150 NOTES ON A MINUTE BOOK. 



Civil War, are unrecorded. The discovery of the " other liook " 

 referred to at the beginning would be a welcome find indeed. It 

 need hardly be said that all the orders in the 17th century relating 

 to intended defence of Dorchester are connected with the Civil 

 War. This may, therefore, be a good place to note, by the way, 

 two entries about one great cause of that war — viz., ship money. 

 In C. 9 we find " Kov. 23, 1636. Rate to y^ King's Shipping." 

 And it is recorded that at a meeting of the Mayors of Dorset and 

 and the Sheriff at Blandford about " a rate to be set " for £5,000 

 for a ship, the Sheriff rated the corporate towns thus : — 



Again in C. 12, under the date Jan. 22, 1639 (40), a warrant 

 from the Sheriff for raising £60 in the town for ship money is 

 recorded. And almost directly after — post hoc if not propter hoc 

 — on Feb. 12, 1639 (40), in connection with a Town Lease is a 

 direction " to make up the Towne wall sufficiently between the 

 garden [in question] and Master Hiat's garden before harvest 

 next." *But it was on July 1, 1642, that the Dorchester folk 

 began really to stir in the matter of holding the town against the 

 foe. On that day the Mayor and Company had before them 

 " a noate of the Stoare of powder in the magazine in the 

 Shirehall, Sept. 27, 1639." County Powder 39 cwt 18 lbs ; also 

 3 barrells of the " Towne Store." This last was ordered to be 

 moved to the " Counting House in the Towne Brewhouse " with 

 the town's lead and match. On July 19, 1642, was brought to 

 " Master Maior from the Postmr of Shaston " a copy of an 



* There is in these books an earlier mention of walls. In C. 9, under 

 Nov. 12, 163.3, there is complaint tliat Fordinyton people have taken the 

 ditclies wherewith "this Towne is surrounded, and now they seeke to 

 gayne from us parte of this Towne Walles. " 



