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Article LONDON AND MIDDLESEX AIlOHJiOLOGICAL SOC... ← Page 3 of 4 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
London And Middlesex Ailohjiological Soc...
witli liaviisg-beeii concerned not only in Wyatt ' s conspiracy , hut also in the rebellion of Sir Peter Carew against her sister Mary . Whilst lodged in the Bell Tower , the mass ( although odious to her ) was constantly performed in her apartment . At ' first she was not allowed to pass beyond the threshold of the room in which , she was confined ; and when afterwards she obtained that privilege , the lieutenant and constable , with a guard of soldiers , were always in close attendance upon her .
The chairman of the society then called upon Mr . Nichols to read a paper upon " The Constables of the Tower . " This gentleman stated that the office of constable was coeval with the erection of the fortress itself , and was usually conferred upon some person of high rank and military skill . The first governor or constable w as Geoffry de Mandeville , who received the officefrom William the Conqueror , as a reward for his services at the battle of Hastings . During the reigns of Elizabeth , James I ., and Charles I . the office of constable fell comparatively into abeyance , and the duties of the office were performed by a lieutenant .
The constable was endowed not only with the custody of the fortress , but with other rights and privileges of a peculiar nature : such , for example , as restraining merchants and others from quitting the port of London ; permitting others , having * the royal license , to export prohibited commodities ; the taking of security that owners of ships should not trade with countries whose people were the king ' s enemies ; prevention of forestalling ; and restraining the ships of the Cinque Ports from conveying grain out of the realm .
In the reign of Edward II ., the constable , in addition to his salary , received the rents and profits of certain tenements , the property of the crown , situated within the precincts of the Tower ; besides payment for the grass grown on Tower-hill , and from persons who dried skins in East Smithfield . He was also entitled to certain fees for granting permission to fish between the Tower and the sea , " for the fish called sprats ; " and to levy a toll on all boats bringing herrings from Yarmouth to London . He received certain
sums—varying according to the rank of the person—for every prisoner committed to his custody ; and he was at liberty to demand , and did exact , " of ev ' y ship that cometh with wines , two bottells , either containing a gallon , one before , th' other after the maste ; and for every galley , two roundletts of wyne ; and of all manner of dainties a great quantitie . " The boatman of every boat passing the Tower with rushes was bound to
deposit on the wharf , for the use of the constable , as much as he could take up in his two arms ; out of every boat laden with oysters , cockles , or mussels , the constable was to receive one maund ; and out of every ship laden with Bordeaux , or other wines , two gallons . This sort of black mail was levied to a great extent ; so much so , that the bottles to be filled with wines became of such a size that , in the reign of Elizabeth , they were called bombards , and held from six to eight gallons . The
learned lecturer produced before the Society a very line specimen of such a bombard , bearing the royal crown and initials of Charles I ., and the date 1 (> 45 . These wines the constables were wont to sell , and at very high prices . A full and particular account relative to this part of the subject may be found in the works of Taylor , the " water poet ; " Taylor
was originally a waterman on the Thames , and afterwards bottleman to the constable of the Tower . Nor were these the only profits ' accruing to the constable ; lie received fines from the owners of all swans " eyring " beneath London Bridge , and a cygnet out of every nest ; compositions from all owners of boats , above six tons burthen , which had been deserted by the crew and seized by the constable ' s officers between the bridge and
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
London And Middlesex Ailohjiological Soc...
witli liaviisg-beeii concerned not only in Wyatt ' s conspiracy , hut also in the rebellion of Sir Peter Carew against her sister Mary . Whilst lodged in the Bell Tower , the mass ( although odious to her ) was constantly performed in her apartment . At ' first she was not allowed to pass beyond the threshold of the room in which , she was confined ; and when afterwards she obtained that privilege , the lieutenant and constable , with a guard of soldiers , were always in close attendance upon her .
The chairman of the society then called upon Mr . Nichols to read a paper upon " The Constables of the Tower . " This gentleman stated that the office of constable was coeval with the erection of the fortress itself , and was usually conferred upon some person of high rank and military skill . The first governor or constable w as Geoffry de Mandeville , who received the officefrom William the Conqueror , as a reward for his services at the battle of Hastings . During the reigns of Elizabeth , James I ., and Charles I . the office of constable fell comparatively into abeyance , and the duties of the office were performed by a lieutenant .
The constable was endowed not only with the custody of the fortress , but with other rights and privileges of a peculiar nature : such , for example , as restraining merchants and others from quitting the port of London ; permitting others , having * the royal license , to export prohibited commodities ; the taking of security that owners of ships should not trade with countries whose people were the king ' s enemies ; prevention of forestalling ; and restraining the ships of the Cinque Ports from conveying grain out of the realm .
In the reign of Edward II ., the constable , in addition to his salary , received the rents and profits of certain tenements , the property of the crown , situated within the precincts of the Tower ; besides payment for the grass grown on Tower-hill , and from persons who dried skins in East Smithfield . He was also entitled to certain fees for granting permission to fish between the Tower and the sea , " for the fish called sprats ; " and to levy a toll on all boats bringing herrings from Yarmouth to London . He received certain
sums—varying according to the rank of the person—for every prisoner committed to his custody ; and he was at liberty to demand , and did exact , " of ev ' y ship that cometh with wines , two bottells , either containing a gallon , one before , th' other after the maste ; and for every galley , two roundletts of wyne ; and of all manner of dainties a great quantitie . " The boatman of every boat passing the Tower with rushes was bound to
deposit on the wharf , for the use of the constable , as much as he could take up in his two arms ; out of every boat laden with oysters , cockles , or mussels , the constable was to receive one maund ; and out of every ship laden with Bordeaux , or other wines , two gallons . This sort of black mail was levied to a great extent ; so much so , that the bottles to be filled with wines became of such a size that , in the reign of Elizabeth , they were called bombards , and held from six to eight gallons . The
learned lecturer produced before the Society a very line specimen of such a bombard , bearing the royal crown and initials of Charles I ., and the date 1 (> 45 . These wines the constables were wont to sell , and at very high prices . A full and particular account relative to this part of the subject may be found in the works of Taylor , the " water poet ; " Taylor
was originally a waterman on the Thames , and afterwards bottleman to the constable of the Tower . Nor were these the only profits ' accruing to the constable ; lie received fines from the owners of all swans " eyring " beneath London Bridge , and a cygnet out of every nest ; compositions from all owners of boats , above six tons burthen , which had been deserted by the crew and seized by the constable ' s officers between the bridge and