heretofore it hathc been accustomed." But, after that year, commencing with 1587,[1] (and the handwriting, it is to be observed, continues the same, arguing that it was not the fancy of a different steward), the form is changed, and runs to this effect—"that the late officers have delivered over the somme of—of lawful Inglishe money, to be kepte to the use of the said Company e and Incorporacyon as hearetofore it hathe bene accustomed." But after all, this phrase may have no particular meaning either way, and be a mere facon de parler.
The Company have a silver awl, which is quite modern; and their corporate seal, an engraving of which has been given in page 159, is of no antiquity, having been made in 1680, at a cost of xlvijs while for the old one was received " in chainge" vij<sup|s}}[2] All inquiries for an impression of this have been unsuccessful. The present seal is of silver, oval, measuring 1⅞ by 1½ inches ; and the arms engraven on it are, Argent, a chevron sable, between three goats' heads erased. Crest, a goat's head erased.[3] From the arms of Companies given in Stowe's London, it appears that the goats' heads were borne by the craft generally, and not in Oxford alone; and this heraldic charge may have been allusive to the material from which the cordovan was originally prepared.
The writer cannot conclude these notices, without expressing his sincere acknowledgments to John Crews Dudley, Esq., the present Steward of the Company, by whose politeness and liberality he has been enabled to draw them up. J. WILSON.
Keeper.
In the " Collectanea " of the late Mr. Thomas War ton, from the Pipe Rolls, is the following note, p. 95 : " Corvesarii de Oxinford r. c. de xv sol. pro j niicia auri pro gilda sua. Et hi castaniento numerandi ct ponderandi. Thesaurum apud inton. apud Natalc. 33 Hen: "2." N.H. — In the liist imit of this memoir, at pase 1;V>* of the former .liiurniil. the following corrections should he made: In V2i line from top, /«)■ "o(oncl," remi "oh." VM Ww. for " hele,'" rcaii '• hole." Last line, ./'or " Toosdnyc," read " .Soundcye."
- ↑ 15. 9t.
- ↑ E. sub anil.
- ↑ The following extract from an unpub- lished letter of Aubrey to A. Wood, dated London, Vigil St. Peter & Paul, 1681, may be interesting on this subject. He says, " In my last I gave you some me- moirs of Cardinal Moreton": and that the tradie'on of ye country people in Dorset when I was a schoolboy at Blandford there was, that he was a shoemaker's son of Bere in Com" predict, but Sir Wm. Dug- dale (who desires to be remembred to you, and begins to recover) sayes by no mcancs, I must not putt in writing Hear- mycs. His coat is thus, w"^*" some thing resembles the Shoemakers amies, who give 3 goates heades, as you may see in the sign without Bocardo. This coate of Moreton is in a West Chamber of the Katherine Wheele lime at great Wiecomb in Bucks, wth (as I remember) the Cardi- nal's cappe." The arms, drawn with a pen, are, Quarterly 1 & 4, a single goat's head, erased.The original letter is in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford ; from which a copy has been communicated by Mr. W. Kirtland, Deputy
