Letters omitted-- 1824 to 1843, ~a~ to ~z~. i, j, n, o, w, y. 1844 to 1867, ~A~ to ~Z~. J and Q. 1868 to 1892, ~A~ to ~Z~. I. 1893 to 1917, ~a~ to ~z~. j. The Newcastle marks, 1737, are drawn from a coffee-pot (illustrated page 243). The Date Letter is ~R~ in old English capital type. The Birmingham marks (reproduced opposite) are in date 1804 and 1889. It will be seen that the Duty Mark of Sovereign’s Head is in a broken oval shield. The Sheffield marks are from candlesticks, that of 1773 being made by Samuel Roberts & Co. NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE [Illustration: 1737 COFFEE-POT (illustrated p. 243).] BIRMINGHAM [Illustration: 1804] [Illustration: 1889] SHEFFIELD [Illustration: 1773 Maker, Samuel Roberts & Co.] [Illustration: 1778] FOOTNOTES: [8] For details concerning these marks I am indebted to Thomas Taylor, Esq., of Chipchase Castle, and to Basil Anderton, Esq., Public Librarian, Newcastle-on-Tyne.--A. H. [9] I am indebted for these marks to the courtesy of the Assay Master, Birmingham, and to the Assay Master, Sheffield. V EXAMPLES OF SCOTTISH AND IRISH MARKS EDINBURGH GLASGOW DUBLIN CORK SCOTTISH SILVER Scottish marks are in a field by themselves. The art of the silversmith has always been on a high level in Scotland, and the statutes governing the marks are many in number, and extend over a long period from as early as the fifteenth century. Besides Edinburgh and Glasgow, the number of Scottish hall-marks is legion. The following towns are known to have marked and presumably assayed silver: Stirling, Perth (sometimes having mark of lamb and flag, and sometimes double-headed spread-eagle), Inverness, Dundee (marked with design of town arms, a pot of lilies), Aberdeen, and Banff. _Edinburgh_ used the thistle as the Standard Mark after 1759. Before that date the Assay Master’s initials were used. The Hall Mark is a castle with three towers, and has been in use since the fifteenth century. The Date Mark, letters A to Z (omitting J), has been regularly employed since 1681. The Maker’s Mark has been used since 1457. The Duty Mark of the sovereign’s head was added from 1784 to 1890. _Glasgow_, whose patron saint is St. Kentigern (known also as St. Mungo), has for a Hall Mark a tree with a bird perched on summit, a bell suspended from the boughs, and transversely across trunk a salmon with a ring in his mouth; the latter alluding to the miracle of the recovery in the fish’s mouth of the lost ring of the Queen of Caidyow. The Standard Mark is a lion rampant, used after 1819, and the Maker’s Mark his initials. The Duty Mark of the sovereign’s head was used as at Edinburgh. SCOTTISH MARKS The Edinburgh marks of the date 1705 shown on the opposite page are from an old Scottish Quaich (illustrated page 313). Robert Inglis was the Maker, and the Assay Master was James Penman, and their initials are on separate stamps. The letter ~A~ is the date letter for 1705.