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was required in Ipswich in 1426 to reinforce the first
come first served principle introducing a whopping
fine of 10d for queue-jumpers. Illustrations of
mediaeval queues are hard to come by; this German
woodcut from 1522 by Jacob Koebel isn’t actually a
queue at all. It comes from a handbook for surveying
herb gardens, vineyards and farms and shows a group
of officials supervising 16 men lined up to represent
one 16-foot rod or German
rute.
A Philosophy of Queues
There is a theory that the tendency to queue in an
orderly fashion as compared to the free-for-all is linked
to the socio-economic organization of a society.
The thinking goes that if everyone knows their place
in society they are more likely to accept their place
in the queue. In the past this position in life was called
your estate, the word
estate
coming from the Latin
stare
meaning to stand. Today we think of estate as
land or property but in this earlier use of the word
estate meant a relative standing or status – the position
in which a person stood relative to others, an order in
the social ranking. We see a very good example of this
in the Anglican hymn of 1848 by Mrs Cecil Frances
Alexander,
All Things Bright and Beautiful
. In the
hymn (probably inspired by Coleridge’s Rhyme of
the Ancient Mariner) we sing the line:
‘Frequently, excessive crowding at the town's water
conduits has resulted in damage to their vaulted
arches, or their stones have been carried off and
other intolerable damage done; without prompt
remedy this essential utility, constructed at great
cost and labour, will be destroyed. Therefore, taking
example from the regulation of conduits in London
and elsewhere it is ordained with regard to the
getting of water in containers: first come, first
served. All seeking to fill their containers may place
them in a queue, so that each may be served in
succession without any arguments arising.
Furthermore, it is ordained that no very large
containers, commonly known as "sogs" (tubs) are
to be filled at the conduits until smaller containers
have been filled, nor are large containers to be
placed so as to impede others. Anyone breaking this
ordinance, or supporting someone breaking it, shall
be fined 12d; anyone informing on a transgressor
shall receive 4d out of this fine. If anyone breaks the
fragile containers of poor people, the mayor will
ensure that he compensates the injured party.
This is a translation of mediaeval English and takes
a bit of a liberty in using the word queue, which as
we shall see, wasn’t used to describe a waiting line
of people for another 450 years. A further ordinance