The Chamberlain's Books. 135 



so common in the Midland counties and the Weald of Kent, 

 with their dormer windows and richly-carved bressumers and 

 barge-boards, but rarer in the West of England.* The glory, 

 however, of the town, the Priory Church, still stands. Before 



* As we have said, the muniment chest of the Christchurch Corporation, 

 like that of all similar towns, is full of interest. It contains absolutions from 

 Archbishops to all those who assist in the good work of making bridges; — 

 letters from absolute patrons directing their clients which way to vote ; — 

 bonds from others that they will not require any payment from the 

 burgesses, or put the borough to any expense ; — old privileges of catching 

 eels and lampreys with "Iyer," and "hurdells de virgis," by all of which 

 the past is brou^^ht before us. So, too, the Chamberlain's Books are most 

 interesting. From them we can learn, j^ear by year, the prices of wheat 

 and cattle, the fluctuation of wages, the average condition of the day, 

 and both the minutest outward events as also the innermost life of the 

 town. The true social history of England is written for us in our Chamber- 

 lain's Books. They have unfortunately never been made use of as they 

 deserve. Thus let me give a few general quotations from those of Christ- 

 church. In 1578 lime was fir/, a bushel, from which price it fell within two 

 years to 2d. Stone for building we find about Is. a ton. Wages then 

 averaged, for a skilled mechanic, from 7d. to Is. a day, and for a labourer, 

 4d.; whilst night-watchmen, in 1597, were only paid 2d. Timber, con- 

 trary to what we ehould have expected, was comparatively dear. Thus 

 in 1588 we find 9d. paid for two posts, and 20d. for a plank and two posts, 

 whilst a few years afterwards a shilling is paid for making a new gate. Of 

 course in all these calculations we must bear in mind that money was then 

 three times its present value. Turning to other matters, we learn that m 

 1595, "a pottle of claret wine and sugar" cost 2s., whilst a quart 

 of sack is only I2d. In 1582, a quart of " whyte win6 " is 5d., and twenty 

 years before this a barrel and a half of beer cost 4d. Again, in 1562, the 

 fourth year of Elizabeth, large salmon, whose weights are not specified, 

 appear to have averaged 7d. a piece. A load of straw for thatching came 

 to 2s. 6d., and in some cases 3s., which in 1550 had been as low as 8d., and 

 never above 20d. Drawing it, or passing it through a machine, cost 4d. ; 

 whilst a thatcher received Is. 4d. for his labour of puttmg it on the roof. 



At the same time a load of clay, either for making mortar or for the actual 

 material of the walls, the "cob," or "pug" of the provincial dialect, was 



135 



