Page:Notes and Queries - Series 2 - Volume 1.djvu/320

 312

NOTES AND QUERIES.

[2nd g. NO 16., APKIL 19. '66.

under the Duke of Wellington in the Peninsula, and at Waterloo; and had the honour of dressing the only wound his Grace received." Times, April 9, 1856.

R. W. HACKWOOD.

How Calumniators were punished in Poland. The enclosed extract deserves a corner in "N. & Q." :

" The convicted calumniator of a senator in Poland was compelled, in full senate, to lie upon the ground under the stall of him whose honour he had attacked, and then declare aloud, that in spreading abroad injurious reports against the honourable senator, he, the calumniator, bad lied like a dog. He must then, three different times, imitate the barking of a dog." General History of Po- land, by M. le Chevalier de Polignac, vol. iii.

R. R.

TOWN AND CORPOBATION SEALS.

Has any illustrated history of the town and cor- poration seals of the various counties of England, Scotland, and Ireland yet been published? I make this Query, though I believe that there is yet none ; and I am greatly surprised that no one has yet undertaken it, as the subject is a most in- teresting one in an antiquarian, historical, and "fine art" point of view, many of the matrices of the older seals being really "gems" in their de- sign and execution, and having quaint legends attached to the devices which they bear. Repre- sentations of ancient seals are often given in town and county histories, and others are now and then described at the meetings of the various anti- quarian societies ; but, so far as I know, the sub- ject of our corporation seals, as a distinct work by itself, has never yet engaged the attention of any one ; and I would therefore strongly urge the importance of this rare archaeological mine being worked by men who have leisure and opportuni- ties for consulting the necessary books, charters, and MSS., as the result of their labours would, I am satisfied, be most gratifying. If England was taken up by one, Scotland by another, and Ire- land by a third, and a quarto volume, to match, advertised as being in preparation by each, con- tributions of impressions, or drawings of seals, and other information would, I doubt not, be cheer- fully sent in to them by brother antiquaries from all quarters, as well as by the various town clerks. The latter I always found most ready not only to give me any information in their power, but also impressions from ancient matrices, complete sets of which, from the earliest, are still in existence in many places in Scotland, such as St. Andrews and Lanark, and I doubt not that similar sets are still extant in England and Ireland.

In my younger days I proposed compiling such an illustrated history of the town seals of Scot-

land, and collected for this purpose numerous specimens of them, both ancient and modern, from the various town clerks; but a residence in a foreign country, and subsequent want of leisure, and of access to the necessary works, prevented me from carrying out my wish. I gave copies, or casts, however, of several of the specimens I then collected to Mr. Laing of Edinburgh, whose most valuable collection of ancient Scottish seals in sulphur would now render the task I then pro- posed a very light one. I often recall with plea- sure recollections of my "raids" after ancient seals, and the delight I felt when I secured some of them, such as those of Stirling, St. Andrew's, and Arbroath, which were nearly as large as breakfast-plates, and covered with the quaintest old devices in high relief. The same enthusiasm would, I am convinced, be felt by others, if the subject was taken in hand ; and as I sincerely hope it may by three kindred spirits in the sister kingdoms, I may mention the plan I proposed adopting in my contemplated history of seals, as I think it would be the best system, to follow, if what I now suggest is carried out.

The form of the volume to be quarto, as many of the seals are very large ; to commence with an introduction as to the origin of corporations and their seals ; then to divide Scotland into counties, giving an account of the origin of the armorial or other devices on the seals of each town separately in that county, with engravings of the several seals employed, from the earliest to those now in use ; these to be outlined woodcuts merely, as the ex- pense would not be great, and the design of each seal could be at once seen, in connexion with the illustrative letter-press ; the materials for these woodcuts to be derived from impressions of ma- trices, old deeds, ancient carvings, town histories, and other sources ; the historical incidents, or le- gendary tales connected with the change in each device, I meant to have narrated in a pleasant, chatty, gossiping manner, so as to have made the book a really readable one; while its series of woodcuts of the seals of each town would, I well knew, from what I bad seen of them, especially of the older ones, be a rare treat, from their beauty and singularity. Where guilds or other societies possessed ancient matrices of seals, such as those of the Hammermen of Edinburgh and Dundee, I meant to have added outlines of them also, in connexion with their several towns.

Such is the method I would suggest, while forming histories of corporation seals of England, Scotland, and Ireland, and I sincerely trust that my suggestions will be carried out by some three of your readers possessing more leisure and greater facilities than I now do. E. C.

Glasgow.