The girdle itself was usually about two yards in length, and consisted of a strap of stamped leather, or a band of material with a firm foundation, upon which were set button-shaped decorations at regular intervals. This was known as the studded girdle (_ceinture ferrée_). Among the wealthy the studs were composed of the precious metals, against which the sumptuary laws both at home and abroad (of little effect it would seem) contained special prohibitions. The studs upon the girdles of the poor were generally of the alloy of brass and tin called latten or laton, and the term "pearled with latoun" is mentioned in the _Canterbury Tales_. There is still in existence in the City of London the Girdlers' Company, which is of great antiquity. By a charter granted them by Edward III in 1327 it was forbidden to the girdlers to "garnish any girdle of silk, wool, leather or linen thread, with any inferior metal than latten, copper, iron, and steel, and if any girdles were garnished with lead pewter, or tin, the same should be burned, and the workmen punished for their false work."[107] In spite of this prohibition girdles appear to have been frequently mounted with the baser metals, and a considerable number with mountings of pewter have been discovered. Their ordinance, as did that of latoners or workers in latten, likewise forbade girdlers from interfering with the trade of the goldsmiths by mounting girdles or garters with gold or silver; and that if a girdler wished to _harness_ his goods with either of the precious metals he was obliged to employ a goldsmith. In 1376 a girdler of the City of London was accused of "having secretly made in his chamber a certain girdle that was harnessed with silver." Upon being brought before the justices he pleaded that his offence was a light one compared with the more serious fraud of plating with silver objects of base metal. He was dismissed with a warning. Subsequently he was convicted of the very fraud he himself had mentioned, and punished with a heavy fine.[108] The work of the English goldsmiths in the adornment of girdles appears to have been well known and recognised upon the Continent, and an inventory of the jewels of the Duke and Duchess of Orleans in 1408 mentions a girdle of rich goldwork set with pearls and sapphires "_de la façon d'Angleterre_." [107] Riley (H. T.), _Memorials of London and London life_, p. 154. [108] Riley, _op. cit._, p. 399.