Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 8.djvu/600

 494 NOTES AND QUERIES. ri2s.vm.juxE is, 1921. the last moment, while another, by Dwerry- i house of Berkeley-square, might have been | seen at Messrs. Hampton and Sons' galleries ; in Pall Mall East, in December of the same | year. It was richly decorated with black j and lacquer, and had a very bold and | finely executed dial, on which the minutes | past the hour were indicated in a secondary i circle of ordinary or Arabic figures. Arthur Hayden's ' Chats on Old Clocks ' ; deals at length (p. 124 et seq.) with this j class of timepiece. There is an illustration ; of one, of about 1785, by John Grant of Fleet Street, but it is more elaborately decorated than most. Reference to these clocks also appeared in The Times of Nov. 24, Nov. 27, Dec. 1, Dec. 12, 1919, &c. | CHAS. HALL CROUCH. 204, Hermon Hill, South Woodford. Mr. Arthur Hay den, in ' Chats on Old Clocks,' p. 124 (T. Fisher Unwin, Ltd. ; London, 1917), writes of the above as follows : We interpolate here a short outline of a class ! of clocks which appeals to collectors. In j America they are termed " banjo clocks." A j good deal has been written about them, con- ! necting them with Pitt's tax on clocks and watches j in 1797, of five shillings on each clock per annum, j which Act was repealed in the next year. It is I supposed that these clocks suddenly came into ! being when private clocks were taxed, and were ', used in inns. Owing to such a deep-seated belief j they are always known throughout the country ! as " Act of Parliament " clocks. But they ! were used earlier than the Act of 1797, and were j probably inn clocks in common use about that time. They were wall clocks varnished with I black lacquer, mostly plain, but sometimes I decorated in gold. Often the figures were in white and they had no protective glass. . . . The term " Act of Parliament " clocks must, therefore, be discarded ; these clocks were common inn clocks, and had nothing to do with the Act levying the tax in 1797. D. K. T. Your correspondent is referred to ' English Domestic Clocks,' by Herbert Cescinsky and Malcolm R. Webster (2nd ed., Routledge; London, 1914), in which the authors say : The usual title for the long-waisted circular or octagonal-dialed clocks is that of " Act of Parliament." It was in 1797 that Pitt imposed a tax of 5s. per annum on clocks, the Act stating that " For and upon every clock or timekeeper, by whatever name the same shall be called, which shall be used for the purpose of a clock, and placed in or upon any dwellinghouse, or any office or building thereunto belonging, or any other building whatever, whether public or ; private, belonging to any person or persons, or company of persons, or any body, corporate or) politick, or collegiate, or which shall be kept and used by any person or persons in Great Britian, there shall be charged the annual duty of 5s." The Act relating to clocks was very unpopular and was withdrawn in the following year. During the period of its operation, how- ever, it became the custom for innkeepers, all over the country, to hang large clocks in their public rooms, for the benefit of such customers as had disposed of their watches to escape the duty. These were known as " Act of Parliament ' ' clocks, and the custom persisted long after the Act was repealed. It may be mentioned that in addition to the above tax on clocks there was imposed a tax of 10s. per annum on gold watches, and 2s. 6d. per annum on silver watches or those of any other material. WM. SELF WEEKS, Westwood, Clitheroe. Illustrations of " Act of Parliament " clocks will be found in Cescinsky' s ' English Domestic Clocks ' ; Britten's ' Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers,' and in Moore's ' The Old Clock Book.' Each of these books gives an account of the tax and of the protests made by the clock- makers of the country. These clocks wer& plain affairs, and usually had a large dial of wood, painted black, with gilt figures not covered by a glass, and a trunk long enough to allow of a seconds pendulum. The clocks were usually found in inns and taverns for the benefit of the customers. Cescinsky says : It is curious to notice how a title once bestowed has the habit of persisting long after the occasion which caused it to arise has ceased to exist. The usual title for the long-waisted, circular or octagonal dial clocks is that of " Act of Parlia- ment," and the cause of the name is historical and interesting. ... It is probable that these mural clocks were in existence prior to the passing of the Act, but that the tax caused' them to be removed from private dwellings and to be fixed in public places. ARCHIBALD SPABKE. A full account of " Act of Parliament Clocks," with an illustration, is to be found in F. J. Britten's ' Old Clocks and Watches and their Makers,' 1899, pp. 336 and 337. When the inquiry appeared in 11 S. x. (Aug. 15, 1914) I made a note in the margin of my copy, but the war was just beginning and I did not find time to reply. DIEGO. "MAGDALEN 5 ' OB " MAWDLEN " (12 S. viii. 366, 417, 453). John Wyclif has in his Bible " and Mary Mawdaleyne went to the tomb." R. T. HALES. Holt, Norfolk.