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At one time every printing house had a Chapel to which all the workmen belonged. The Chapel enforced the customs of the trade, acted as a mutual benefit society and was there to negotiate with the employer should disputes arise. The Chapel imposed a number of rules on the workmen memebrs, the breaking of which incurred a ‘solace’ or fine, including: Swearing in the Chapel Fighting in the Chapel Abusive language Being drunk in the Chapel Leaving a candle burning at night Stealing another compositors stick Stealing another pressman’s ink balls Leaving a blanket on the typan over night Refusal to pay the solace would result in the miscreant being taken by force by his fellow workmen, who would lay him on his belly over the correcting-stone, while another workmen who would strike him 11 times on the buttocks with a paperboard. Tradition recalls that in the early 19th century one workman was ‘solaced with so much violence that he presently pissed blood and shortly died of it’. Harsh times!