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ABOUT 1520 it became common
in the leading burghs in Scotland for the Magistrates to grant Seals of
Cause to the different bodies of craftsmen. The power to form
associations and elect deacons had already been conferred on the
craftsmen by Act of Parliament and Royal Charters, but attached to that
power was the condition that the deacons must be elected with consent of
the Town Council or chief officer of the town. By this time most of the
burghs had, such as it was, a regularly elected municipality or
governing body, and, as the deacons were empowered to exercise judicial
functions over the members of their own crafts, it became necessary to
define their jurisdiction by means of charters granted by the aldermen,
baillies, and communities. Under these local charters or Seals of Cause,
the deacons were granted "full, plain, and free powers, express
jurisdiction and authority to correct, punish, and amend all manner of
crimes, trespasses, and faults of the said crafts, or committed by the
brethren and servants of the said crafts (blood and debt excepted), with
power to onlaw and amerciate the said trespassers and committers of the
said crafts, &c." In short, the deacons of the crafts exercised full
jurisdiction over all members, journeymen, servants, and apprentices,
not only in matters relating to their handicrafts and privileges, but
also in all matters affecting their conduct as citizens generally. Many
of the criminal offences that are at present tried in the Burgh Police
Court, such as breaches of the peace, drunkenness, assault, offensive
and abusive language, &c., were all disposed of by the deacons. It was
seldom necessary to impose fines. After a warning or first conviction
the delinquent was threatened with the loss of his freedom and trading
privileges, and this threat appears to have acted with a most wholesome
effect. Second convictions, therefore, for any offence are rare; and, on
the whole, the deacons seem to have performed their judicial functions
with firmness and to some purpose.
In addition to granting
Seals of Cause (For Seals of Cause, see chapters devoted to each Trade.)
to individual crafts, the Council passed the following general
enactment:-
23rd October, 1536.—The
said day ye provost and consale ordains ye deacons of everie craft to
serce, vesy, and seik all faltis of their neighbours of thair ain
craftis, and whar thair beis ony faltis in thair craftis that thai
correct and puniss ye same and cause it be mendit; and failzeing therof
ye said deacons to be punished be ye bailyies therefra themselffs.—Council
Register, vol. xv., p. 235.
Under these Seals of
Cause the craftsmen were better able to guard and protect their special
trading privileges, and to prevent encroachments by unfreemen and others
who had not qualified themselves by becoming freemen and members of the
crafts. So strictly were these monopolies maintained that it was
impossible for a craftsman to carry on business on his own account
within the burgh until he had become a freeman or free burgess. While
merchants had to give evidence of their fitness to carry on business by
showing that they were possessed of a certain amount of money or land,
the craftsmen had to furnish satisfactory evidence of their "habilitie"
to exercise their craft. In the first instance, therefore, a craftsman
applied to the deacon of his own craft to be taken on trial of his
qualifications, and if his fellow-craftsmen were satisfied that he was a
proper person to be taken on trial, a petition was presented to the
Magistrates and Town Council to the effect "that the petitioner, having
learned the art and trade of a — is desirous of being admitted a Freeman
of Craft of the —Trade of Aberdeen, and for that purpose is willing to
be bound to actual residence, and to pay Scot and Lot, Watch and Ward,
in common with the other inhabitants, according to his rank and station,
but before being admitted it is necessary that his qualification be
tried. May it therefore please your honours to remit to the Trade of
Aberdeen to take trial of the petitioner's qualifications to be
reported." This petition having been attested by the deacon, the
magistrates remitted "to the Trade of Aberdeen to take trial of the
petitioners qualifications to be reported." The Trade thereupon took him
on trial, instructed him to make an essay or masterstick, which
consisted of one or more articles according to the custom of the
particular Trade, and, if found satisfactory, the applicant was again
presented to the Magistrates and Town Council, when, after taking the
oath of allegiance, he was "admitted and received a Free Burgess of the
Burgh of Aberdeen, of his own craft only, with all the liberties and
privileges thereto competent in virtue of the Decreet or Indenture
passed between the Brethren of Guild and Craftsmen of the said Burgh,
dated in July, one thousand five hundred and eighty-seven, for payment
to the Common Good of said Burgh of and of five shillings Scots, to the
Lord Provost, in a white purse, as use is; declaring always that by
acceptance of said admission, the said becomes solemnly bound to
discharge every civil duty incumbent by law on a true and faithful
Burgess of the said Burgh. At which time he found caution in common
form." The following is an example of how the admission of craftsmen was
usually recorded :—
15th September, 1616.—The
quhilk day George Pyiper and Alexander Andersone, wrichtis, compurand
sufficientlie in armour, ilkane with an hagbute and bandeleire and
sword, wes ressauit and admittit friemen of thair said craft and
burgesses of this burght, ilk ane of tham for the soume of twentie
merkis Scottis money, peyit be thame to the deane of gild, with this
allwayis restrictioun and conditioun that they shall use and exerce
thair said craft proffessit be them allanerlie, and clame nor pretend no
forder libertie, preuilege nor freedome nor is sett doun and prescryuit
to craftismen be the contract and indenture past betwixt the brethern of
gild and thaim, in the yeir of God 1587 yearis; and incais they or any
of tham do in the contrare, being convict thairoff, to be depryuit and
dischargit of his friedom, and all libertie and preuilege they may joise
and bruik thairby in any tyme thaireftir, and gaive thair aytheis
judiciallie on the premissis and remanent poyntis of the aythe given be
burgesses of this burght the tyme of thair admission ; lykas ilk ane of
thame pay it fyive schillings in a quhyte pure according to the forme
vsit and wount.—Council Register, vol. xl., p. 718.
As will be seen from the
following entry in the Council Register, the Magistrates occasionally
exercised their discretion of refusing to grant a remit, if they
considered the character of the applicants unsatisfactory 27th February,
1729.—The Magistrates declined to grant a remit to an applicant until he
had produced a certificate of his good behaviour from Glasgow whence he
came last, but that they would grant the remit desired upon producing to
them the said certificate.—Trades Hall Papers.
The following was the
oath taken at the beginning of last century by merchant and craft
burgesses when admitted to the freedom by the Town Council :—
Prior to the time when
the Common Indenture or "Magna Charta" of the burgesses was entered
into, no definite arrangements existed regarding the amount of
composition which had to be paid by burgesses of trade to the Common
Good. Craft burgesses, as well as the merchant burgesses, were liable to
all stents or taxes that were imposed for keeping up "the common warkis
of the toune," and for providing gifts to royalty when the town was
honoured with their presence. And in addition to being liable for all
necessary stents and taxes, the burgesses had also prior to the
reformation, to provide for "upholding decoring, and repairing" an altar
in the parish kirk. Under the Common Indenture a definite scale of
composition was fixed, the eldest son of a craftsman being made free of
the town for the bancate only; other sons had to pay forty shillings
Scots additional; apprentices ten merks, and extraneans twenty merks,
two-thirds of which was to be "wared and bestowed upon the aid, support,
and common help of the town," and the other third " with the bancate to
be bestowed at the pleasure of the deacon of the crafts and their
brethren forsaid freemen of the craft." The bancate money, it may be
explained, was a small sum exacted to provide "a common meal" on the
occasion of an entrant being received into his craft. This is an ancient
custom which has not yet died out.
Patrimony, it will be
observed, has been a prominent characteristic in the constitution of the
crafts. In becoming a freeman of his craft, a father not only acquired
rights and privileges for himself, but his family were admitted to the
same privileges at merely nominal rates, and, in many cases, under less
strict conditions. The eldest son had always the preference, then the
remaining sons; sons-in-law were also placed on the same level as sons.
It is worthy of note that, in some of the Trades, a craftsman, on
marrying the heiress of a burgess, was placed in the same favourable
position as an eldest son—a remarkable proof of the value that was
attached to this patrimonial element, and also affording a striking
illustration of how the Guilds were based on the simple family compact.
There can be no reasonable doubt that the Guilds took over this
patrimonal characteristic from the family, the same principle that
obtained in the family being adopted as far as possible in the wider and
more extended combination of the Guild.
Alterations were
frequently made on the rate of composition paid to the Common Good. In
1641 the Town Council ordained that every extranean should pay for his
composition £100 Scots, and apprentices within the burgh £50 Scots each,
besides appearing at the time of their admission completely armed with
musket and sword, to be sworn to as their own property. In 1643 the
amount was fixed at 200 merks for extraneans, and 100 merks for
apprentices; and again in 1665 it was ordained that each extranean
should pay 200 merks "with a pike, or £4 Scots therefor, for the use of
the town's magazine." It is evident, however, from what appears in the
Council Records, that the craftsmen not only demurred paying, but
actually refused to pay, those increased compositions, and from 1681
down to 1815, when a compromise was effected, the composition actually
paid by an extranean was about £40 Scots, and £24 Scots by apprentices,
besides five shillings Scots for arms money. (This payment of arms money
is still made in accordance with ancient custom. When a burgess appears
before the Lord Provost and Town Council to receive his diploma or
burgess ticket, he presents his lordship with a small white purse
containing five ordinary pennies, five pennies of the present day being
the equivalent of five shillings Scots. The arms money went to a fund
for providing the town with weapons, ammunition, &c.) On 23rd
September,1815, the rates of composition were fixed as follows:--
besides £1 3s. 0½d. for
stamp, diploma, and remit. When special trading privileges were
abolished in 1846, these high rates continued to be exacted in
consideration that craft burgesses had still certain privileges
remaining which were not enjoyed by ordinary citizens, such as a
preferential right to the benefits of Robert Gordon's Hospital,
exemption from the Bell and Petty Customs, &c. But gradually these
disappeared or became of less value, and in 1872 the Trades appointed a
committee to inquire into the subject and endeavour to obtain a
reduction of the fees on account of the loss of the trading and other
privileges. After a good deal of negotiation the rates were reduced to
the following uniform rate :-
When the Bell and Petty
Customs were abolished, and the preferential claim which burgesses of
trade possessed to Robert Gordon's Hospital was reduced under the new
Provisional Order, a claim was again made in 1882 for a further
reduction of the burgess dues, and on the 10th March of that year a
committee of the Incorporated Trades effected an arrangement under which
the payment should be reduced to a uniform sum of a guinea, to include
all fees.
(The report of the final
settlement was in the following terms:—"Your committee, having been
requested to attend a Conference at the Town House upon Tuesday, the
18th day of April current, met with the Law Committee of the Town
Council, who were represented by Lord Provost Esslemont, Baillie Ross,
Baillie Duff us, Mr. Paterson, and Mr. George Walker. The Lord Provost,
having introduced the subject, stated at the outset that he did not want
to lay stress upon the legal aspect of the question as he feared the
niembers of the conference might not be able to agree on that score,
both sides having doubtless considerable confidence in their own views,
and, therefore, he would rather put it as a matter of loyalty and
policy, or perhaps of sentiment, whether the connection which had so
long existed between the Magistrates and Town Council on the one part
and the Incorporated Trades on the other part should now be severed. His
lordship frankly admitted that a substantial reduction of the amount
presently exigible might be made with propriety, and he asked your
committee whether, all things considered, we were prepared to agree to a
uniform payment of £2 2s. for each entrant, this payment to include all
fees which are presently exacted from entrants. Your convener, in reply,
explained what was the position of your committee in this matter, and
that we had attended more to learn on what grounds any payment by them
should be continued than to consider the amount of such payment, but
that, at the same time, we were prepared to report to the general body
of the incorporations any suggestion which the Law Committee had to
offer. He might, however, take It upon himself to say that there was not
the least chance of a payment of £2 2s. being agreed to. The Lord
Provost, having explained that neither party was expected at this
Conference to bind their constituents but only to recommend what in
their opinion might be a fair basis of compromise, a general
conversation ensued, in which most of the members of the Conference took
part, and ultimately, on the suggestion of the Lord Provost, it was
unanimously agreed that both parties should recommend to their
constituents that the payment should be reduced to the uniform sum of £1
1s., to include all fees; it being understood that the subject should
not be again brought forward, but that upon this arrangement receiving
the sanction of the Town Council and of the Incorporated Trades, the
same shall become final and absolute, and be received as a permanent and
lasting settlement of a long-vexed question. It being further understood
that, when agreed to, this new arrangement shall date back to the 26th
of October last, the date of the convener's letter to the Town Council,
and that the guinea would be paid for all the craftsmen who have since
that time joined the incorporations.—P. Raeburn, Convener; Ebenezer
Bain, Jun., Master of Hospital; Andrew Robb; John Croll; James Mitchell;
W Graham.—Trinity Hall, Aberdeen, 21st April, 1882.")
In early times the dues
payable by a craftsman to his own craft were insignificant. It was only
when the crafts began to accumulate funds for the benefit of widows and
decayed members that the entry moneys were raised. For long the chief
payments consisted of "quarter pennies," and dues paid by the members
for every journeyman and apprentice they employed; but for some time
previous to the abolition of trading privileges the quarter penny system
was dropped, and a slump sum at entry substituted. The entry money has
varied in the different Trades according to the benefits they were able
to afford.
The office-bearers of a
craft association have, since the earliest period of their history,
consisted of a deacon, a box-master or treasurer, and several masters,
usually four. These office-bearers are elected annually, and, as a rule,
hold office for two years. The deacon has always been entrusted with a
large amount of power. Every entrant has to render obedience to him and
to 'tall the haill acts and ordinances of his court or convention;" and
the records of the Trades contain numerous instances where deacons
resorted to the extreme measure of committing recalcitrant members to
the tolbooth for defying their authority; and also where the deacon in
turn has been punished for non-fulfilment of or failure to perform his
duties. The office-bearers are elected annually, and from time
immemorial the election day has always closed with "a common meal."
Previous to Dr. Guild's gift of the Trinities, the meetings of the
crafts in Aberdeen were held in the houses of the deacons, or a public
inn, the expenses incurred about an election time appearing in the
accounts after the following fashion:—"At Deacon Currie's at dinner and
to the fiddlers, £6 13s. 4d. Scots" (about 11s, sterling); "ane gallon
of ale to the lads that day, £1 1s. 4d." (1s. 9d.); "opening the box,
10s. 8d." (10¾d.); "to the clerk for ale and other expenses, £1 3s. 4d."
(1s. 1½d.). The boxinaster was, as a rule, restricted to a fixed sum
annually for general expenses; and at times when there was dearth in the
town the members were ordered to pay the expenses of the " common meal"
out of their own pockets.
All journeymen and
apprentices, although not members of the societies, were enrolled in the
books of their own craft, while apprentices were entered in the books of
the town as well as their craft, to enable them to claim the rights of
an apprentice when they came to apply for their freedom. This
registration of craftsmen has been useful in many ways. The books of the
various Trades have been found valuable registers for tracing pedigrees,
(In tracing historic
family names, the Trades Records have also been found useful. The
following note was recently received from Mr. W. E. Gladstone in reply
to a communication stating that a George Gladstaines, pewterer, had
joined the Hammermen Trade In 1656, and gifted 300 merks to the Trades
Hospital in 1698
"Dollis Hill, N.W., July
13, 1887.
Dear Sir,—I thank you
very much for the information so kindly given.
"It is the first time
that I have heard of the name of Gladstaines so far north. He was
probably one planted out; but he seems to have been a man of substance.
"Your very faithful
Servant,
"W. E. GLADSTONE.
"E. Bain, Esq.")
the patrimonial element
having had the effect of inducing sons to follow the same occupation as
their fathers. There is more than one citizen at present living who can
trace his pedigree in the Trades Books to his
great-great-great-grandfather, and from the minutes he can ascertain
something about their position and standing in the town.
When we come to deal with
the crafts separately, a description of the different kinds of essays or
mastersticks which were prescribed for entrant craftsmen to test their
ability to work will be given. After an essay has been prescribed, two
essay masters and an oversman are appointed to visit the entrant and see
him working at his essay, and if they have any suspicion that he is
being assisted, they have power to lock him into a workshop while he is
at work. An entrant is now frequently permitted to make some special
article as his essay, which could be preserved as a memento of his entry
into his craft. There are at least three of these in the Trades Hall at
present, one a unique piece of weaver work by James Wilson, weaver;
another, the arms of the Hammermen Trade, chased in brass by Mr. Robert
Rettie; and a third, a beautifully finished and hooped quarter cask made
by Mr. George Gorrod, and which is looked after by the Boxmaster of the
Wright and Cooper Trade. |
