RETROSPECTIVE GLEANINGS
Reading edition
ANCIENT FARRIERY.
(For the Mirror.)
The following curious verses are copied from an engraving which the Farriers' Company have lately had taken from an old painting of their pedigree, on vellum, at the George and Vulture Tavern.
If suche may boast as by a subtile arte, Canne without labour make excessive gayne, And under name of Misterie imparte, Unto the worlde the Crafie's but of their brayne. How muche more doe their praise become men's themes That bothe by art and labour gett their meanes.
And of all artes that worthe or praise doeth merite, To none the Marshall Farrier's will submitt, That bothe by Physicks, arte, force, hands, and spiritt The Kinge and subject in peace and warre doe fitt, Many of Tuball boast first Smythe that ever wrought, But Farriers more do, doe than Tuball ever taught.
Three things there are that Marshalry doe prove To be a Misterie exceeding farre, Those wilie Crafte's that many men doe love. Is unfitt for peace and more unaptt for warre, For Honor, Anncestrie, and for Utilitie, Farriers may boast their artes habilitie,
Of Noble Howses, that did beare the name
Of Farriers, and were Earles; as you may see,
That used the arte and did supporte the same,
And to perpetuall honour of the Crafte,
Castells they buylt and to succession left.
For anncestrie of tyme oh! who canne tell The first beginning of so old a trade, For Horses were before the Deluge fell, And cures, and shoes, before that tyme were made, We need not presse tyme farther then it beares, A Company have Farriers beene 300 Yeres!!
And in this Cittie London have remayned Called by the name of Marshall Farriers, Which title of Kinge Edward the Third was gaynde, For service done unto him in his warres, A Maister and two Wardens in skill expert, The trade to rule and give men their desert.
And for utilitie that cannot be denied, That many are the Proffitts that arise To all men by the Farriers arte beside. To them they are tied, by their necessities, From the Kinge's steede unto the ploweman's cart, All stande in neede of Farriers skillfull arte.
In peace at hande the Farriers must be hadde, For lanncing, healinge, bleedinge, and for shooeinge, In Warres abroade of hym they wille be gladd To cure the wounded Horsse, still he is douinge, In peace or warre abroade, or ellse at home, To Kinge and Countrie that some good may come.
Loe! thus you heare the Farriers endelesss praise, God grant it last as many yeres as it hath lasted Daies.
Anno Dni 1612.
G.W.
CURIOUS SCRAPS.
We read of a beautiful table, "wherein Saturn was of copper, Jupiter of gold, Mars of iron, and the Sun of silver, the eyes were charmed, and the mind instructed by beholding the circles. The Zodiac and all its signs formed with wonderful art, of metals and precious stones."
Was not this an imperfect orrery?
In 1283, say the annals of Dunstable, "We sold our slave by birth, William Pike, with all his family, and received one mark from the buyer." Men must have been cheaper than horses.
In 1340, gunpowder and guns were first invented by Swartz, a monk of Cologne. In 1346, Edward III. had four pieces of cannon, which contributed to gain him the battle of Cressy. Bombs and mortars were invented about this time.
In 1386, the magnificent castle of Windsor was built by Edward III. and his method of conducting the work may serve as a specimen of the condition of the people in that age. Instead of engaging workmen by contracts or wages, he assessed every county in England to send him a certain number of masons, tilers, and carpenters, as if he had been levying an army.
In 1654, the air pump was invented by Otto Guericke, a German.
1406, B.C. Iron first discovered by burning the woods on Mount Ida, in Greece.
720, B.C. The first lunar eclipse on record.
Anaximander, the disciple of Thales, invented maps and globes; born about 610 B.C.
894, B.C. Gold and silver money first coined at Argos, in Greece.
274, A.D. Silk first imported from India.
664, A.D. Glass first invented in England by O. Benalt, a monk.
1284, A.D. The Alphonsine Astronomical Tables constructed, under the patronage of Alphonso X. of Laon and Castile.
1337, A.D. The first comet described with astronomical precision.
The first diving bell we read of was a very large kettle suspended by ropes with the mouth downwards, and planks fixed in the middle of its concavity. Two Greeks at Toledo in 1583, made an experiment with it before Charles V. They descended in it with a lighted candle to a great depth.
The Odyssey was written upon the skin of a serpent.
Formerly pennies were marked with a double cross and crease, so that it might easily be broken into two or four parts.