ir 



with pikes and swords, and sonic being taken prisoners wove sent 

 to London on horseback, with tlieir legs tied under the liorses' 

 belUes, but stubbornly declaring, they Avould rather rise than 

 starve.* 



Wliat is to be done wth the oflfenders, wrote Lord Norris to 

 Sir Wm. KnoUys, and Avhat about the enclosures that the poor 

 may live.t 



When James succeeded Elizabeth the ill-feeling still strongly 

 existed. It is recorded that one day whilst hunting, the king saw 

 a man in the stocks, and asking the squire of the parish why he 

 was there, was told it was for stealing a goose from the common. 

 The prisoner hearing the conversation cried out and enquired of 

 the king, which was the gi'cater thief, he who stole the goose from 

 the common, or he who stole the common from the goose.^'; This 

 has been since put into verse as, 



The law condemns the man and woman 



Who steal the goose from off the common 



But does not punish what's far worse 



To steal the common from the goose. 

 A dearth occurring in 1608, the King found it necessary to 

 issue Directions, to be " straightly" observed, for easing the 

 pressure. It Avas ordered that no large purchase should be made 

 until two hours after any market began, that the poor might thus 

 be first served. The quantities to be sold in half-quarters, two 

 bushels, one bushel, or less. The bakers to bake rye, barley, 

 peas and beans, for the use of the poor. Neither peas nor beans 

 to be used for feedmg sheep, because " the same may serve the 

 poorer sort to make bread." No corn to be used for feeding 

 dogs, nor to be spent in making " stuff called starch." No miller 

 was to be a buyer of corn, but to attend to the gTinding for 

 others only, and to use a " measurable" toll. 



* State Papers, 1597, Vol. cclxii., fol. 4. 



t State Papers 1597, Vol cclxi., fol. 10. 



X Walter Yonge's Diary, p. 65 



