ASSOCIATE MEMBERS. Brownbill, John, M.A. 56 Aldcliff Road, Dolan, Dom Gilbert, O.S.B. St. Wulstan's Shaw, George Thomas. Chief Librarian, Waite, James A. 6 Fairfield Street, Fairfield, HONORARY MEMBERS. Avebury, Lord, P.C., F.R.S., F.S.A. High Coughtrey, Millen. London Street, Otago, New Zealand. Hooker, Sir Joseph Dalton, C.B. The Camp, LIST OF SOCIETIES IN CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE HISTORIC SOCIETY OF LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE. Society of Antiquaries of London. Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. Royal Historical and Archæological Society of Ireland. Royal Archæological Institute, London. Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle-on-Tyne. Kent Archæological Society. Somersetshire Archæological Society. Sussex Archæological Society. Chester Archæological Society. Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian Society. Leicestershire Archæological Society. Yorkshire Archæological Society. Shropshire Archæological Society. Architectural and Archæological Society of Lincoln and Notts. Manchester Literary Club. Suffolk Archæological Institute, New England Genealogical Society. County Kildare Archæological Society. Thoresby Society, Leeds. TRANSACTIONS MERCHANTS' MARKS AND OTHER MEDIEVAL PERSONAL MARKS By J. Paul Rylands, F.S.A. Read 24th November 1910 OCCASIONAL questions by some members of the Society and other friends in regard to the meaning and origin of merchants' marks suggest that a paper on the subject, albeit an imperfect one, may not be unacceptable. The most that can be accomplished, however, in the present attempt will be the bringing together of some of the opinions expressed by heraldic authors from time to time concerning personal marks, and the figuring of a few typical specimens of marks, with occasional comments. But little has been printed in this country' on the subject of these ancient marks, and before the materials requisite for a satisfactory account of them can be obtained it will be necessary to collect particulars of many examples in addition to those that have already been engraved, which are scattered through various publications. It will be important, when possible, to note the names and occupations of the persons by whom they were used, where they occur, 1 The following foreign works (which, however, have not been seen by the writer) treat of marks, viz., Revue des Traditions Populaires, 1901, &c.; Die Haus- und Hofmarken, by E. G. Homeyer, Berlin, 1890; Göttinger Hausmarken und Familienwappen, by Lüder Borstmann, Göttingen, 1904; Hausmarken von Altona, Ottensen und Umgegend, by P. Piper; Schleswig-Holsteinische Hausmarken, by P. Piper. A whether on seals, in windows, or on the walls or woodwork of churches or houses, and their dates, or approximate dates, if procurable. It is hardly possible to assign a definite origin to merchants' marks. There can be little doubt that, in the days when reading and writing were very uncommon accomplishments, personal marks of some kind were almost indispensable to men who were engaged in any occupation or business, and might be used by them for a variety of purposes; so that many marks would be well known, in the places where their owners lived, by neighbours who were unable to read a name written in the clearest and boldest letters, and some marks would be almost as easily recognised as we know the arms and badges of the nobles were by their followers and others. Probably all the different classes of personal marks were derived from a common source, though some of them occupied an honourable distinction never attained by others. Mr. Benjamin Williams, F.S.A., in a letter On the Land of Ditmarsh1 and the Mark Confederation, printed in Archæologia, vol. xxxvii. pp. 370390, refers to the use of personal marks in very early times, on the division of common lands, and describes the mode of division by lot by means of runes cut on small pieces of wood in the North of Europe-a similar mode being used in England for the common meadows, except that the mark was cut out on the turf itself. He also mentions that Professor Michelsen traces these marks to a prehistoric period, and considers armorial bearings to have been originally little more than decorated marks engrafted as it were upon the system. 1 The republican community of Ditmarsh dwelt on land between the mouths of the Elbe and the Eider, on the western coast of the province of Schleswig, and existed for centuries until the promulgation of the new Danish Code of Laws in 1554. |
