the outer end, which alternately raise the stamp, in order that, by its dropping
into the mortar, it may with its iron head pound and crush the rock which
has been thrown under it. To the cam-shaft is fixed a water-wheel whose
buckets are turned by water-power. Instead of doors, the mouth of the
mortar has a board, which is fitted into notches cut out of the front of the block.
This board can be raised, in order that when the mouth is open, the workmen
part of the 16th Century. Pettus (Fodince Regales, London, 1670, p. 20) states that " about
" the third year of Queen Elizabeth (1561) she by the advice of her Council sent over for
" some Germans experienced in mines, and being supplied, she, on the tenth of October, in the
" sixth of her reign, granted the mines of eight counties .... to Houghsetter, a
" German whose name and family still continue in Cardiganshire." Elizabeth granted
large mining rights to various Germans, and the opening paragraphs of two out of several
Charters may be quoted in point. This grant is dated 1565, and in part reads : " Elizabeth,
" by the Grace of God, Queen of England, France, and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, &c.
"To all Men to whom these Letters Patents shall come, Greeting. Where heretofore we
" have granted Privileges to Cornelius de Voz, for the Mining and Digging in our Realm
" of England, for Allom and Copperas, and for divers Ewers of Metals that were to be found
" in digging for the said Allom and Copperas, incidently and consequently without fraud
" or guile, as by the same our Privilege may appear. And where we also moved, by credible
" Report to us made, of one Daniel Houghsetter, a German born, and of his Skill and Knowledge of and in all manner of Mines, of Metals and Minerals, have given and granted
" Privilege to Thomas Thurland, Clerk, one of our Chaplains, and Master of the Hospital of
" Savoy, and to the same Daniel, for digging and mining for all manner of Ewers of Gold,
" Silver, Copper, and Quicksilver, within our Counties of York, Lancaster, Cumberland,
" Westmorland, Cornwall, Devon, Gloucester, and Worcester, and within our Principality
" of Wales ; and with the same further to deal, as by our said Privilege thereof granted and
" made to the said Thomas Thurland and Daniel Houghsetter may appear. And we now
" being minded that the said Commodities, and all other Treasures of the Earth, in all other
" Places of our Realm of England . . . ." On the same date another grant reads :
" Elizabeth, by the Grace of God, Queen of England, France, and Ireland, Defender of the
" Faith, &c. To all Men to whom these our Letters Patents shall come, Greeting. Where
" we have received credible Information that our faithful and well-beloved Subject William
" Humfrey, Saymaster of our Mint within our Tower of London, by his great Endeavour,
" Labour, and Charge, hath brought into this our Realm of England one Christopher Shutz,
" an Almain, born at St. Annen Berg, under the Obedience of the Electer of Saxony ; a
" Workman as it is reported, of great Cunning, Knowledge, and Experience, as well in the
" finding of the Calamin Stone, call'd in Latin, lapis calaminaris, and in the right and proper
" use and commodity thereof, for the Composition of the mix'd Metal commonly call'd
" latten, etc." Col. Grant-Francis, in his most valuable collection (Smelting of Copper in
the Swansea District, London, 1881) has published a collection of correspondence relating
to early mining and smelting operations in Great Britain. And among them (p. I., etc.) are
letters in the years 1583-6 from William Carnsewe and others to Thomas Smyth, with regard
to the first smelter erected at Neath, which was based upon copper mines in Cornwall. He
mentions " Mr. Weston's (a partner) provydence in bringynge hys Dutch myners hether
" to aplye such businys in this countrye ys more to be commendyd than his ignorance of
" our countrymen's actyvytyes in suche matters." The principal " Dutche Mineral Master "
referred to was one Ulrick Frosse, who had charge of the mine at Perin Sands in Cornwall, and
subsequently of the smelter at Neath. Further on is given (p. 25) a Report by Jochim
Gaunse upon the Smelting of copper ores at Keswick in Cumberland in 1581, referred to in
note 2, p. 267. The Daniel Hochstetter mentioned in the Charter above, together with
other German and English gentlemen, formed the " Company of Mines Royal " and among
the properties worked were those with which Gaunse's report is concerned. There is in
the Record Office, London (Exchequer K.R. Com. Derby 611. Eliz.) the record of an
interesting inquisition into Derbyshire methods in which a then recent great improvement
was the jigging sieve, the introduction of which was due to William Humphrey (mentioned
above). It is possible that he learned of it from the German with whom he was associated.
Much more evidence of the activity of the Germans in English mining at this period can
be adduced.
On the other hand, Cornwall has laid claims to having taught the art of tin mining
and metallurgy to the Germans. Matthew Paris, a Benedictine monk, by birth an Englishman, who died in 1259, relates (Historia Major Angliae, London, 1571) that a Cornishman
who fled to Germany on account of a murder, first discovered tin there in 1241, and that in
consequence the price of tin fell greatly. This statement is recalled with great persistence
by many writers on Cornwall. ^(Camden, Britannia, London, 1586 ; Borlase, Natural
History of Cornwall, Oxford, 1758 ; Pryce, Mineralogia Cornubiensis, London, 1778, p. 70,
and others).
