542 AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS, TOOLS, ETC. 



quotations are given, three before the Plague, two in the year 

 in which it occurred, and one afterwards. The average price 

 of the first five is about i</., that of the last is \\d. The 

 entries are chiefly from Cheddington. 



Under the year 1 393 Cambridge supplies us with the price of 

 two grindstones at iod. each. Usually however, I imagine, the 

 grinding of tools formed part of the regular bargain made with 

 the village smith. Had every manor-farm possessed its grind- 

 stone it would hardly, 1 infer, have happened that entries of 

 these conveniences would have been so rare. 



FORKS. Iron forks, hay and corn forks, are occasionally 

 found. Seven c iron' forks which have been discovered in the 

 accounts before the date of the Plague give an average of i\d. 

 Two which occur after that event are severally worth 3^. and 

 8d. There are also three c hay' forks two in the earlier period 

 worth about \\d. and 3</., one in the later bought at 4^. One 

 c corn ' fork in the first division is bought at i\d.^ three after- 

 wards at an average of nearly 3!^. Except, however, as 

 indicating the use of such implements, the prices are not 

 particularly suggestive. 



CARTS AND WAGONS. It seems, to judge from the entries 

 in the accounts, that the agricultural carriages of our fore- 

 fathers were generally set on two wheels. It may be that 

 four-wheeled wains were used, but they were, I conceive, rare, 

 and are not easily distinguishable. The cart was ordinarily 

 drawn by two horses, and hence a loaded cart was called 

 c bigata.' 



The frame or body of the cart was generally made out of the 

 timber of the manor, (e proprio meremio^} by the carpenter of the 

 village, just as the plough-frame was. Instances, however, 

 will be found in which the whole cart was purchased. It is 

 called c carecta,' or c plaustrata,' and was, of course, a frame- 

 work of timber to which planks were nailed. When it was 

 used for manure it is often called c tumberel,' but also c dung- 

 cart.' 



The area of the cart was increased in harvest-time, probably 



