Contents:
The brcAver dare not sell one drop of his liquor till "some sadde and discreete" personage from the Cor2: Smithy had the length of his horse-shoe nails prescribed to him, and even the poor cobbler Avas admonished as to Avhat leather he should use. All things whatsoever that a man could do or say, eat or drink, use or Avear, had been prescribed, measured, weighed, chalked out.
Butchers were in the " good old times" an especial object of jealousy to the authorities. Nicholas' Church, and from the Guildhall to St. Helen's Church , and it would seem that they were much in the habit of encroaching on the highway, selling flesh in Lent and other unseasonable times, killing their pigs in the open street, making offensive blood-pits near St.
Li it was ordered — " That no bocher within the liberties of this cittie shal from henceforth blowe, beate, carve, or drease with flowers, anie of theyr fleashe by them killed to be solde, and alsoe that they nor anie of them shal parte, selle, chop, or change, anie of theyr ware by them killed to be sold except hit be a beast of the price of xls. Item, for John Bedle, weaver, for sufferinge of botchers to sell fleshe upon his soyle, contrarie to the Chamber Act, vis. Parker, John Bedell, and Henry Columbyne.
Bayliff" was requested to "punish all boochers and others yt. It is well known how Queen Elizabeth encouraged the eating of fish, on the ground that our fisheries were a nursery for the navy.
The eating of flesh in Lent could therefore only be permitted by special license. Her Majesty's proclamation against eating flesh in Lent requii-ed that bonds should be taken of the butchers not to kill meat during the prohibited period ; " and if jiersons are sicke or weake, other flesh nieates not usuallie sold by butchers may seeme meter, and soe may be lor them dressed in theyr owne howses, without thereby giving occasion of killing of beefes, muttons, vcales, or such like.
Barker, Richard Sherman, and John Jucks, who paid 6s. One of the successors of the above-named was Thos. Till, probably an ancestor of our present fellow citizen of that name. Three shops close to St. Baxter, or Bakester, or Bakers'- street, was the locality assigned to the butchers. It is now called the Shambles, though its old name was used in deeds down to the present century. The entry of this exodus of the butchers is as follows: That in the two and fortieth yere of her Majesties rayne there was erected in the Bakster-strete at the costs and charges of the cittie new shambles for the countrie bochers to sell theyr mete att, whereas before that tyme they did stand at ye Grass Crosse and there did sell theyr meate ; the yerely profitt and benefitt of which shambles doth wholly come unto the cittie.
And this was done in the time of Geo. Kingies, gents, bailifts, Christofer Deighton and Rd. Durant, aldermen of the said cittie, Mr. Hursse and John Wigfall, chamberlains. In the time of Philip and Mary it was ordained that — " The market place for cowpar's cooper's and all other ware made and Avrought of woode shal be from henceforth kept and used at the yend of Saynct Swoghton's Swithin's churche, and so up by ye pales into ye baxter streate, so that they shal not hinder or lett the markett, on paine of xxs.
No chandler was allowed to sell more than bs. Smiths were compelled by the 1st and 2nd Philip and Mary to shoe horses with shoes and nails of forest iron alone ; and to prove how overwhelming was the macliinery sometimes employed to regidate the most trifling affairs of social life, in the Liber Eecordum, , is a proclamation by the Queen touching a Worcester blacksmitli, thus: Given under our signet at our town of Salopp, xxiv daye of October, in ye xvi.
In a pretty considerable agitation among the members of this fraternity was settled thus: Bird, David Gough, Wm. Usherwood, Griffith ap John, and John Parker, shal exercise the art and mystery of coblinge, and non other, uppon paine of imprisonment. Ordered in — " That no fisher or anie other person shall draw to take fysh of dace netts within the water of Severne from hence- forth within the liberties of the cittie betwixt Allhallow-tide and lames lammas , on forfeiture of xx5.
And also her Ilighnesse straightlie chargeth and comaundeth that noe maner of persons brynge or cause to be brought unto ye markets no roches to be solde or geve but if two of them be worthe one peny ; nor pickerell, jjerch, ne pollores, but if they be of the length of xiv. Dated the xxxth daie of June, in the xxth yere of owre rayne. But the instances of interference with trade and the shop- keeping interest are innumerable, and should have the effect of making our fellow citizens of the present day thank their good fortune that they were " born so late.
Servants and artificers' wages were fixed, jDenalties being imposed if they refused to work at that rate or if the employers offered more, though it is not difficult to perceive how such regula- tions might at any time have been evaded. En 2 assant I may notice that master masons and carpenters charged only Id. It has been elsewhere noticed that the great besetting sin of tlie nation in Queen Elizabeth's time, as in that of Queen Victoria, was an inordinate love of dress and finery, and how it was sought by legislative inter- ference to limit and discourage this propensity.
The most ingenious scheme for accomplishing this object is embraced in the following document: Tlic following were the " orders for apparel for bailiffs, aldermen, and those who have heforc heeu "bailiffs: This was in the time of Edward VI. Palmestontydc Palm Sunday , in such forme and order as hereafter insueth. Also at Severn bridge a porter was stationed whose duty it was to claim toll of all boats and barges passing up and down. His custom was to throw a little stone into each vessel, which was a chal- lenge for it to turn to the quay to be examined as to what was on board.
If the produce was such as the citizens stood in need of, the owner was bound to sell here, without going to a further and perhaps better market. There is a copy of an order made by the Council of the Marches when at Ludlow, 15th Henry 7th, regulating the toll to be levied on boats passing Worcester bridge from Eewdley. About , John Butler and Thomas Godwyne, baiUffs of Tewkesbury, memoralised the Lords of the Council, complaining that, notwithstanding by ancient custom and jirivilege they were to buy and sell and go to and fro to every market and fair in the kingdom without paying toll for themselves or cattle, or their boats on the river, Messrs.
Dowding, bailiffs of the city of "Wor- cester, had lately thought fit to take toll of their boats, and at a fair on the 15 th of August in the above year they had seized a heifer and detained it, being the goods of the petitioners ; therefore redress was sought. No class suffered more from the rigid regulations of the times than brewers and publicans.
The former were permitted to use but one kihi each, they were to buy their wood only in certain quantities, to pm'chase barley in the driblets prescribed to them, and not to go on with the " tunning " of their drink till a sign had been placed at the door for the Corporation taster to step in. Beer was sold at the assize price and no other. Another objection to inns was their harbouring of improper persons. John Dod and his wife were, in , ordered never again to " keep any ale or vitelling house in this cittie, and that all other such evill behaviour that do take any man's wj'fes, wedowes, or maydes, servants, on pain of disfranchisement and other punishment.
Never- theless the wardens of the mystery or craft of brewers had commenced an action of debt in the town court before the bailiffs, declaring that he should forfeit 40s. The letters were accordingly sent, and subsequently the following entry occurs: Moon no doubt thought it a hard case that he was not permitted to brew for his household, but this was a part of the exclusive and tyrannizing system of the time, and the authorities cared not what hardships they inflicted so that they discouraged lodgers.
When in an act Avas passed for a compidsory assessment for the poor, the rulers of towns perceived that unless they took stringent measures to prevent " settlements " in their own territory the new tax might prove an alarmingly heavy one. Every new comer, therefore, was obliged to produce credentials of competency, or move on to another town. In this entry occurs: All Saints G7 10 St. Alban's F, 3 St. Clement's 13 b St. Martin's 28 15 St. Switliin's 43 9 St.
Nicholas 43 12 St. Andrew's 42 11 St. One in every four a pauper! How have we progressed for the better -since the time when deep poverty was the rule! Wliat a distressing case was that of Through unseasonable weather and two yeres of scarcity previous, come and grajaie was at an exceeding high rate, so that before harvest wheat was sold at xis. Baylifietook speciall care for the reliefe of the impotent, lame, aged, and younge children, whose parents were pore, and by theyr greate pabies and dailie trouble, by the consent of their brethren, there were above cc.
Allowed for xx poore householders out of the cittie after xs. Michells and fower out of St. Peter's parish and ten oute of the other parishes of the cytie, xxij??. Next to the imsatisf actory condition of tlie poor were the sanitary arrangements in the city. Swine, ducks, and dogs, prowled about the streets at their own sweet will, and when any of them accidentally gave up the ghost their dead bodies mixed a rich perfume with the dimghills piled up by the road side tlu'oughout the city.
Carrion, entrails of animals, timber, and saAV- pits, were also among the impedimenta everywhere offending the nose and endangering the neck. Every person bringing dung to St. Clement's gate was ordered to lay the same between the gutter there and Little Pitchcroft, and no person was to cast dung from the bridge into Severn. One of the allowed recejitacles for this was on the common ground at Severn-side beyond Frog-mill, another was at the quay, and others outside some of the city gates ; there was also a jiound outside St.
Every inhabitant of Foregate-street was to "make cleane the ditche before theyr soiles, that the water may have his course to passe oute of the same streete, as hyt hath bin heretofore used," on default of 10s. Salt-lane was full of gravel pits and filth, and even the waU of the Bishop's Palace was not considered too sacred for the worst of offal.
It was ordered that no sand or gravel should be dug between St. Martin's niisken, near the poimd, and Samson's stile ; nor was any clothes to be washed at the new quay, or Bytter's-slip, where the brewers fetched their water from. Three men were paid 50s. Already exceedingly narrow, and still further shut out from the breath of Heaven by the overhanging gables of houses, our streets were the very hot-beds of disease and epidemics, and the encroach- ments on their restricted space were such as to seriously impede even the insignificant traffic of those days.
This was submitted to, however, on condition that for each encroachment, or " purpresture," as it was termed, a fine or rent were paid. Wylde, for a bulke and a porclie lyeiug at Sudbury gate, next beyond the chapel there, rated by the yere at ijrf. Pytchers, a forge, a ten't, a house without the Forgate in the tenure of Thos. Dighton for hia posts ; and Greg. Taylor, for his chimney. The porters at the city gates were ordered to close them at nine o'clock in the winter and ten in the summer.
Thomas Bell had 3s. The porter at Sidbiiry gate had also the responsibility of attending to Frog-gate.
There were towers over all the gates, as we still see them remaining in many old towns, and apartments in the towers Avere occupied for various purposes. In the reign of Mary, mention is made of " the house over Ht. INIarten's gate that the pavyer dwelleth in," and " the house that the belman dweUeth in over the pavyor's house, over St.
Marten's gate," so that there were two storeys over that gate. There were also towers over Friars' gate. Frog-gate, and over the centre of the bridge: The tenement over St. Peter's gate let for 4d. The "tower of Foregate and the house imder" were let to George Cardmaker for 13s.
At the end of High- street, near the Cathedral before College-street was projected , there were " the College grates," or a gate- way and tower across the street, and in the tower sometime lived the barber who belonged to the Cathedral body. Largo sums were spent on the repau's of the towers and walls of the city, and when Mr.
Wyld represented the city in Parliament Ed. A curious bequest was made by Dame Joan Cooks temp. These walls were destroyed at the close of the civil wars. Thomas More, one of the bayliffes of the sayd cittie, and of the company of the xxiv. And this was con- cluded by common counsel of the said cittie the yere aboveseyd, in the tyme of Ed. More, gents, bayliffes of the said cittie. And afterwards, the next yere following the building and frame of the seyd new tollsey was made and erected at the onlie cost and charges of the cyttie, in the tyme of Wm.
Kuigs and Roger Farley, bayliffes of the cyttie of Worcester. It reads curiously in the book of ordinances that if any one made holes in the walls, to have a knowledge of what was done within the hall, he was to pay certain penalties. Wlieii it is also taken into account that the citizens played tennis in the hall, and that plays were there performed before croAvds of people, who must have done great damage to the building ; that the gaoler lived there, and kept his prisoners in the vaidts below ; it need not be wondered at that the building lasted no longer.
It seems that a special fund existed for furnishing the hall with glass windows, as it was a rule that when any citizen was elevated to the "24 or 48" the Corporation he paid the usual fee, besides 16s. Glass was still considered a luxury, and an expensive one. In the 7th year of Elizabeth it was ordered " that all trees growing near the Council chamber window on the Notwithstanding the issue of many orders against timber chimneys and thatch, as being the fcrtde cause of fire, as early as the reign of Etlward 4th, bricks did not supplant lath and plaster till the ITth century, when the great fire of London occasioned a stimulus throughout the country in the way of further improve- ment.
Places in each ward were appointed for keeping ladders, which were probably also used in these emergencies, and every person who removed a ladder without returning it to the proper place forfeited 3s. Unlawful games in the streets were much in vogue ill the time of Elizabeth, and that undue indidgence wliich is now granted to offenders in tliis line does not seem to have characterised the dealings of the Magis- tracy of the times we are contemplating. The following is an order on the point 17th Elizabeth: Every inhabitant was ordered to be at the Guildhall, in gOAvus or other decent apparel, by eight in the morning on the Wednesday after laW-day, to hear the by-laws and the alterations made in them read aloud and expounded by the.
Town Clerk, and proclamation of this proceeding was made throughout the city. Had a response been made by all who were invited, the Guildhall woidd have presented a very small area for their accommodation. To be sure, the population was then of small account as compared with the present time, it being stated in one of the books now tmder investigation that early in the reign of Elizabeth there were but 80 freeholders in the city. The "collective wisdom" of this city was noted throughout its earlier career for an intense love of conviviality and good cheer, Avhicli exliibited itself on every imaginable occasion.
AVhen the Members of Parliament returned from London, his "Worship and the Aldermen drank and smoked with them at the Globe, discussed the prospects of the nation, and advised with them as to theh futm-e votes. Nay, they even ran up a score at the Green Dragon when King James went to hear mass at the chajjcl on that mcmoral le morning when Mr.
Mayor Shewring, representing the Protestantism of the nation, refused to accompany his Majesty. Sir John Pakington and other distinguished visitors were treated with inj es, wliich a commendable regard for economy induced the corporate body afterwards to burn, that they might be fit for fiu'ther duty.
Baylies the higli and low bailiif , xxxiis. Recorder, and charges for baking the same, xviij. George's upholstery establishment, near St. Dyghton's for eating of a bucke sent by M'tris Sandes, and for the bakinge thereof, xijs. In "Paid to the Lord Eyshopp at the kylling of a bucke unto the keper and syx officers, xvis. For instance, " Edward Atkinson, yonian, purveyor of wines," was charged, preparatory to that visit, " to provide for us all nianer of wynes, porters, labourers, horses, geldings, drawing oxen, carts, wayns, ships, hoyes, botes, mariners, howseroome, or celloms, and all other necessaries mete and convenyente for the same office, with caryage sufiicicnte for convayance by see and lande or freshe water.
The case was carried to the Court of the Marches — " Ed.
Darnell, Town Clerk, v. Eobert Wyld," and the issue is thus recorded: Alleged that defendant's father and himself had lived in the same house Wyld's-lane probably , and had always paid scot and lot ; that it Avas situate within the perambidation of the liberties ; and that both had greatly advanced theyr substance in the said cittie by making of wollen cloths, and had served the office of bayliff. Ordered that he pay the amount and vi-i-.
This "was specially noticeable with the President of the Marches of Wales, who usually passed through Worcester on his way to Bewdley, Ludlow, Shrewsbury, or other towns Avhere the GouncQ usually sat. As the representative of royalty, this important functionary stood nulli secundus in the estimation of the Worcester magnates, besides which the President and Coimcil looked for the utmost punctilio and preparation. In the 3rd year of Elizabeth an order was received here from the Council, then at Carmarthen, directing the authorities at "Wor- cester to niake provision for the Council's proposed visit to this city for six or seven days, according to a schedide sent by their steward, thus: Item, my lord lodged, three of the council to be next placed at the lest.
Item, the steward and gentleman usher or harbinger, the usher of the hale, the botler, celercr, panter, ewerer, with cooks, catorer. Item, thirty fcther bedds with all things bclong- ingc to the same for my lord, the council, and theyre men, at the lest. Item, ten large wayne loddes good fewcll wood, to be had and taken out of the Queen's Majesties woodc in places most necessarie ; and if there want of his Ilighness's wood then to make other provision as necessary as you may. Item, stables, hey, provender, and lytter, for twcntie horses, or more ; grass for sixty geldings and naggs for my lord and the council or more ; eight large tayble cloths, fowcr towells, and fower cupurde cloths ; six dozen napkins, thirtie candlesticks eyther pewter or latyn, as you may get them ; one greate pott or cawdron to boile beef in, fower lesser potts, and fower panns greate and small ; one grcdyron, one fryengepan, and one chafingdyshe ; one payer of racks, and fower broches ; xlviij platers, xlviij dyshcs, and xlviij sawcers ; one bryne tubbe or vessell to powdre beef in.
Item, bucketts and tubbs, with other necessarie vcssells for water. In , the rates for 14 horses, with the " furniture," to bruig the officers of the Council's household from Ludlow to Worcester, are detailed in the books, and the expense divided between the wards. The " rates for the furnyture of bedds against the Queene's Majesties Counsell coming amongst ye occu- pations " were thus allocated: The Earl of Pembroke, President of the Marches, arrived here in , and was received at Sidbury gate by Eobert Steyner and Eaphe Bagnall, the bailiffs, with the aldermen and others, aU in scarlet, and the rest of the Corporation in their hvery gowns ; the Earl was presented with two fat oxen, and no doubt a grand feast ensued.
At his departure the President gave 40s. In , Lord Zouche, President of the Council, was received at the Foregate by the bailiffs and aldermen in their scarlet gowns and afterwards lodged at the Bishop's Palace. The Mayor and Corporation attended him to the Cathedral and thence to the townhaU, " accom- panied with drums, trumpets, ye city waites, haut-bois, flutes, other wind music, harps Welsh and Irish, viols, violins, and other stringed instrimients. In Avas the following: Kerry and others, xxxvis. That little has already been published, and from it we learn that the " crafts," or trading companies, were in the 15th century " ordained " to have five pageants in the year — three on Corpus Christi day and two on the Simday foUowmg, " to the lawde and worship of God and for profit and encresse of the said cittie.
The religious mysteries were abolished at the reformation, but the secular plays, or moralities, survived some time longer, and formed the foimdation of the modern drama. Among the Worcester orders on a " laAv-day " in the time of Phdip and Mary is the following: The first English modern play tragedy was produced in , and four years after that date in the "Worces- ter accounts an allowance of 20s. They were always admitted to play, and. In an order was made — "That no players cominge to this cittic shal phiie at the Guildehall by night, neither in summer nor winter, nor anie plaies played in the daye tyme in the said Guildehall except such as are plaied before Mr.
Baylifl'es or theyr brethren. Tobacco, wine, and lieer, were subsequently discussed at plays, for the audience as also at chiu'ch! Pageants, or open-air performances, were not discontinued on the introduc- tion of plays proper. The restoration of Charles XL brought the players from their holes and corners, gave them new Hfe, introduced women on the stage, and in every town either the large room of an inn or a commodious barn was fitted up for their reception. The Worcester Trinity- hall and a timber building in the King's Head Inn yard, opposite the Guildhall, were for many years applied to the purpose, tUl the present theatre was erected.
On the 7th of May, in the seventh year of Edward 6th , the minister of St. Helen's Church sup- posed to be Richard Hall was compelled to do penance in his own church, for having contumaciously adhered to the exploded superstitions of the Eomish Church in regard to the departed soul of a citizen. The document relating thereto is a curious one: Elins and made fast the doors of the same church and so superstitiouslie ronge a long time all the bells for ye soule of Mr.
Thomas P'ton cittyzen of this citie of AVorcester contrarie to the most hoUsome godlie laws of the Kinges Majestie that comandeth not onlie superstition but also all popish remembrance thereof to be expulsed by God's true word out of this his Highness realme and my satisfaccion is onlie this to praie to God and the Kinge to forgive me with most erncst entent never to offend in the like again. God save the King. That the general carrying of arms by all classes of citizens frequently led to bloocLshcd and the most tragi- cal termination of quarrels is abitndantly proved in the old records.
Here is an instance, as seen in depositions taken before the high bailiff and high aldermen of the city of Worcester, on the 12th of March, in the 3rd year of Philip and Mary: Ashebeis standyng by certaine grehondes which Avere eatynge apon a dede carren horse there lyen and Mr.
Ashebye hymselfe standen neare thereunto, to the which said Mr. Ashbie said Draw not thy dagger here for if thou doe I will commande ye to warde lycke a brawlinge knave, for ther is more brawlinge with thee than with anie other within the cittie, and then the said Phelip said God's Idoode come thou and thy man bothe and mete me in the field and I wil fight with you, to whom the sayd Mr.
Ashebie said I have no quarrel "to thee but if you will have to doe anythinge with mee thou mayste liave mee in the feld anie daye and so the said Phillip departed and to the knoledge of the deponent he went on to Saynte Martens gate and going whom he came againe oute at the Poregatef and lepynge on a gutter ther having his sword drawen in the one hand and a bockler in the other sware sayinge God's woundes take avraie thy doggs thou Avhoreson villaine orels I will cutt thy fleshe. Carter one of ye saide deponents came towards the said Phelipp requiringe hym to keepe ye peace, wheruppon the said Phillip cryed oute uppon his son in laAve John Fysher to stryk the said Mr.
Ashby and then Avhyles the said deponent Avent in to his howse to fetch a staffe to helpe to keepe the peace the saide Mr. Asheby at his comen forthe Avas stryken doon, and ther- uppon this "deponent saAv Thos. Ashby's servants strike Philip on the head Avith a staff behind as he was striking at Mr. The rcsidt of the proceedings is not recorded, but no doubt Master Philip smarted severely for his ferocity upon one so high in authority as Mr.
Representatives in Parliament were formerly " citizens " of the places they represented, and the baililf or mayor is frer ucntly mentioned as the Parlia- ment man. Owing to the gi-eat distance to Loudon, the droves of robbers on the road, the want of bridges compelling travellers to round- about routes, no regidar communication with theu' homes, and the consequent neglect of their private business, the good old home-staying burgess saw nothing desira- ble in the honour of IM.
Some towns grudged the expense of representatives, and so lost the privilege. At the close of the 16th century the office began to be solicited, and liribery and election tricks soon became the fashion.
In the following entry occurs in the records: Chris- topher Dyghton and Thomas Wellesgrove did ryde towards Parliament I'ith of Januarie, and came home agayne 19th March, beinge in the whole 69 dales, and to be alowed the old rates, viz. At length this came to he considered a hurden, and in the time of James II. A Worcester election scene in , from these records, has already been pubHshed, from which it appeared that at the election of John Aynesworth and Thomas Hyll as members for this city in the above year, the Corporation wishing to carry the matter with a high hand, the " commons " asseml led in the Guildhall declared that they would have one Collynge, or Collins, a shoemaker, to represent them.
The high bailiff and his friends then sought to conciliate the mob and caused one of their own number to coimt the votes present for both parties, the result being that only 48 appeared for Collins and 1 20 for the Corporation's nominees, the said 48 making nj in noise Avhat they lacked in numerical importance ; and tdtimately Collins and some of his friends were committed to ward, but soon afterwards released.
They then Avaited on the citizens from door to door, puttmg down the names of all who were desirous of reUmiing Collins, and in the attempt to get up a new election an affray took place which had nearly ended in manslaughter. Harper, bailiffs of the city, defendants. The other cases Avere adjoiuiied, but ultimately they were all discharged. In no one particular is the distinction between our own times and those under consideration more con- spicuous than in the arrangements made for the defence of the country against foreign invasion.
The Spaniard, equally with the Frenchman, was then the natural enemy of Englishmen ; and there being no standing army in this coimtry, our sea-port towns had to keep themselves in a constant state of defence agamst the enemy, who, from one quarter or another, Avas supposed to be ever ready to pounce upon some weak point in this devoted little island. When a large force of men was required for active service either at home or abroad, the various town's and boroughs Avere called upon for their respective contingents ; and CA'en piddic bodies, such as Deans and Chapters, as also landoAvners and others, were comjielled to furnish a certain number of men, properly clotheil and armed.
The law for assaults then contemplated two stages of the offence — the common assault and the dramng of blood by means of a weapon, in the latter case the punisliment being enhanced. The old system, of taking men from their homes, and shops, and families, and suddenly posting them off for an indefinite period to some place " ayont the Tweed," to the ever refractory Ireland, or to the French at Calais, with the by no means remote probability of never returning to be buried in their own churchyards, was in truth a very clumsy one, by far more inconvenient if not as expensive as that of standing armies ; we therefore may not be surprised to find that the city of "Worcester, loyal as she always was, exerted herself at various times to evade some of the burthen sought to be laid upon her.
Thus on one occasion, when the French menaced Calais a town on the French coast then in our possession , and soldiers were ordered out of the comity of Worcester, to serve under Lord Clinton, High Admiral, a letter was sent from the authorities of Worcester complaining that the commission the Sheriffs and Justices of the county had ordered a muster in the city, when by its charter — the city being a county of itself — they had no right to meddle with musters in the city, and that such musters could only be raised by special letters from the Sovereign.
In the first year of Elizabeth an order was issued from the Queen at Westminster to tlie bailiffs of Worcester to provide labourers to send to work at the fortifications of " our town of Barwicke," and the unsettled relations with France and Scotland, " Avherein our dcrest syster ye late Queene hath left this realmo remaininge," were alluded to. The muster orders for that year called out men between IG and 60 years of ago, and the Worcestershire soldiers wore white coats Avitli red crosses! In the city records is a letter to the baililfs of Worcester ordering the raising of men for the service of Queen Elizabeth in Ireland, dated Aug.
It seems, however, that the city refused to furnish more than four men for this service document relative to a muster in Harryson John Pytt, Avever Wm. Prowde Raph Stockdale Rd. Ireland was the principal field for the militaiy exploits of the "Worcester solilierj. In September, , occurs the following: A calyvr with his furniture xxiijs. A bowe with a burganett xiiijs. A corselet with his holbard xl. Three swords, daggers, and gyrdles.. Three men's apparel ivli.
The articles for mustering were very long and minute.
Lygon, and John Folliott, were the commissioners appomted to take charge of the miister m this county for the last-named year, and the numbers of " hahle men " taken in the said muster for "Worcestershire, exclusive of the city, were as follows: In another muster took place, when instruc- tions were given " to make choice rather of meet and hable husbandmen and formors somies that are likely to contmeAV in the place than of such artificers as comonly are removeinge.
The system was a bad one, the soldiers frequently became demoralised, and were a pest and a scourge to their own countrymen wherever they arrived, in consequence of their brutal violence and rapine. The authorities of towns, hearing of the approach of troops, woi;ld frequently go out to meet them, and bribe the officers to pass on to the next station, just as the inhabitants in some place in the east used to pray Heaven to carry the plague over their to-wn to their neighbours. Captain "VVolseley encouraged his soldiers to toss the Mayor of Scarborougli in a blanket, and said he Avonld make him know that the military was above the civil power.
No wonder that Englishmen wished the wars were over. In the aforesaid muster order of instructions were also given to pay regard to the maintenance of archery in every parish, and that " other unlawful games be utterly barred.
As a pleasant modern poet sings — The curtle-axe is out of date! The good old cross-bow bends to Fate ; 'Tis gone the archer's craft!
No tough arm bends the springing ye-vv, And jolly draymen ride in lieu Of Death ujDon the shaft. Farewell, then, ancient men of might! Crusader, errant-squire, and knight! Our coats and customs soften ; To rise would only make you weep! Sleep on, in rusty iron, sleep, As in a safety coffin! In the year last-named the following was issued, which will prove interesting to our modern riflemen: Then to teech him howe in handsom man'r he shall charge his peece, and after howe to laye it to his cheeke ; and being once acquainted howe to charge, then to teache him how to cary and shoote of his peece at randome, and afterwards to be towt to shoote at a marke certen, the same to be distante the iittermost levell of the peece.
Item, after being at the two first meetings experienced how to handell and charge his peece and to shoote at a marke, at the laste meetinge they are to be trayned further howe uppon a small stay eyther in marche or skyrmishe they may most redely shote and spedely charge and discharge the said peece. Item, at everie daye appointed in instruccons for the tramming the gentleman apoynted to this charge shal give order that the private per- sons apoynted to be trayned shall not use except at such time and in such order as he shalbe comanded so to do, provided that at everie such time of meeting he shal not shoote above ten shottes of the common alowance of bullett and powder allotted unto him by the chardges of the countrie.
Item, that the peces, before the trayning, be visited by the gentlemen, to be goode and meete for the purpose, and not such as are like to breake or doe any harme. Item, that good care be had and greate charge be given out in the tyme of the skyrmishe or exercise at theyr last meeting, no peece to be leden with bullett or otherwise, to be shott of whereby anie person may be harmed or put in hassard of lief or lyme.
Twenty bolts for the calyver of the tower is just one pound weight, and one pound of powder will make xxv. Then follow the names of 12 soldiers out of to be trained in the county , with an inventory of their accoutrements. The levies at this time were generally of men between In the following odd jumble of household furniture and armour is called — " An inventorie of the armore and harnes belonging to the cittie in the tymc of E,d.
Broke, x calyvers, whereof fyve were sent into Yerland Ireland ; x flasks and X tmche boxes, whereof fyve into Yerland ; ix head pecces and viij moulds, all sent into Yerland ; viij gorgetts of mayle ; vi black bylles, whereof iij remayneth ; one pottell potte, one quart pott, and one pinte of pewter, one payer of aundyers fire-dogs , one payer of tonges, one paire of tables, one fyre forke, one payre of bellowes, one fyre showell, ij mettclothes, one masser drinking bowl , bound at the tojjp with sylver, and a rose in the bothim, beinge parcel gylt ; one carpet of orrys worke and another Ycnyce carpett, sixe greatc quyssyons cushions and fyve siual qussions of sackcloth, ij vaynes of ireon weathercocks?
The towns of Evesham, Bengeworth, and Shipston, " by reason of the plague of thcyr povertic, not to be charged therewith. In France, Germany, and other countries, the salt is jjroduced artificially, in Avhat is called nitrarias, or nitre beds. I luivc hoai'il that iViigel-street took its name from an ancient hostelry called tlie Angel, at tlie top of the street, the back premises of which extended into Broad- street, by the side of Mr.
Skarratt's present shoji ; but this rec uires confirmation. In an old map this space is described as having then been All Saints' ]: Or Bar-l ourne may have meant the l ar, or gate, or boundary, at the brook. PoAvick-lane, Poytes-lanc in map. At the top of Bridge-street, and bottom of Broad-street, was the beast-market, from which an alley called Rush-alley ran down to the river in tlie same direction as the present Bridge-street. Here the poor rush-sellers held their little market from time immemo- rial, until the spring of , when they were ruth- lessly driven away by the police.
I agree witli my friend Mr. Haywood, Avho gave me these particulars, that probably this was one of the oldest market places in the city, as in the middle ages rushes were in con- stant use to strew the floors botli of our churches and private dwellings, before the application of Avood or stone to that purpose. Giles's, near Licldieath, commonly called Broadheath. Swan-pool was called Hardwick-pool, and belonged to the court-house of Hardwick IManor, within the manor of St. John's, and belonging to the Dean and Chapter.
One of the cottages now has a board on it with the name " Hard- wick's Spring Cottages. John's, towards Henwick; on an old map is named Rosemary- lane.
The entry of this exodus of the butchers is as follows: The order first appeared in England ahout , hut how well the regular monks of this country liked the im- portation may he gathered from the words used hy one of them: Thomas Border, it wiU be observed, has " a rownde taljell " in his " further chamber. We're looking for all available flights from to Subscribe to Grab Amazing Deals. Were these tenants the keepers of the Guildhall Coffee-house'? Elmlev Castle, ,
Probably that was before the opening of Henwick ]N"ew road. It is spelt in two ways hi one deed — as far back as Edward I. Biill had property there. This is a small part of the mischief done a few years ago by the meddling of a very incourpetcnt ] arty then in the Town Council, as I shall hereafter show. Birley's shop now is and facing Broad- street.
This was the Grass-cross, a market for butter, cheese, and fruit, being held there ; labom-ers and servants standing there at set tunes to be liired these al ininable m i] s are very ancient in Worcester. A high cross of stone stood there, and probably grass gi'ew more or less about the site. Allen's outfitting establish- ment ; also another inn called " The Talbot," celebrated for some of the venison feasts of the Corporation.
Michael's, under the powers of Acts of Parliament Geo. Eaton's was also previously closed lip vnth houses and gardens. As to the cemetery, the history of that will be found in my " Monastery and Cathedral of Worcester. Michael's Church opposite to its present site ; and close to the church a great bell tower or clochium, with lofty spire, covered with lead ; a great number of houses long since removed irregularly ranging on the north side of the Cathedral ; a chapel over the charnel-house, or subterranean deposit of human bodies, a portion of the vaidt being still in exis- tence, between the north porch of the Cathedral and the present gateway to the Deanery then the Bishop's Palace ; a great cross, at which sermons were preached to the citizens before the Reformation; an avenue of trees and patliway leading from the porch to the gates, and other trees around the bmying gromid ; a pathway from the north porch to St.
Michael's church, which then stood in the churchyard opposite to its present site ; a pathway from the College-grates to tlie back of the Talbot entry ; and a pathway from the lich-gate to St. Mary's Steps, near Edgar Tower which pathway was called St. Woof has obligingly shown me a tracing of the original MS. The lich-gate, through which all fiuierals passed, is stiU in existence near the Punch-bowl. Salt-Ian c, or Salt-way. At the bottom of this lane, the site of the present inlirmary Avas formerly called Artichoke Field.
Copenhagen, having a fancifid resemblance in sound to Cooken, Avas adoi ted perhaps in compliment to our neighbours the Danes, or in memory of the bombardment of their city ; the silly godfathers of the new name having no respect for the associations attached to the ducking or cucking-stool Avliich formerly conveyed scolding Avomen doAvn this Avay to the SeA'ern, and so gave rise to the ancient name of the street. In the palmy days of the clothing trade it was one of the most flourishing streets in the city ; and the Avoolsack, Avhich may still be seen carved on the liargeljoards of one of its old houses, AA'as the badge of that trade.
In this same street, about , lived John Jakeman, "barber, chinu'geon, and iimholder. Christopher Dighton one of the bailiffs or mayors , who figured largely on the occasion of Queen Elizabeth's visit to Worcester, held leases of several houses at the top of the street; and at the bottom, near the " key or wharf," was " a common storehouse- and prison called Eridewell for the said city;" this was in Cold Comfort was its ancient name.
Henry 6th ; and the very earliest mention of it yet met with about Edward 1st is Crow-nest. Xo doidit Crow-nest derived its name from an ancient rookery, as many names l oth of families and places originated from natm-al objects. Doldale, Dowldall in a will of Is not this name and that of Merryvale significant of church fasts, charities, and festivals 1 Although the Black Friars were themselves sturdy beggars, probably they dispensed doles to the poor in Dolday, which was just outside their walls, and assisted at the periodical rejoicings in Merryvale opposite.
This however is purely conjectiu-al. Edgar Tower was called " St. Mary's gate," " the great tower," or " gatelioiLse to the monastery " of St. The name of Edgar Tower seems a modern application, as I have nowhere met with it till the last ctintury ; and the same may be said of Edgar- street, which was probably a name given at the same time, as complimentary to the memory of King Edgar. Every one now knows that this tower could not have been built by that monarch, but Avas probably erected in the time of King John, as appears by a portion of the architecture, and there being, indeed, a tradition to that effect mentioned hj Habingdon.
With regard to Edgar-street, it was called " The Knoll," or " Knowle's- end," in allusion to the knoll or rising ground on which the gateway, castle, Sic, stood. In the most ancient records " Stodemaris' Knoll " is the name used. This means " the second tenement I'roni the hos] ice or inn called the Trumpet, towards the corner of the Knoll ; " this is curious.
Knowles-end is mentioned long ai'ler Edgar- street began, just as we still contin'ae and rightly so to use the names Salt-lane and Erog-lane instead of their absurd modern substitutes. Thomas, in his " Survey," says that Edgar-street was so called before In a map dated the name Edgar- street is iised, while Knowles-ond is applied to the bottom part or corner of the street.
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