English Gilds. *

three years . When he gets in better case , he shall , if he can , repay the money advanced to him ; but if he cannot , then tlie debt shall be repaid to the gild out of Avhat is collected [ after his death ] for his soul ' s sake , and Avhat remains shall be

faithfully applied for his soul's sake . * "When any brother or sister dies , the Dean shall . put four wax lights round the body ; and the 'Graceman shall oifer a penny for a mass , and the Warden a halfpenny , out of the goods of the gild .

If any one is in arrear in the halfpence due for the soul , he shall pay half-a-pound of Avax to the . sild .

In witness Avhereof , and to have the greater proof thereof in time to come , the official seal of the Deanery of Christianity at Lincoln has , at the special request of the bretheren and sisteren of

¦ this gild , been put hereto . . Given at Lincoln , on the Nones of September , A . D . 1337 . t Farther , it is ordained that the Gracemen and the two Wardens of the siid shall each of them

have , at the feast of the gild , two gallons of ale , and the Dean one gallon . The Dean shall have , for collecting the soulpennies from the bretheren , on the first day , ij . c ? . out of the goods of the gild ; but not on any day

afterwards . Whoever is chosen Graceman , and will not ¦ serve , shall pay two pounds of wax ; and whoever is chosen Dean , and will not serve , shall pay one pound of wax .

Every new brother shall pay to the Dean a penny . Whoever fails in au 2 . ht touching- these Ordinance O ces , shall pay a pound of wax .

GILD OF THE TAILOKS OF LINCOLN . * The gild was founded A . D . 1328 . All the bretheren and sisteren shall go in procession on the feast of Corpus Christi . No one shall enter the gild , as whole brother ,

until he has paid for his entry a quarter of barley , which must be paid betAveen Michaelmas and Christmas . And if it is not then paid , he shall pay the price of the best malt , as sold in Lincoln market on Midsummer-day . And each shall pay

xij . d . to the ale . t If any one of the gild falls into poverty ( which God forbid ) , and has not the means of support , he

shall have , every week during his life , sevenpence out of the goods of the gild ; out of Avhich he must dischai'ge such payments as become due to the If any one dies Avithin the city , without leaving

the means for burial , the gild shall find the means , according to the rank of him Avho is dead . If any one wishes to make pilgrimage to the Holy Land of Jerusalem , each brother and sister shall give him a penny ; and if to St . James ' s , or

Rome , a halfpenny ; and they shall go with him outside the gates of the city of Lincoln ; and , on his return , they shall meet him and go with him to his mother church .

If a brother or sister dies outside the city , on pilgrimage or elsewhere , and the bretheren are assured of his death , they shall do for his soul AA'hat would have been done if he had died in his OAvn parish .

When one of the gild dies , he shall , according to his means , bequeath v . s . or x \ . d ., or what he will , to the gild . Every brother and sister coming into the gild shall pay to the chaplain as the others do .

There shall be four mornspeeches held in every year , to take order for the welfare of the gild : and Avhoever heeds not his summons , shall pay tAvo pounds of wax . If any master [ tailor ] of the gild takes any one

to live with him as an apprentice , in order to learn the work of the tailor ' s craft , the apprentice shall pay tAvo shillings to the gild , or his master for him , or else the master shall loose his gildship .