Arnott, whose origins and paternity have not to date been discovered, was one of the more colourful characters in the Company’s history. On 2 July 1784 he, then trading as a silk-mercer in Birchin Lane, off Cornhill, not far from the George and Vulture, was admitted to the freedom and livery of the Fletchers. He evidently soon became an established member: in October 1792, his son William was admitted as an apprentice Fletcher, and by the following January Arnott himself was a member of the Court. Now, however, disaster struck his business and on 23 May 1794 the Lloyd’s Evening Post reported that he had been declared bankrupt. It is possible that his fortunes recovered, for in October 1802 he was elected Renter Warden, and after serving the then customary two-year term, he advanced to Upper warden.

By 1805, he had been appointed Keeper of the Monument, a post granted by the corporation to an elderly citizen who had fallen on hard times. While the post itself carried a stipend of only £20 per annum, the keeper could increase this tenfold by admission charges, and the sale of descriptive pamphlets. It was customary for the keepers to express their gratitude to the City for their appointment in these pamphlets, and Arnott duly did so:

"My Lord and Gentlemen. Permit me to add a few lines, with the account of the Monument, to you; under whose favour and protection I remain with all due respect and gratitude your devoted servant Samuel Arnott. Monument 20th March, 1805.

Full threescore years life's various scenes I've past,

And Providence has fix’d me here at last

Within those ancient walls to find repose,

From all the sorrow that Misfortune knows:

With thankfulness to pass my latest hour,

With gratitude proclaim kind Friendship’s power;

Whilst life remains God's mercy to record,

And pray my friends may gain a blest reward.”

Clearly, Arnott had a talent for rhyming couplets, which a few years later he would also put to use in composing the texts of four songs, to be sung to the traditional tunes ‘The Cobbler’, ‘The Roast Beef of Old England’ and ‘Rule Britannia’, for the Fletchers’ four annual court dinners. He presented a bound copy of these four songs which he had had printed on 26 January 1818 and just under three years later, in December 1820, he added a further song, dying not long after.     

(Sources: Fletchers Company, Court Minutes; Lloyd’s Evening Post; S. Arnott, Description of the Monument)