Scribe

in the modern sense, one skilled in penmanship. Other meanings are a writer or recorder of events, a reporter, a secretary, a copyist, and even a notary. In the Middle Ages the scribe carried an inkhorn, a bunch of quills, a penknife, sealing-wax, and paper or parchment, and other necessities of his profession. When the family desired a letter written or a document drawn up the scribe or notary came with his kit like a shoemaker, and, having completed his work, he repacked his portfolio and took his departure. Men of position and large affairs employed a secretary continuously. The family names of Clerke, Clark, Scriver, and Scriber are derived, no doubt, like Carpenter and Smith, from the occupation of some ancestor skillful with the pen.