ON THE PRICE OF GRAIN. 2<5l 



so dear as wheat, though very high. Oats are dearer. Beans and 

 peas (field) have not been found, nor has rye. 



1546-7. The entries are very few, but are sufficient to enable us 

 to discover the character of the harvest. The year began under the 

 influence of the previous bad harvest, and the effect of the scarcity. 

 But prices fell by reason of the more abundant crop, and in prospect 

 of a still more abundant crop in expectation. The only entries I 

 have found are from London and St. Ives in Cornwall, and the 

 amount of the Cornish price is almost exactly the same as the Ward- 

 robe average. Towards the end of the year purchases of biscuit are 

 made for the navy at an average of 3^. 2d. the hundred pounds. A 

 small quantity of barley is bought cheaply at Cambridge, and a 

 similar quantity of malt at Oxford at a very dear rate. 



The price of wheat between 1537 and 1549 receives an illustration 

 from the cost to which All Souls', Oxford, was put for bread during 

 this time. With one exception, 1542-3, the college accounts are 

 preserved during this period. Now it is not certain that the same 

 number of persons were weekly resident at All Souls' during this 

 time, but it is improbable that the number greatly varied. It is also 

 to be observed that the accounts of this college were made up from 

 All Souls' day (Nov. 2), so that the financial year begins five weeks 

 later than accounts generally do. 



COST OF BREAD AT ALL SOULS'. 



I 547~8- The King's College accounts reappear, and continue with 

 only one or two intervals to supply annual information to the end of 

 the period. The price of wheat is very low, lower than in any year 

 since 1510, and, considering the state of the currency, the harvest 

 must have been very abundant. There is very little variation in the 

 price throughout the year, though a slight rise is discoverable after 

 June. The Wardrobe prices are also low. The Cambridge average 

 is 4s. i\d. It appears however that corn was generally dearer in 



