ON THE PRICE OF FARM PRODUCE. 371 



standards, shides, sheddings, billets, pole wood, great wood, and 

 furze. Fuel by the hundred, or by the load, is generally about 

 the price of faggots. A hundred of tall wood is about half the 

 price of a hundred of faggots. 



Charcoal is very commonly used, both for cooking and for 

 warmth. It is bought by the quarter, the load, and the sack ; 

 by the first generally, by the load frequently at Cambridge. It 

 varies from 6d. to i6d. the quarter, but is occasionally much 

 dearer. The average price before 1540 is 7!^., afterwards it 

 rises to i s. o{d. The rise is far less than in the case of most 

 other articles, but the chief element in the value of charcoal 

 was labour, and labour, as we shall see hereafter, did not rise in 

 price as other articles rose 1 . The seam is also found, and the 

 skep at York. 



To judge from comparative prices, the load of charcoal con- 

 tained from ten to twelve quarters, probably the latter, as is 

 suggested by the decennial and general averages. It was likely 

 to be a little dearer when bought by the smaller quantity. 

 In 1490 the Cambridge load is said to contain thirteen 

 quarters. 



In 1524, 1525, 1527, 1529, 1530, charcoal is bought at Sion 

 by the byn, a measure unknown to me, and apparently to the 

 glossaries. The average of this quantity in the first year is 33^., 

 in the second 37^. 6d., in the third apparently 38,$-., in the 

 fourth 34$-. \\d.> in the fifth 37^. nd. In the first and second 

 year the price of the load is 9.5-. at Sion, in the third it cannot 

 be exactly discovered, in the fourth it is 9.?., in the fifth it is 

 los. It would seem then that this anomalous and exceptional 

 measure contained from three to three and a-half loads. 



Another singular measure is found in 1454 at Cambridge, 

 the tuntyte. It looks like the third of a load. 



Sea-coal is found more frequently than in the earlier period, 

 being bought by the chalder or chaldron, the fother, the quarter, 



1 It may be stated here that the proportion in the above prices (31 to 51) represents 

 a ratio between the rise in the necessaries of life (generally 3 to 7) and that of wages 

 (generally 2 to 3) before and after 1 540. 



B b 2 



