-532 AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS, TOOLS, ETC. 



to 8s. the hundred, the former would be about zf. 6<t. the 

 thousand. The general rise on the average of the last forty 

 years is not, indeed, quite so large as that of horseshoes, 

 though it is upwards of 100 per cent.; but it will be re- 

 membered that the rate of horseshoes for the last ten years 

 is excessive and the evidence insufficient. 



Among other stable implements must be reckoned strigils, 

 which I conceive to be horsecombs. On two occasions the 

 latter term is used. If we include these, the table of Sundry 

 Articles supplies us with thirteen entries of these implements, 

 from nearly the earliest to nearly the latest part of the period. 

 Those which precede the year 1350 cost a little more than \\d. 

 each, those in the later time a little less than $d. 



Horses were put into pastures, either clogged with padlock and 

 chain, or fixed to some spot by a bolt driven into the ground. 

 Some such entries have been included in the table of locks and 

 keys, some in the list of Sundry Articles. The highest price 

 of lock and chain is is. 8^., the lowest ic*/.; the lowest price 

 being found before the Plague, and the highest in the years 

 1362 and 1371, i.e. just at the time when we might expect 

 these articles to be dearest. 



Head-pieces, or halters, called c capistra,' occur in the accounts, 

 the price being a little less than 8^. They are generally made of 

 hair, and spun on the spot. A common item at Cuxham is that 

 of the expense incurred in making c capistra e propriis pilis.' 



I am not certain whether the marking-irons named in the 

 Northleigh account for 1372 were used in the stable. They 

 cost is. 6\d. each, and may have been employed to brand the 

 flanks of colts and cattle. 



HARNESS. The medieval harness was generally manufac- 

 tured at home, and was of the simplest character. The bailiff 

 either buys a white or tawed skin, or agrees with the tanner 

 to dress some skin of home produce. Some portions of the 

 harness were, no doubt, made of rope. The saddle-tree was 

 manufactured, it would seem, on the estate, and must have been 

 padded in the house, for I have never found any entry of such 



