The brown Linen trade was almost wholly transacted in the provincial towns. The weavers, who were chiefly small farmers or cottagers, grew the Flax, spun the yarn at home, or purchased it, wove the cloth in their own houses, and took the pieces to the nearest market for sale, where they were purchased by the merchants. The purchasers bleached the pieces, then sent them to the white Linen Hails for sale. After these Halls were superseded they sent the cloth to England, or shipped it to foreign countries. For the regulation of these provincial markets, intelligent inspectors called " Seal-masters" were appointed by the Linen Board, for each district, whose duty it was to examine the Linen brought for sale, and to certify to the quality being sound and genuine. Each piece, before it could be admitted to the Hall, had to be stamped and sealed by the inspector, and he was responsible for the perfection of the pieces to the buyers; but should he be called upon to make compensation for faulty pieces, he had recourse against the weaver for the same. In many cases the manufacturers were allowed, under certain restrictions, to stamp their own cloth. As soon as he could find security, himself in £50, and two securities in £100 each, in all £250, he was instantly, and as a thing of course, directly invested with a seal to stamp his own cloth. From 1782 to 1816 no fewer than 1616 brown seals, and 1596 white seals, had been issued by the Board of Trustees, to manufacturers in the province of Ulster alone.
