(_To the Editor of the Mirror._)
Sir,--Sometime ago a discussion arose in the public papers respecting
the right of the King's Sergeant Trumpeter to grant licenses to
minstrels for carrying on their calling in London and Westminster. I do
not recollect whether this officer succeeded in establishing the right;
but the following account of a similar privilege in another part of the
country is founded on fact, and may furnish amusement to some of your
readers:--
About the latter end of the reign of Richard I., Randal Blundeville,
Earl of Chester, was closely besieged by the Welsh in his Castle, in
Flintshire. In this extremity, the earl sent to his constable, Roger
Lacy, (who for his _fiery_ qualities received the appropriate cognomen
of _hell_), to hasten, with what force he could collect, to his relief.
It happened to be Midsummer-day, when a great fair was held at Chester,
the humours of which, it should seem, the worthy constable, witless of
his lord's peril, was then enjoying. He immediately got together, in the
words of my authority, "a great, lawless mob of fiddlers, players,
cobblers, and such like," and marched towards the earl. The Welsh,
although a musical people, not relishing this sort of chorus, thought it
prudent to beat a retreat, and fled. The earl, by this well-timed
presto-movement, being released from danger, returned with his constable
to Chester, and in reward of his service, granted by deed to Roger and
his heirs, authority "over all the fiddlers, minstrels, and cobblers in
Chester."
About the end of the reign of John, or the beginning of that of Henry
III., the fire of Roger being extinguished by death, his son John Lacy,
granted this privilege by deed to his steward, one Hugh Dutton and his
heirs, in the words following:--"Dedi et concessi, et per hac presenti
charta mea, confirmavi Hugoni de Dutton, et heredibus suis, magistratum
omnium lecatorum, et _meretricum_, totius Cestershiriae," &c.
Dugdale relates in his Monasticon, p. 860, that "under this grant, and
by ancient custom, the heirs of Dutton claim and exercise authority over
all the common fiddlers and minstrels in Chester and Cheshire; and in
memory of it, keep a yearly court at Chester on Mid-summer-day, being
Chester Fair, and in a solemn manner ride attended through the city to
St. John the Baptist's Church, with all the fiddlers of the county
playing before the Lord of Dutton, and then at the court renew their
licenses yearly; and that none ought to use the trade or employment of a
minstrel, or fiddler, either within the city or county, but by an order
and license of that court." I find too that this privilege has received
the sanction of the legislature; for by the Act of 17 George II., cap.
5., commonly called the Vagrant Act, which includes "minstrels" under
that amiable class of independents, the rights of the family of Dutton
in the county of Chester are expressly reserved. Perhaps some of your
numerous Correspondents may be able to say whether this very singular
_Court of Concert_ is still kept up.