The Livery Companies of the City of London derive their twelfth-century origins in the religious fraternities which grew up around a church, monastery or hospital to which they attached themselves, and which the members used as a meeting place and whose saint was adopted as their patron. Members of those fraternities who lived together often worked together in a common trade or craft, and they developed into mutual protection societies making provision for the poor, sick and needy in their communities and promoting the interests of their crafts, including apprenticeship and the power of search which gave each company the right to inspect all goods handled by its members. This gave the guilds an effective weapon against competition from strangers to the City, and a constructive measure to keep their own members in line, to maintain high standards of work and so make the guilds stronger.
Part of the mystique attached to the idea of livery companies is caused by the fact that it is so difficult to lay down hard and fast definitions of exactly what they are. A guild obtains its charter from the monarch, but its grant of livery since 1560 comes from the Court of Aldermen, who have to be satisfied that "....a number of men of good repute from some trade or mystery not already represented by an existing guild have joined together for a time sufficiently long to justify the belief that they will continue to gold together and are not likely to fall apart from lack of interest or support."
Evidence that the early medieval guilds were a development from religious fraternities is to be found in the symbolism of many of the companies' coats of arms, reflected in the pious tenor of their mottoes, and by direct reference in the letters patent to religious allegiance. Of the twenty-five patents to the London guilds during the period 1439 to 1500, five are composed wholly of religious symbols. A further five combine religious and trade allusions, and the remainder refer only to the respective trade or craft. The earliest mention of the Mercers is the appointment of the fraternity, in about 1190, as patrons of the Hospital of St Thomas of Acon, a brotherhood of crusader knights which had settled in the City. The Mercers' arms show the figure of a virgin issuing from and within a border of clouds, and may have been adopted by the Mercers from the Hospital Order after it had been dissolved. The Drapers' grant of 1439 is not only the earliest grant to a City company, but it is also the oldest to survive and still be in the possession of the company, its three crowns representing a heraldic tripling of the imperial crown of Our Lady. Within the versal letter with which the Drapers' 1439 patent begins is a representation of the Virgin being crowned at her Assumption by God the Father and God the Son, who are also triple-crowned. The grant of Sir William Bruges states in Old French that "I Garter King of Arms.....have devised a coat of arms under the form of a blazon to remain to the said honourable Mystery as a perpetual memorial. That is to say, in honour of the very glorious Virgin and Mother Mary who is in the shadow of the sun and yet shines with all clearness and purity, I have devised.....". The doves in the arms of the Tallow Chandlers were probably inspired by John 1,32: ".....and John bare record, saying I saw the Spirit descending from Heaven like a dove and it abode upon him." The crest of the head of St John the Baptist on a charger is an allusion to the origins of the company as a religious fraternity of St John. The motto is taken from the Gospel of St John 1,29: "Behold the Lamb of god, which taketh away the sin of the world." The arms are supported either side by an angel vested, winged and crowned with stars.
The cross keys in the chief of the Fishmongers' arms are symbols of St Peter. Members were required, under an ordinance of 1426, to attend each year a solemn mass in the worship of God and St Peter. The three lilies in the chief of the Coopers' arms symbolise the company's incorporation in 1501 as a fraternity in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary, while the eagle in the arms of the Scriveners and the Stationers may suggest a common origin in a religious fraternity of St John the Evangelist, whose ancient symbol of a rising eagle is said to have been assigned because his gaze pierced further into the mysteries of Heaven than that of any other man. The Stationers' shield is supported by two Angels proper vested Argent mantled Azure winged and blowing a Trumpet Or. The Company of Parish Clerks, who received their first charter in 1442 (and who have never applied for a grant of livery, since they prefer the distinction of the surplice to livery gowns), bear as a main charge a fleur-de-lis, a symbol both of the Holy Trinity and of the Blessed Virgin. There was a fraternity of Girdlers at St Lawrence in St Lawrence Jewry in 1332 devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary and to St Lawrence. the arms of the Girdlers Company are On a field of six pieces Azure and Or three Gridirons Or. The crest depicts the patron saint, St Lawrence, who was martyred by burning over a gridiron. This was the earliest (1454) grant of a crest to a corporate body.
Much of the religious symbolism found in the arms of the early guilds was, however, suppressed and removed during the Reformation, to be replaced by more conventional devices reflecting the trade or craft of the companies.
Of the ninety-five City of London livery companies bearing arms in 1986, thirty-six make use of the chevron as a main charge, six of which are engrailed, between three minor charges. In fourteen instances the chevron itself is charged, thirteen with three charges and one, the Masons, with a single pair of compasses. In three coats the chevron has been chosen to allude to the craft or trade. The Carpenters' arms are Argent a Chevron engrailed between three Pairs of Compasses Sable. Whilst the compasses are obvious tools of the carpenter, the chevron may also be allusive to his trade. The French term for rafter is chevron, and the charge in the Carpenters' arms may be intended to represent one of the products of the carpenter - a roof support. Not so obvious is the allusive use of the chevron in the Cordwainers' arms Azure a Chevron Or between three Goat's Heads erased Argent horned and bearded Or, until it is remembered that the French chevron has its roots in the Latin word caper, for goat. The Furniture Makers' arms, granted 1954, are Argent a Chevron dovetailed counterdovetailed Gules between three Braces and Bits each palewise with bits downwards Sable. The arms of the Pewterers contain a curious charge, the stryke or strake, which has yet to be positively identified.
Two companies use a party field of per chevron, the Salters Party per chevron Azure and Gules three Covered Salts Argent garnished Or the Salt shedding on both sides of the Covered Salts Argent granted 1530, the Actuaries Per chevron chequy Argent and Gules and Gules each chequer Gules charged with a Bezant in base a Cross potent Gold. The Actuaries were incorporated in 1979 and granted arms in 1980. The chequer board in the traditional red and white colours of the City of London symbolises the medieval counting board, the red squares charged with a gold coin whilst the cross potent in base comprises four crutches allusive to the support given to the sick and needy. The crest of three hour-glasses, in varying stages of running out, reflects the company's interest in mortality.
Six companies use a quarterly shield. The first and fourth quarters of the Painter-Stainers' shield contain three escutcheons, which are said to refer to the painters' claim to pursue the craft of painting of escutcheons of arms independently of the College of Arms. The company has as supporters two heraldic panthers. In the past these beasts have been called "panters", an English phonetic rendering of the Latin panthera, or the Old French pantère: a pun on the word painter which the heraldic artist would find hard to resist.
Three companies - Tallow Chandlers, Girdlers and the Glovers - have shields divided into six pieces. All three received their grants from John Smert, Garter (1450-77), that of the Tallow Chandlers being On a field of six pieces Azure and Argent three Doves Argent membered Gules each holding in its beak an Olive Branch Or.
The heraldic lion is included in the arms of nine companies and royal patronage is alluded to by this favoured charge. In the arms of the Merchant Taylors the lion is the lion of England and may be connected with royal favours, as the company was granted a number of royal letters patent and included many royal personages in its list of members. Several kings of England have been Freemen of the Company. Both the Merchant Taylors and the Haberdashers received in charters granted by Henry VII the distinctive epithet of "Merchant".
The London Assay Office is at Goldsmiths Hall. The Company of Goldsmiths is the oldest hallmarking authority in the country, having being assigned the right of assay of gold and silver by an Act of 1300. The word hallmark derives from the official mark or stamp of the Goldsmiths Company, to denote the standard of precious metals assayed by them and marked with the leopard's head. Assay of new coin of the realm is also the responsibility of the Goldsmiths. The ceremony known as the Trial of the Pyx is an examination of the coinage to ascertain that the gold, silver and cupro-nickel coins made by the Royal Mint are of the proper weight, diameter and composition specified by law. The Trial is convened annually in the presence of a jury consisting of Freemen of the Goldsmiths Company sworn in and presided over by the Queen's Remembrancer. The verdict of the jury is delivered in writing to the Lord Chancellor. Both these legal duties are refelcted in the Goldsmiths' arms. The leopard's head of the hallmark is charged in the first and fourth quarters of the shield, whilst the touchstone, used for testing the quality of gold and silver, in the crest refers to the assay of metals, the balance representing the Trial of the Pyx.
King James I & VI gave the Musicians Company their first charter, and this may be the reason for the inclusion in 1604 of the double tressure flory-counterflory in the arms of the company. The lions and rose in the chief of the arms may be a relic of an early association - the Fellowship of Minstrels of London - whose members had formerly been controlled by the king's minstrels.
Exclusive use of an ermine field is exercised by the Guild or Fraternity of the Body of Christ of the Skinners of London. Ermine was reserved by the sumptuary laws of the Middle Ages to the use of royalty and nobility, and because of its importance the Skinners Company adopted ermine as a badge of the craft. No fewer than six kings have been members of this corporation.
In England the right to bear supporters is confined to those to whom they have been granted or recorded, and today they are only granted in special cases, including grants to eminent corporate bodies. The Leathersellers Company were first granted arms in 1479, and in 1505 they were the first corporate body to be granted supporters, in this case a roebuck and a ram. The Vintners Company bear as supporters On either side a Swan the dexter a Cob the sinister a Pen both nicked in the beak with the Mark of the Company....., a reference to the royalty of a game of swans on the Thames, held in common with the Dyers Company. Each July, led by the Queen's Swan Keeper, the Swan Master of the Dyers Company and the Swan Marker of the Vintners Company, six Thames skiffs set off on a Swan Voyage up the Thames as far as Henley-on-Thames. The cygnets are marked with two nicks in their beaks by the Vintners, while those of the Dyers have one nick, and the Queen's swans are not marked at all. The marten supporters of the Skinners Company is a typical heraldic pun: sable is produced from the fur of the marten, a species of the weasel family, and is blazoned as a Marten Sable.
The Weavers Company is described as the oldest chartered craft in the City and is mentioned in the Pipe Roll of 1130. The guild's earliest charter was granted in 1155. The company's arms and crest were granted in 1490, and the supporters, granted 1616, are wyverns, originally blazoned as Wyvers. The choice of the beast as supporters would seem to rest solely on the phonetic resemblance of the word wyvers to the name of the company. The dexter supporter of The Worshipful Company of Fuellers, granted in 1984, is a caretyne, an heraldic monster with gold spots, cloven hoofs, horns, tusks, mane and tufts. Flames issue from its mouth and one ear.
The mantling of two companies deviates from normal practice. That of the Fishmongers is Gules doubled Or on the dexter side, and Azure doubled Argent on the sinister, as shown in the patent of 1575 when supporters were granted. The original grant of 1512 blazons the mantling as Gules doubled Argent, and apparently the use of either is admissible. The mantling of the Parish Clerks is Gules and Azure doubled Ermine on the dexter and Or on the sinister.
The type of helm laid down for use by a corporate body is that used by a gentleman, a closed tilting helm in England and a sallet in Scotland. But five livery companies boast the use of a peer's helm - the Apothecaries, Clockmakers, Fishmongers, Goldsmiths and, until recently, the Gunmakers. The Gunmakers' device of two guns saltirewise was borne on a shield with a motley collection of banners and weapons on either side. No mantling was shown, but ostrich feathers decorated the helm, above which floated a wreath and crest. The Gunmakers have recently obtained both English and Scottish grants of arms in which these devices have been incorporated in a more conventional manner. In the case of the other four companies the peer's helm is shown in the paintings in the margins of their patents, although the patents themselves are silent on the subject and no explanation has been offered for this particular distinction.
The Poulters are alone among the livery companies in the use of a crest coronet, that of a mural crown in lieu of the wreath.
Many phrases in common usage have originated from the livery companies of the City of London: "on tenterhooks" from the double-ended hook in the Clothworkers' arms; "baker's dozen" in the efforts of the Bakers' provision of the vantage loaf to avoid all risks of incurring a fine for short weight; "all at sixes and sevens" some say originated in the struggle of the Merchant Taylors and the Skinners Companies for sixth and seventh place in the table of precedence; "hallmarking" from the marking of precious metals at Goldsmiths Hall; and at the completion of his apprenticeship the aspiring smith submits to the Wardens of the Company of Goldsmiths his "masterpiece". The word has come to mean a work of art of exceptional merit, but originally it meant only the first piece of craftsmanship made by the apprentice entirely on his own to prove that he had mastered his craft. The Haberdashers found a commercial winner in the pin. It is said that £50,000 was paid annually to import this little item, but by the end of the reign of Elizabeth I the Haberdashers were making it themselves. Essential to the well-dressed woman, whose husband made her suitable allowance, the trade soon gave rise to the expression "pin money".
Thirty-eight companies have livery halls within the City of London, including that of the Master Mariners - the sloop HQS Wellington, moored at Temple Stairs on the Thames. The halls are private property and cannot be entered except on certain open days, details of which can be obtained from the City of London Information Centre.