s
capable of executing such work. The art seems to have been well known
in Germany in the Middle Ages, and the process is on the whole very
faithfully described by Agricola in his great work on Metallurgy.[1]
England then produced very little steel, and was mainly dependent for
its supply of the article upon the continental makers.

From an early period Sheffield became distinguished for its manufacture
of iron and steel into various useful articles. We find it mentioned
in the thirteenth century as a place where the best arrowheads were
made,--the Earl of Richmond owing his success at the battle of Bosworth
partly to their superior length, sharpness, and finish. The
manufactures of the town became of a more pacific character in the
following centuries, during which knives, tools, and implements of
husbandry became the leading articles.

Chaucer's reference to the 'Sheffield thwytel' (or case-knife) in his
Canterbury Tales, written about the end of the fourteenth century,
shows that the place had then become known for its manufacture of
knives. In 1575 we find the Earl of Shrewsbury presenting to his
friend Lord Burleigh "a case of Hallamshire whittells, being such
fruites as his pore cuntrey affordeth with fame throughout the realme."
Fuller afterwards speaks of the Sheffield knives as "for common use of
the country people," and he cites an instance of a knave who cozened
him out of fourpence for one when it was only worth a penny.

In 1600 Sheffield became celebrated for its tobacco-boxes and
Jew's-harps. The town was as yet of small size and population; for
when a survey of it was made in 1615 it was found to contain not more
than 2207 householders, of whom one-third, or 725, were "not able to
live without the charity of their neighbours: these are all Begging
poor." [2] It must, however, have continued its manufacture of knives;
for we find that the knife with which Felton stabbed the Duke of
Buckingham at Portsmouth in 1628 was traced to Sheffield. The knife
was left sticking in the duke's body, and when examined was found to
bear the Sheffield corporation mark. It was ultimately ascertained to
have been made by one Wild, a cutler, who had sold the knife for
tenpence to Felton when recruiting in the town. At a still later
period, the manufacture of clasp or spring knives was introduced into
Sheffield by Flemish workmen. Harrison says this trade was begun in
1650. The clasp-knife was commonly known in