, on 30th -of March, 1815, the Clerk of the Company stated, as appears by an entry -in the Minute Book, that he had opened and examined the chest containing -the documents relating to the Company, and he found that it contained -... “also the original Charters granted for establishing the Company,” -etc. Had there been but one, it is improbable that the word would have -been used in the plural. - -Thus it will be seen that the Charter of 1638 is but an instrument -reiterating and once more legalizing the acts which had been in vogue -amongst the Horners for a very considerable time. - -[Sidenote: 1638. Charter of Charles I.] - -The Charter of Charles I provides that the Horners, Freemen of the City -of London and Westminster and liberties and suburbs of the same, are -incorporated by the name of “Master, Wardens, Assistants, and Fellowship -of the Mistery of Horners of the City of London,” with power to purchase -and hold freehold and leasehold estates of every kind and all manner of -goods and chattels, and to grant, alien and dispose of the same, and by -the same name to plead and be impleaded, and to have a Common Seal. - -One of the said Fellowship is to be chosen the Master, two to be chosen -Wardens, and ten or more of the Fellowship, Assistants. The Master, -Wardens and Assistants, or the greater part of them, whereof the Master -and one of the Wardens are always to be two, have power to make and -alter, amend or make new, “reasonable laws and constitutions touching -the Trade, Art, or Mistery, and for punishment and reformation of -abuses, wrongful practices and misdemeaners, and for defraying the -charges of maintaining and continuing the Corporation, and after what -order they shall demean themselves in their office mistery and work.” -And to impose such fines, amerciaments, or other lawful punishments upon -all offenders as shall seem necessary; such fines, etc., to be raised -for their own uses. - -Robert Baker was appointed the first Master to continue in office until -the 2nd February, 1638, and until another person was elected in his -place. Christopher Peele and Thomas White were appointed first Wardens -under the new rules and Charter. Ten brethren were appointed the first -Assistants during their lives or good behaviour, and the Master and -Wardens were upon retirement from their offices, to be assistants in the -same manner. The Master and Wardens were to take oaths before the Master -in Chancery to “well and truly execute their offices” before entering -upon the same. - -Power is given to the Master, Wardens, Assistants, and Fellowship to -meet in their Common Hall or other convenient place upon the 2nd of -February, if it be not Sunday, and if it be Sunday, then upon the next -day after, to elect a Master and Two Wardens for the ensuing year; and -they are to take their oaths of office before the late Master and -Wardens, or two of them; and like power of election is given until the -next 2nd of February in case of the death or removal for misbehaviour of -any Master or Warden during his term of office, and also in like manner -to elect an Assistant on the death or removal of any of the Assistants -appointed by the Charter. - -Power is given of oversight, rule and search of all persons occupying, -importing, exporting, or using the art or mistery of Horners within the -cities of London and Westminster, and the liberties and precincts -thereof, and of all manner of wares thereunto appertaining, to the -intent that all delinquents may be discovered and punished. They may -purchase for ever one house for a Hall not exceeding the yearly value of -£40. - -They are to elect one honest and discreet person as Clerk, and also -appoint a Beadle. - -[Sidenote: Exercise of Rights, 1689.] - -[Sidenote: Buying Horns, 1739.] - -The control continuously exercised by the Company over the trade, and -finally secured to them in the Charter just mentioned, has never been -abandoned, though at any rate for the present it is not exercised. In -the first year of William III (1689) the Horners’ Company successfully -prosecuted a Comb maker for pressing horns, he not being a “Horner.” -Maitland, who published his work in 1739, tells us that the Company “had -of late appointed diverse of their members to attend the market of -Leadenhall & those of the neighbouring counties for the buying of horns” -to be sent to their common warehouse in Wentworth Street, Spitalfields, -where they were made up into lots and divided amongst the several -members, not omitting the widows and orphans, who also received their -several shares. - -[Sidenote: Last legal claim, 1745.] - -[Sidenote: Ceases as a trading body.] - -The last occasion on which the Court exercised its rights against -persons infringing its monopoly was in the year 1745. Having ascertained -that certain persons not free of the Company had bought rough horns and -pressed them into lantern leaves, and were disposing of them within the -City of London and twenty-four miles distant, proceedings were ordered -to be taken against them, and, as a result, the Company successfully -established its right to the monopoly in the manufacture of horn work in -the City of London and twenty-four miles round. From that time forward -the trade in horn declined, and during the second half of the eighteenth -century, the Company finally ceased to be a trading community. Thus -ended the operative existence of a Craft Gild which from “time out of -mind” until the present moment has had a useful and honourable career. -The Horners’ Company has been practically contemporaneous with the -history of England, and is, it may be believed, still destined to serve -many a useful purpose. - -[Sidenote: Property.] - -In spite of legal incorporation the property of the Company has, from -time to time, been vested in certain trustees, the last trust deed being -dated 1756. - -[Sidenote: Minutes.] - -[Sidenote: Annual Dinner.] - -The earliest Minute Book in the possession of the Company covers the -period 1731 to 1796, and is extremely interesting as showing the care -taken in the apprenticing of novices to the trade, in the appointment of -its officers, and, perhaps most of all, in the unbroken continuity of -the annual dinner held generally at some place outside the City, which -though, at the time, partaken of only by the members of the Court, -represented the annual feast of the mediæval Gilds, and finds its -successor to-day in the Livery Dinner, which has become almost a matter -of civic importance. - -This ancient practice has long been associated with Trade Gilds, -certainly as far back as 700 B.C. We may believe that the _deipnon_ or -feast of the _hetairoi_, or Greek Trade Gilds, must have had a long -history before the time when such distinguished members as Lysymachus, -son of Milesias, and the son of Thucydides, joined in them. - -[Sidenote: Favourite Inns.] - -During the eighteenth and first part of the nineteenth century the -favourite inns selected for the annual dinner seem to have been the -“Crown and Sceptre” at Greenwich, the “Plough,” or “Folly House,” -Blackwall, the “Star and Garter,” Richmond, and, in much later days, the -“North and South American Coffee House,” which latter, however, was -probably used more for the ordinary meetings of the Company than for the -annual dinner. - -[Sidenote: Aldgate the Horners’ Home.] - -It is a little difficult to define the area in which the Horners of -London were originally located, but it may be somewhat vaguely described -as the district of Aldgate. Many were the streets and alleys to which -Horners have given a name, and one well-known Horn Alley was, until a -comparatively late date, to be found on the East side of Bishopsgate -Street, and in Korneman’s book on “Old Street Signs and Tablets” is an -allusion to one with the following inscription:—“This is Horn Alley, -1670.” In Stow’s “Survey of London,” 1633, the following passage -occurs:—“I read in the 26th of Henry VI (1447), that in the parish of -St. Dunstan’s in the East a tenement called Horners Key was granted to -William Harrington, Esq.” Doubtless this alludes to a building used by -the Horners for the purposes of their trade, at a time when all was -_couleur de rose_ with them, and it is extremely likely that upon -further investigation this William Harrington will be found to be the -Guardianus or Alderman of the Gild. - -[Sidenote: The warehouses of the Gild.] - -Time, however, brought its changes, and when, in 1603-4, the Horners’ -Act was repealed, it would seem likely that they found it either -impossible to continue to pay the rent, or, realising that disaster -awaited them, may have sold the property, if it were theirs to sell. It -is, however, certain that in 1604 the Company leased a house with -storehouses and sheds in Wentworth Street, Whitechapel, for the term of -1,000 years at a ground rent of £4. When, in 1789, these premises were -no longer required for the use of the trade, which had declined, they -were let for £30 a year, and in 1879 were sold to the Metropolitan Board -of Works and the money invested on behalf of the Horners’ Company. - -[Sidenote: Was there a Horners’ Hall?] - -It has been stated that the Horners’ Company never had a Hall. It is -difficult to see quite why this statement has been made, for there is -much to make the student of Gild lore think otherwise. The Charter of -1638 expressly provides for one, and, as in every other respect, it -simply imposes the absolute conditions then existing, there would seem -no reason to doubt that the sum of £40 per annum therein mentioned was -the exact value of the property then held. The Bottlemakers would not -have joined the Horners had the latter Company not had a hall or meeting -place. - -As with other Craft Gilds, the Fire of London probably proved very -disastrous to the Company, and, no doubt, very little was saved. - -The fact that there are hardly any deeds of importance anterior to 1666, -that the Old Book of the Company, which has recently been recovered, -after wandering so long, ceases to have an entry after 1636, together -with the fact that the two or three early deeds which ante-date the Fire -of London are in a deplorable condition, as well as the fact that the -Company owned a considerable amount of silver plate, which was sold in -1789, makes it not improbable that the Horners, like every other City -Gild, had its regular Hall or meeting place. - -[Sidenote: Arms.] - -The coat of arms of the Company is Ar. on a Chevron sa., three bugles of -the first between three leather bottles of the second. - -[Sidenote: Destruction of Gild monopolies.] - -In 1835 the Municipal Corporations Act gave the _coup de grâce_ to any -remnants of monopoly exercised by the extant City Gilds. That Act gave -liberty to all either to buy or sell, and, by so doing, compelled most -of the City Companies, _nolens volens_, to seek for a sphere of -usefulness in other directions. - -[Sidenote: 1837. Revived importance.] - -Though, as a trading Gild, the Horners’ Company declined, it has -steadily risen in reputation as one of the ancient mysteries of the City -of London, and, in 1837, the Commissioners on Municipal Corporations -classed it as fifty-fourth out of eighty-nine Companies there -enumerated. In 1846 the Company petitioned the Court of Aldermen for a -livery which was granted them, the number of liverymen being limited to -sixty. - -[Sidenote: 1882. Exhibition of Horn work.] - -In 1882 the Court of the Horners’ Company organized an exhibition of -Hornwork, both ancient and modern, which was held by the kindness of the -then Lord Mayor, Sir Henry Knight, at the Mansion House. By a strange -coincidence, and without any premeditation on the part either of the -Lord Mayor or the Company, it was held on October the 18th, St. Luke’s -Day, which was the day on which the annual Horn Fair at Charlton took -place. The exhibition of Horns and Hornwork far exceeded, both as -regards quantity and quality, the most sanguine expectations of the -promoters. So great was the interest shown by the public that it became -necessary to keep it open for an extra day, and, during the four days of -the exhibition, it was visited by no fewer than 7,000 persons. Amongst -the exhibitors was Her Most Gracious Majesty the late Queen Victoria, -who sent some interesting specimens from her treasures at Windsor -Castle. In acknowledgment, of Her Majesty’s kind consideration, and by -her gracious permission, the Company presented to Her Majesty a print of -the descriptive catalogue and the account of the Company mentioned in -the preface, bound in horn leaves, ornamented with a beautiful design -from the South Kensington School of Art, selected after competition by -the scholars. It is now in the King’s private suite of rooms at Windsor -Castle. - -[Sidenote: 1900. Royal Casket.] - -In the course of the year 1900, at the instance of Mr. A. W. Timbrell, -C.C., it was decided to present Queen Victoria with a horn casket in -order to fittingly commemorate the new century. On being approached upon -the subject, Her Majesty graciously accepted the offer. Before, however, -the presentation could be made, her lamented death occurred. It was then -decided to present the casket to King Edward, and on March 28th, 1901, -the late King’s Secretary wrote to the Clerk of the Company expressing -His Majesty’s pleasure in accepting the proposed gift. - -The casket was made of selected specimens of the finest British bullock -horn, mounted with massive silver and gilt straps, and ornaments of the -Early English style of chasing. It is supported upon four pierced feet, -the whole resting upon an ebony plinth, upon which is a silver plate -bearing the names of the Master, the Wardens, and the Clerk. The whole -enclosed in a handsome morocco case, forms one of the finest specimens -of the Horner’s art. Sir Francis Knollys, in acknowledging the -presentation, stated that he was commanded by the King to renew the -expressions of His Majesty’s thanks to the Worshipful Company of Horners -for the casket which they had presented to him, and that His Majesty -admired it greatly and considered that it would form a great addition to -the Horn Room at Osborne. - -[Sidenote: Another Royal Casket.] - -A similar casket, slightly different in design, was presented to His -Majesty King George V on the occasion of his Coronation, and this, like -the one presented to his revered father, has been designed and carried -out by Mr. Deputy Millar Wilkinson, of Cornhill, the present Father of -the Court. - -[Illustration: Casket presented to King George V] - -It was constructed in the form of a cigar box, mounted with finely -worked silver-gilt applied strap work, chased with lions’ heads and -dolphins, chased end handles; on the front is a circular plaque -representing the arms of the Horners’ Company. The casket is surmounted -by a figure of St. George and the Dragon, the whole resting upon an -ebony plinth, upon which is a silver-gilt plate bearing the names of the -Master, the Wardens, and the Clerk. Enclosed in a handsome red morocco -case, it forms a beautiful and unique specimen of the Horners’ art. - -The deputation which made the presentation was headed by the Worshipful -Master, who, in the course of his address to His Majesty, said:— - -“The Horners’ Company, which is one of the most ancient of the City -Guilds, in tendering the casket, desire to assure Your Majesty of their -loyalty to Your Throne and Person, and convey their respectful wishes -for a long and prosperous reign.” - -The King, in receiving the casket, remarked that it was a very beautiful -piece of workmanship, and that he would value it the more inasmuch as it -was presented to him during his Coronation year. - -[Sidenote: Further increase in Livery.] - -In consequence of the continued prosperity of the Horners’ Company, due -to many causes, doubtless, at a time when little life was being evinced, -to the work of Mr. James Curtis, but especially in the present activity -of its esteemed Clerk, Mr. Howard Deighton, it was found necessary in -1905 to apply again to the Court of Aldermen for an increase in the -livery to the number of 100, which was granted subject to the livery -fine being increased to £30. - - _Sic floreant Cornuarii!_ - -[Illustration: colophon] - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE - - -Punctuation has been normalized. Variations in hyphenation have been -retained as they were in the original publication. - -Italicized phrases are presented by surrounding the text with -_underscores_. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Short History of the Worshipful -Company of Horners, by H. G. 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