SUGAR. CONFECTIONERY. 6/J 



the same place by the pound, viz. jd. In 1570 it is 8s. 3?^., 

 and if we can infer from the average price of the' year, the loaf 

 is about 9 Ibs. 4 ozs. In 1572 it is los. $d. Here, at the average 

 price of is. id., the loaf would contain about 9 Ibs. 7025. In 

 1574 it is i/j. I have no price by the pound for this year, but 

 the prices of foreign produce are considerably cheaper than in 

 the previous year, when sugar was is. $d. At is. id., the loaf 

 would contain 15 Ibs. i oz. Lastly, in 1580 a loaf is ijs. Sd. 

 The mean price of 1579 and 1580 is is. 6d. t and on this 

 estimate the loaf would contain a little less than 12 Ibs. These 

 figures appear to me to imply, as those of entries by measured 

 weights do, an improvement in the process of refining. 



In 1555 two 'capita' of sugar are purchased in Oxford at 

 15.$-. lod. each. In the same year a sugar-loaf weighing n Ibs. 

 3 ozs. is bought for 145. It seems clear that the * caput ' and the 

 loaf are the same, especially as the purchases in the summer and 

 Michaelmas quarters of 1555-6, as this account like the others 

 is, were dearer by the pound. 



CONFECTIONERY. Several kinds of confectionery are in- 

 cluded in the accounts. I will deal with them in order. 



SUGAR PLATE. This is probably the sugar cake of the 

 fourteenth century. I have found it five times. In 1406 it is 

 is. 2d. the pound ; in 1467, is. ^d. ; in 1469, 1482, and 1488, 

 15. ' Sugarbread ' in 1453, at i s. 6d. the pound, is probably the 

 same article. 



COMFITS. These are much commoner. They are bought by 

 the pound, and the box or pixis, the box plainly holding a 

 pound. They are also described as 'perled' and 'almond,' 

 both occurring in years in which ordinary comfits are registered. 

 These comfits fairly follow the price of sugar. They first occur 

 in 1464. The decades from 1461 onwards are as follows,: 

 1461-70, is. id.-, 1471-80, Sd. ; 1481-90, i s. ; 14911500, 

 1501-10, &/.; 1511-20,9^.; 1521-30,7!^.; 1531-40, 

 ; 1551-60, is. $\d.\ 1571-82, is. lod. Perled comfits 

 occur in 1467 and 1492 at is. 4d. and is. Almond comfits are 

 found in 1469 and 1488 at is. 



