included seventeen other trades; besides cutlers and bell-founders,
there were braziers, pewterers, smiths, pinners, barbers, carpenters,
joiners, fletchers (arrow-makers), wheelers, basket-makers, coopers,
sawyers, bricklayers, card-makers (_i.e._, wool combers' cards),
turners, plumbers, painters, and glaziers. The barbers were subject
to special regulations. No barber who was a stranger was allowed to
draw teeth in any part of the town except in a barber's shop; and any
barber shaving, trimming, dressing, or cutting any person on Sunday,
except on the four fair days, should forfeit for each time, 12d.
The following curious bye-law was made by the Corporation in 1443,
at the commencement of the dispute between the rival Houses of York
and Lancaster, and was probably intended to prevent unlawful meetings
taking place under the mask of a barber's shop. "The Mayor and
burgesses of Reading, grant and ordain that from this time forward,
no barber of Reading open any shop nor shave any man after ten of the
clock at night, between Easter and Michaelmas, nor after nine of the
clock at night, from Michaelmas to Easter, but if (_i.e._, except) it
be any stranger or worthy man (_i.e._, gentleman) of this town, he
shall pay 300 tiles to the Guildhall of Reading, as often times he is
found faulty, to be received by the cofferers for the time being."
Perhaps some of my readers may be astonished at the peculiar form of
this fine. It is not usual to pay fines in this form of _tiles_! But
it may be accounted for by the fact that thatch was beginning to be
superseded by tile roofs. The public buildings were roofed with lead,
but almost all private houses were thatched. Hence there was much
danger from fire, and the Corporation wisely determined to encourage
the employment of a safer material for the roofing of Reading houses.
The poor barbers had to pay their fines in tiles, and very soon we find
that one John Bristol was fined 2,100 tiles for shaving seven persons
contrary to the order, but the number of tiles was reduced to 1,200 on
account of his poverty.
The fine for disobedience or ill-behaviour was often enforced in this
curious medium. One John Bristow, in the reign of Henry VI., was fined
4,000 tiles for disobedience to the Mayor, but the fine was reduced
to 1,000, with a sufficient quantity of lime. Any person who should
quarrel was ordered to pay to the Church of St. Giles, six pounds of
wax, and to the Guildhall, 500 tiles.
The third company was the tanners and leather sellers' company,
including also the shoemakers, curriers, glewers, saddlers, jerking
sellers, bottle-makers, collar-makers, and cobblers.
In the rules of this company we find certain regulations which show
that while the guild afforded protection to the tradesmen, it also
acted the part of a somewhat severe tyrant. Here is a very severe
enactment which might seem somewhat opposed to the freedom of our
times. No shoemaker was allowed to make any boots or shoes in any part
of the town, but only in Shoemakers' Row, that is to say on the east
side of the street, from the Forbury Gate to the Hallowed Brook, under
pain of forfeiting 3s. 4d. each time. No one was allowed to go and
work where he pleased, but only in the part of the town prescribed by
the guild. This company seem to have been the chief promoters of bull
baiting and bear baiting, since there is a rule forbidding these sports
to be held on the Sabbath day during service, on pain of 12d., to be
paid by each householder where the baiting is.
The fourth company was that of the clothiers, an important industry
in old Reading; and this included the dyers, weavers, sheermen,
shuttle-makers, and ash-burners.
No clothier was allowed to use more than two looms, but Mr. Aldworth,
who was a privileged person, might have four. No clothier might weave
cloth for another clothier. There are sundry other regulations, which
show the severity of the company's laws.
The victuallers' company embraced the vintners, innholders, bakers,
brewers, butchers, fishmongers, chandlers, maltmakers, flax-dressers,
salters, and wood mongers.
The rules of this company do not, I believe, appear in the Corporation
documents, but from other sources we find that the members of the guild
were strictly enjoined to observe Lent, and were forbidden to kill
or dress meat in that season without a license from the Abbot. Also
to prevent imposition on the part of the publicans, two ale tasters
were appointed to set the price of beer. The Corporation in former
days performed a duty from which the present members of the municipal
council would doubtless shrink. It assumed the power of regulating the
price of such articles as beer and bread. In the time of Edward VI. a
quart of best beer could be obtained for 1d.
These, then, were the five companies which formed the old guild
Mercatory of Reading. They did not form (as Mr. Man says in his History
of the town) "a society of mechanics and merchants without pretending
to interfere in the government of the borough." In fact the guild was
rather aristocratic in its tendency, and later on we find that the
lower class of tradesfolk formed craft guilds in order to protect the
interests of the artizans and smaller tradesmen. Of these the higher
guild was very jealous, and frequently exerted its power to oppress the
craftsmen and their guild. In the history of nearly every borough we
find instances of contention and jealousies between the two bodies. One
instance of this occurred in the year 1662, "when the cobblers petition
to the Corporation against the shoemakers for mending and repairing old
ware in violation of the ancient orders of the borough."
It seems strange to us to think of the time when a man could not sell
what he liked, or live where he liked, or work at any trade he pleased;
but such freedom was impossible under the old guilds. No one could ply
his trade in a town unless he was a freeman of the company; _e.g._,
"in July, 1545, one Robert Hooper, a barber, being a foreigner, was
this day ordered to be gone out of the town at his peril, with his wife
and children," and the town sergeants were ordered to shut up his shop
and see poor Robert Hooper and his wife beyond the borough boundaries.
And the distinction between the various trades, between the carpenters
and joiners, between the joiners and sawyers, and as we have seen
between cobblers and shoemakers, and the privileges of each class were
jealously guarded. Absurd as these restrictions were, the early guilds
contributed greatly to the making of England. Green thus writes of
them:--"In the silent growth and elevation of the English people the
borough led the way. The rights of self-government, of free speech
in free meeting, of equal justice by one's equals, were brought safe
across the ages of Norman tyranny by the traders and shopkeepers of the
towns. In the quiet, quaintly-named streets, in town mead, and market
place, in the Lord's mill besides the stream, in the bell that sounded
out its summons to the borough moot, in the jealousies of craftsmen and
guilds, lay the real life of Englishmen, the life of their home and
trade, their ceaseless sober struggle with oppression, their steady
unwearied battle for self-government."
Again, speaking of the policy of Edward I., who built up the power of
the towns in view of checking the lawless tendencies of the barons, he
says:--
"The bell which swung out from the town tower gathered the burgesses
to a common meeting, where they could exercise their rights of free
speech and free deliberation on their own affairs. Their merchants'
guild, over its ale-feast, regulated trade, distributed the sums due
from the different burgesses, looked to the repair of the gate and
wall, and acted in fact pretty much the same part as a Town Council
of to-day. Not only were all these rights secured by custom from the
first, but they were constantly widening as time went on. Whenever we
get a glimpse of the inner history of an English town, we find the same
peaceful revolution in progress, services disappearing through disuse
or omission, while privileges and immunities were being purchased
in hard cash. The lord of the town, whether he were king, abbot, or
baron, was commonly thriftless or poor, and the capture of a noble,
or the campaign of a sovereign, or the building of some new minster
by a prior, brought about an appeal to the thrifty burghers, who were
ready to fill again their master's treasury, at the price of a strip
of parchment, which gave them freedom of trade, of justice, and of
government. For the most part the liberties of our towns were bought in
this way by sheer hard bargaining."
We have observed the numerous charters granted to Reading. The charter
of Henry III., to which his successor refers, is the earliest known
one, and in that we find the words:--
"Henry, by the grace of God, King of England, etc., to all archbishops,
bishops, abbots, earls, barons, etc., greeting. Know ye that we
will, and command for ourself and our heirs, that all the burgesses
of Reading _who belong to the guild Merchant in Reading_ may be for
ever free from all shires and hundred courts, and from all pleas,
complaints, tolls, passages, ways, carriage ways, and that they may
buy and sell wheresoever they will throughout all England, without
paying toll, and no one may disturb them under forfeiture of 10 marks."
This was confirmed by Edward I., and by successive kings. These
charters were granted to the guild, the immediate predecessor of the
corporation, the "warden" of the guild ultimately being called the
"mayor."
But there was a great opponent to the rights and freedom of the good
citizens of Reading in the person of the high and mighty Lord Abbot.
Referring to the original charter of the abbey granted by Henry I.,
we see what extensive sway was placed in the hands of the abbot. He
ruled Reading with a powerful hand, and when a former mayor of this
town, in the time of Henry VI., thought he would like to have a mace
carried before him as a badge of office, the abbot objected. The mayor
appealed to the Crown, but he was told it was contrary to the franchise
and liberties of our church and monastery, that he was only a keeper of
the guild at Reading, admitted by the abbot, and might only have "two
tipped staffs" carried before him as a badge of office.
The extensive powers given to the abbot produced constant struggles
for power between the guild and the ecclesiastical rulers. Sometimes
they even came to blows, and the townsmen often assaulted the abbot's
bailiffs in the execution of their duty. The men of Reading were cited
in the reign of Henry III., 1243, to show what warrant they had for any
privileges which they claimed as members of the guild. The sheriff of
Berks received a strict injunction to prevent the men of Reading from
interfering with the abbot's lawful rights. Two years later "a final
and endly concord" was established between the contending parties, but
in 1351, the dispute revived; quarrels arose about the election of a
constable for the town, and the contention was not settled for 200
years. In 1430, abbot Henley seized from the guild the out-butchery, or
shambles, used by butchers not living in the town, which was another
bone of contention.
The abbot received part of the fines paid by those who wished to become
freemen of the guild. He received a fine of 5d., called chepin-gravel
yearly from every member. He exercised criminal jurisdiction, tried
prisoners, admitted and selected the warden or mayor, and in many ways
held powerful sway over the good folk of this ancient borough.
But the day came when his power ceased, and the abbey was dissolved.
By degrees the guild obtained more power, but the Reformation shook
the fabrics of the old guilds of England, and they found that they
had only exchanged masters, and that the new master was rather more
masterful than the old, requiring inventories of guild plate, lands,
and revenues, and appropriating much of their superfluous wealth to his
own exchequer.[4]
In the time of Queen Elizabeth, the guild merchant, the chrysalis,
broke its shell, and became the full-winged corporation of mayor
and burgesses, although its place of meeting was still called the
_Guildhall_, and was situated somewhere near the Hallowed Brook, where
the worthy brethren were often disturbed in their deliberations by the
Laundry women "beating their battledores," which was the approved style
of washing clothes in those days. Subsequently the old Church of Grey
Friars became the Guildhall until the old building was erected, from
whose ashes the modern Town Hall phoenix-like arose.
The old burgesses, or members of the guild, were very provident.
In time of Queen Mary it was ordered that every burgess should pay
20s. over and above his accustomed fine, as a fund for the relief of
burgesses in old age or want.
Berkshire has not been remarkable for its guilds. The guild of the
brotherhood of the Holy Cross at Abingdon has been already mentioned.
At Maidenhead we find a guild incorporated in 1351, probably for the
purpose of keeping in repair the bridge over the Thames, one of the
most ancient in the county. This corporation was called "the Fraternity
or Guild of the Brothers and Sisters of Maidenhythe." Of minor guilds
there would be examples in almost every village and town, but no
records of them remain. The guilds of Reading are the only ones of
real importance; and I have attempted to point out the chief points
of interest in connection with their growth and development, and to
describe briefly the origin of these institutions which played so
important a part in the making of England.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 3: Mr. Coates says that the Society of Guild Merchants of
Reading was undoubtedly very ancient, existing before the foundation of
the Abbey, and claiming a charter or grant of privileges from Edward
the Confessor.
This is proved by a statement made by the Mayor and commonalty in
time of Richard II., before the king's justices of peace at Reading,
in opposition to some of the claims of the Abbot, with whom the
authorities of the town were always quarrelling.]
[Footnote 4: 1545--By Statute 37 Henry VIII., An Act for dissolution of
colleges, it was recited that divers colleges, free chapels, chantries,
hospitals, fraternities, brotherhoods, guilds, and stipendary priests,
"having perpetuity for ever," had misapplied the possessions thereof in
various ways; and it was then enacted that all the same be dissolved
and the proceeds applied for supporting the king's expenses in wars,
etc., and for the maintenance of the crown, etc.
The advisers of Edward VI. promptly availed themselves of this as a
pretext for plunder.]
The Scouring of the White Horse.
BY E.R. GARDINER, M.A.
The story of our village feasts, and of the way in which the rude
forefathers of the hamlet were wont to enjoy themselves, forms a
chapter in our manners and customs which cannot but have considerable
interest to the student of bygone times. One of the most interesting
relics of this kind pertains to the County of Berks. Upon White Horse
Hill in that county, there used to be celebrated at stated intervals a
feast known throughout the countryside as "The Scouring of the White
Horse." This has been so admirably and exhaustively treated by Judge
Hughes, Q.C. (Tom Brown) in his well-known book on the subject that it
is almost hopeless for anyone writing on the same topic to do otherwise
than follow in his wake.
[Illustration: SKETCH GROUND PLAN OF THE WHITE HORSE.]
A few words on the history of the White Horse of Berkshire seem
necessary as an introduction to the subject, although its origin,
like that of the old historic earldom of Mar, seems to be lost in
the mists of antiquity. White Horse Hill is the highest point of the
range of chalk hills which the traveller by rail sees on his left
hand as he journeys down the Great Western Railway between Didcot and
Swindon, and is plainly seen as he approaches Uffington Station. Its
summit reaches the height of 856 feet, and commands an extensive view
over what is known as the Vale of White Horse, no less than eleven
counties being, so it is said, visible therefrom. It derives its name
from the rude figure of a horse cut out in the chalk on the north-west
side of the hill, some 374 feet long, and with its outline marked by
trenches ten feet wide, cut two or three feet deep in the turf to
the white subsoil. A very common tradition ascribes its formation to
King Alfred, in memory of his decisive victory over the Danes at the
battle of Æcesdun, something over a thousand years ago. The tradition
has no doubt arisen from the fact that the Saxon standard was a White
Horse, the well-known names of Hengist and Horsa being probably mere
forms of this ensign. If this were the only turf carving of a similar
character to be found in England, there might be a good deal to say
in favour of this tradition. But such figures are not rare, and
some of them have, for cogent reasons into which we have not space to
enter, been attributed to times far more remote than those of Saxon
and Dane. With regard to this particular turf-carving, although we may
allow the horse to have been the Saxon standard, and that King Alfred,
in setting up "his banner for a token," would only have been following
ancient practice, yet, plausible as this may sound, it would have been
far more in accordance with what we might have expected had he set up
a cross to commemorate his victory. In fact, not so very far away, in
the hamlet of Monks Risborough in the Chiltern Hills, there is a hill
figure of a cross, nearly a hundred feet in height, which, with quite
as good if not better reason, is conjectured to be a memorial set up
by Alfred, to record a victory over the Danes at Bledlow. And further,
the figure of a horse as a badge or device is far older than Saxon
times, for on a coin of Cunobelin (the Cymbeline of Shakespeare), who
reigned in Britain, A.D. 40, the figure of a horse on its reverse is
very similar to the turf-carving with which we are dealing. Indeed,
there is much more in favour of these hill-side figures being of a
date far anterior to Saxon or Roman times. For to the right below White
Horse Hill is a high mound known as the Dragon Hill upon a piece of
ground at the top of which grass does not grow. Here was ample scope
for a tradition, which, coupled with the name of the Hill, developed
into the story that this was the identical spot on which St. George (or
"King Gaarge," according to the rustics) slew the Dragon, and that no
verdure ever grew on the place over which its poisonous blood flowed.
But unfortunately this derivation collapses when it is found that the
name of the Hill should be Pend-ragon, which, in Celtic, signifies
"Chief of Kings," and was, as Mr. Wise points out in his letter to
Dr. Mead, written in 1736, the common appellation of a British King
constituted such by vote in times of public distress. Thus, as we learn
from Cæsar's Commentaries Cassibelan was chosen Pendragon by the allies
at the time of Julius Cæsar's invasion. So much then for the history
and traditions of the White Horse.
The festival called the "Scouring," about which we are more immediately
concerned, is, comparatively speaking, a manageable subject, although
the aforementioned Mr. Wise, writing 150 years ago, speaks of it as
a ceremony, which, "_from time immemorial_ has been solemnized by a
numerous concourse of people from all the villages round about." The
importance which he attaches to it seems to us at this time of day a
trifle exaggerated, for, after appealing to all persons who have a
regard for ancient customs whether such a solemnity would not deserve
the countenance of the nobility and gentry, a sentiment in which many
will heartily join, he goes on to suggest that if the festival were
solemnized at regular intervals, say of four years, the common people
would use it as a mode of reckoning their time, which would then very
properly be done by speaking of the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th year of the
Scouring of the Horse: and not only this, but the worthy author goes
on to say he should not despair of its creating a new era in English
history, viz., THE RESTORATION OF THE SAXON OLYMPICS. Here surely we
have enthusiasm gone mad.
The first Scouring, according to Judge Hughes, Q.C. (who is really
_the_ authority _par excellence_ on the subject), about which there
is any authentic information, was held in 1755, and the sports then
appeared to be pretty much the same as those held about a century
later. The chief prize for backsword play, or cudgel play, as it was
sometimes called, was won by a stranger, who appeared in the garb of
a gentleman, and who held his own against all the old "gamesters,"
as the backsword players who had won or shared a first prize at any
revel, were then called. As soon as he had won the prize, he jumped
on his horse, and rode off. There was some speculation as to who he
might be, and presently it was whispered about that he was Tim Gibbons,
of Lambourn, who had not been seen for some years, and about whom
some strange stories had been afloat. A descendant of his, a native
of Wodstone, a village which nestles at the foot of the White Horse,
gave the following account of his ancestor:--"Timothy Gibbons, my
great-grandvather, you see, sir, foller'd blacksmithing at Lambourn,
till he took to highway robbin', but I can't give 'ee no account o'
when or wher'. Arter he'd been out, maybe dree or vour year, he and two
companions cum to Baydon; and whilst hiding theirselves and waiting
their hopes in a barn, the constables got ropes round the barn-yard
and lined 'em in. Then all dree drawed cuts[5] who was to go out fust
and face the constables. It fell to Tim's two companions to go fust,
but their hearts failed 'em, and they wouldn't go. So Tim cried out as
'he'd show 'em what a Englishman could do,' and mounted his hos and
drawed his cutlash, and cut their lines a-two, and galloped off clean
away; but I understood as t'other two was took. Arter that, maybe a
year or two, he cum down to a pastime on White Hoss Hill, and won the
prize at backswording; and when he took his money, fearing lest he
should be knowed, he jumped on his hoss under the stage, and galloped
right off, and I don't know as he ever cum again to these parts. Then
I've understood as things thrve wi' 'un as 'um will at times, sir, wi'
they sort o' chaps, and he and his companions built the inn called 'The
Magpies' on Hounslow Heath; but I dwon't know as ever he kep' the house
hisself, except it med ha' been for a short while. Howsomever, at last
he was took drinking at a public house somewheres up Hounslow way, wi'
a companion, who played a crop wi' 'un, and I b'liev' a' was hanged at
Newgate. But I never understood as he killed anybody, sir, and a'd used
to gie some o' the money as he took to the poor, if he know'd they was
in want."
The next Scouring, of which there seems to be any record, took
place in 1776, concerning which the following printed handbill was
published:--
"WHITE HORSE HILL, BERKS, 1776.
The scowering and cleansing of the White Horse is fixed for Monday,
the 27th day of May; on which day a Silver Cup will be run for near
White Horse Hill, by any horse, &c., that never run for anything,
carrying 11 stone, the best of 3 two-mile heats, to start at 10
o'clock.
Between the heats will be run for by poneys a Saddle Bridle and
Whip; the best of 3 two-mile heats, the winner of 2 heats will be
entitled to the saddle, the second best the Bridle, and the third
the Whip.
The same time a Thill Harness will be run for by cart horses, &c.,
in their harness and bells, the carters to ride in smock frocks
without saddles, crossing and jostling, but no whipping allowed.
A Flitch of Bacon to be run for by asses.
A good Hat to be run for by men in sacks, every man to bring his
own sack.
A Waistcoat, 10s. 6d. value, to be given to the person who shall
take a bullet out of a tub of flour with his mouth in the shortest
time.
A cheese to be run for down the White Horse Manger.
Smocks to be run for by ladies, the second best of each prize to be
entitled to a Silk Hat.
_Cudgel playing_ for a _gold-laced Hat_ and a pair of buckskin
Breeches, and _Wrestling_ for a pair of silver Buckles and a pair
of Pumps.
The horses to be on the White Horse Hill by nine o'clock.
No less than four horses, &c., or asses to start for any of the
above prizes."