Another circumstance has to be noted--namely, that merchants' marks were
entirely distinct from shop signs, such as that of the Golden Fleece,
which, though serving the same purpose of aiding or enlightening the
unlearned, were more pictorial in character. Dr. Barrington, in his
"Lectures on Heraldry," defines merchants' marks as "various fanciful
forms, distorted representations of _initials of names_," which, he
says, were "placed upon articles of merchandise, because armorial
ensigns could not have been so placed without debasement."
To those merchants who had no arms--and they were doubtless the vast
majority--the mark served as a substitute, and was regarded with the
same feelings of pride and attachment as the ensigns of the nobility and
gentry. But unquestionably its chief value was strictly commercial, as
is proved by an instance of litigation in the twenty-second year of
Queen Elizabeth's reign, which is thus narrated by Mr. Justice
Doddridge: "An action was brought upon the case in common pleas by a
clothier, that, whereas he had gained reputation by the making of his
cloth, by reason whereof he had great utterance to his great benefit and
profit, and that he used to set his mark to his cloth, another clothier,
perceiving it, used the same mark to his ill-made cloth on purpose to
deceive him, and it was resolved that an action did lie."
Merchants' marks appear to have been especially common in towns
depending on the manufacture of wool.
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