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Article THE GILDS.* ← Page 4 of 5 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Gilds.*
of Yard-Measures not agreeable to the Standard kept by the Dean of Gild , and that some Merchants do use the Elnwand in place of the Yard-Measure in the buying of Linnen , contrary to the late Act of Parliament directing the Yard-Measure alone , and no other to be used in the buying and selling thereof . Thereof , to prevent these abuses ,
and that there may be an Uniformity observed in both buying and selling in Time coming , They Statute and Ordain , That all Merchants and Retailers of Linnen and Wollen Cloths , Silk-Stuffs , & c , within this City and Privileges thereof , shall in time coming keep and use the Yard-Measure alone , Marked and Stamped with the Dean of Gilds
Mark , and no other , in both buying and selling of all Linnen and Woollen Cloths , Silk-Stuffs of all kinds , and all other Manufactured Goods that are sold by Measure , and that under the penalty of Twenty Pound Scots for each Transgression , by and attour repairing the Loss
and Damage that any Buyer or Seller shall sustain by the not punctual observance : And to the end : That all dealers in Woolen and Linnen Cloths , Silk Stuffs , & c , may be served with such Yards , they oppoint their Officers to provide a sufficient Quantity of them , which shall be tried with the Gaudge , and marked and
stamped , at the Sight of Two of the members of the Court ; and thereafter One or more , if desired , to be delivered , to each Merchant or Retailer , at their Shop , within the space of Fourteen Days , after the date hereof . For which the said Officers shall only exact and demand eighteen-pence sterling for each Yard , marked and Stamped as above ;
Certifieing such as shall refuse to give obedience to this Act , That they will be proceeded against as contemners of the said Act of Parliament , and for the penalties therein , as above directed . —Extracted furth of the Records of the Gild Court by me , George Home , Clerk thereof ( Signed , George Home . ) "
Unfortunately for us , the history of Freemasonry in England in the seventeenth century is veiy obscure so far . We have traces of Freemasonry , partly operative and to a great extent speculative , in 1646 , 1682 , & c , but we have no evidence except , if we remember rightly , at Chester , of the Gilds in the seventeenth century . They seem to have
departed like the fairies with the plunder and suppression of the Gilds in the first of Edward VI . And if a few lingering traces may remain here and there of what was once a great system , they only serve to prove what was the ancient glory now turned to hopeless decay and desuetude .
Much good would accrue , we are inclined to think , to the study of Gild existence and conditions if anyone would endeavour to collect the names of the Gilds suppressed in the middle of the sixteenth century , their locale , and their property . We might then say how far the
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Gilds.*
of Yard-Measures not agreeable to the Standard kept by the Dean of Gild , and that some Merchants do use the Elnwand in place of the Yard-Measure in the buying of Linnen , contrary to the late Act of Parliament directing the Yard-Measure alone , and no other to be used in the buying and selling thereof . Thereof , to prevent these abuses ,
and that there may be an Uniformity observed in both buying and selling in Time coming , They Statute and Ordain , That all Merchants and Retailers of Linnen and Wollen Cloths , Silk-Stuffs , & c , within this City and Privileges thereof , shall in time coming keep and use the Yard-Measure alone , Marked and Stamped with the Dean of Gilds
Mark , and no other , in both buying and selling of all Linnen and Woollen Cloths , Silk-Stuffs of all kinds , and all other Manufactured Goods that are sold by Measure , and that under the penalty of Twenty Pound Scots for each Transgression , by and attour repairing the Loss
and Damage that any Buyer or Seller shall sustain by the not punctual observance : And to the end : That all dealers in Woolen and Linnen Cloths , Silk Stuffs , & c , may be served with such Yards , they oppoint their Officers to provide a sufficient Quantity of them , which shall be tried with the Gaudge , and marked and
stamped , at the Sight of Two of the members of the Court ; and thereafter One or more , if desired , to be delivered , to each Merchant or Retailer , at their Shop , within the space of Fourteen Days , after the date hereof . For which the said Officers shall only exact and demand eighteen-pence sterling for each Yard , marked and Stamped as above ;
Certifieing such as shall refuse to give obedience to this Act , That they will be proceeded against as contemners of the said Act of Parliament , and for the penalties therein , as above directed . —Extracted furth of the Records of the Gild Court by me , George Home , Clerk thereof ( Signed , George Home . ) "
Unfortunately for us , the history of Freemasonry in England in the seventeenth century is veiy obscure so far . We have traces of Freemasonry , partly operative and to a great extent speculative , in 1646 , 1682 , & c , but we have no evidence except , if we remember rightly , at Chester , of the Gilds in the seventeenth century . They seem to have
departed like the fairies with the plunder and suppression of the Gilds in the first of Edward VI . And if a few lingering traces may remain here and there of what was once a great system , they only serve to prove what was the ancient glory now turned to hopeless decay and desuetude .
Much good would accrue , we are inclined to think , to the study of Gild existence and conditions if anyone would endeavour to collect the names of the Gilds suppressed in the middle of the sixteenth century , their locale , and their property . We might then say how far the