[12] M. Solon explains this method of reckoning as follows: “Art of the Old English Potter,” p. 32. “The unit was represented by a dozen small pieces, and that unit served as the basis of reckoning for all the rest. For instance, a dish might have been worth a ‘dozen’; a very large dish ‘counted 2 dozen’; of bowls, jugs, cups, and other articles of middle sizes it required 2, 3 or 4 to make a dozen. The potter knew at once the value of the contents of his oven by the number or ‘dozens’ put in; while the workman could easily calculate his wages by the number of ‘dozen’ he made in the week.... So convenient was this method of reckoning that it is kept up to this day in many manufactories both in England and on the Continent.” [13] This Act was passed in 1661, which would make the date of Plot’s visit to the Potteries 1675-7. [14] Lawton Park is on the Cheshire side of Mow Cop, only six miles from Burslem. [15] S. Shaw, “Hist. Staffs. Potteries.” p. 109. [16] “Philosophical Transactions,” vol. xvii, 1693, p. 699. [17] Burton’s “English Earthenware,” p. 77. [18] Burton, _op. cit._ 76. [19] S. Shaw, “Staffordshire Potteries,” p. 119. [20] S. Shaw, _op. cit._, 118. [21] Burton, “English Earthenware,” p. 74. [22] Burton, “English Earthenware,” p. 74. [23] A list of those who joined the “Association to defend and avenge King William” in 1696 is preserved at the Record Office. Among 100 names given in Stoke-on-Trent, which included Hanley, Shelton, Longton, &c., occur side by side the names of Joshua Twiford and Robert Astbry. Is it possible that even then they had their pot-banks side by side, as tradition says, on the knoll where Shelton Church now stands? [24] Wedgwood’s Letters II, 367-70. [25] Shaw, _op. cit._, pp. 108-9. [26] Aikin, “Manchester,” 526. [27] Shaw, _op. cit._, p. 121. [28] Burton, _op. cit._, p. 86. [29] See page 87 for the relationship of the various potters of the Wedgwood family. [30] The Christian name of the first Astbury was probably Robert, but see _Dict. Nat. Biog._ under Astbury. [31] Shaw, _op. cit._, p. 130. [32] Shaw, _op. cit._, p. 126. [33] “Wedgwood’s Letters, II,” p. 368. [34] The incident referred to, which Shaw says occurred to Astbury, and Wedgwood to Heath, was as follows:—One of them was on a business journey to London, then naturally taken on horseback; before reaching Dunstable or Banbury, his horse’s eyes became inflamed. The ostler of the Inn put a piece of flint into the fire; when it was red-hot he quenched it with water and pounded it to a fine powder, a little of which was blown into the horse’s eye, relieving the inflammation. The potter, noticing the extreme whiteness of the calcined flint, and also the ease with which it was powdered, was led to try this material to improve the whiteness of his ware, and with the most successful results. [35] Shaw, _op. cit._, p. 141. [36] “Wedgwood Letters,” III, p. 190. [37] “Monthly Magazine,” November 1823.