ON THE COST OF CARRIAGE. 66 L 



New College. This cloth was generally purchased in Win- 

 chester, probably at one of the famous fairs which were held 

 on the outskirts of the town on St. Giles' or Magdalene Hill. 

 A pannus contained, it will be remembered., twenty-four yards, 

 and several such quantities, weighing perhaps as many pounds 

 as yards apiece, were carried to Oxford at the rate of ^\d. the 

 piece. Thomas Cursor of Cat Street carries servants' liveries 

 from London, ready made, at the rate of little less than \\d. 

 each. 



The rate at which rabbits are carried, probably by the same 

 common carrier, three years before, is also suggestive. They 

 are taken at \d. a couple from Bushey in Hertfordshire to 

 Oxford. 



It is clear, I think, from these facts that the' rate of land- 

 carriage in the Middle Ages was low, and that consequently 

 communication must have been easy, and probably regular. 

 I have already alluded to a remarkable map of England, of 

 about the middle of the fourteenth century, which forms part 

 of Cough's collection. It is described by this antiquary in 

 vol. i. pp. 76-85 of his British Topography. The roads are 

 laid down between the principal towns, and the distances are 

 marked in red ink. Such maps were no doubt common, and, 

 all things considered, convenient. 



I have commented only on some of the entries, but these, 

 I hope, are the most intelligible and easy of exact inter- 

 pretation. The reader may easily extend his researches by 

 investigating other examples given in the second volume. 

 But I think that in general it will be found that the land- 

 carriage of heavy goods in the Middle Ages fell below an 

 average of id. the ton per mile. 



It is not possible to be so precise in estimating the charge 

 of water-carriage, but it is clear that the rate was low. 



Thus 26 quarters of salt are carried by water from the 

 salterns at Lymington to the Isle of Wight (probably either 

 to Cowes or Newport), along with two oxen, at a rate of less 

 than \\d. the quarter, not accounting for the oxen. So in 



