INDUSTRIES law reads, ' ought to buy or receive any black tin, otherwise than openly, at a wash, from the sheet, nor buy or receive any tin shift, or the leavings of blowing-houses, from any suspicious person that is not known to be an adventurer for tin, a worker of white tin, or owner in a blowing-house.' l In later years this rule was supplemented by one which compelled the pre- sence of two witnesses at each sale, and the entry on the book of the blowing-house where the tin was to be smelted of the names of the person from whom it was purchased, and the amount; and the blowing-house books were to be open to the inspection of any who desired. 8 Ore which had passed the wash, and perhaps had already changed hands once, was still subject to the control of the central authorities. Each owner was made to register a private mark at the stannary exchequer at Lostwithiel, 3 and on the court book in his own stannary district. 4 Each proprietor of a blowing-house also must register his private mark, 5 and must not employ a blower (or, after 1752, a smelter) without having first presented him at the steward's court, there to be sworn to use himself according to his vocation, and without corrupting or mingling tin in deceitful manner. 6 The reason may be seen in the fact that the blowing-house, by reason of its technicalities of operation, offered strong temptations to unjust dealing. Several qualities of tin were possible : soft or standard merchantable tin, hard tin, pilian tin, cinder tin, and reli.stian tin, each a grade poorer than the one above. According to law, every block had to be stamped by the blower with the initial letter of its quality, 7 and, besides, with the owner's mark, and the mark of the blowing- house. In case a dealer found that he had been cheated, he might return a piece of the tin con- taining the marks of identification. The sample was melted in court, and, if bad, the original owner was obliged to recompense the dealer, and forfeit his tin to the prince, besides paying a fine, 8 while the blowing-house owner was dealt with in proportion as it could be proved that the mis- demeanour had been due to his negligence or connivance. 9 But for the blower himself no excuse might avail, and he was fortunate if he escaped with a fine of $. l If, on the other hand, the tin proved good, the complainant himself 1 Convoc. Cornw. 22 Jas. I, c. 24.
- Ibid. 12 Chas. I, c. 21.
3 Prince Arthur's Ordinances of 1495 (Add. MS. 6713, fol. 101). 4 Convoc. Cornw. 1 6 Hen. VIII, c. 1 8. 5 Prince Arthur's Ordinances of 1495 (Add. MS. 6713, fol. 101). 6 Convoc. Cornw. 1 6 Hen. VIII, c. 17. 7 Ibid. c. 20. 8 Ibid. 12 Chas. I, c. 10. 9 Harl. MS. 6380, fol. 33. 10 Convoc. Cornw. 12 Chas. I, c. 10 ; cf. Add. MS. 6713, fol. 242. was fined. 11 A further Act imposed penalties upon any merchant who connived with the owner of tin to conceal its falsity. 12 These regulations were based upon the as- sumption, not only that the merchant should be protected against fraud on the part of the tinner, but that the whole consuming public had an interest in the blocks being what they were re- presented. This explains two further restric- tions. No person owning blowing - house or crazing or stamping-mill might allow irrespon- sible persons to ' knock braws, rocks, or any other stuff whereof tin might be made, black or white, without the said owners will answer for the same tin.' 13 Pewterers and plumbers were not to be sold 'ashes, skimpings,' or other leavings of the blowing, under penalty of a fine to buyer and seller. 14 At the coinage, again, the tinner was hedged about by rules designed not only to protect the consumer, but to guard against the loss of duchy revenue. To ensure that no tin left the blow- ing-house without being brought to the coinage town, the blowing-house owner at each coinage was made to deposit at the stannary exchequer at Lostwithiel a bill certifying, with the names of the owners, how many pieces of tin he had blown. 15 The conveying and selling of uncoined tin was punished by imprisonment, confiscation of the metal, and satisfaction to the prince in the shape of a fine. 16 In the later Stuart period, coincident with the efforts to put down smug- gling by the appointment of supervisors of blow- ing-houses, 17 ordinances appear prescribing the disposal of the tin after smelting. No carrier was to take any tin above one pound in weight from the blowing-house, otherwise than by the direct and common road from blowing-house to coinage town ; 18 the journey must be made be- tween sunrise and sunset ; 19 the shortest road was to be taken, and a reasonable time only allowed for the trip. 20 One more rule remains to be noted, namely, the persistent enactments against the conveying of shares in a tin work to wealthy or powerful men, for the purpose of getting their assistance at law or in other ways, 21 a provision similar to 11 Add. MS. 6713, fol. 243. "Ibid. 13 Ibid. fol. 279. Presentment of the grand jury of Penrith and Kerrier, 1636. 14 Convoc. Cornw. 1 2 Chas. I, c. II. 14 Prince Arthur's Ordinances of 1495 (Add. MS. 6713, fol. 101). 18 Convoc. Cornw. 1 6 Hen. VIII, c. 14. 17 Cal. Treat. Papers, i, 13 ; Treas. Papers, ii, 10 ; xi, 10. 18 Convoc. Cornw. 2 Jas. II, c. 17. 19 Ibid. M Ibid. " Convoc. Cornw. 1 6 Hen. VIII, c. 1 1 ; Parl. Devon, 2 Hen. VIII, c. II. This ordinance appears in Derbyshire (Houghton, The Compleat Miner, p. 22; Compleat Mineral Laws of Derbyshire, pt. I, art. 24). 539
