Bankers' Or Masons' Marks.

to answer any useful purpose . When a man is about to work a block of stone , lie places it upon a stool or stout table , or more commonly a heavy junk of wood . This table or support is termed in the trade a "bank , "' and tlie men who work at it are called "bankers . " ilence it follows , by an easy sequence ,

that the marks of these men should he termed "bankers' marks . " One or two reasons were given me iu explanation of their use . It is plain that every man must work his different pieces of stone so as to make them fit well together when they are placed in the building , and , to know those which he has

himself worked , he will put his own mark upon them . This might be his own private reason for their employment , hut another was also given me . The foreman or clerk of the works will sometimes require to know what work was executed by what men ; for where a block of stone has been sent up to the

building ( among others ) badly shaped or carelessly worked , the foreman would require to know who did it , iu order to reprimand the bad workman . The use of such marks , therefore , nails every bit of work upon its author . The employment of such marks in masonry is said to date from a very early period .

Down to about the fourteenth or fifteenth century , I was informed , it was customary to put these marks on the outside face of the stone , where they remained visible after the building was completed ; but , subsequently to that time , for some reason or other

( perhaps they were thought to be unsightly ) , they were placed on the bed of the stone , where they are coucealed . When Sidmouth parish church , in Devonshire , was rebuilt in 1 SG 0 , by a whim of the clerk of the works the masons' marks were put on the outer

face where they may still be seen—that is , in such cases as where the lamentably soft stone has not decaved away .

"During the process of restoring Lichfield Cathedral , nearly the whole of the interior had been scraped , so as to remove the successive coats of whitewash , by which operation any scratches still retaining the lime revealed themselves clearly upon the darker coloured stone . 3 Ir . Teend ( pronounced

Tend ) , the head verger , ancl a very intelligent man , by the way , informed me that the gentleman who was engaged in the researches alluded to was named Ford , ancl that Le had it in contemplation to bring out a book on the subject of these marks , illustrated with

facsimiles of them . Having been shown some of the marks by Mr . Teend , aud fired by the newness of the subject , I set to work examining the cathedral , and made rubbings of such as I found . As further tending to give iuterest to the practice amongst

workmen of using such devices , I was told that men jealously adhered to them through life , ancl that they were frequently transmitted from father to son .

Before I left Lichfield I had collected nearly thirty of them , all of which I still retain , pasted into a book , together with memoranda noting the places where they occurred . In illustration of this I will mention some of them , as , for instance , a plain cross occurring

on the south side of the large south-west pier of the central tower ; the fylfot ou N . side of presbytery , this part of the building having been erected about 1325 ; the saltier , three examples on first pier ( from the west door ) on N . side of nave : the saltier crossed

again like a cross-crosslet , on third p ier , S . side of nave , built about 1250 : a rude Greek A , two examples on columns E . side of N . transept near the organ ; figure like a bent bow with string , or chord and arc , two on seventh p ier N . side of nave ; arrow head , two

on W . side of N . W . pier of central tower ; arrow on E . side of N . transept ; two lines conjoined , making a figure like a Hail , three examples , from N . transept ,, built about 1210 , ancl central tower ; two flails saltier-wise , AV " . side of N . transept ; a perpendicular

line with three side lines sloping upwards out of it ,, two or three on fourth p ier on S . side of nave ; a saltier between two perpendicular hues , two on fifth p ier on S . side of nave ; a triangle crossed at the points , ' two ou N . side of first pier on S . side of nave ,, nearly twenty feet from floor ; a trefoil of three vesiea-shaped figures conjoined iu point , almost

regular enough to have been struck with the compasses , two on S . side of S . W . pier of central tower ; a trefoil of three triangles conjoined iu poiut , one near great west door , N . side , and two behind S . half of chapter-house door ; a star like eight spokes of a wheel , third pier S . side of nave ; a star like six

spokes of awheel on left side of organ ; a star on six points formed of two equilateral triangles , one on left of organ front on wall iu N . aisle of choir , and another ou left of door going to chapter-house , in same aisle ; a star of live points on W . side of S . W . p ier of central tower , near tbe floor . I may also

mention rudely-formed letters used as marks , such as M , Y , R , W , etc ., occurring in different p laces . They are all Roman capitals . On the wall to the left of the organ front are apparently the letters I—R , conjoined by a horizontal line . In looking for masons' marks , the inquirer ought to find at least

two of the same sort , in order to be certain that the scratches are not accidental . With regard to the modern marks used by the masons who rebuilt Sidmouth church in 1 SC 0 , I may as well add that I copied the marks at the time , and

I also took down the names of all the men who used them . It would be interesting now to know the names of those who had put them on the stonework of Lichfield Cathedral more than 000 years ago . '• ' Such are my notes . By way of query I would ask whether Mr . Ford has gone on with his book ? "