ON THE PRICE OF BUILDING MATERIALS, ETC. 463 



lessly a very different affair from the locks put for the king's 

 use on the chambers at Greenwich and Hampton, the wards in 

 each of which were made on the model of the king's key, so 

 that he could enter any chamber at his pleasure. Some of 

 these locks again were carefully planned and finished for pur- 

 poses of security, as those fitted to money chests and stores of 

 valuable goods. Still, with every explanation which can be given 

 for allowable variations, it seems that the price of locks and keys 

 rose, either because greater finish was required in order to ensure 

 greater security, or because the remuneration of the locksmith, 

 unlike that of other labourers, rose with the dearness of the times. 



In the earlier period comprised in my first two volumes, no 

 locks were found at prices corresponding at all with those which 

 may be seen in the present chapter, and verified by the table of 

 contents and the entries of sundry articles in Vol. Ill, 554- 

 582. In the early part of the present period the prices of locks 

 and keys do not differ materially from those in the fourteenth 

 century. The first purchase at a high price is that made by 

 King's College, Cambridge, in 1499. Some others follow at 

 higher rates, and then we reach the royal purchases. But 

 shortly after the change in the value of money, it is clear that 

 prices rise considerably. 



The reader will notice a spring lock for the first time in 

 1541. The price is low. I cannot explain the swivel lock of 

 1548, or account for the very high rate at which it is purchased 

 by Magdalen College. Still less am I able to understand why 

 so large a price was paid for the lock to a study door in 1581. 



WORKMEN'S TOOLS. It may be found convenient, in con- 

 cluding this prolonged chapter on building materials, and the 

 articles needed to complete the house or other structures of the 

 period, to annex some comment on workmen's tools. The 

 earlier volumes supplied but little information on the subject, 

 but the facts are more copious in the present. I purpose treat- 

 ing them alphabetically. The most important entries are those 

 from the king's or queen's naval and other stores. Generally it 

 would appear that the workman found his own tools. 



