It so happens that one of those
towns was that in the immediate neighbourhood of which these chapters
were written; and, agreeably to what has been stated, the Church of St.
Peter, Tiverton, which owed much to the munificence of the old
merchants, carries a number of such marks. East Anglia is particularly
rich in such marks, as is shown by Mr. W. C. Ewing's papers in the
"Transactions of the Norfolk and Norwich Archaeological Society" (vol.
iii.). Mr. Dawson Turner, in his Historical Introduction to Colman's
"Engravings of Sepulchral Brasses in Norfolk and Suffolk," after stating
that merchants or burgesses were probably the only classes except the
military that were represented on monuments, goes on to observe that
"these are chiefly to be found in borough towns or the parochial
churches of large commercial counties where the woollen manufacture
flourished." And, as we have pointed out, the merchant's mark very often
accompanied him to his grave.
We have now reached the borderland, where from urban customs we pass to
those of the country; and it will form a natural transition if we
conclude the chapter and the section with some remarks on the rural use
of marks, which is still common in regard to stock. In this Connexion
they are generally styled yeomen's marks; and, from the circumstances of
the case, it seems certain that the adoption of such symbols took place
on the farm long before they were employed on the mart.
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