Writing

Initials & Names

We know not who made these inscriptions, but if working at the Stables they were educated servants seeking to better themselves.

Figure 1 "Quart of Ale or pint of Ale & pint of Small Beer, ¼ lb of Treacle or Mollasses, ¼ pint of distilled anniseed water, The Ale to be a little warm & stirred well, to be given at night the next morning warm water & a mash of malt" (Lincolnshire Archives). Servants had to drink small beer made from the third runnings of the mash from brewing ales to avoid water-bourne diseases. It contained, on average, 1.28% alcohol by volume (Brande 1818).

Based on the ability to sign one's name in the marriage register as opposed to a cross (X), two-thirds of men and one-third of women could write in the 1750s. Reading skills precede those of writing, so we presume that there was a reasonable literacy rate among the Stables' staff. Writing was considered a male vocational qualification perhaps taught to young stable hands by their seniors. Grooms needed to understand weights and measures as the undated Belton recipe For the Colds of Horses in figure 1 demonstrates.

Authors such as Fisher in his 1811 The Instructor: or, Young Man's Best Companion prepared boys for business by giving instructions on writing, spelling and arithmetic. Likewise the The Young Clerk's Assistant; or, Penmanship made easy (Anonymous 1787) and The Newest Young Man's Companion (Wise 1762).

What better way to show off a new found writing skill than inscribing one's initials or name on the Stables? Certain letters are dateable. 'I's often have a cross-stroke halfway down the stem a feature of 18th century samplers depicting the alphabet.

If not the Stable's staff, who else would have written here? A suggestion is visitors to Belton, but based on the abundant graffiti at Lyveden New Bield, Northamptonshire, a documented tourist attraction for centuries, such visitors typically inscribed their names, not merely initials. Again few visitors inscribed into the fabric of the Mansion where the datable graffiti peaks from the 20th century onward.

Figure 2 BSE7.1.3 RW 1765. Printed characters. Note the serifs applied to 'W' as opposed to the 'VV' above. "It is necessary for all those who would qualify themselves for Business to imitate this print hand; to make clean marks on bales of goods or plain directions on parcels" (Fisher 1811).

Figure 3 BSE5.5.2 This 'M' is an example of the mid-18th century Round Hand style. It is identical to that found in The Young Clerk's Assistant; or, Penmanship made easy (Anonymous 1787). It is still available as a typeface called Kunstler.

Figure 3 BSE5.5.2 This R is referred to as the 'Flourishing Alphabet' (Fisher 1811)

Figure 4 E5.4.2 a J from the 'Flourishing Alphabet' (Fisher 1811)

Figure 5 BSE7.2.2 T*S Belton. The alphabet in upper and lower case Roman characters, similar to those in, The young clerk's assistant; or, Penmanship made easy (Anonymous 1787).

Figure 6 BSE7.5.3 ROBART a surname with Ʌ to the left. Note the inverted-V-shaped crossbar of the uppercase 'A'. The I bottom left with a horizontal crossbar typical of the 18th century.

Figure 7 BSE7.6.3 Martin & Micah Mel (lower left), Micah is a contracted form of MICAIAH. Micah is one of the twelve minor prophets of the Old Testament. He authored the Book of Micah, which alternates between prophesies of doom and prophesies of restoration. The surname Mel originated in Mells, Somerset, not far from the home of the father-in-law of 'Young Sir John Brownlow' at Cerne Abbas. We know from later written records that coachmen often came to Belton from other properties related to the Brownlows.

Figure 8 BSE4 south niche semi-dome. Not all graffiti is carved into the stone. This column of letters or initials is done either with charcola or lead pencil (intorduced 17th century).

Figure 9 E5.1.4 'F', a painted 'J'.

Figure 10 BSE5.5.2 THOMAS MANTON one of the few complete names. There is a tomb for a Thomas Manton (died 1751 aged 52) and his wife in Belton's St Peter & St Paul's church graveyard (Figure 12). Research shows he was a maltster and was associated with a water mill in 1729. However, there are several 18th century Thomas Mantons living in the Grantham area, so the two individuals may be unrelated.

Figure 11 BSE4 south niche Thomas has prepared a copy book with parallel horizontal lines to practice his handwriting.

Figure 12 Thomas Manton's tomb in the churchyard of St Peter & St Paul's, Belton.

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