32 MEDIEVAL AGRICULTURE. 



farmer would probably be able to hold his own. But the 

 continuance of sheep and wool farming, on the part of the 

 landlords, was due to the great and increasing value of the 

 raw material. Wool, as we see from the Southampton ac- 

 count, ii. 6 n. i., was occasionally stored in the church. It 

 was rammed into packs ; and the table given of the price 

 of canvas will supply instances of the purchase of material 

 for the purpose. The sale of wool was not always effected 

 by the bailiff, even when the rest of the produce was left 

 in his hands for disposal. Plentiful as the evidence is which 

 has been collected for the price of this important article of 

 medieval produce, it would have been much more abundant 

 had the record of transactions been written on the docu- 

 ments preserved. Very often, however, we read that the 

 wool was delivered into the hands of an officer appointed 

 specially for the purpose of negociating the sale ; but the 

 account of the sale has not been found. 



Hides, except obtained from cattle who had died of c mur- 

 rain,' were not often part of the proceeds of the farm. The 

 fullest information obtained as to their value is taken from 

 the records of consumption. The flesh of animals who died 

 of disease was often sold and eaten. 



The pig was the most important article of food. We shall 

 find below that the relative price of pigs is fully proportionate 

 to modern values. The sides (bacons) and the hams (pernse) 

 were salted and smoked in autumn and winter. Pig-skins 

 are occasionally quoted; but I do not know whether their 

 ancient was similar to their modern use. 



Among poultry we find fowls, geese, ducks almost univer- 

 sally j peacocks and swans rarely. The low price of poultry 

 suggests that they were kept by the poorest classes. Eggs, 

 in particular, are exceedingly abundant, and no great varia- 

 tion occurs in their price in consequence of locality. On 

 some manors a large number of pigeons were kept, which 

 were perhaps as great a grievance as in France before the 

 Revolution. 



