Excerpt from A Calendar to the Records of the Borough of Doncaster, Vol. 4 (I.) Passing over the various official oaths which appear in the early parts of the first Volume, we come to the first Standing Orders for the governance of the Members of the Corporation, dated 1568 (page6), which, though only four in number, are very pointed. In 50 years' time these Orders become greatly amplified, as will be seen on reference to page 43. They require the attendance, under penalty, of every Mayor, Alderman, and Capital Burgess, "every Saboth day at Church to heare divine service and Gods worde preached both the forenoone and after," and further "that every householder within the towne, his wife, and familye, or, at the least, one of everye house, shall repayre unto the Churche at Doncaster every worke daye so often as there shall be a sermon, and there continue unto the ende thereof." In the next place the Aldermen are to provide themselves with fajTe and sufficient scarlett gowns "according to the ancient custome of this towne," and the Capital Burgesses have to provide "decent and comeley gownes." From a marginal note, it appears that on the 11th October, 1622, the wearing of gowns by Capital Burgesses was afterwards limited to such as had been, were, or should thereafter be Chamberlains, but the regulation as to Aldermen is not interfered with. The reader will find that this custom of wearing gowns is on several occasions enforced. Penalties are also imposed on the Aldermen and Capital Burgesses for not attending Council meetings, and the order of precedence and of "speaking without one interrupting another" (a most laudable regulation, if enforced) is prescribed. The same Orders divide the Borough into four Wards: - (1) French Gate, Marsh Gate, Sepulchre Gate, within the Barres and without; (2) Hall Gate and Scot Lane;(3) The Market Place within the Ringe; (4) Baxter Gate, St. George Gate, Fisher Gate, and Church Yearde. Very particular regulations are prescribed as to the leasing of Corporate Lands, a matter which from time to time appears to have caused the Corporation much anxiety and trouble, and to which frequent reference is made. On page 83, for instance, a record will be found, dated 1622, that William Armitage, Alderman, and others have obtained "by assignments from the Corporation lessees divers lands and tenements insomuch that if the Corporation renew leases to them and such as have engrossed much into their hands they would deprive themselves of the means to please neighbours who deserve well at their hands," and as a remedy for the evil the Corporation disallow the assignments. Other Orders relate to the Waits, and the time of breaking the "Crimsall." Twenty-six names are appended. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.