466 ON THE PRICE OF MATERIALS 



Norfolk, between which and Bergen a considerable trade was 

 carried on ; that tar was dearer in London and its neighbour- 

 hood that the farther the coast was from what I assume to be 

 the source of supply, the dearer the article becomes ; and that, 

 lastly, it is dearest in the inland places, to which it could be 

 conveyed only at great cost and inconvenience. I may add 

 that it was the custom for farm bailiffs to buy quantities 

 considerably in excess of their actual or prospective needs, partly 

 because it was an article which was always useful, partly 

 because there was, no doubt, a better market for it on some 

 occasions than on others. And, in fine, I may mention that tar 

 was bought to use as grease for wheels (1383), when it was 

 probably mixed with tallow. 



In connexion with tar mention has been made of the price 

 of pitch. I have found it six times. It is bought at Walsham 

 in 1286 at i\d. to $d. the pound; in 1280, at Waleton, at 

 l\d.-^ in 1283, at Marlborough, at \\d. ; in 1291, at Pevensey, 

 at 2^.; in 1319, at Beaumaris, at id. to i\d.-^ in 1326, at 

 Clarette, at \d. ; and at Wolford, in the same year, at id. 

 and i\d. 



Resin, called also c thus,' and employed for ordinary in- 

 cense, was a similar product of the distillation of coniferous 

 trees. Nine entries are given under the name of resin, the 

 average price of which is i\d. the pound. This price, however, 

 is enhanced by the first two entries, which are high. Omitting 

 these, the average of the remaining seven is \\d. The average 

 price of c thus,' a term used for the most part in the earlier 

 records, is, when taken from six entries, $d. ; but this rate is 

 also affected by high prices in the earliest period. The price 

 of none among these articles is at all affected by the Plague, 

 the value having considerably declined during the course of the 

 period before me. 



Here, as it was used for the purpose of dressing sheep, as 

 well as for other purposes in medieval economy, as, for instance, 

 to lubricate mill-wheels, we may take cognisance of the price 

 of soap. If I can trust a curious catalogue of English towns, 



