A PICTURE OF THE IRON TRADE. 39 



without crackes : and it will be requisite to article yt ye Gent, send one 

 downe to see ym when we begine to make ym, yt they be right and such 

 as he would have, wch will a voyd disputes and differences when they are 

 to be delivered, ye charge up and downe cannot be greate, and whilst he 

 is in ye country he shall lye at my house ; ye charge up and downe cannot 

 be above thirty shill : I will be content to leave one half of it rather then 

 not to have one to come. 



I marvaile why they should be higher then long, pray you aske whether 

 it would not be as well to make them two foote 8 inches high, and two foote 

 io inches long, wch is ye same compasse. I suppose you take ye measure 

 within ye vessell, and yt an inch difference in ye measure anyway would 

 make no difference, at present no more, but yt I am 



yo: freind to serve you, 

 Renishaw, ye 1 6. xber 1662. G. S. 



In February, 1663, the bargain is made for 40 tons weight of 

 them at ^16 per ton. The buyer is a sugar baker. 



Iron Bullets. — In October, 1665, some on behalf of the 

 Navy are "tampering" with him, offering ^8 10s. per ton for 

 200 or 300 tons of shot. In return he makes a definite offer 

 to supply 300 or 400 tons of iron bullets at ^10 per ton, 

 delivered at Hull, and when the letter book ends he is in hope 

 of selling 500 tons. 



Pots, Mortars, and Pans were also cast in large quantities 

 at the furnaces. In November, 1664, sixty pounds worth of 

 pots and pans were sold at Foxbrooke, besides a few waster 

 (i.e.. defective) pots. In the same year Will Langley, the potter, 

 cast there pots and pans to the weight of 2 tons 18 cwt. 6 stone 

 12 lbs., which, at ^13 per ton, comes to ^38 5s. 3d. A few 

 days after 221 pots and two mortars are sent to London. 



In June, 1664, 9 tons 17 cwt. of weights were sent to London, 

 and 1 cwt. 2 stone of rings to fit them with. The price to be 

 paid was ^8 per ton. I find also a few tons of share moulds 

 and sow mettle brushes sold into Lincolnshire. 



I now come to the product of the forges. 



Bar Iron was made in large quantities, sometimes out of 

 old hammered iron guns. In September, 1662, 1,529 bars were 

 sent to London, and weighed nearly thirty-two tons. Clout iron 



