Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 7.djvu/514

This page needs to be proofread.

506 NOTES AND QUERIES. [ll S. VIl. June 28, 1913. Bakers (Brown and White).—The latter -were incorporated about 1307. The records n.entioned must refer to the "Brown"— incorporated 19th of James. My authority ■of 1691 implies that both descriptions of bakers were working, while in 1708 there is no distinction. Barber-Surgeons.—Were first incorporated, -as Barber Chirurgeons, 1308, and by Act of Parliament, Barber Surgeons, in the 32nd year of Henry VIII. The Records are very late. Basket Makers.—I have not found any note of their incorporation or working. Broderers—were known as " Embroider- ers " in 1691 ; incorporated 1561. Their place of meeting was " a, handsome building, situated on the west side of Gutter Lane." Their Records must be missing. Butchers—must have been a " brother- hood " long before the Records or their incorporation, which was in 1604. Carpenters.—Their Records show existence bofore incorporation, which was in 1476. Glockmakers.—Of course clocks were made in this country long before the dates re Registers, &c. but personally I have not found authority for a recognized " Com- pany " up to the end of the seventeenth ■century ; but coat of arms appears about the end of following century. Clothworkers.—These were the twelfth Company. Incorporated about 1520. Cooks.—Incorporated 1481. Do not seem to have any Records preserved or obtained. Coopers—were incorporated in 1500. Here, then, the Records appear previous to the date of incorporation. Cordwainers.—Were incorporated in 1438, and their Charter was confirmed by Queen Mary, then by Elizabeth, and by King James. The early Records may not be in existence. Curriers—are a very ancient Company, but were only incorporated 1005. Cutlers—are not referred to, but a very ancient body. Incorporated in 1413. Drapers.—If the first Book of Records begins in 1475, then probably the earliest record has been lost, because they were incorporated in 1438. They were the third Company—rich and powerful. Fishmongers.—There were two Companies —Stock and Salt; they were united in 1536. Charter and Arms then settled. Earlier records ought to exist. Alfred Chas. Jonas. {To be continued.) The Earliest Work on Lawn Tennis. —As there appears to be no copy of Major Wingfield's pamphlet in the British Museum Library, and the first edition is mentioned only from hearsay in Foster's ' Bibliography of Lawn Tennis,' the following particulars may be of interest. The contents consist of pp. (l)-8, size 7 in. by 5 in., and the title reads:— " The Major's Game of Lawn Tennis, dedicated to the party assembled at Nantclwyd. In December, 1873. By W. C. W. London : Harrison and Sons, 59, Pall Mall. [Entered at Stationers' Hall]." On p. (5) is a woodcut illustration of a game in progress. The front of the wrapper is lithographed in black and red, with n design showing a tennis net and crossed rackets, and is inscribed: " Scfcupio-TiKTJ or Lawn Tennis. To be obtained only from French & Co., 46, Churton St., S.W." This design and the inscription are repeated (nearly. but not exactly, in facsimile) on the back of the wrapper. On the second page of the wrapper is the following notice :— " This game has been tested practically at several Country Houses during the past few months, and has been found so full of interest and so great a success, that it lias been decided to bring it before the Public, being protected by Her Majesty's Roval IiCtters [Arms] Patent. Useful ffiiilj. Hit" your ball gently, and look well before striking, so as to place it in the corner most remote from your adversary. A great deal of side can be imparted to the ball by the proper touch, which, together with a nice appreciation of strength, adds much to the delicacy and science of the game." On the third page of the wrapper is an advertisement stating that the game was supplied " in a painted Box," price 5 guineas, the implements including " 4 Tennis Bats. by Jefferies and Mailings." B. T. K. Smith. Burns's Friend Thomson.—In Crabb Robinson's 'Diary,' under date 11 Nov., 1839, this entry occurs :— " A party at Masquerier's. Hubert Thompson, an old man. an octogenarian, was the attraction. He was more than the publisher of Burns's Songs —he occasioned the composition of many. He is a specimen of Scotch vitality. He fiddled and sang Scotch songs all the evening." The diarist's reference is, of course, to George Thomson (1759-1851). editor of the ' Colfection of Scottish Airs,' to which Burns contributed over 120 songs. While it is true that Thomson sometimes stimulated the poet to good purpose, it is also the case that more than once he did him an ill-turn by officious- ness. Two examples may be mentioned. Readers who make the acquaintance of