WAX. HONEY. 417 



peasantry, and that the supply of wax was derived from their 

 stocks. Bees were, till within the last few years, very fre- 

 quently kept by agricultural labourers in remote country places, 

 and often contributed in a notable degree to the resources of the 

 family. The habit has generally been abandoned within late 

 years, the condition of agricultural labourers being, as I think 

 could be proved, considerably inferior to that which was 

 common even thirty years ago. The entry under 1353 from 

 Milverton is an annual rent of a pound of wax, sold by the 

 bailiff at 6d. 



It will be seen that the average price of wax was 6\d. the 

 pound. The rate presents very few fluctuations, and these are 

 of very slight importance. It becomes dear in 1264, but the 

 rate is due to the fact that the highest price, which is certainly 

 excessive, is paid by Eleanor, Countess of Leicester, in her 

 journey from Odiham to Dover. It is dear again in the four 

 years 1295-1298, and again from 1307 to 1309. But it is little 

 affected in the famine years. It is dear again in 1349, 1356, 

 and the years 1361, 1363, 1364. It is considerably cheaper at 

 the end than at the beginning of the period before me. The 

 price of an article of comparative luxury, probably supplied by 

 the poorer classes, is liable, I should anticipate, to less variation 

 than almost any other commodity. In the dear years quoted, 

 however, it is purchased in quantities sufficiently large for the 

 purpose of indicating a real market price, and the high rates, 

 in all likelihood, were due to the wet summers or unfavourable 

 winters, and therefore such seasons as were unfriendly to the 

 accumulation of this article. 



The price is very high, though not, in comparison, so high as 

 that of tallow and candles. As wax was employed in domestic 

 use only by the few rich, and occasionally as a religious 

 offering, or regularly for the customary service of the church, 

 its price was not liable to so much change as a commodity of 

 more general or necessary use, nor by implication was it 

 affected by any considerable or marked demand. 



HONEY. A few prices of honey, mostly purchases, have been 



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