King, ship, and sword, and Power of the Sea.”
“Our enemies,” said Capgrave, “laugh at us. They say,‘Take the ship off your gold noble and impress a sheep instead.’” The origin of England’s claim to the sovereignty of the sea, which was constantly advanced even in times of national degradation, was, I believe, a survival from the time when the Roman Fleet, which was maintained for the police of the narrow seas, made and sustained an Emperor, first Carausius, and then Allectus—this fleet had its headquarters sometimes at Southampton, sometimes at Dover, and sometimes at Boulogne, and was undoubtedly sovereign of the sea. The Fleet which King John—under whom the Channel was safe—placed upon the sea was the successor and the heir of the Fleet of Admiral Carausius. The first merchant ship whose name is preserved is the Little Edward. She was lying off Margate in the year 1315, when she was attacked and carried off by the French. Her owner and commander was one John Brand: she was bound for Antwerp: her cargo of wool belonged to three merchants of the Hanse. The ship—probably not a very large vessel—was valued at £40 and the cargo at £120. In the same year a great galley or dromond of Genoa, laden with corn and other provisions for London, was attacked and taken by French pirates. She was estimated to be worth—cargo and ship—£5716: 12s., or about £100,000 of our money. The incorporation of the Merchant Adventurer gave a stimulus to foreign trade in English vessels. London Merchants established themselves on the shores of the Baltic, in Sweden, in the Netherlands, and in the Levant. In the north they encountered the hostility of the Hansard: there was fighting continually: on one occasion all the English merchants at Bergen were massacred. In the Channel, during this century, piracy revived, and became again a great and pressing evil. But that the English ships were not deterred by the dangers innumerable which threatened them is proved by the fact that, in 1438, all the Genoese merchants in London were arrested in a body, put into prison and fined 6000 marks, because the ship belonging to one Sturmyer, a merchant of Bristol, had been seized in the Levant on an alleged charge of breaking the regulations of trade. If a Bristol merchant traded so far, the London merchants, one may be quite certain, penetrated to the same waters. There were also pilgrimages over the seas, and especially during the fifteenth century, to the shrine of St. Iago de Compostella, the tomb of the Apostle James himself. In the year 1434 two vessels sailed from London carrying eighty and sixty pilgrims respectively. And in the reign of Edward IV. no English merchants were allowed to ship goods in foreign ships unless there were no English ships ready for them. At the same time the tonnage of ships had so greatly increased that Canynges of Bristol owned a great ship of 900 tons.
The ships, lying off the quays of Billingsgate and Queenhithe, were the great galleys of Gascony laden with casks of wine, the woad ships of Picardy, the scuts of Flanders, the whelk-boats of Essex, the great vessels of Almaine and Norway, the fleets that came every year sweeping over the seas from Genoa to Southampton and London, the ships which carried on the trade of the Hanse merchants, the fishing-boats and trawlers, the sea-coal boats called “kattes,” the barges and lighters which carried their cargoes up and down the river, the coasting boats which brought stores for building, and which, when not lying off the quays, were moored in the river below London Bridge. And always, all day long, there was the uproar of the sailors and of those who loaded and unloaded; and the din of the markets; and everywhere the serjeants’ men went in and out among the throng, seeing that trade regulations were complied with, that every sack lay open, that foreigners dealt not in retail, that foreigners cleared their goods in a certain time, that there was no underselling. And high above the uproar arose, from every ship of every country as she reached the Port and dropped her anchor, the sailors’ Hymn of Praise to the Virgin that their voyage was safely concluded. This Hymn was the same for all the countries of Western Europe. It adds to the picturesque aspect of the Mediæval Port that when the ships came up the river, when they rounded the point of Deptford and Rotherhithe, the Genoese or Venetian galley, galliot, galleasse—sweeping up against the tide with their banks of oars, the heavy Bordeaux ship laden with wine, sailing up with wind and tide, the craft whose names convey no meaning to us, from each as it arrived in the Pool was heard the same hymn sung by all the ship’s company together, in the midst of the noise of loading and unloading, the dropping or the weighing of anchor, or the casting off of other ships, with the sailors’ chanteys in their own language. It was by special permission that the sailors in Greek ships were allowed to sing their “Kyriele” instead of the Hymn to the Virgin, when the ship dropped anchor below the Bridge.
The Rules of Trade, as set forth in the Liber Albus, are many and stringent. I append the more important. The Ordinances bear date 13 Ed. I.
1. Corn Dealers. Corn brought to London by land is to be taken in bulk to the Market within Newgate before the Friars Minors or at Gras chirche (Gracechurch Street). That “none” of it is to be sold before the hour of Prime, i.e. 6 A.M. to 7 A.M. And that corn brought by water shall be offered to the common people by retail during a whole day.
2. On Forestalling. It is forbidden to meet dealers coming with their wares by land or water before they have put up their wares for sale.
3. No one to sell anything dutiable until he has paid the duty.
4. No freeman of the City to enter into partnership with a stranger (i.e. one who is not a freeman).
5. Bakers are to make loaves of two sizes, viz. two for a penny, and four for a penny. Bread shall be sold in the market only. Every baker to have his own stamp by which his bread may be known. The baker of brown bread not to make white bread and the converse. A baker shall not buy corn to sell it again. A baker shall not sell his flour to cooks for making pastry. Once a month every baker’s bread shall be examined.
If a baker be found to be selling bread under weight he is to be placed on a hurdle with the faulty loaf hanging from his neck and dragged through the “great streets where there may be most people assembled and through the great streets which are the most dirty.” For a second offence he is to be dragged in like manner and set in pillory. For a third offence he is to be dragged, set in pillory, his oven pulled down and himself forbidden to carry on that trade any longer.
A baker is not allowed to give the regratess (i.e. the woman who retails bread from house to house) the “handsel money” of sixpence on Monday or the “curtesy-money” of threepence on Friday: but, instead, he is to give her thirteen loaves as twelve.
6. Of Brewers and Taverners. No measures to be used except the gallon, pottle, and quart. These are to be stamped by the Alderman. The tun of the brewster (brewing was conducted principally by women) to contain 150 gallons. And since the measures (which were made of wood) do sometimes shrink from dryness, they are to be examined four times a year.
7. No stranger to sell by retail in the City unless he has been received into the freedom and enrolled at Guildhall.
No stranger to keep an Inn or to let lodgings in the City.
If a stranger, however, obtain the freedom of the City he may keep an Inn in any part of the City except the river-side.
8. All citizens to be in scot and lot. Scot is the payment of contributions and taxes, Lot, the assessment of it in due proportions.
9. No pigs to be allowed in the streets and lanes. If any man find a pig in the street he may kill it and keep it.
10. Markets to be held only in places assigned. Retailers of provisions not to buy before Prime.
11. None but freemen to receive apprentices. No time of apprenticeship to be less than seven years. And an apprentice who has served his time must take up his freedom and be enrolled before he carries on his trade.
12. The Mayor, Sheriffs, Aldermen, or their serjeants, clerks, and bedels, shall not keep a baker’s oven, or a tavern, or any trade of low repute.
13. Carts carrying firewood, timber, or charcoal, not to stand in the City except on Cornhill.
14. No one to go into Southwark for the purchase of corn, beasts, or other merchandise whereby a market might be established.
15. Lepers not to go about the streets or to sleep in the City. They are to have their common “attorney” or procter who shall go round the Churches on Sunday morning to collect alms for them.
16. Sellers of fish not to throw their water into the streets but to carry it to the Thames.
17. Schools for fencing and buckler play not to be kept within the City.
18. Foreign butchers (i.e. butchers who have not the freedom of the City) to bring into the City the hides and pelts of the oxen and sheep: to be allowed to sell their meat until high noon (Riley interprets this to mean from one to three o’clock).
19. All the lanes leading from Thames Street to the river to be kept clear so that persons on horseback may ride up and down.
20. No tavern to be kept open after curfew.
21. Boatmen to have their boats moored by sunset.
22. Woolfels to be sold in open market.
23. Regulations as to the making of furs.
24. Merchants bringing goods to the City to be allowed to proceed without molestation.
25. Labourers, i.e. carpenters, masons, plasterers, tilers, etc., are to be paid according to the orders of the Mayor and Aldermen.
26. Fishmongers not to buy fish before the hour of Prime.
No market was to be held on London Bridge, especially by Fripperers, or dealers in old clothes. No market was to be made in Southwark.
Barbers were not to expose blood in their windows, but were ordered to throw it into the river. They were also forbidden to carry on their trade on Sundays. Bowyers were forbidden to send bows for sale to Cornhill or to any other place in the City. What does this mean?
Goldsmiths were to have a private mark on every piece. Smiths were to have their private mark on every sword or knife. Hostelers were those who lodged and fed the servants and horses of their guests. Herbergeours gave them lodging only. Strangers were not lodged in taverns. Strangers and foreigners were not, as a rule, permitted to let lodgings. A stranger could only be admitted for a day and a night. After that, the hosteler had to be responsible for any offences a guest might commit. Hostelers were forbidden to sell food and drink to any but their guests. They were not allowed to brew or to make bread.
The “articles” of the ward motes overlapped in some particulars the Trade Regulations. I take a few clauses. Strangers could only be received for a night and a day unless the host became responsible for them. No open fireplace was to be placed near partitions, or boards, or in any upper room. All persons were to give their assistance to the Officers of the Ward in arresting disorderly or rebellious persons. Residents in great houses to keep a ladder or two for the use of their neighbours. From Whit Sunday to St. Bartholomew’s a barrel full of water to be kept before every house. The roof of every house to be of tile, stone, or lead. Crooks and cords to be provided to pull down houses in case of fire. No refuse to be thrown into the street. No pigs or cows allowed within the houses. Stalls not to be more than 2½ feet in width before the house. Pent-houses to be so high that persons can ride and walk below them.
Before every Ward Mote there is to be an Inquisition into the observance of these ordinances and a few other points.
Viz.: If there is any huckster in the Ward.