Benvenue
. According to Moxon, 1683, this
was “Half a crown paid by a new workman
to the chapel when he commences, which
is always spent. If a journeyman wrought
formerly in the same printing house, and
comes again to work in it, he pays but half a
benvenue. If a journeyman smout more or
less on another printing house, he pays half a
benvenue.” This custom, somewhat modified,
is still retained in printing-offices, and the
amount generally paid is the same as it was in
the seventeenth century, though the value of
half a crown then was considerably more than
it is now. Under particular circumstances the
chapel sometimes takes less; and the workmen
always add something each, so as to be
able to provide bread and cheese and a draught
of porter to welcome the new comer. The
word is now pronounced
bevénue; it is evidently
a corruption of the French
bien venu, or
welcome.