Masons Of England And Their Works.

two entries , one recording the payment 01 £ 62 Ss . for eight masons working for the fabric for one year ; the other of £ 52 for six masons : these appear to have been for special works at the cost of individuals . In that year M . William Colchester was master mason . It was the general custom of the Chapter to appoint the person who was at the head of the masons

to the office of master mason whenever that office became vacant . The following letter , however , probably of the date 1419 , records a somewhat irregular transaction ; it states— " may your reverence be p leased to know that certain stone-cutters , or masons , being moved by a most wicked spirit of envy , wickedly

conspiring for the death and ultimate destruction of M . William Colchester ( assigned to us and to the fabric of our church , byour most dread lord the king , by his letters patent , for the government of the said fabric , and specially received under the protection of the same ) , treacherously assaulting the said William , did grievously wound him , and did so injure another

person , his assistant , that his life is considered m serious danger . Wherefore we most earnestly entreat that your brotherly reverence , in whom we deservedly repose our entire and singular confidence , would more clearly intimate to our aforesaid lord the king , and to others to whom and when it shall seem expedientthe crime of the aforesaid persons ; and if

, any persons , enemies of the truth of Holy Church , or incorrectly informed , shall presume to show favour to the aforesaid evil doers or their accomplices , you would be 2 deased to resist them by deed and word , giving entire faith in this matter to the bearer of these presents . " This victim of the malice of his

fellow masons is the same William Colchester who was master mason as the building of the last portion of the nave of Westminster Abbey , from 1400 to about 1416 , when he appears to have been sent to York , as thus shown . In 1421 M . John Long was master mason ; in 1423 William Waddeswyk was the guardian ( warden ?) or second master mason . In 1433 M . Thomas Pak was master mason : two " setters " had

£ 1 6 s . Sd . given to them as remuneration ; also two skins for aprons , according to custom , which cost 12 d . ; and ten pairs of gloves , given at the time of setting setting the stones , cost lSd . A nearly similar entry occurs in the following year . In 1442 M . John Bowde , or Bodde , was master mason ; in 1456 M . John Porterin 1466 MEobert Sllesby was appointed

; . py for the term of his life , and to be paid 3 s . kl . for every week he laboured for the fabric , also a salary of £ 1 6 s . Sd . ( two month ' s pay ) yearly , and he bound himself never to be absent without special license ; while for such leave of absence his wages were not to be abridged . In 1470 is an entry of 3 s . 4 d . paid to him

for painting and gilding the chandelier ; he had also to search for painters , probably in London ; and to ride for the " marblers , " which took him 28 days . He died in 1472 , as another entry states that William Hyndeley , warden of the lodge of masons , was paid at the rate of 3 s . 4 d . per week for 28 weeks , for

working in the office of the master of the masons , and had 13 s . 4 d . ( one month's pay ) for a reward . He became master mason , and two years later was working with 2 apprentices and 3 labourers—five years more , with 11 masons and 2 apprentices , He was succeeded on his death , in 1505 , by Christopher Home , one of the principal masons , who is mentioned as lats as 1518 ; the cathedral , in all its essential parts , was finished in

Masons Of England And Their Works.

1520 . In the Fabric Eoll of 1526 the master mason was M . John Forman , who , with 13 masons , 2 apprentices , 1 intailer , and 17 labom-ers , were employed in the erection of the adjoining church of St . Michael le Beifrey ; he remained in that office as late as 1535 * For the reason before explained , I have not submitted references to the portions of the cathedral

any to which each of these master masons may have been connected . The limits of the period , also , prescribed for this paper , preclude notices of the later master masons of the king's works , whose names are occasionally found in those lists of the officers of the royal household , to which allusion was made on the

last occasion .- } - The term " master mason" is now , perhaps , unfortunately for the art , nearly obsolete ; out it still exists , at least in the establishment of the Corporation of the City of London . J As these notices refer to England solely , observations on the equally fertile ground of the master masons of

Scotland have not been inserted ; but it may be hoped that one of our members who is much interested in that portion of the subject , will soon lay before us the fruit of his researches . I will only mention that the term "freemason" does not appear to have been used in that country at all . As to our sister country ,

Ireland , I must plead the want of knowledge of any information of importance to lay before you , merely quoting in support , the words of a native essayist , who has written , " How often have we , in exploring the ruins of the churches described , regretted the want of an inscription to gz-atify the curiosity with which we have felt ourselves inspired" —as to the

name of the fabricator . || This recital of names and works has given only about ninety masons , but these are all that I have been able to collect ; though some few others might have been inserted , had the quotations appeared satisfactory . The names I have mentioned must be

accepted as a tithe of the hundreds that would be recovered , if the persons who possess the fabric rolls and other building documents could be induced to publish them before they becom illegible or mislaid , as 1 fear is the ease with some already . Even the few scraps just made public regarding Westminster

Abbey have proved important to this inquiry . My opinion has already been stated , § that it is to the master mason , as a general rule , that we may turn for the actual designer of all the well-known erections of the Middle Ages ; and this statement received a , forcible confirmation in the course of the instructive

remarks delivered at this Institute by Professor Willis , last session , in words which need not be repeated , as they can he referred to in our transactions . ^ The customs , remuneration , and allowances varied