ON THE COST OF CARRIAGE. 655 



that the price at which corn is transmitted from place to place ^/ 

 would be somewhat cheaper than that paid for wine. Again, ^ 

 we might suppose that lead would be carried at a little dearer 

 rate than corn, at a lower rate than wine. The more incon- 

 venient the stowage of the article was, the more bulky it was 

 in proportion to its weight, the greater the risk attending the 

 carriage ; and thereupon the greater the care needed in trans- 

 porting it, the greater the payment made. 



In some cases we may trace, I think, the law of bailments. 

 The liability of a carrier is, I imagine, a principle in common 

 law ; and it is clear that contracts implying special risk were 

 made by the parties sending goods with those who undertook 

 the charge. Thus the bailiff* of Middleton in Kent (1284) pays 

 \ 6s. for the carriage of ^328 from Pevensey to a place 

 called Bradmeld, that is nearly a penny the pound and 13^. o\d. 

 for a similar conveyance of ^45 los. id. from Middleton to 

 Marlborough, that is at the rate of about \\d. Again, the 

 Barkby bailiff (1350) pays io</. as salvage for the rent which 

 he forwards at Whitsuntide (the amount not being given) ; and 

 the same sum is paid for the carriage of ^5 from London to 

 Oxford in the year 1388. 



I have taken, in my estimate of the rates of land-carriage, 

 since it is impossible to determine the precise road on which 

 goods were carried, the distance between the two places in a 

 direct line, using the Ordnance Map and a rule. In many cases 

 no doubt the old road is still used ; but in many others the road, 

 in modern times, has been very much shortened. Thus, in 

 taking the route from Southampton to Oxford, I have little doubt 

 that as far as Abingdon its course has suffered little or no 

 change since the days of the three Edwards. But the two roads 

 by which Oxford can be reached from Abingdon, the south road 

 through Bagley Wood, and the south-west road through Cumnor 

 and Botley, are modern. It seems that within a comparatively 

 recent period the road to Abingdon went northwards to Wol- 

 vercott, thence by Godstow Nunnery to Wytham, and thence 

 through Cumnor. The Isis is either naturally or artificially 



