A Short History of the Worshipful Company of Horners

Part 1

A SHORT HISTORY

The Worshipful Company of Horners

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Price Five Shillings net.

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London: BLADES, EAST & BLADES, 23, ABCHURCH LANE, E.C.

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JANUARY, 1912.

The Worshipful Company of Horners.

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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.

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Those marked (*) have served the office of Master.

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.

Part 2

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.

A SHORT HISTORY OF THE WORSHIPFUL COMPANY OF HORNERS.

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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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.”

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