THE BROCHURE SERIES
The Guild Halls of London
AUGUST, 1900
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| PLATE LIX |
HABERDASHER'S HALL: GREAT HALL |
THE
Brochure Series
OF ARCHITECTURAL ILLUSTRATION.
|
| 1900. |
AUGUST |
No. 8. |
THE GUILD HALLS OF LONDON.
Perhaps there are no corporate bodies now existing in England which can trace their beginnings in a more unbroken line to the earliest recorded historical events of the country, and surely none which have exercised so great political and civic influence, as the famous trade-guilds of London. There now exist in that city about one hundred such associations, the twelve most prominent and influential of them being styled as the Twelve Great Livery Companies, and these associations exercise no slight share in the government of the world's metropolis. From rights which have survived to them from ancient charters, their members, although self-elected and not deriving their power from any popular suffrage, still choose the Lord Mayor of London from among the twenty-six aldermen of the city's wards, and his election takes place at the Guildhall, or central office of all the companies.
The ceremony is a most interesting one. The floor of the Hall is strewn with aromatic herbs, which is perhaps the only survival of the mediæval method of carpeting a floor with rushes. The aldermen or heads of the city wards, gather in their scarlet gowns, and are met by the representatives of the companies, all clad in the robes or "liveries," which, by ancient grants bestowed upon them, they are privileged to wear, whence their name of "Liverymen" is derived. To this assembly the recorder or law officer of the city then makes a short, set speech, declaring that from the time of King John the liverymen have possessed the rights of election which they are now to exercise. The liverymen thereupon proceed to choose, by vote, two of the aldermen for the office of Lord Mayor, and from these two the incumbent Lord Mayor and the aldermen with formal ceremony select one, who is to become Lord Mayor of London for the ensuing term. This selection the liverymen must ratify by stating that the man named is their free choice. On the evening of his election the new Lord Mayor presides at a splendid feast in the Guildhall, and among the illustrious company assembled not the least picturesque figures are the liverymen of London in their gowns edged with fur, wearing the golden chain-like collars from which depend jewelled badges.
| PLATE LX |
ARMOURER'S HALL: BOARD ROOM |
