The mark for 1750 shows the letter ~_V_~ in italic capitals, and the Assay Master’s initials are H.B, and the Makers’ are signified by K & D. An Edinburgh mug is marked with the letters A.U and I K, standing for Alexander Ure, the Maker, and James Kerr, the Assay Master. The date letter is K, probably representing the year 1790. A sugar-caster, 1746 (illustrated page 317), has the Maker’s initials E.O. and the Assay Master’s initials H.G. (for Hugh Gordon). The castle is also stamped as the Hall Mark, and the date letter ~_R_~ in italic capitals. A coffee-pot made by Patrick Robertson, 1769 (illustrated page 321), has the marks shown opposite. The thistle is the Standard Mark; the castle is the Hall Mark; P.R. is the Maker’s Mark; and the letter ~P~ for the date. Another of Patrick Robertson’s pieces--a fine tea-urn in classic style--is illustrated page 325. The date letter for this is Z, indicating the year 1778. Two Glasgow marks are shown opposite. One is before 1819, before the lion rampant was used; and the other shows the lion rampant, the Standard Mark of Glasgow still in use. The Duty Mark Stamp is the head of George IV. F is the date letter for 1824. EDINBURGH [Illustration: 1705 QUAICH (illustrated p. 313).] [Illustration: 1750] [Illustration: 1769 COFFEE-POT (illustrated p. 321).] GLASGOW [Illustration: 1713] [Illustration: 1824] IRISH SILVER Irish silver offers some complications in regard to its markings, and it is especially interesting in its character. Dublin is the centre of the silversmiths’ work in Ireland, and officially the Dublin Goldsmiths’ Company holds the exclusive right of assaying and marking Irish silver; but, as we shall show, there was excellent silver made elsewhere in Ireland, notably at Cork, and in the chapter devoted to Irish silver some fine specimens are illustrated. The Standard Mark is the harp, and was used with the crown added to it, in the year 1637, under the terms of a charter granted by Charles I to the Goldsmiths of Dublin. As we have seen, in England from 1784 to 1890 the head of the sovereign was added as a mark to denote that duty had been paid. But in Ireland a Duty Mark was in force as early as 1730, viz. the figure of Hibernia. In 1807, in the reign of George III, the duty was raised; and it was enacted 47 Geo. III that the king’s head should be stamped as a Duty Mark. This was continued till 1890, as in England, but at the same time the old Duty Mark of the figure of Hibernia was retained, and has still been used since 1890. The figure of Hibernia may be practically regarded as a Hall Mark, although it was first adopted to denote that duty had been paid. The Maker’s Mark, in the early days a device, and later initials, follows the practice of assay offices in England. The date letter was used from the middle of the seventeenth century. The present series of letters from 1896 to 1920 covers the alphabet from A to Z (omitting J) in old English capitals. IRISH MARKS