MACHYN'S DIARY

 

The Diary of Henry Machyn,

Citizen and Merchant Taylor of London,

1550 - 1563

[ed. J.G. Nichols, Camden Society first series, 42 (London, 1848)

 http://www.british-history.ac.uk/camden-record-soc/vol42 (accessed 28 January 2024)]

Extracts from the PREFACE: (editor)

        ' The writer was a citizen of London, of no great scholarship or attainments, as his language and cacography plainly testify, sufficiently prejudiced no doubt, and not capable of any deep views either of religious doctrine or temporal policy; but the matters of fact which he records would be such as he either witnessed himself, or had learned immediately after their occurrence: and the opinions and sentiments which he expresses would be shared by a large proportion of his fellow citizens.'

        ' The Diary, in fact, originated from the nature of the writer's business as a furnisher of funeral trappings; and it is at first a mere record of the principal Funerals for which he was employed to provide. Commencing in August 1550, he describes two funerals in that and one in the following month, one in October, and several in November, the last one of which belongs to Christopher Machyn, his own brother. The first event of another kind commemorated is the committal of Bishop Gardiner to the Tower in Feb. 1550-51; after which he enters every occurrence that struck him as deserving of remembrance.'

          

        ' In the absence of any direct proof of his occupation, I rather think that his business was in that department of the trade of a merchant-taylor which we now call an undertaker or furnisher of funerals. The banners, etc. which he provided were probably painted by men who worked as journeymen under his superintendence...

          His parish, from several passages, is shown to have been that of Trinity the Little, by Queenhithe; and in Trinity Lane adjoining was the Painter-Stainers' hall, in the vicinity of which would live many of the workmen with whom he had much to do.'

         

         ' The Diarist takes a lively interest in the pageantry and holiday making of the City, which were certainly esteemed by our ancestors as matters more important and indispensable than they are by their close-working posterity. He seldom fails to notice the shows of Lord Mayor's day, the gay doings in May, or the mummeries of Christmas; and so deep was the impression which such performances made upon his mind that, on the death of a past Sheriff in 1557, he recurs to the magnificence with which that gentleman had maintained his "lord of misrule" when in office five years before.'

FUNERALS:  1 prominent citizen, 2 minor nobility, 3 family member, from November 1550

1. Prominent Citizen:

    The xix day of November was bured my lade Jude, ma[yress] of London,

    The 19th day of November was buried my lady Jude, mayoress of London,   

     and wyff of sir Androw Jude, mayor of London, and bered in  the parryche 

     and wife of Sir Andrew Jude, mayor of London, and [she was] buried in the parish

     of saynt Ellen in Byssshope-gatt stret, for he gayff mony, gownes,

     of Saint Helen in Bishopsgate Street, for [her husband] gave money, gowns,

    and to the powre men and women ij C gownes of mantyll ... 

    and to the poor men and women 200 gowns of mantle [or hooded mourning cloaks] ... 

     and the Clarkes of London had the berying of my lade, and then came ...

     and the Clerks of London attended the burying of my lady, and then came ...

     with ij harolds a-for with iiij baners a-bot her borne, and after my [lord] mayre

     with 2 heralds in front with 4 banners around her coffin, and after came my lord mayor

     and ys bredurne, and all the stret and the chyrche wher hangyd with blake

     and his brethren, and all the street and the church were hung with black

     and with scochyons of ther armes, and a gret dolle and a grett [dinner].

     and with escutcheons of their [family] arms, and a great dole [was paid] and a great [meal

                                                                                                                              was served].

Notes on Funerals:  (editor)

'... banners of arms restricted to persons of high rank ... there was another kind of banner which was probably allowed to all who were inclined to pay for it. During the prevalence of the rites of the church of Rome, we meet with Banners of Images, which were square, and represented the personification of the Trinity or the figures of saints. Their number is almost uniformly four, and they were carried about the corpse, "at the four corners"...

... rich citizens of London increased their funeral pomp  with Penons of the arms of the city and of the [livery] companies to which they belonged, in addition to one of their own arms ...

The lowest description of heraldic design allotted for funerals was the Scocheon. Mere gentlemen had no penon, but as many scocheons as were desired ... A gentleman of Grays Inn who perhaps had no arms of his own was buried with six "scocheons of the arms of the house", i.e. the arms of his Hon. Society ...'

(scochyon, scocheon, skutcheon, escutcheon, a small shield on which a family coat of arms is represented)

2.  Minor Nobility:

    The xxiiij day of November was bered the nobulle ca[ptayn] ser James Wylfford,

    [On] the 24th day of November [there] was buried the noble captain Sir James Wylfford,

    knyght, sum tyme captayne in Franse and ded at the Cruchydffrrers,

    knight, some-time captain in France and dead [or died] at the Crutched Friars [hospice],

    and was cared to berying from [thence] unto lytyll saynt Bathellmuw besyd sant Antony's,

    and was carried to burial from there to Little Saint Bartholomew's beside Saint Anthony's,

    with a standard, a penon, and a harold carehying the cott armur, 

    with a standard, a penon, and a herald carrying [the deceased's] coat of armour, 

    and many m[ourners], and bered in the sam tombe that ys grett unckulle M. James.

    with many mourners, and [he] was buried in same tomb [as] his great uncle Mr James.

    There was at ys bereying my lord Gray and the Wylfford ... captaynes, and the

    There was [also] at his burial my lord Grey and the Wylfford ... captains, and the

    company of the Clarkes. Mylles Coverdale dyd [pryche].

    Company of the Clerks. Miles Coverdale preached.

Notes on Funerals:  (editor)

'At funerals, banners seem to have been allowed to all peers and their ladies; standards but not banners to all knights and their ladies; penons but not standards to esquires. Mere gentlemen had no penons but only scutcheons of arms.'

3.  Family Member: 

    The xxx day of November was bered Crystoffer Machyn Merchant-tayllor,

   On the 30th day of November Christopher Machyn, Merchant-Taylor, was buried,

    in the parryche of saynt James, and brodur [of] Hnery Maychyn,

    in the parish of Saint James [Garlickhithe], the brother of Henry Machyn,

    the compeny of Marchand-tayllers behyng at ys berehyng, 

    the Company of Merchant Taylors being at his burying,

    and the compeny of Clarkes syngyng and ... Maydwell dyd pryche for him.

   and the Company of Clerks singing and ... Maidwell preached for him.

    ― the iiij yer of K.E. vj.

    ― the 4th year of King Edward the Sixth.

THE WORSHIPFUL COMPANY OF PARISH CLERKS: London Hall, from May 1551

     The xiiij day of May Chester the reseyver [margin: 'pray God he be a good man']

     The 14th day of May, Chester the Receiver [I pray to God that he be a good man] 

     took possessyon the halle of the compeny of the Clarkes of London by fre ...

     took possession of the hall of the Company of the Clerks of London by 

     the gentyllman, of wyche they have as sure a corporayson [as] any haff in London,

     the gentlemen of which have as sound a corporation as any have in London,

     and I pray God gyffe ym ylle sped, be[cause] of the pore men and women and other

     and I pray God give him ill speed, because of the poor men and women and others

     that yff they had falne to a [sudden] poverte ther they wher sure of a onest lyvynge

     that if they had fallen into unexpected poverty were sure of making an honest living

     as longe as [life did last].

     for the rest of their lives.

    Notes to the Diary: for 1550-51, by editor

    'Chester the receiver took possession of the hall of the company of Clerks of London'.

    Sir Robert Chester was recorder of the court of augmentations. This proceeding was

    notified a few months before in the minutes of the Privy Council:

    16 March 1550. A letter to the Chauncelor of the augmentacion to put the kinges majestie        in possession agayne of the Clerkes hall in London, if the law will suffer it; yf not, to repaire      to the Lordes to shewe cause of the impediment thereof.

    The company of Clerks seems to have been more liable to this attack than the other city          companies, from being regarded as a religious foundation.

<https://www.londonparishclerks/History/The-Lectures>

          <https://www.londonparishclerks/History/Company-Story>

"...the greatest disaster that has ever befallen the Company was the second Chantries Act of 1548 ... In London, the trade guilds, all of them fraternities under the patronage of saints, their halls smothered with religious trappings, rushed forward to point out that they were in fact secular bodies devoted to the regulation of their various crafts ... It was not so with the Parish Clerks ... Ominously, when the City guilds had been reorganised and numbered in 1515, the clerks had not joined in. Perhaps they took the view that as technically minor clergy owing their office to their bishop, it would not be appropriate to join with the overtly mercantile companies. If that was their thinking, it was to be dreadful mistake ...

         ['In the 16th century, the Parish Clerks declined to take the Livery ('uniform',            ceremonial dress) on the grounds that the surplus was older than the Livery and was the proper garb of the members of the Company'.]

...The whole of the property of the Company was held to be devoted to superstitious purposes (Catholic practices) and therefore subject to confiscation. In 1548 the hall and the adjoining seven almshouses were granted to and seized by Sir Robert Chester, the Recorder of London ... For a short period (the Clerks valiantly contested) and regained possession of the hall but when a further court ruling transferred it back to Sir Robert, he promptly demolished it to avoid further debate ...

       [NEVERTHELESS 'the Company was reincorporated in 1553 under the seal of the Lord Mayor'  ... 'The Charter of 1442 laid down that the Masters ― in medieval tradition there were two of them ― should be elected on Ascension Day and that became the great feast day of the Company. Under 1555, (Henry Machyn) records', ]

    The xxvij day of May was the Clarkes' prossessyon from Yerdhall college,

    The 27th day of May [Ascension Day?] was the Clerks' procession from Guildhall College.

    And ther was a goodly masse be hard [as goodly a mass as has been heard]

    And there were as goodly a mass as could be heard,

    and every clerk havyng a cope and garland, with C. streamers borne,

    and every clerk wearing a cope and garland, with 100 streamers held up,

    and the whettes playing around Chepe, and so to Leadynhall unto sant Albro chyrche,

    and the waits playing around Cheap, and so to Leadenhall and St Ethelburga church,

    and ther they putte off ther gayre, and there was the blessyd sacremente borne with

    and there they put off their gear, and there was the Blessed Sacrament carried in with

    torch-lyte a-bout, and from thens unto the Barbur-hall to dener.

    the light of torches around, and from there to the Barbers' hall for a dinner.

THE BUSINESS OF MAKING AN HONEST LIVING:

[Ian Mortimer, 2002, 'Tudor Chronicler or Sixteenth-Century Diarist? Henry Machyn and the Nature of His Manuscript', The Sixteenth Century Journal, vol 33, no 4, pp 981-998]

  

     'We know from external sources that Henry Machyn was a parish clerk and a merchant tailor and lived in the parish of Trinity the Little'. 

     'One of the last entries in the manuscript [in 1563] relates to the plague. A glance at the register of Little Trinity shows that just in this small parish there were twenty-eight burials in September and eighteen in October (the usual figure for a month was two). On 11 September Henry Machyn's servant John Some was buried. In November the register reads: "The 11th daie Henrye Macham taylor and Clarck of the parish churche of Trinitie the Less was buried".

      

     'Most chronicles at this time are judged for their political or religious motivation, but Machyn's manuscript displays none of the former and very little of the latter. Although it is possible to view Machyn as biased towards the old religion, his leaning is far from fanatical and he himself seems not to have been an overly zealous man. Furthermore, his Catholic preferences seem to stem from business opportunities arising from the elaborate funerals of the old religion, and the subsequent Protestant attitude towards the Clerk's Company. Machyn's condemnation of "Chester the reseyver" for taking the clerks' hall and Machyn's subsequent curse on him ("I pray God gyff ym ylle sped") is a good example: Machyn makes this curse not on account of Catholicism itself but because "of the pore men and women and other that yffe they had falne to a (sudden) poverte ther they wher sure of a onest lyvyng...".'

    'The style is also used of business functions in Machyn's career, such as that described on 3 September 1562:  

    "The same day be-gane to make rede for the good lade contess of Bedford a grette baner of armes and vi grette baner-rolles and skochyons of sylke, and of paper-ryalle vij doshen skochyons of armes."

     That this entry relates to Machyn's own work is made more likely by the next entry which states that the same day "they" began to make the heraldic trappings for "my lord Mordaunt in Bedfordshire", and by a faint scribbled note on the first folio of the manuscript which relates to a bill for supplying "armes" and a "herse", showing this was exactly Machyn's line of work. Thus what we have in Machyn's manuscript is partly an old-style chronicle and partly a journal of personal and business memoranda.'

IMPORTANCE OF SYMBOLISM AND CEREMONY: 

[A Historical Catalogue of the Pictures, Herse-Cloths & Tapestry at Merchant Taylors' Hall with a List of the Sculptures and Engravings by Frederick M Fry, Master of the Company for 1895-6, London, MCMVII]

1512.  

"...a true Inventory of all the goodes, Jowelles, plate, utensiles, Implementes, Hustilementes, hangynges, napery, ornamentes, and necessaryes bilogyng in comon to the Feliship..."

"...a coffyn of Estriche borde with the buriying clothe and half a shete to lay within it..."

1609.

"The State Cloth of Black Velvett ymbrothered with gould.

 One Buryall Cloth of Black Velvett, being in two parts and ymbrothered in gould."

1693.

"One paull the middle scarlett and gold and imbroydered with silver and gold on the edges on purple velvet and lined with purple calico throughout and silk ffrynge about it.

 One other paull the middle Tissue Brocaded with gold and rich Imbroydered with Gold and Silver on the sides with a purple and gold ffringe round about and lined with Blew Calico."

1907. p 20. Article 9.

"PALL, or HERSE-CLOTH, About 1490-1512.

'The middle consists of a piece of baldakin cloth, or cloth of gold velvet, the pattern in crimson on a gold ground. The four surrounding flaps, edged with silk fringe, brown, yellow and green alternately, are of purple velvet with embroidered designs sewn on. These designs are illustrative of the life and death of St. John the Baptist, the Patron Saint of the Fraternity ...

Middle, 76 inches long X 22 inches. Flaps, 15 inches deep.

The pall, which was customarily used at the burial of a brother of the Mysterie, was doubtless made for the Company, and its approximate date is fixed by the costumes in the scenes of the Decollation. It is probably the "buriying clothe" kept in a deal chest mentioned in the Inventory of 1512, but it is difficult to identify it with either of the "Cloths of Black Velvett" which are specified in the Inventory of 1609 ... A not unlikely hypothesis is that the middle may have originally been of black velvet, which was replaced by the present crimson fabric ... before 1693, when it is sufficiently accurately described in the inventory of that year.'

1907. p 23. Article 10.

PALL, or HERSE-CLOTH, About 1520-1530.

'The middle consists of a piece of cloth of gold velvet, the pattern in purple and gold ... The four surrounding flaps are entirely covered in silk and gold, and are edged with a purple and gold fringe.

The two long flaps are alike, in seven compartments of unequal width, divided by pilasters. In the middle is the Baptism of Our Lord, St. John kneeling on the bank of the stream to the right of the Saviour, and angel to the left holding the Saviour's robe, while above is the Holy Dove, with a scroll inscribed HI EST FILIUS MEUS. The background is a landscape with church towers. In two other compartments are the Arms of the Company, and the remaining four contain the inscription "Ecce Agnus Dei" in large ornamental letters.

The two smaller flaps are also alike, each divided by pilasters into three compartments, the middle one exhibiting the Decollation of the Baptist and the others the Company's Arms. The Decollation is shown precisely as in the other pall ['an executioner holding up the head which Salome receives in a charger, the body falling forward, while the blood gushes from the severed head'], but the garments, both of Salome and the executioner, are slashed, puffed and gathered.

Middle 78 inches long X 23 inches. Flaps, 12 inches deep.

The approximate date of this pall, as of the other, has been fixed by the costumes in the Decollation. It has been surmised that the reason why the Company acquired this more elaborate herse-cloth so shortly after the other is to be found in the absence of the Arms upon the earlier one.

This is probably the "State Cloth of Black Velvett ymbrothered with gould" mentioned in the Inventory of 1609 ... and further described in the Inventory of 1693 ...'