The Worshipful Company of Carmen is one of the Livery Companies of the City of London, whose origins date back to 1517. Carmen, or drivers of carts, caused upset in 1481.The Worshipful Company of Carmen
by David Lowe, accessed 3 July 2011 The King conscripted carts to carry his wine allowing rural carters to force food prices up. By offering to provide the King's carriage and clean the streets the Fellowship of Carmen was established in 1517 with authority to control the cartage trade. Carmen organised themselves into a fraternity and plied for hire. However, this was contested by the Woodmongers' Company, who owned more carts. The Carmen turned to

Christ's Hospital Christ's Hospital is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent boarding school for pupils aged 11–18) with a royal charter located to the south of Horsham in West Sussex. The scho ...

, who were short of cash at the time. However, by 1597 the Carmen had fallen out with Christ's Hospital, the Woodmongers asserted their control again, and absorbed the Carmen in 1605. However alongside other rearrangements in the haulage trade, the Carmen separated and formed their own fellowship in 1668, but were unsuccessful in gaining the power to regulate carmen, until the Woodmongers became defunct in 1746. The Carmen did not acquire a

Royal Charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, but s ...

until 1946. Now that carts have been rendered obsolete by trucks and vans, the Carmen remain as a charitable and ceremonial institution with over 500 Liverymen, 180 Freemen plus additional 23 apprentices. The Carmen organise the ceremony of Cart Marking, which originated in the rule that no cart could ply for hire within the City of London unless licensed by the Corporation. Presently, the ceremony involves human powered, horsed, steam, fossil fuelled or electric, old and new vehicles rather than carts. The Carmen's Company ranks seventy-seventh in the

order of precedence An order of precedence is a sequential hierarchy of nominal importance and can be applied to individuals, groups, or organizations. Most often it is used in the context of people by many organizations and governments, for very formal and state o ...

for Livery Companies. Its motto is ''Scite, Cite, Certo'',

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

for ''Skilfully, Swiftly, Surely''. It was granted a livery in 1848; there would not be another new livery company until the

Honourable Company of Master Mariners The Honourable Company of Master Mariners is one of the Livery Companies of the City of London. While the other Livery Companies are entitled to the style '' Worshipful'', the Master Mariners are styled ''Honourable'', King George V having gran ...

, formed in 1932.

References

Sources

* Bennett E. (1952) ''The Worshipful Company of Carmen of London. A short history'', London: Simpkin Marshall *Birch, Clive (1999) ''Carr and Carmen, an illustrated record'', London: Baron Books (2nd edition due 2018)

External links

The Carmen's Company
{{authority control 1517 establishments in England 1946 establishments in England Carmen