Transactions. 159 



paper money, and, of course, the raising of rents upon the tenants 

 have each contributed to this rise in almost all kinds of pro- 

 visions." 



The rise in the wages is as remarkable as the rise in the price 

 of provisions. Labourers' wages were Is per day ; carpenters and 

 masons, Is 8d to 2s ; tailor, his victuals and 6d ; labourer in 

 harvest, without food. Is and Is Id ; ploughmen's wages, 7 to 8 

 guineas ; dairymaids, .£3 to £4 per annum ; maid servants in 

 towns, £2 10s to £i: ; men servants, £7 to £9. 



The schools receive warm praise. There were three estab- 

 lished schools for English. The masters of these received £20 

 amongst them, 2s 6d a quarter from each scholar, and a Candlemas 

 offering. There was one established Grammar School, the master 

 of which had £47 a year. He got no ftes from the children of 

 burgesses, but 8s a quarter from others. The Candlemas offering 

 amounted to about 10s 6d a head. The average number of 

 scholars was 100. There was an established school for arithmetic, 

 book-keeping, and mathematics. The master had £20 a year, 5s 

 a quarter from the children of burgesses, and 7s 6d from others, 

 and no Candlemas offering. The number of scholars was about 

 sixty. There was also an established school for writing, where 

 the master had a salary of £22, and the same fees as the master of 

 the arithmetic school. The pupils were said to number about 

 seventy. Besides these there were a free unendowed school for 

 reading and writing, and two or three boarding schools for young 

 ladies. It is also recorded that French, drawing, and dancing are 

 very well taught. Unfortunately the details given do not warrant 

 any comparison with the amount of the school accommodation or 

 the number of children attending school at the present day. If 

 we might hazard a conjecture, they were much behind what we 

 now have, but in some respects considerably more adequate than 

 the schools were immediately prior to the passing of the late 

 Education Act. 



The number of poor in 1790 occasionally receiving alms was 

 at least 150. The Poor-house (Moorheads' Hospital) supported 45 

 to 50 persons. The whole sum expended on the poor, including 

 mortification revenue of the hospital, amounted to £400. The 

 poor rate last year was £2930. When we add to this the revenue 

 of Moorheads' Hospital, of the Carruthers' Cottages, of the 

 Menzies and Crocket Funds, and of other Trusts, we have a total 

 of at least £3999. It would thus appear that the people a hundred 



