HONI SOIT QVI MAL Y PENSE  royal blazon of the House of Stuart  
❧ By the King. ¶ A Proclamation for restraining the abuses in Tin, according to the Laws and ordinances of the Stanneries.  
WHereas for the well ordering of that ancient and Royal Commodity of the Tin of this Our Realm of England, divers and sundry good Laws and Ordinances have been heretofore made & established, by the wisdom of former times; amongst which there hath been ever special care and provision, that all the said Tin should be duly brought to Our Coinage beams, and there tried and assayed, and by Our Stamp or Mark sealed and allowed, before the same should be put to Sale within the Land, or offered to be shipped for foreign Vent: And to that end also our noble Progenitors have been at charge to erect and maintain certain Coinage houses in several set Towns within Our Counties of Devon and Cornwall, lying most commodious for the said Coinage: At which places at certain set days of Coinage and post Coinage appointed, Our special Officers of the Stanneries, do, and have been wont duly to attend to Receive, Try, Assay, Coin, Seal, and allow the said Tin, by setting Our Mark, seal or Stamp upon the same: By which means both We Ourself were secured of the preemption and Coinage duties of the said Tin (being ancient and undoubted Prerogatives annexed to Our Crown, with our Duthie of Cornwall) and also the Tin had his just and true Assay, according to the goodness and richness of it, that neither Our own Subjects nor others might be defrauded in the buying of the same, nor yet the Subject hindered by any unnecessary delay in the lawful Trading and Merchandizing thereof. And whereas out of Our princely care to cherish and maintain the Trade and working of such a worthy and Staple Commodity, of so much honour and profit to this Commonwealth, We have not long since taken order to allow a greater price for the working and making thereof, then ever was given before; and have also by the extraordinary care and industry of Our right trusty and right well-beloved Cousin and Counsellor, Thomas Earl of Suffolk, Our high Treasurer of England, and of Our trusty and Right well-beloved Counsellor, Sir Foulke Grevill, Knight, Chancellor of our Exchequer, lately settled the said Tin works and Tin business, in a more orderly and better course than ever before it was, aswell for the benefit of Our most dear Son CHARLES the Prince, to whom We have lately made Livery of Our said Duchy of Cornwall, as for the contentment and satisfaction of Our loving Subjects the Merchants and Pewterers of London, and other places, from whose Petitions and Complaints, We could never be free before.  
Bet nevertheless, We are informed that by the secret practice and combination of sundry ill minded and covetous Owners and workmen of the said Tin works, a great part of the said Tin hath been heretofore, and daily is Bought & Sold, Received, Delivered, and carried away uncoined, aswell in Ships and other vessels, which under colour of coming to buy Cornish Slate and Stone upon the Coast of Cornwall, between Foway and Mevagase, do embezzle much uncoined Tin in Blocks, as also by Mariners and Seafaring men, who buy up the Tin in Bars, commonly called Pocket Tin, of Pewterers and others, contrary to the ancient Ordinances of Our Stanneries aforesaid, to Our preindice and wrong in Our said Prerogative, the disgrace of Our said Commodity, and abuse of Our Subjects buying the same untried, and not Assayed. In respect whereof, as We might most justly take advantage of sundry offenders notoriously faulty in this behalf, which in Our natural inclination to Mercy and Pardon, We are graciously contented to pass by, so We cannot in Our Princely care of the Common wealth, and Our own Right, but provide for redress and reformation of these great disorders for the time to come. And therefore do by these presents straightly charge and command aswell all and singular Our loving Subjects, as all other person and persons whatsoever, that none of them presume upon any colour, shift or pretence whatsoever, at any time or times hereafter, to Utter, Sell, Deliver, or put to Sale, or to Receive, Ship, carry, land or contract for any black Tin unblowen, but to such as cause the same to be Cast and blown before it be sold for use, or any white Tin, or Cast Tin before it be first Coined and Stamped with our Seal or Mark, appointed for that purpose as aforesaid, upon pain of forfeiture, aswell of the said Tin and other condign punishment in case of land carriage, as also of confiscation of the Ships, Hoys, Barks, Lighters, and other Vessels wherein any such prohibited Tin shall be shipped, or laden for Transportation, contrary to the intendment of this Our Proclamation; and also upon pain of Our high displeasure, and of such further penalties, forfeitures, and punishments in both cases, as by the Statutes and Ordinances of Our said Stanneries, or any other Law or Statute whatsoever, or by the censure of Our high Court of Star chamber, for disobeying this Our Royal commandment and Injunction, or otherwise may be inflicted upon the offenders in this behalf: Giving all Our loving Subjects to know, that any toleration or forbearance for the time past, shall be so far from justifying or warranting the like abuses to be continued in time to come, as contrariwise it shall aggravate the fault thereof in respect of Our former clemency.  
And whereas We are given to understand, That there are certain wandering petty Chapmen, or Tinkers, and others, haunting much about the Tin works aforesaid, who do make it an usual Trade to buy black Tin by the Bowl, and white Tin uncoined by the pound weight, or other small quantity; and so do carry the same from the work houses to certain private places of Receipt, till having gotten by this unlawful means some store together, they vent or spend the said black Tin before it be blown, and sell the said white Tin before it be Coined, by Sea or by Land, where they find best Chapmen, to the preindice of Us and Our loving Subjects, as aforesaid: Our will and pleasure is, and We straightly charge and command all and singular Our justices of Peace, before whom any such Tinker, petic Chapman, or other person offending shall be brought, diligently to examine and find out, where, and of whom he had the said prohibited Tin, white or black, found with him, and where, and to whom he meant, or intended to sell the same, or hath heretofore sold any other of like sort; and aswell the said Tinkers and petty Chapmen, as all other persons who shall be found privy to the Buying, or Selling, Receiving, or Delivering of the said Tin, black or white, as aforesaid, to commit to Our jail of the County where they shall be taken, and otherwise to punish according to the Laws, Customs, and Ordinances of Our Stannerics, and as the quality and nature of the offence shall by the Laws and Statutes of this Realm deserve, for contempt of Our Royal Commandment and Proclamation in this behalf: Willing, and requiring all and singular Our sheriffs, Mayors, Bailiffs, Constables, and other Our Officers and loving Subjects, to Attach, Stay, and Arrest all such purloiners and secret carriers of Tin, black or white, and to bring them before the next justice of Peace, for order to be taken with them, as aforesaid, as they and every of them will answer for the contrary hereof at their uttermost perils.  
Given at Royston the 26. day of October, in the thirteenth year of Our Reign of Great Britain, France and Ireland, and of Scotland the nine and fortieth. 
 God save the King.   

❧ Imprinted at London by Robert Barker, Printer to the Kings most excellent Majesty. Anno Dom. 1615.