The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-04-06

mention is made yearly of four official
"ale-conners" who draw a salary OF
FLO, of $50, per annum, but up to this
time no one ever has been discovered
who knew the said "conners" were or
where they carried on their industry
of coming
So / put the question to DR.. Sharpe
and hardly had I finished speaking
than he was on his feet and whiskina
dusty volume down from an upper
shelf, after which, in less than two
seconds, he had found the right page
and indicated with bony finger a par
agraph dealing with ale-conners Then
he abruptly disappeared, only to re-
turn in a few minutes carrying in his
arms big boo> In manuscript, again
found and pointed out a paragraph, and
rushed into his strong room to return
with still more gigantic book also
with something about ale-coners.
Then L learned the story of these
extraordinary officials and a highly
amusing one it proved to be. 1t seems
that once upon time the paternal gov
ernment of the city fixed the price at
which beer should be sold and-what
was more important-saw that it was
of pure quality and not sophisticated"
For the latter purpose four officials
were empowered to enter any saloon
within the city boundaries and taste
the ale. For this they were paid $50
a year. But the remarkable thing Is
that these ale-conners are still ap-
pointed and still paid their ancient
salaries" 1t is good to keep up pic
turesque old customs. but why four
men should be paid $50 each for du-
ties that disappeared long ago is not
easily explained. apparently" re-
marked the doctor, these good men
can, to this day, go into any bar in
the city and demand a glass of ale for
nothing
Not long ago in the course of an
article on the speaker of the house of
commons, the present writer duly noted
that. like certain ministers of state,
judges of the high court and officers
of the royal household, Mr.. Speaker is
presented with "a piece of livery cloth
by the city corporation and DR. Sharpe
was asked kindly to explain the origin
OF this custom.
The venerable clerk OF the city rec
ords chuckled Then he announced
that the city spends over $500 "a year
on bestowing these pieces of cloth. No
one seems to knew exactly what hap
pens to the cloth. one theory is that
the recipients exchange it with their
tailor for cloth that can be made i7ito
an ordinary suit Anyhow, there is the
| amazing fact that every year the cloth
is gravely sent to a number OF men
In high places, who as grave1y ac-
knowledge
The origin of the custom is rather
interesting.
Briefly" said DR.. Sharp, "the term
livery carries us back to feudal times
when 1t was the custom for powerful
harons to deliver badges and liyeries
to their retainers. This custom caused
so many connections between royal
barons that 1t had to be restrained by
a series of statutes extending down to
the reign of Henry VII
"None of these statutes, however, af
fected the wearing of liveries by the
mayor, sheriffs. or aldermen of the city
or by members of guilds or fraternfties
founded for an honest purpose. The
high officers Of the city continued
therefore, to wear their respective liv-
cry gowns and to grant them to their
subordinates. The custom was extended
In course of time sand what is known
at the present day as livery cloth was
granted by the corporation to ministers
Of state, judges of the high court and
SO on
DR.. sharpe added that more than one