[ivix]

To understand how ancient this is, the Worshipful Company of Carmen's history began in 1272.

For US audiences, this operated as something like the DMV, hundreds of years before anyone had thought of such a thing. Over time obviously, these functions were taken over by a national government agency, but as the Worshipful Company of Carmen had had hundreds of years of history until that point, the traditions were kept in ceremonial form.