The Scrivener
EXTRACTS FROM THE NEWSLETTERS OF THE WORSHIPFUL
COMPANY OF SCRIVENERS OF THE CITY OF LONDON
ISSUE 13 October 2009
London Bridge 800th Anniversary Fair
On Saturday 11th July 2009 London Bridge was closed to traffic and the atmosphere of the historic bridge was recreated by the setting up of craft stalls selling traditional wares. Liveryman Ronald Mills (below) was among those who exercised the Liveryman’s right to drive sheep across the bridge.
Lincoln Cathedral Adopt a Book Scheme
One of the highlights of the Scriveners’ visit to Lincoln in March was the Cathedral Library designed by Sir Christopher Wren. The Court subsequently decided to commemorate the visit by adopting a library book. On the right is the book’s title page; a copy of our dedication is to the left.
Deaths
It is with great sadness that we record the passing of Doreen Perry, a Liveryman since 1999.ISSUE 12 APRIL 2009
Writing Materials
As used in the art and practice of scriveners(Artiicle produced by Court Assistant Cecil Humphery-Smith OBE, FSA)
I have turned to the study of ancient
writing materials used in the art and practice of scriveners. They begin, I
suppose, with sculptured records on stone. Then, when portable manuscripts
became more desirable the skins of animals and leaves and membrane tissues of
plants and even fragments of stolen tile would be used by the scribe. Even in
modern times these are, of course, used in spite of the abundance and universal
employment of paper. I do not intend to go far into the treatment of these
media required to make them useable.
Important legal documents are still written
on vellum in a fine calligraphic hand, and many a bibliophile has had books
expensively bound in vellum and even printed on vellum. Throughout the world the vegetable kingdom
has come into use, the thin dried rush from Mediterranean waters polished by
stone form the papyrus from Greek and Roman times with ink made from lampblack
and cuttlefish like our own Indian ink these days. There have been few changes over the ages
until the advent of printing.
Manuscripts were bound up in rolls sewn together, burnt sticks furnished
charcoal for the production of inks and, of course, wood, metal and ivory have
been used as media as well as substances upon which lettering can be engraved.
From early times, the slate has been used –
as some of us had in early childhood though there may be few who now remember
that era in village schools. There was the raised wooden frame often incised by
penknife with the pupil’s name or remarks. The sunken centre upon which to
write was coated with wax and the iron, wooden, or ivory pen or stylus was the
tool for inscribing dictated texts or arithmetical calculations. These were
sometimes developed into a hinged book with a tight clothing on the frame so
that the inscription could be obliterated by removing it with an attached
string. The old horn-book of village schools using the wax and the metal stylus
was a common site, even a century ago.
Books of bound vellum leaves superseded the
early tablets even before the 5th century. Monastic seclusion enabled them to be copied,
with initial letters splendidly decorated and ornamented, enriched by gold
leaf. The larger monasteries had their own scriptorium or apartment expressly
devoted to the use of those who worked upon the coveted volumes of
manuscripts. Scribes in the Middle Ages
and even into later eras were able to carry their writing material appended to
their girdles, or belts, consisting of the penner and inkhorn – an ink pot and
a case for pens. The pen case was
usually formed of leather softened by hot water and then impressed with an
ornament and hardened – cuirboulli – a process also used for the
bindings and covers of books. It was as
strong as horn and was often the material used to form ancient pots as well as
the shaft piece for the pen.
I have an illustration of the penner and inkhorn taken from the Church of St Mary’s Key in Ipswich where there is an engraved brass dating from the 15th century.
The greatest and wisest, even Charlemagne
and our William the Conqueror, do not do more than make a mark as an
autograph. For a defence to avoid
commitment and punishment for crime, the most illiterate might plead the
benefit of clergy, as a plea against sentence. It depended upon the ability
to remember and write a few words in Latin: Miserere mei, Deus, secundum misericordiam tuam, from Psalm 51. It became known as the neck
verse, as it saved the criminal from hanging, by
sending the case to trial in the ecclesiastical courts, already overburdened
with testamentary cases.
The Liberal statesman, Charles L. Stanhope
was ingenious in mechanics. Born in 1753 he invented a printing press that
ultimately bore his name. Prior to that, clumsy wooden machines were used by
such as Gutenberg and Baskerville winding down the weight that pressed the type
into the paper or skin. A laborious process of producing books by repeatedly
writing them out from a copy had gone for ever.
The eye magnifying glass and the powerful
scalpel cutting first into wood and then replicating into metal, led to the
modern process. Quill, metal and plastic nibs, and bottles of ink of all
colours stand alongside my hour glass together with my first pen made by Biro –
that leaked horribly - and subsequent ball points in all colours, too. The portable typewriter came next and, now,
my portable laptop computer that gives me a fount of some thirty or more characters
from all parts of the printing world, each convertible to other forms. At a party for my 80th birthday,
an old friend who had been a fellow undergraduate sixty years before, had given
me a Parker51 fountain pen for my 21st birthday, and with it
I venture to sign myself.
Your
devoted servant,
Cecil R. Humphery-Smith
ISSUE 11 OCTOBER 2008
New Apprenticeships
VICTORIA HUMPHERY-SMITH was apprenticed to Past Master Giles Cole at the end of May and in July HELEN LOUISE RODD was apprenticed to her father, Liveryman Peter John Rodd. We extend a warm welcome to them both.
Admission to the Companionship
The establishment of the Companionship Order, open to the widows and partners of deceased former members of the Company, was announced last September. We are delighted to welcome the second member of the Order, ANNELIESE WAUGH, widow of James Malcolm Waugh, a former Scrivener Notary and Partner at Cheeswrights.
Sir John Cass’s Foundation and Red Coat Church of England Secondary School
This is the second in an ongoing series of articles about the people and institutions which the Company’s members assist through the Sexcentenary Fund.
Situated in Tower Hamlets, the school is close to the City of London but the surrounding community is a world apart from the City’s affluence
Sir John Cass’s School, to use a shortened version of its title, is a startling success story which should giveheart to all those striving to raise educational standards in disadvantaged inner city areas. Once struggling at the bottom of the national league tables it is now up with the best and last year was the best. What is striking is how quickly this was achieved. Results in terms of exam scores doubled from 1997 to 1998 and again from 2001 to 2002; the school was moreover the most improved school in the country – in terms of value added, a measure of the progress made by children after entering in year 7 – for three years in a row, from 2002 to 2004. This year there were 1,030 applicants for 180 places in the entry year. The sixth form has increased in size from only 58 when it was inaugurated 13 years ago to 600 places now. A polished board in the reception area proclaims an impressively long list of alumni attending university in 2007.
The headmaster of the school, who took up post thirteen years ago, is Haydn Evans, now a Freeman of the Company, who was described in a newspaper article a few years ago as “a wiry Welshman bursting with restless energy”. There is no doubt about his leading role in the school’s transformation but with characteristic modesty he attributes the credit to the Governors – of whom Doreen Perry, a Liveryman, is one – to support from the local authority, to the teaching staff and to the “lovely” children who come into the school.
Improvements flowed, says Haydn, from the freedom granted to the school to experiment with the curriculum, including the introduction of more vocational courses which engaged a wider range of pupils, and to the acquisition of Specialist School status with a focus on modern languages. This reinforced the ability to innovate and boosted increasingly generous levels of funding. A few “commonsense” initiatives - such as barring pupils from leaving the school at lunchtime - improved behaviour, secured greater commitment to learning and reduced absenteeism. Academic mentoring also played a strong role, with graduates brought in to tutor students one-to-one or in small groups, with the accent on challenging weaknesses and encouraging self-improvement. “Discrepancy students” – those with a wide difference in performance between English and Maths – were given particular attention. Mentoring is now fully integrated into the timetable and the mentors are on the permanent complement. Efforts are also made to involve parents in discussing and supervising homework.
The headmaster is a firm believer in the importance of recognising achievement, not least through the award of prizes, which is where the Scriveners’ Company has been able to provide help. Prizes are awarded for academic achievement but also for sports and music, for “most improved” status in various fields, for attributes such as caring or consideration towards others or for exceptional effort.
The Scriveners started supporting the school at a modest level in 1998, when we provided money for the purchase of books as prizes and also provided certificates for proficiency in learning and language. One particular early award was the presentation of a certificate framed by Past Master Donald Jackson, to Alongir Ahmed, a year ten Bengali student, who took a GCSE exam in Bengali one year early and received an A* marking. We are pleased to go on supporting the efforts of the headmaster and his staff and wish them and their pupils continuing success in the future.
Calligraphy Prize
The Company’s annual prize for calligraphy and heraldry was awarded in 2008 to Mrs Catherine Stables for producing work in calligraphy, heraldic art and illumination to a highly accomplished standard over three academic terms at Reigate School of Art, Design and Media. Mrs Stables also won the painting prize awarded by the Worshipful Company of Painter-Stainers in May this year. Mrs Stables was a guest at the July 2008 reception, where she was presented with a certificate and a cheque by the new Master. Examples of her work were on display and were much admired.
The Master and Mrs Stables
ISSUE 10 APRIL 2008
Membership Committee
APPRENTICES
The Membership Committee is keen to encourage the Livery to take apprentices as a means of introducing young people to the Company. The Court has also resolved that every Company apprentice aged 18 or over be invited annually to one of the Company’s two main dinners free of charge. The short article below sets out the procedure.
By ancient custom of the City of London apprentices of Liverymen are entitled, when having completed a term of between 4 and 8 years, to be admitted to the freedom of the City. An apprentice may not be younger than 14 nor older than 21 when indentured and the binding must be voluntary. In addition a minor must have parental consent to be bound.
The indentures must be in a form according to the Custom of London and include, inter alia, prohibition on the person bound attending theatres, gambling houses and taverns. Needless to say, these are rarely, if ever, enforced these days. The indentures must be entered into and signed at the livery company’s hall or office and traditionally the person to be bound is asked 3 questions, to ensure the identity of the apprentice, to ensure the apprentice likes his/her trade and master and to ensure the apprentice is willing to be bound.
During the first year of binding, but not on the day of binding itself, the apprentice is required to attend in person at the Chamberlain’s Court with the indentures (2 copies), birth certificate and his master’s certificate of freedom to be inroled (sic). There is no inrolement fee. When the term of service has been completed the apprentice, by right of servitude, is made free of the livery company in which he/she was bound. Most livery companies these days levy no admission fine or require a nominal sum.
The company now has 2 apprentices and there is room for a lot more. Bringing younger people into our company will ensure a secure future. From a very early period “colourable” or notional bindings were allowed. This is where young people are bound as a matter of form to masters whose trades they do not intend to follow and who undertake no obligations as regards their welfare or education. I would urge fellow Scriveners with sons and daughters, nieces and nephews, grandsons and daughters, et al to encourage suitable young people to be apprenticed to them so that in a few years time we have a youthful company. Always remember that you can insert any number of clauses into modern indentures to ensure weekly:- a tidy bedroom, a freshly mown lawn or even a newly washed family car.
With acknowledgements to Caroline Arnold (erstwhile Scrivener) and her book The Freedom of the City of London.
PATRIMONY
Whilst most members enter the Freedom by Redemption (by payment) the premier mode of admission is by Patrimony. If the mother or father was in a livery company at the time of the child’s birth then the child is admitted to the freedom of that company prior to being made free of the City of London. It may only be claimed by natural, not adopted, children through the mother or father. It cannot be claimed through grandparents or other relatives. The membership committee would be delighted to learn of anyone in the Company whose offspring would qualify under this category of admission to the freedom of this Company.
LLB
Renter Warden & Chairman of the Membership Committee
Those in Need
The Court wishes it to be known that any Scrivener in distress or need should feel able to look to the Company as a source of solidarity and solace. Any member who finds himself or herself in difficult circumstances—or knows of a member in need of moral support—should feel free to contact Past Master Robert Millett or the Honorary Chaplain, Reverend Michael Lovegrove, in the first instance.