210
NOTES AND QUERIES. [9 th s. XL MARCH 14, 1903.
SHARPE points out, that statera is the first
official word found to have been used to
signify this king's beam a statement, of
course, applying to the beam itself we are
still left in doubt, owing to the conflicting
opinions of other London historians, as to the
origin of the name of the place where the
ttatera was used. With regard to a frequently
accepted explanation that the word, as ap-
plied to the depdt of the German merchants,
is an anglicized corruption of the German
Stapel-hof, a sort of goods yard, thus stapel
contracted to stael, and Ao/=yard, one may
certainly adduce in its favour some respect-
able authorities. Among these are Brayley
in his 'London and Middlesex,' Herbert's
'Twelve Livery Companies,' Wheatley (and
Lambecius, quoted by Wheatley), arid Pen-
nant. But they all fail to cite a single docu-
ment containing this word. On the other
hand, the learned historian Dr. Johann Lap-
penberg, in his 'Authentic History of the
Steelyard' (' Urkundliche Geschichte des
Hansischen Stahlhofes zu London '), con-
sistently speaks of the " Stahlhof " or "Stahl-
hofe," nowhere, I think, alluding to the
"Staelhof." And as to steel being the prin-
cipal product in which these merchants
trafficked, that article is nowhere commented
upon as being the staple commodity imported
by the Hanse merchants. On the contrary,
if the place had been named after the prin-
cipal article of commerce that passed through
their hands, either wool or iron would doubt-
less have suggested a name, for the gild in
its prosperity is said to have exported annually
40,000 pieces of cloth, whilst all the English
merchants united exported only 11,000 pieces.
And as to imports, Pennant who, while
countenancing the "Stapel-hof" notion, says
"the name of the wharf is not taken from
steel "adds that in his time the place was
" the great repository of the imported iron which furnishes our metropolis with that necessary material. The quantity of bars that fill the yards and warehouses of this quarter strike with astonish- ment the most indifferent beholder." Ed. 1790 p. 306.
So also Thomas Allen in his ' Hist, and An- tiquities of London,' 1828, vol. iii. p. 514. And still less probable is it that in the earliest stages of its history the gild imported steel in sufficient quantities to suggest the name for the depdt, for the great antiquity of the German trade must not be overlooked. Its merchants are known to have settled here before the year 967, a regulation of King Lthelred of that date declaring that " the Emperor's men or Easterlings, coming with their ships to Belin's-gate, shall be accounted
worthy of good laws" (' Histor. Keminiscences
of the City of London,' by Thomas Arundell,
1869, p. 22).
Miss Helen Zimmern, in her 'Story of the Hansa Towns,' 1889, states, without, however, citing her authorities, that it has been now pretty well established that the name Steelyard took its rise from the fact that on this spot stood the great balance of the City of London known as the Steelyard, on which all exported or imported merchandise had to be officially weighed. It was after the Treaty of Utrecht in 1474 that the German factory first took its name, from the circumstance that its domain was then greatly enlarged.^
The interesting problem therefore remains without a solution, namely, was the Steelyard mployed by the merchants of Almaine at their depdt in Thames Street made wholly of steel? And if so, was it a yard in length, as the name would certainly seem to indicate 2 Further, when was the name of the weighing instrument transferred to the place where it was used 1 ? and why should not " Steelyard " be a corruption of Easterling-yard for brevity's sake, by trans- posing the first four letters of " Easterling," and adding the letter I ? There is a steel- yard from Caria in the Grseco-Roman Depart- ment of the British Museum which is about 3ft. 4 in. long, English measure; and I myself saw one unearthed on the site of Messrs. Pilkington's glass factory in Upper Thames Street in 1890, which, if I remember rightly, was less than 2 ft. in length, with an incised ornamentation. I believe, though I may be wrong, that no example of the English Steelyard of a yard in length exists in any museum in this country, certainly not in the City and British museums. There is a good account of the Steelyard at the time it was demolished, by T. C. Noble, in the Builder of 5 September, 1863 ; and works on the Hanseatic League which might be use- fully consulted are: ' Histoire^ommerciale de la Ligue Hanseatique,' par Emile Worms, 1864; Mallet, 'La Ligue Hanseatique'; Schlozer, ' Verfall und Untergang der Hansa' ; and McCullough's 'Diet, of Commerce,' 1882.
J. HOLDEN MACMlCHAEL.
ANCIENT DEMESNE on CORNWALL FEE (9 th
S x. 443 ; xi. 153). The Hundred Rolls of
3 Edward I. contain many entries such as
the following: "The Manor of Sidbury was
anciently part of the king's demesne, but the
Dean and Chapter now hold the same in
regard to the Manor of Nether Ottery."
From this it may be gathered that the
memory of their origin clung to some estates
