Hall marks on gold & silver plate

2 HALL MARKS ON PLATE.
but Dunstan discovered that his visitor was no less a person than
the devil himself in disguise, on which he immediately took the
red-hot tongs from the fire and seized His Infernal Majesty by the
nose; the unexpected application made him roar and bellow so as
to disturb the whole neighbourhood. So runs the tradition.
Dunstan at length attracted the notice of the Saxon king, Athelstan,
and he was made Abbot of Glastonbury in the year 942 by his successor.
King Edmund, who supplied him with money to restore the
Abbey. He continued in favour with Edred and Edwy, and was
raised by them to the dignities of Bishop of Worcester, subsequently
Bishop of London, and in 961 he became Archbishop of Canterbury.
On the accession of Ethelred II in 978, his influence with that
monarch declined, and he was deposed ;
but although shortly rein-
stated, he was so mortified that he died of grief and vexation in
A.D. 988, and was buried in Canterbury Cathedral.
He was canonised as saint, and from his high appointments in
the State, combined with his previous employment as goldsmith and
worker in the precious metals, he was chosen patron of the goldsmiths
of England, and especially by the Goldsmiths' Company of
London, who paid to his memory honours without end. Their records
abound with notices of ceremonials and observances to their patron
saint on special occasions. Their gorgeous hall was adorned with
his image of silver-gilt set with gems and precious stones of fabulous
price. Much of their plate bore his effigy. They had " St.
Dunstan's Light "
kept constantly burning in St. John Zachary's
Church, the cost of maintaining which formed an annual item in
their Wardens' accounts. They had a chapel also in St. Paul's
Cathedral.
In 1460, "On St. Dunstan's Eve all the hoole companye of the
Lyverye shall assemble at the <strong>Hall</strong> in their second lyverye and shall
have iiij chapeleynes to wayte and goo before them to Pawls "
(St.
Paul's). On its being debated whether St. Dunstan's day should be
kept by shutting up their shops and keeping holiday, the Company
agreed to do so. He is "
designated in their books Seynt Dunstan,
our blessed Patron, Protector, and Founder," and on their feast days
they drank to his memory from a great and costly cup, surmounted
by a statuette of the saint, called "St. Dunstan's Cup." He was
considered as having been a brother of the craft; indeed, some of
his handicraft was extant in 1280, for in the wardrobe accounts of
" Edward I is noted : A gold ring with a sapphire of the workmanship
of St. Dunstan." However, all these observances ceased at the
Reformation. Under date 1550, the Company changed their election
day, and discarded the religious ceremonies from St. Dunstan's
day to that of the Holy Trinity ; but still their festivities were continued.
A few years earlier (in 1547, October 4), we read : "At the
assembly on this day Mr. Wardens desired to know the pleasure of
the assistants for the ymage of Seint Dunstan, because of the In-
junctions," and they agreed that " Mr. Alderman Bowes (Sir Martin),
and the Wardens with iiij other, soche as they sholde appoynte,
sholde take the same ymage and breake yt, and turn yt to the moste