E "SEAFIELTH NOT N O E D TALLY1 5 STICK." IV. E " SEAFIELNOTTH N EO D TALLY STICK." BY JOHN W. M. LONEY, P.S.A.ScoT. For many years there has been kept in the joiner's shop at Cullen e Housecountth n f i Banff,yo d ol ,n a whas thoughe b wa t o t t measuring rod. As a curiosity it was sent here for identification. t onca s e wa recognise t I Exchequen a s a d r Tally Stica complet n ki e state of preservation (fig. 1), and as at present there are only a few such tally e stickNationath n i s l Museum s satisfactori t i , recoro t y d Seafiele FigTh . 1 .d Tally Stick. that, for its safe-keeping, the Trustees of Caroline, Countess of Sea- field, have agreed to deposit this specimen as on loan from them. The tally sticks in the Museum are: (1) an inscribed specimen dated 177d 1793 anothe) 8an (2 , r specime f smalno l sizd apparentlean y much older, without inscription f greao t tbu , interest, inasmuc s bota h h duplicates are present, and (3) a good specimen recorded as having come from the Bombay Treasury Record Office, with a long inscrip- tion in Latin and of the time of King Charles II., and of interest as bein a g"right-hand whicn " ow stick I hshaly a m ter, lf mo explai n immediately. The name "Tally Stick" is given to the notched sticks which, till the beginning of the nineteenth century, were used in England for keeping account n Exchequeri s , answerin e doublth g e purposf o e receipt publid an s c records.1 The e describeyar s well-seasoneda d rods of hazel or willow, incised with notches on top (or bottom as required), which notches differed in breadth as standing for a penny, a shilling, 1 Chambers's Encyclopedia, 1860, vol. ix. p. 280. 52 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, DECEMBER 11, 1933. a pound, twenty pounds, a hundred pounds, and a thousand pounds, eacn o hd s writtesidan e date wa th e f payee nam o eth d nth f an reo the transaction. The whole rod was apparently marked towards the end n eaco s h side wit a hlin f punctureso e , insid s f whico ewa t i h sawn across diagonally for half its breadth; thereafter the middle part of the rod was cleft vertically lengthwise through the centre, leaving e thicknesth t a eacs h end. s Thidon y meanwa sb e f knifo d s an e mallet so that, in rending the rod in twain, each piece became a tally stick, containing a half of every notch and one of the written sidesr practicaFo . l purpose n referenci s d comparisoan e I nfin t i d usefu o describt l e tallth e y stick o obtaines se "right-handth s a d " and "left-hand" sticks respectively—the growth of the wood in the latter being from the root upward, and of the former downward—in both the written inscriptions fall to be read from left to right, but in the "right-hand" stick the notches must be read backwards, namely, from right to left. One stick was retained by the payer as his receipt, whil e othe s preserveeth wa r Exchequern di furthed an , r procedurn ei e transactioth t o recordepossibls nno s o stickewa d tw unti se th l were produce fitted dan d togethe identified an r s "twin"a d sticks. This clumsy and cumbrous form of accounting derived its unknown origin in the days long before banking systems were brought into being t non e bu lese practic, th eth s s maintainewa e n Exchequei d r procedure until little more than a century ago, and that notwithstand- ing an Act of George III. in 1783 decreeing its discontinuance. Of the use of tally sticks in Scotland I have not found definite proof. It is stated that at the Union of the Parliaments of England and Scotland (when the Exchequer system of this country was drastically- altere d revisedan d a stor) f hazeo e l rodr tallie fo s ssen o wa t st Edinburgh t neve,bu othee r th usedn r O hand. r MaitlanD , d Thomson, in writing of Exchequer matters in Scotland, asserts that "of Tallies, we hear nothing." Certai s thai e existenc t th i nte stoc th f o f ko e 1 unused tall y exteny an rod s unknowo i t s e Registeth t a n r House, wher unarrangee eth unindexed dan d mas f Exchequeo s r documentf so earlier days were deposited after the Union, though there are quite a number of tally sticks there, which have been used, but I cannot say in Scotland. There are two tally sticks on exhibition in the Royal Scottish Museum which were given as specimen Jamer M y sb Oldham, London, in 1873. They are dated respectively 4th January 1819 and 3rd April 1819. The first is a "left-hand" stick and has not been well split, for its counterpart (the "right-hand" stick) must have tapered off to Publice 1Th Records f Scotland,o . 192286 . p , NOTE ON THE "SEAFIELD TALLY STICK." 53 a very fine edge. The core in the left-hand stick is only visible for about one-thir lengt fissuree e e bottomdates th th i th f t f I n do ho do . , duly notched, and bears a Latin inscription. The second is of the sam e first th typ ,s a ebette r split t agai bu e ,counterpar nth t must have been much thinner and lighter. It also is dated on the bottom, and notched and inscribed in like manner. The dates of 1822 and 1823 on the Seafield Tally Stick, and on severaothee th f ro l stick I shav e seen aftee e datar , th r e when their use was presumed to have been discontinued. This can be accounted face th t foy thatb r , despite King George's order, tallies were usen di the Excheque s lat a s 182ea o t n givin 7i p u r g receipt o accountint s g officer interir fo s m payment account.n o s 1 Be that as it may, it is an historic fact that the use of tally sticks d beeha ny discontinuewa y ian n d prio o 1834t r n whici , h yeae th r Exchequer collection of tally sticks was ordered to be destroyed, and the overheating of the stove within the precints of the House of Lords, n whici h they were burned, cause e conflagratioth d n whici n e hth old Houses of Parliament were destroyed. t I may, therefore e assumeb , d thae extanth t t tally sticke ar s mostly t whollyno f i , , payers' duplicates thad e Seafielan , th t d specimen and the first of those already in the Museum, and those in the Royal Scottish Museum, are of this type. May a distinction be surmised between "left-hand" sticks o retainer t payersgiveo p u y nb d, and "right-hand" sticks, which from their lighter form and having to be read backwards (i.e. from right to left) may have been more conveniently retaine n Exchequeri d s i stated s e a Bomba th , , If ? y stick came from the Bombay Treasury Eecord Office (presumably an Exchequer Department) its "right-hand" type would support this suggestion. The inscriptions on the Seafield specimen begin with a symbol or monogram which admits of various interpretations. The name of the payer is given as " Geo: Gul°. Ricketts Ar." (which seems to be a con- traction for "Armiger," namely, Esquire). There follows: (1) the contraction "Rec. Gen1." which may be read as Receiver General, and (2) "Assess e end e worth 1822.x th ,t Ta .A d" "Hants, underneatd "an h we fine datth d e "28th Feby. 1823." Hampshir e locus,e th seeme b o t s s "a MiddV (tha s Middlesexi te correspondinth n i s i ) g e placeth n o s specimen e Royath n i sl Scottish Museum. I have not identified the name of the payer beyond finding in the Dictionary of National Biography that Sir Henry Ricketts (1802-1886) of the Indian Civil Service is described as the third son of George 1 Palgrave's Dictionary of Political Economy, vol. iii. p. 514a. DONATION E MUSEUMTH O T S . 55 e Misseth y B s ) YOUN(4 f BurgheadGo Grea7 , t Stuart Street, Edin- x burgh. Symbol Ston f greo e y Sandstone, roughly rectangular, measuring 3 feet 11J inches in length, 1 foot 10| inches in width, and 8|- inches in greatest thickness (fig. 1). On one side, near the top, is a bird—a swan or a goose—with head and neck bent backwards, the head, which looks towards the tail, resting on the middle of the back; below is the fish Fig. 1. Symbol Stone from Easterton of Roseisle, Morayshire. e symbolotheth n r O a sidcrescen. s i e t wit ovan ha l indentation no the concave side, the crescent with V-shaped floriated rods symbol next thed mirroe an n th , it r symbol whad an , t looks lik comea b wit teete hth h side onon e only, opposit e handle lefteth th , o t ethes e four symbols being placed upside down as compared with the bird and fish symbols on the other face.