The Seventeenth-Century Tokens of County Louth (Continued)

County Louth Archaeological and History Society

The Seventeenth-Century Tokens of County Louth (Continued)Author(s): Gerard RiceSource: Journal of the County Louth Archaeological and Historical Society, Vol. 21, No. 1(1985), pp. 55-71Published by: County Louth Archaeological and History SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27729606 .

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The Seventeenth-Century

Tokens of County Louth bY Gerard Rice

PART 1 : DROGHEDA

[Continued from Vol. XX, No. 4, (1984), 313]

C : The Tokens

The tokens issued by Bird, Bythell, Coker, Conly, Fenton, Fowkes, Graves, Hamlin, Jackson,

Killogh, Lea, Ley, Pippard, Poole, Stanbridge and the Martin halfpenny had the round die fixed in a

square block because there are only four varieties in relationship of obverse to reverse. In the other

tokens of Bellew, Braye, Cockayne, Lownd, Tirrell and the Martin penny there is no fixed

relationship between the obverse and reverse design. The tokens are quite scarce, one example only being known of at least three, which makes it

likely that other merchants issued tokens which have all disappeared or which may turn up some time

in the future. The tokens circulated in abundance, at least until 1674, when the corporation authorised

the mayor to take to court the "several members of the town (who) have set forth several tokens and

pretends the same to be counterfeited". In the last ten years, one token, the most common, that of

John Ley 1664, was found when some eighteenth-century cottages which were situated outside the

town wall were demolished. Another example in excellent condition was found in the summer of 1980

in sand on the banks of the River Severn near Chepstow. In the universal scarcity of small change that

was to last in Ireland until the 1860s the Drogheda tokens probably circulated long after the issuers

were dead.

Preston-Morley and Pegg in their study of the seventeenth-century tokens of Nottinghamshire have identified the products of a London token manufacturer at work between 1665 and 1671.1 They include those tokens identified by Boon as having a flawed six-leafed rosette (1665-1671).2 These

include for Drogheda, one token of Luke Conly (No. 16) dated 1670 and for Ardee, those of Atkinson

(Nos. 2, 3). Of the five other marks on tokens from this establishment one is that of a pierced

cinquefoil : it appears on that of William Whitton of Newark in Nottingham dated 1668;3 it appears on

that of Robery of Ardee dated 1670 (No. 4); on a Conly token of Drogheda (No. 15) which shares a

reverse with a token which has on the obverse the flawed leaf sexfoil and is dated 1670; on the Jackson

token of Drogheda (No. 24) and the Lambert token of Dundalk (No. 11). Thus both these latter tokens

are dated about the years 1668-70 and are perhaps the result of a travelling salesman, with quite a

repertoire of token motifs, who got orders in Louth about 1670. Another motif from the same atelier, a

small cinquefoil, sometimes used as a stop between the words on the legend appears on Ardee (No. 3) - the second Atkinson piece, on one of the Robery pieces and on that of Lambert of Dundalk. This

cinquefoil also appears on the Pippard token of Drogheda (No. 38) which with its five-pointed star and

inner circle looking like a cable has all these characteristics in common with a token of Joshua Clarke

1. P. Preston-Morley and H. Pegg, "A Revised Survey of the Seventeenth-Century Tokens of Nottinghamshire", British

Numismatic Journal, 51, (1982), 139a.

2. George Boon, Welsh Tokens of the Seventeenth Century (Cardiff, 1973), 27, note 52.

3. Preston-Morley and Pegg, loc. cit., Plate XXI, No. 47.

55



56 County Louth Archaeological and Historical Journal

of Newark, Nottingham,4 which is dated to 1666 and that of Richard Pearce of Limerick dated 1668.5

(This latter does not have the cable-like circle). This five-pointed star is the second of the six

identifying marks of the workshop. The only other of the Louth tokens which can be tied to a known London workshop is that of

Samuel Stanbridge which bears the arms of the Merchant Taylors and is dated 1653, the earliest known of the Irish token series. His token is characteristic of the Ramage production, with lozenge stops, a five-pointed star or mullet mark and label-like stops on the outer circle of the token.6 David

Ramage, who died in 1662, was one of the most stylish and prolific strikers of tokens in London.

Apparently he was also a worker in the British mint. Quite a few Dublin and Wexford tokens came from his workshop also.7

It has not been possible to identify the workshops from which the other Louth tokens emanated

though a few are related to each other by style. In this catalogue the Macalister or N.M.I, coin is described with mention of the whereabouts of

the other specimens of the same token either in the British Museum (the Fletcher collection), the Ulster Museum, or in the private collections I have examined. Where a type or token exists which is not in the N.M.I, the Fletcher example is chosen for description. I have chosen not to use the

Macalister system of describing the outer and inner circles of the obverse and reverse as, because of the wear of available specimens, it is often difficult, if not impossible, to be more precise in

description than I have been. Some of the tokens catalogued separately have only slight differences in

design; it was thought better to catalogue them separately as even slight differences throw some light on the number of strikings and on the amount of tokens struck. In fact the very small quantity of tokens which has survived led in the past to unrealistically low estimates of amounts struck. The varieties within the strikings may serve to correct these estimates upwards. In a number of instances

the Macalister catalogue has been corrected; the mistakes, surprisingly few in a catalogue of

extremely worn specimens, are minor and few in number.

Macalister refers to the catalogue of seventeenth-century tokens in the National Museum of Ireland (N.M.I.).

Fletcher refers to the collection of Lionel Fletcher now in the British Museum (B.M.) in London. Williamson refers to G. C. Williamson, Trade Tokens Issued in the Seventeenth Century in

England, Wales, and Ireland (reprinted London, 1967, 3 vols). U.M. refers to the collection in the Ulster Museum, Belfast.

O = obverse of the token, i.e. the side with the issuer's name.

R = reverse of the token.

The weight is given in grammes for one specimen of each variety of token. The device is the decorative motif at the centre of the obverse and reverse.

The stops are both the markings between the words on the legends or letters in the device and the small decorations, simple or complex, which make up the outer and inner circles defining the legend and the device.

4. Ibid, Plate XIX, No. 33.

5. R. A. S. Macalister, 4 'A Catalogue of the Irish Traders' Tokens in the Collection of the Royal Irish Academy", Proc. Roy.

Irish Acad., 40C (1931), 96, No. 394. 6. Preston-Morley and Pegg, loc. cit., 171.

7. cf. Macalister, loc. cit., Nos. 187a, 203, 206a, 206b, 211, 216, 230, 262, 287a, 501, 503, 504.



The Seventeenth-Century Tokens of County Loulh 57

STOPS OUTER CIRCLE NNER CIRCLE

DEVICE

O?VE?SL WITH MAKERS NAME

OBVERSE.

OUTER CIRCLE.

INNER CIRCLE

DEVICL

REVERSL

1. O ?o? IOHNBELLEW & OF Outer circle made up of coarse stops, the inner circle a line; within the circle a shield bearing sable fretty

- the family arms of Bellew of Devonshire.

R DROGHEDA . MARCH: .B. Outer circle of coarse stops, inner circle a line, within the circle I M.

Macalister 151a; Williamson 228. 1.599 g.

2. O "?o IOHN . BELLEW ^ OF

Outer circle made up of coarse stops; the inner circle a line; shield smaller than in No. 1 but

of the same design. R Die duplicate of No. 1.

Macalister 151b. 1.709 g.

3. O * IOHN BELLEW . OF .

Outer circle of coarse stops; inner circle a line; shield bearing the Bellew coat of arms.



County Louth Archaeological and Historical Journal

R : DROGHEDA . MARCH .,B# Outer circle coarse stops; inner circle a line; within the circle I M.

Fletcher 348. 1.659 g.

O S?o IOHN . BELLEW ?? OF Outer circle of coarse stops; inner circle a line; shield as in No. 1.

R (DRO)GHEDA MARCH Outer circle of coarse stops; inner circle a line; device in this circle as in No. 1.

Fletcher 349, 350. 1.559 g.

O As in No. 4 except that the shield is smaller.

R As in No. 4.

Fletcher 351. 1.759 g. The relationship between obverse and reverse design in all the Bellew tokens is variable.

O # OLIVER # BIRD * OF B Outer circle coarse stops; inner circle a line; device within the circle. O M.

D I

R DROCHEDA MARCHANT * Outer circle coarse stops; no inner circle; in the centre is a shield bearing on a chevron

engrailed (gules) between three lions rampant (sable) as many fleurs-de-lis - the arms of Bird

of Penrith; above the shield ^ Macalister 152; Williamson 229; U.M. 2.759 g.

O As in No. 6.

R DROCHEDA MARCHANT * The rest as in No. 6. 1.819 g. There are four possible relationships of obverse to reverse design.

D O * w JOHN W BRA YE V Outer circle coarse stops; inner circle a line; device within the circle if 1 if

R OF w DROHEDA w * w W Outer circle coarse stops; inner circle a line; device within the circle 1663.

Fletcher 353, 354. W w

It is possible that this token is Williamson 230 where it appears as issued by John Brennan.

Both specimens have varying relationships of obverse to reverse design. 1.22 g.

O # EDWARD : BYTHELL > Outer circle coarse stops; no inner circle; shield bearing (argent) (on) a chevron between three

boars' heads couped (sable) (a crescent or) - the arms of Bethell or Bythell of Winchester.

The crescent is not shown on this token and the chevron is so drawn as to look like two

chevronels.

R OF . DROGHEDA . MARCHANT # # Outer circle of coarse stops; inner circle coarse stops; device at centre is E B.

Macalister 153; Williamson 231; two specimens in N.M.I. 2.219 g. ^



The Seventeenth-Century Tokens of County Louth 59

10. O * EDWARD . . BYTHELL . .

The rest as in obverse of No. 9.

R OF . DROGHEDA . MERCHANT # # Outer circle coarse stops; inner circle coarse stops; device in centre E. B.

Fletcher 355. 2.32 g. *

In Nos 9 and 10 the relationship of obverse to reverse die is one of four possible ones

indicating that the dies were fixed in a square setting.

11.0 w THO: COKAYNE OF :

The stops on the outer line are a little larger than those on the inner circle; the central device is a cock's head erased above a horizontal row of eight lozenges.

R DROGHEDA . MERCHANT > D The stops on the outer circle seem larger than those on the inner circle; the central device is 1

flanked by two five-leafed flowers, below is 1656.

Macalister 154; Fletcher 356; Williamson 323 has reverse reading MARCHANT. Private

collection. 1.74 g.

12. O : HEN COKER . OF DROHEDA ES'

The outer and inner circles are made of coarse stops; the central device is a harp of five

strings; curved above is IERLAND; below, 1656 in a straight line.

R FOR NECES(SAR)Y . CHANGE .\. The outer and inner circles are made up of coarse stops; the inner device is a

A/PENY/TOK', the lower line curved, with the A flanked by two five-leafed flowers

Inserted into this token is a cross of different metal.

Macalister 155. 5.209 g.

13. O As in No. 12.

R FOR NECESARY CH(A)NGE > The outer and inner circles are made of coarse stops; the inner device is as in No. 12 except that the device on either side of the A is a star.


14. O : 10 HA YENS . ON Y KEY DUBLIN

The outer and inner circles are made of coarse stops; the central device is a large estoile with

1 on the centre.

R As the obverse of No. 12 (Macalister 155). Macalister 231; Williamson 343. 4.589 g. This token like Nos 12 and 13 has a cross inset made of a different metal.

15. O * LVKE CONLY . OF DROGHEDA

Outer and inner circles are of coarse stops; the inner device, HIS/PEN Y, with # above

and below the words.

R MARCHANT 1670 * Outer and inner circles made up of coarse stops; inner device a shield bearing two lions

passant, in chief a dexter hand outstretched in fesse.

Macalister 156; U.M.; private collection. 1.45 g. The relationship of obverse to reverse shows the dies to have been set in a square base.




16. O As in No. 15, but above and below HIS/PEN Y is $ , the six-leafed flower with the

imperfect leaf.

R As in No. 15.

Fletcher 358; private collection. 1.57 g.

17. O SAMVEL (F)ENTON . OF

Outer and inner circles made of stops; the central device is a shield bearing argent a cross

(between five fleurs-de-lis) - the arms of the Fenton family.

R DROGHEDAH . MERCH(ANT) D The outer and inner lines are of coarse stops; the inner device is 1 with a five-pointed star on

either side.


18. O HVGH FOWKES : OF Outer and inner circles made of stops, those on the outer circle coarser than those on the

inner; the inner device is a shield, with a fleur-de-lis between three escallops, the arms of the

Fowkes family. R DROGHEDA . GLASYR >

The inner and outer circles are of stops; those which form the outer circle are coarser than

those on the inner one; the inner device is HDC, with above it F and below I .

Macalister 157; Williamson 235, which omits the C in the centre of the reverse design and

spells GLASYR as GLASER. 2.509 g. The relationship of obverse to reverse is one of four possible ones.

19. O :HVGH: FOWKES: OF: The rest as in No. 18.

R DROGHEDA. GLASIR # The outer circle is made of coarser stops than the inner one; the inner device is HDC, with

above it 1 and below F .


20. O HVGH . FOWKES [ OF] Outer circle made of stops coarser than those of the inner circle, the device as in No. 18.

R . DROGH(EDA . GLA) SYR . The outer circle has coarser stops than the inner one: the central device is HDC with F

above it and 1 below. Private collection. 2.109 g. The relationship of obverse to reverse design is variable.

21. O EDMOND GRAVES. 1664

Outer circle made of stops; the inner circle is roped; the central device is a crowned rose.

R IN | DROGHEDA # if D The outer circle is made of stops; the inner one is roped; the central device is E M, with G

above, and below 1 flanked with 9 on either side.

Fletcher 361; U.M.; Williamson 236; Williamson 237 has not turned up in modern times and was not in Boyne,8 perhaps the reverse is mistakenly transferred from Williamson 241 where a similar reverse exists for the token described below at No. 27. 3.87 g. The relationship of obverse to reverse is one of four possible ones, each of 90? to the other.

8. William Boyne, Tokens Issued in the Seventeenth Century in England, Wales, and Ireland (London, 1868).




22. O * ANDREW . HAMLIN OF

Outer circle made of coarser stops than the inner one; the inner device is a shield bearing

(Argent) a chevron between three lions sejant (gules) - the arms of Hamlin.

R DROGHEDA : MARCHANT * Outer circle of coarser stops than the inner one; the device is ADA with if H if above

and it I if below.

Macalister 158; two specimens in N.M.I.; two in B.M. (Fletcher 362 and 363); U.M.; Williamson 238; private collection. 2.75 g. The relationship of obverse to reverse is regular

- one of four possible ones.

23. O > ANDR(EW H)AMLIN ? Outer ring made of stops; there is no inner ring; the shield with the Hamlin arms is smaller

than in No. 22.

R (??)GHEDA MAR(????) The outer circle is made of stops; the inner one is a line; the central device is A?A with *H?

above and (?) below.

Fletcher 364. 1.12 g. No regular relationship of obverse to reverse. A specimen of No. 23 was found recently in the

excavations at St Mary's Bridge, Drogheda.

24. O ??? OF ? DROHEDA No inner or outer circle; the central device is the Hamlin coat of arms, cf. Nos 22 and 23,

only with a single line chevron.

R MARCHANT ( * ?) No outer circle; inner circle a line; the central device is BH with ?A? below.

Fletcher 365; U.M. 1.00 g. The relationship of obverse to reverse is indicative of a die set in a square block. It seems that

this token was issued by a member of the Hamlin family who had a Christian name with the

initial B. Bartholomew Hamlin, a very prominent Catholic merchant in the 1660s, seems the

most reasonable candidate as issuer.

25. O RICHARD JACKSON Outer circle with coarser stops than the inner one; the device is an angel.

R OF DROGHEDA MERCHAT # Outer circle made up of coarser stops than the inner one; the device is | I

Macalister 159; Fletcher 366; Williamson 239 which reads MARCHAT. 2.21 g. The relationship of obverse to reverse indicates that the die was set in a square block for

striking. The five-leafed device on both sides of this token is like the device on one of the

Conly tokens (No. 15) and on the Robery of Ardee (No. 4), placing it as the product of a

London atelier at work between 1667 and 1671.

26. O * IOHN KILLOGH > Outer circle made up of toothed or triangular stops; the inner circle is roped; the inner device

is I E with K above and below.

R OF DROHEDA MARCH * D The outer and inner circles are as on the obverse; the inner device is 3 13

Macalister 160; Fletcher 367; Williamson 240. 2.379 g.




The relationship of obverse to reverse is one of four possible ones.

27. O * IOHN LEA * OF Outer circle is made up of coarse stops; the inner circle is roped; the device is a lion marchant

to dexter.

R DROGHEDA MARCH The outer circle is made up of coarse stops; the inner circle is roped; the device is a lion

rampant.

Macalister 161; Fletcher 368; Williamson 241. 1.59 g. The relationship of obverse to reverse indicates a die set in a square block.

28. O if . IOHN > LEY > IN : The outer circle is made up of diamond-shaped stops; the inner circle is faint and seems to be made up of circular stops; the inner device is I with above it if D * and below in a

curved line 1657.

R DROGHFDA . MARCHANT :

The outer and inner circles are as on the obverse; the inner device is a lion passant to dexter.

Macalister 162; Fletcher 370; Williamson 242; U.M.; private collections. 1.87 g. The relationship of obverse to reverse indicates that the die was set in a square block for

striking.

29. O . IOHN (LEY) OF

The outer and inner circles are made up of circular stops close together; the inner device is as

in No. 28.

R MARCHANT DROGHEDA The circles are as on the obverse; the device is a lion passant to dexter as in No. 28. Fletcher 369. 2.17 g.

The relationship of obverse to reverse is as on No. 28.

30. O * IOHN . LEY . MARCHANT Outer circle made up of toothed or triangular stops; the inner circle of fine circular stops; the

inner device is of a lion rampant, cf. reverse of No. 27.

R * IN * DROGHEDA # 1664 Outer and inner circles as on obverse; the inner device is IDA with # L # above and

>f. I yf, below.

Macalister 163; Fletcher 371; Williamson 244; U.M.; private collection. 1.67 g. This is the most common of the Drogheda seventeenth-century tokens; one specimen was found on the

banks of the Severn near Chepstow in 1980, another was dug up in Drogheda in a garden outside the town walls. Of the five specimens in the N.M.I. three have the same reverse to obverse design relationship; the other two are related at an angle of 180? + 0? respectively. It seems that the three above-mentioned were struck at the same time.

31. O > LEBBEVS . LOWND Outer circle made up of circular stops; no inner circle; the device is on four lines, .A. / HAL / PEN / .Y..

R DROGHADA . GROSER .




Outer circle as on obverse; no inner circle; the device is a cheese knife, blade upwards,

flanked by 16?67.

Macalister 164; Fletcher 373; Williamson 245. 1.44 g. The relationship between obverse and reverse is variable.

32. O :. LEBBEVS . LOWND

The circles and inner device are as in No. 31.

R DROGHADA GROSER .

Circles and inner device as in No. 31.


33. O LEBBEV: L(OW)ND The outer circle is of large stops; there is no inner circle; the inner device is of four lines, ?A?

/HAL/PEN/Y.

R DROGHADA GROSER The outer circle is made up of coarse stops; the inner circle is a line; the device, a cheese

knife facing upwards, with 16 67 on either side as on Nos. 31 and 32.

Fletcher 374; private collection. 1.72 g. The relationship of obverse to reverse is variable.

34. O : : EDWARD MARTIN Outer circle made up of coarse stops; inner circle of fine stops; the inner device is a shield

bearing (argent) a chevron (gules) between nine cloves (sable) three, three, and three - the arms of the London Grocers' Company.

R ?? IN DROGHEDA . The circles are as on the obverse; the inner device is E * I with * M 9 above.

Macalister 165; private collection. 1.599 g. The relationship of obverse to reverse is regular indicating that the die was set in a square block.

35. O EDWARD . MARTINE IN Outer circle made up of crude stops; the inner circle of finer ones; the inner device is of three

lines HIS/HALF/PENY.

R DROVGHEDA . MARCHAT.? The circles are as on the obverse; the inner device is EM with # above and below.

Macalister 166; Fletcher 375; Williamson 246 which omits the second A of the last word;

private collection. .61 g.

The relationship of obverse to reverse is regular.

36. O * EDWARD . MARTTIN

The outer circle is made up of coarse stops; the inner circle is roped; the device, the arms of the London Company of Grocers is as on No. 34.

R if OF: DROGEDA:

The outer circle is as on the obverse; the inner circle is a line; the inner device is E I with above if M if and below *

Macalister 167a; Williamson 248. 1.599 g. The relationship of obverse to reverse is regular.




37. O * EDWARD MARTTIN The circles and device are as on the obverse of No. 36.

R * OF . DROGHEDA The circles are as on the reverse of No. 36; the inner device is E I, with above it M

^ , the M being like an inverted W.

Macalister 167b; Fletcher 376; Williamson 249. 1.48 g. There are two specimens in the

N.M.I, cabinet.


38. O if THOMAS PIPPARD OF The outer circle is made up of coarse stops; the inner one is roped; the inner device is a shield

bearing (Argent) two bars (sable) on a canton (of the second) a cinquefoil pierced (or) - the

arms of Pippard.

R * DROGHEDA MARCHANT > The circles are as on the obverse; the inner device is T A with above # P # and

below ? 9 Macalister 168; Fletcher 377; Williamson 250; private collection. 1.79 g. There are three

specimens in the N.M.I. cabinet. The relationship of obverse to reverse is regular. This is the

second most common of the Drogheda tokens. One example was found at the excavations

beside St Mary's Bridge.

39. O * FRANCES * POOLE OF Outer circle made up of coarse stops; the inner circle is roped; the inner device is a shield

bearing per fess (azure and argent), a pale (countercharged), three doves (of the last) each

holding in its beak an olive branch (or) - the arms of the London Company of Tallow

Chandlers.

R if DROGHEADE . MARCHANT The outer circle is made up of a line with stops; the inner circle is a line; the inner device has

o I o with 1656 below.

Macalister 169; Fletcher 378; Williamson 251. 3.9 g. The relationship of obverse to reverse is variable.

40. O m IOHN ROOKES OF . i . The outer circle is made up of fine stops; the inner circle is of even finer stops; the inner

device is a shield bearing (Argent) a royal tent (garnished or) between two parliament robes

(gules lined ermine, tent-staff and pennant of the second) on a chief (azure) a lion passant

gardant (or) - the arms of the London Company of Merchant Taylors.

R DROGHEDA MART TAYLR :

The outer circle is formed of stops; the inner circle is a line; the inner device is I ? M with

above 0 R 0 and below 1671.

Macalister 170; Fletcher 379; Williamson 252; private collection. 1.88 g. The relationship of obverse to reverse is variable.

41. O * SAML STANBRIDG The outer line is made up of coarse stops; no inner line; the device is as on the obverse of No.

40, the Merchant Taylors' arms.

R OF DROGHEDA 1653 *




The outer edge is made up of coarse stops; the inner one is roped; the inner device is S M with above S .

Macalister 171; Fletcher 380; Williamson 253. .94 g. The relationship of obverse to reverse is variable.

42. O : SAM(VEL?) STANBRIDG . OF

The outer circle is roped; the inner circle is made up of fine dots; the inner device is a shield

bearing as on No. 34, the arms of the London Company of Grocers.

R : DRAHADA M(ERCH?)ANT D The outer and inner lines are as on the obverse; the inner device is if I if with 1657 below.

Fletcher 381. 2.59 g. This is a much larger token than No. 4L


43. O . RICHARD T1RELL OF

The outer circle is made up of coarse dots; the inner circle is a line; the inner device is a shield

bearing Barry of five ermine (and gules) on each of the last three crosses pattee (or) - the

arms of Tyrrell.

R DROGHEDA . MARCH.T The outer circle is made up of coarse stops; the inner circle is a line; the inner device is R D V

with j above and I j|c below.

Macalister 172; Fletcher 382; Williamson 254 which gives the surname TIRRELL and makes

the T in MARCHT the same size as the other letters. 2.32 g. The relationship of obverse to reverse is variable.

PART II : ARDEE

A : Corporation Affairs

Ardee after the Cromwellian plantation conforms to the generally accepted picture of a planted town. In this it contrasts with Drogheda. The corporation minutes only date from 1661,9 a sign in

itself of a complete break with the past. In contrast the Drogheda minutes date from 1649.10 In 1641 one Garrett Colley, a Catholic, was governor of the town. He was maternal uncle to

Viscount Moore of Mellifont and, in contrast with Moore who was governor of Drogheda, he sided

with the northern rebels. He was accused of threatening the local rector, Robert Osborne of Clonkeen, a few weeks before October 1641 with a radical change in local affairs when Owen Roe O'Neill would

throw out "the black devils" and the tithes would be given to those whose right it was to have them.

Colley, the same source alleged, billeted one hundred rebels in the town with the officers in his own

house, in preparation for the rebellion. He equipped two soldiers for the rebels according to the amount agreed on at Tullyesker Hill for he had eighty acres of land. On being captured when

Drogheda held out for the king he pleaded that he was forced to do what he had done. In 1642

Tichbourne fought Sir Phelim O'Neill and Lord Louth on the Ardee-Collon road and took and pillaged

9. The original minute books covering the period 1690 to 1841 together with the Ruxton transcripts (1661 to 1768) are at

present in the County Reference Library, Dundalk. Photostats of the Ruxton transcripts are in the Public Record Office of

Northern Ireland.

10. Rev. T. Gogarty (ed.), Council Book of the Corporation of Drogheda, VoL I., from the year 1649 to 1734 (Drogheda, 1915).




the town.11 It seems to have been in ruins until the 1650s.

It does seem as if normal municipal government was not restored to Ardee until January 1661 when the surviving corporation minutes commence. Then a clear picture of the corporation and the town emerges. There were two portreeves, twelve burgesses and six common council men who were

elected from among the freemen of the town. The portreeves, six burgesses and six common council men formed a common council which ruled the town. Two families, Ruxton and Fowkes, controlled the town; they shared the office of portreeve and with a few others formed the body of the town

burgesses. Both were headed by Cromwellian soldiers; Fowkes had been Cromwellian governor of

Drogheda in the 1650s and collected quite a few confiscated leases there and Ruxton had been a

captain in the Cromwellian army. Both thought themselves entitled to be considered gentlemen. Fowkes' family married into that of Sir Henry Tichbourne who acquired a confiscated estate outside

Drogheda at Beaulieu12 and the Ruxtons shared control of the corporation of Ardee until the closed

corporations were abolished in the 1840s.13 There were, not unreasonably, connections between Ardee and Drogheda. Thomas Cockayne,

who in the 1650s was a man of substance in Drogheda, issued a token there in 1656 and with

Newcomen showed his military skill in drawing up the 1657 map of the town, eventually fell into some financial difficulties14 and moved to Ardee where he became a freeman in 1663, town clerk in

1665, collector of taxes and customs in 1666 and again got into trouble in 1669 being accused of

"neglect and insufficiency".15 He had been commissioned to produce with one Richardson a map of the town which after some acrimony and much delay was completed by Richardson in 1677.16 John

Killough, another Drogheda token issuer, was made a freeman of Ardee in 1662 and got in 1664 a

little house on a lease of sixty-one years at four shillings per annum.17 In the mid-sixties a number of

corporation leases fell in and were granted on easy terms to the portreeve and prominent burgesses of

the town. Ruxton, for example, got the garden and premises "which Patt Henry butcher now liveth

in".18

The picture that emerges is one of a two-tier system of government in the town with the

prominent families like Ruxton and Fowkes controlling the major position of portreeve, acquiring the lion's share of the corporation leases and building up what in time became estates near and in the town

large enough to support their claims to be regarded as minor gentry. Below them was a class of

freemen with Cromwellian names whose say in the town's affairs was quite limited. From them came

the four issues of tokens, one in 1665, and the rest in the years about 1670.

Again in contrast with the state of affairs in Drogheda, the Catholic merchants, perhaps because their claim to influence in the past was substantially based on land and not on a tradition of trade with

the resources in money and food and contacts that would sustain it, did not figure at all in official

municipal life in the years 1660-85. One of the first acts of the corporation in 1661 was to issue a

decree that "all inmates depart the corporation by May next and all that shall entertain such after that

11. T. Gogarty, "County Louth Depositions, 1641", C.L.A.J., Ill, 1, (1912), 77-8; A Letter of Sir Henry Tichbourne, to his

Lady, of the Siege ofTredagh; ... in Sir John Temple, The History of the General Rebellion in Ireland (7th ed., Cork,

1766), 311-14; D. Mac Iomhair, "The Carmelites in Ardee", C.L.A.H.J., XX, 3, (1983), 188.

12. P.R.O.I. v Books of Survey and Distribution for parish of Beaulieu.

13. Sir Bernard Burke, History of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain & Ireland (9th ed., London, 1898), under Ruxton, pp. 398-9 of Irish section; Ardee Corp. Minutes, 1800-41.

14. Gerard Rice, "The Seventeenth-Century Tokens of County Louth", C.L.A.H.J., XX, 4, (1984), 306.

15. Ardee Corp. Minutes under 1663, 1665, 1666 and 1669.

16. Richardson's map has been reproduced in John Bradley, "Ardee, An Archaeological Study", C.L.A.H.J., XX, 4, (1984), 268.

17. Ardee Corp. Minutes under 1662 and 1664.

18. Ibid, under 1664.




date to be fined 10/- monthly". At the same time Alderman John Dowdall and John Lee with Samuel

Bankes were appointed "to perambulate the fines".19 Perhaps that vague phrase indicates a role for

those who were Catholic and formerly prominent in corporation affairs like that of supervisors of

highways which made Catholic merchants in Drogheda collaborate in the collection of municipal taxes from the ordinary Catholic population. In 1679 as in Drogheda it was enacted that "by the

authority of the said assembly . . . that nc papist of any degree or quality whatsoever shall from

henseforth be admitted a free member of the Burrough".20 This decree seems to indicate that

Catholics had been admitted to freedom beforehand but because they were not elected to the common

council did not figure in the corporation minutes. Since there is no record of their admittance as

freemen in the years 1661-79 the freedom to trade could have been due, as in Drogheda, to hereditary

right or to their having been, like Dowdall and Lee, free before the Cromwellian victory of 1649-52.

In 1670 Archbishop Oliver Plunkett in his diocesan return reported that while in the Louth countryside there were twenty Catholics for every one Protestant, of the five hundred families in Ardee only a few

were Catholic.21 Yet in 1671 in another letter the primate mentioned that the Discalced Carmelites

were in Ardee (there had been a Carmelite house there before the Reformation) and had a very good

preacher among them.22 In 1692 one Peter Dowdall was reported as having been papish parish priest for ten years

- living, one presumes, with a local Dowdall of some prominence who could afford him

protection.23

In 1691 one of those who forfeited property in Ardee for supporting King James was Dominic

Maguire, lately of Ardee, whose relation, the Dominican priest Fr Maguire, had been a priest in Ardee

before becoming apostolic administrator of Armagh in 1689 and eventually primate.24 In 1686 as was

the case in Drogheda, the new and Catholic-leaning administration in Dublin allowed the corporation of Ardee to admit James Gernon on petition

as '

'the eldest son of an antient Freeman . . . free member

of the Burrough" and with him, Nicholas Taaffe and his brother Peter.

Enough Catholic presence survived in Ardee to allow for a Jacobite and Catholic take-over of the

corporation.25 The minutes of the corporation are missing from 29 September 1687 to 26 September 1690. The loss is explained by subsequent events because on 17 October 1692 a lawsuit is ordered

against Roger Bellew, portreeve of the town in 1690, to recover the two silver maces, the seal and

handbell he evidently had removed from corporation hands together with the missing minutes.26 The

corporation's efforts were in vain and in 1695 two more silver maces were ordered for use in the

corporation.27 As a matter of interest these are in corporate hands in Ardee to this day. There is no record in Ardee as there was in Drogheda of Catholic corporation members giving

themselves long-term renewals of corporation leases. Of course the minutes are missing for the key years, yet there is no mention in subsequent records as there was in those of Drogheda of corporation anger and lawsuits in the 1690s to overturn such leases.

It does seem that the Old Catholic presence in the public life of Ardee was effectively, and save

for the few years 1687-90, permanently removed by the Cromwellian planters and soldiers who took

over the town government in the 1650s and 1660s and held on to it through their descendants until the

1840s.



21. John Hanly (ed.), The Letters of Saint Oliver Plunkett 1625-1681 (Dublin, 1979), 71, 73.

22. Ibid, 237.

23. Rev. J. B. Leslie, Armagh Clergy and Parishes (Dundalk, 1911), 105.

24. Manuscript notes of the late Very Rev. Diarmuid Canon Mac Iomhair.

25. Ardee Corp. Minutes under 1686.






B : Biographies of Token Issuers

In sharp contrast to the state of affairs in Drogheda the token issuers of Ardee seem a fairly

homogeneous group. They were all Protestants with the exception of Atkinson who was a Quaker.

There is some evidence that members of his family eventually compromised their religious principles to join the corporation in 1719.28 They were all minor traders like the Lownds of Drogheda because none of them appears as a burgess in the corporation records. They all disappeared from the records

with the possible exception of the Aliens; and with the exception of Skerne they issued their tokens in

the years about 1670. With the exception of Atkinson they seem to have issued few enough tokens; and with the exception of Skerne none seems to make any claim, on their tokens at any rate, to gentle

status. At least one, Atkinson, was a Cromwellian soldier -

perhaps there were more from that

background because no issuer from Ardee put the arms of any London company of trade guilds on his

token, which would have been an implied claim to a family trade tradition.

Little evidence survives of the use of these tokens outside Ardee though two examples of one

token, that of Thomas Robery, have been found recently near Castletown Geoghegan, about twelve

miles south-west of Mullingar and one, of James Atkinson, was found a few years ago in the grounds of the Blackcastle estate at Navan, Co Meath.

ALLEN, JOHN : Like three out of the four Ardee token issuers, Allen issued his tokens about

1670. The coincidence of issue seems to indicate the presence in the area of a salesman for the London

workshop which can often be identified by the five and six leafed flower devices which appear on the

Atkinson and Robery tokens. They also appear on the Conly tokens of Drogheda which are also dated

1670. Another Drogheda token which does not have the device but is dated 1671 is that of John

Rookes. A John Allen was admitted free of the corporation of Ardee on 6 October 1661 on payment of a fine of 15/-. He does not appear in the minutes of the corporation until 1669 when he was chosen as a

common council man. He never became a burgess and did not occupy any major position in the town.

He was probably a merchant in a relatively small way of business -

the token is scarce and only one

variety has survived. In 1671 he rented a house to the corporation to be used as a guard-house for a

rent of ?3. He was still on the common council in 1672 with another token issuer, Toby Skerne, but

does not appear in 1674. Significantly John Allen Jr. was admitted free in January 1675, perhaps John was dead by then. By 1679 John Jr. was a common council man with another token issuer, Thomas

Robery, and with three others including members of the chief Ardee families, Ruxton and Ball, was a

valuator in 1680. By 1684 a Henry Allen was a valuator and after the Williamite wars he became, in

1690, one of two receivers of customs, in 1693 one of the portreeves or chief magistrates, an office he

discharged again in 1697. Allen appears in the corporation minutes in the next century as the name of

citizens of some prominence in the town. The coat of arms which appears on John Allen's token of

1670 has on the right three fishes and on the left a double eagle displayed. These arms have not been

identified as personal to the Allen family but they do appear on the token of John Salmon of Chester.

The Allen family seems to have increased in prominence and, presumably in wealth, from John to

John Jr. to Henry who was portreeve twice and had joined the ruling oligarchy of the town.29

ATKINSON, JAMES : Alone of the token issuers of Ardee the name of James Atkinson does not

appear in the corporation minutes. For that there was good reason. He was one of the Quakers who

had suffered "on ye account of Conscience because they could not conforme to such customs and

traditions which ye Primitive Christians and martyrs bore witness against". In fact he refused to pay tithes and to take the Oath of Supremacy required by law after 1679 for entry to the Irish corporations.


29. Ibid, under 1661, 1671, 1672, 1675, 1679, 1680, 1684, ?690, 1693, 1697; Boon, Welsh Tokens, 27, note 52; Sylloge of Coins of the British Isles, 31, The Norweb Collection, Part I (London, 1984), Plate II, No. 44.




His father's name was John. James came to Ireland in 1649 "a soldier to help supress ye Rebelion in Coll. Shilborn regt of horse". He married Ann Boylan of Carmolt Castle, Durham, in 1656 and had three sons, Thomas born in 1657, James born in 1659 who died in 1673, and Richard born in 1669.

He issued his token about 1670. The flawed leaf device found on this token dates it to the years 1666-72; the punch for the central device of the token is identical with that of an English token from

Potton in Bedfordshire which is dated to 1666 and of an Irish token of 1667 from Charleville, Co Cork both of which have also the flawed leaf rosette device. There are two varieties which indicate a double

striking; the tokens in both varieties are relatively common which points to a large issue or to a hoard of which I have seen no record. The device on the token, St George fighting a dragon, the metaphor for the militant Christian willing to fight all evil, is an apt one for a doughty Quaker who wrote in 1680 "this I can say as to paying of tythes I think it unlawfull and have borne my testymony against it

about twenty years and I hope shall die and never pay any". It is possible that the 1682 edict of the

corporation that the portreeve "do receive one penny for every token desir'd by any foreigner but not

from Freemen" was aimed at him and his perhaps prolific issue of tokens. Certainly, he was the only issuer not a freeman. In 1719a John Atkinson appears in the corporation minutes. Apart from that the

family seems to have disappeared from the records of Ardee.30

ROBERY, THOMAS : Thomas Robery, like John Allen and Toby Skerne, never achieved much

prominence in the town. Perhaps he only came to the town in 1670 when he issued his tokens because in 1677 it is recorded that "having served an apprenticeship of seven years within the town, upon his

petition was admitted and sworne a free member of this Corporation without only paying the accustomed small fees". By 1679 he was a member of the common council, still so in 1682, but never

became a burgess which position seems to have been reserved for members of the right kind of families who ruled in the town. The name Robery does not appear any more in the town records.31

SKERNE, TOBY : Toby Skerne appears for the first time in 1664 among those who got leases from the corporation of Ardee. The heads of the families prominent in the town got many and major pieces of property. Skerne got "part of a house and land belonging to the corporation at 10/- per annum". He was a freeman at the time and on 21 December 1664 was chosen a member of the

common council and, presumably a sign of acceptance on the part of the ruling oligarchy, was chosen

one of the committee of three to examine the accounts of the portreeve of the previous year - an

auditor in fact. He issued his token in 1665. Only one variety and few examples of the token survive which indicate a small issue. The device on the token is the Skerne coat of arms, a tacit claim by Skerne to gentle status. In 1666 he was one of the two assistants to the portreeves who were

commissioned to call the town treasurer to account. He was not on the common council in 1670 but

was back again on it 1671, in 1672 and in 1674. Neither he nor his family appears in the corporation minutes after that date.32

30. A Regester for Births Marriages & Buryalls for the People of God (in scorne cal'd Quakers) in Droheda or Therabouts

pp 1 & 50, MSS vol. in the Society of Friends1 Library, Eustace Street, Dublin; Ardee Corp. Minutes under 1682 and 1719,

*31. Ardee Corp. Minutes under 1677, 1679, 1682. 32. Ibid, under 1664, 1666, 1671, 1672, 1674.




C : The Tokens

The tokens of Ardee were all with one exception, the token of 1665, issued in the years about

1670. They are few in number : only a few examples of three survive and of the other there are two

varieties. One token, that of Robery, is found with a milled edge though examples survive with a plain

edge as well. All except the Skerne token have varying relationships between the obverse and reverse.

1. O * IOHN ALLEN OF ARTHERDEE The outer circle is made up of diamond stops; the inner one is of fine stops with a line inside it; the device is a shield bearing party per pale, in dexter three fishes hauriant, in sinister a double

eagle displayed. These arms have not been identified though they are the same as those on the

tokens of John Salmon of Chester.

R HIS PENNY 1670 * The outer circle is as that on the obverse; the inner one is made of fine stops; the inner device is

of a goat passant to dexter. In the word ARTHERDEE the die sinker had made some progress with engraving an E instead of the third letter before discovering his mistake.33

Varying relationships of obverse to reverse.

Macalister 6; Fletcher 27; Williamson 15; U.M. 2.56 g.

2. O * JAMES . ATKINSON OF .

Outer circle made up of diamond stops; the inner circle of fine stops with a line within; the

device is St George in full armour on horseback raising a scimitar against the dragon which is

beneath the horse.

R ARTERDE MARCHANT . HIS The outer and inner circles are as on the obverse, the inner device is # 1 with D

above.

This is one of the most common of the Louth tokens; perhaps at some time a hoard was found.

The devices on the reverse have each a flawed petal connecting the striking of this token with a

London atelier at work between 1667 and 1671. There are five specimens in the N.M.I.

cabinet. Macalister 7a; Fletcher 28, 29, 31; Williamson 16; U.M.; private collection. 2.38 g.

3. O JAMES ATKINSON OF Outer and inner circles as in No. 2; device as in No. 2.

R ARTERDE MARCHANT HIS Outer and inner circles as in No. 2; device as in No. 2 but 9 to left of D.

Varying relationships between obverse and reverse.

Macalister 7B; Fletcher 30; U.M. 1.53 g.

4. O > ? .;. THO: ROBERY

Outer circle made up of coarse stops; inner circle made up of finer stops; the inner device is

if. 1D * with 1670 below.

R MERCHANT OF ARDEE The outer and inner circles are as on the obverse; the device is a merchant mark with TR on

either side and XX below. This mark is found on the token of John Lawe of Downpatrick. The

edge of the token is milled. The device on the obverse legend and at the end of the reverse

legend is a five leafed flower which indicates a London atelier 1666-71 (cf. Conly of

Drogheda, No. 15 and Jackson of Drogheda, No. 25). One specimen in private hands is struck

on an unmilled thin flan.

33. Macalister, 23.




Macalister 8; Fletcher 32, 33; Williamson 17; private collections. There are three specimens in

the N.M.I, cabinet. 4.38 g. The relationship of obverse and reverse is variable.

5. O < TOBY . SKERNE . 1665

The outer circle is made up of rough stops; the inner circle is of finer stops; the device is a

shield bearing quarterly first and fourth a castle, second and third a lion rampant, the arms of

Skerne.

R IN ATHERDEE MAR :

The outer and inner circles are as on the obverse; the inner device is T S with D above and

I below.

The relationship of obverse to reverse is regular indicating that the die was fixed in a square block for striking.

Macalister 9; Williamson 18 gives the date as 1666; Fletcher 34. .91 g.

(To be continued)



The Seventeenth-Century Tokens of County Louth (Continued)

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