210
NOTES AND QUERIES. [ii s. in. MAR. is, ion.
is one of the soundest and most trustworthy
of cookery books, and combines technical
usefulness with a quaint narrative and
many apposite quotations, evidence of wide
reading and research. I have always had
an idea that Sir Walter Scott had a hand
in its compilation (see ' St. Ronan's
Well '), but can find no authentic informa-
tion on the subject. "Meg Dods " is evi-
dently a nom de guerre. Who was she ?
And where does Scott come in ? if at all.
FBANK SCHLOESSEB.
LONDON GUNSMITHS AND THEIR
WORK. (US. iii. 49.)
I HAVE had fifty years' personal connexion with the London gun trade, and a previous generation of the family had thirty years* similar connexion. I have constantly been on the look-out for anything in print which would form a history of the trade, but have not found anything of the kind.
For generations the gunmaker has been an individual artificer, or nearly so, the two or three men of each generation who proved themselves the cleverest craftsmen generally becoming of note as years went by, and keeping the secrets of their speciality to themselves and just a small band of helpers. The publicity of print would have been regarded by them as little short of sacrilege.
MB,. RODGEB in his contribution offers one or two conclusions which I believe are erroneous. Staudenmayer, he suggests, did not mind which way his name -was spelt. I have not the least doubt he spelt his name in its proper way, but his reputation was considerable, and after his death his name was pirated, and to avoid the risks of prosecution certain letters of the name were altered, which the unwary did not observe. As a young man I was taught that when the name was spelt other than Stauden- mayer the weapon was spurious, and should be dealt with as such.
" Collaboration," I think, is a misleading term in this connexion. I have never heard of two rival gunmakers working to produce the same gun, but what often happens is that a gun is met with of which the barrels bear one name and the locks another. The reason for this generally is that some accident has happened to the original barrels, or they may have actually worn out before the locks, and new barrels have been fitted
a different maker to the old locks, the
new barrels being engraved with the name
of the maker of them.
Tatham & Egg are quoted. This probably arises from such a cause as mentioned above, aecause Egg was in business before Tatham was born. I have conversed with the younger generation of the Egg family and seen Tatham, but knew them as rivals, not partners.
Some forty years ago I took over the shop in Pall Mall in which D. Egg's business had been carried on since the early part of the century. His proper name may have been Durward, but we knew him as Durs " Egg in contradistinction to his brothers Joseph and Henry, the two latter carrying on business at the original address, No. 1, Piccadilly. This was the prominent corner of Piccadilly and Glasshouse Street until that island block of houses was pulled down to make room for the enlarged thoroughfares and fountain now known as Piccadilly Circus. This was about 1880.
Section 4 mentions Baker several times These references are probably to the business of F. T. Baker, who died a few years ago, and was the third generation of Bakers who had carried on the business. This was carried on -at three different addresses to my knowledge, being for about a quarter of a century in Fleet Street, next door to the ' publishing offices of Punch.
To division 4 should be added S. & C. Smith, Prince's Street, the inventors of a kind of percussion cap which had much vogue in its day.
Goldsmiths and silversmiths have at times to be brought to the aid of the gunmaker when costly decorated weapons are required, and such I have had recourse to in quite recent years, the gunmaker possibly first making the part in steel, the silver worker then copying in silver a part to be used in substitution for the steel, and between these two workers an artist is employed to design ornamentation which will decorate the part without destroying its efficiency.
- The Gun and Rifle,' published by The
Field about twenty years ago, covered much of what had been done for some years previously, but mentioned only a few of those engaged in the trade.
T. W. W.
To MB. RODGEB'S list might be added William Plasse of St. Botolph, Aldgate, gunsmith, who on 18 Feb., 1618/19, was granted licence by the Bishop of London to marry Phoebe Waters of the same, and
