imposed by the important development this art had assumed, certain it is, that some years after the king's return from exile to England, and the restoration of the monarchy, the Company of Farriers was incorporated (1763) by the style of 'the Master Wardens, Assistants, and Commonalty of the Company of Farriers, London.' This local corporation was, and is now, a livery company, and governed by a master, three wardens, and twenty-four assistants. In 1736, it had, besides these, thirty-nine on the livery.
The arms of the corporation are: Ar. three horseshoes. Sa. pierced of the field. Crest. An arm embowed, issuing from clouds on the sinister side, all proper, holding in the hand a hammer az. handled, and ducally crowned or. Supporters. Two horses Ar. Motto, 'Vi et Virtute'.
In Scotland, the artificers had, from an early period, formed a corporation at Edinburgh, designated the Hammermen's Corporation. This was one of the chief guilds or public bodies, and included every handicraft; though at first it appears that that of the iron, or black-smith, greatly predominated. The earliest entry, which occurs in 1582, though the corporation had been embodied for some considerable time before this date, gives us to understand that among the 'essays' or specimens of skill and proficiency required to obtain admission, that of the smith was 'ane door cruick (hook) and door-band, ane spaide iron (a spade), ane schoile iron (a shovel), and horse-shoe and six nails thereto.'
Many distinguished men were presented with the freedom of this Corporation of Hammermen. An entry for
