710 ON THE COST OF CARRIAGE. 



not particularly dear in 1557 and 1558. Afterwards it ranges 

 from $d. to over $d. per ton per mile, though in 1567 a journey 

 is made at i \d. On the whole the cost of carriage by the mile 

 is more than doubled in the last forty years of my enquiry. 



The following entries are of the cost of carrying goods by 

 the ton, when the service is plainly performed by the common 

 carrier. They are all from Oxford or Cambridge accounts, 

 most frequently the former. Cambridge was about 54 miles 

 from London, Oxford 59, by the roads then in use. The 

 entries which have c before them are conveyances from 

 Cambridge. 



It will be seen that in one of the years, 1557, the carriage 

 from both Oxford and Cambridge is given, and that the charge 

 is slightly higher at Cambridge. But it is not easy to in- 

 terpret the great variety in the charge, particularly as on one 

 occasion, 1540, when the rate is low, the carriage is said to be 

 in winter and at Easter, the rate being the same for both 

 parcels, one of a single hundredweight, the other of three 

 hundredweights. Competition seems to be an anachronism, and 

 there appear to be open only two explanations, special bargain, 

 and return carriage rates 1 . Up to 1549 the average is nearly 

 3 .$., afterwards it is 42 s. id. 



1 In 1488 the goods are cloth; in 1503, wax; in 1509 the article is a 'fardel,' 

 weighing 2| cwts. ; in 1523, the quantity 349 Ibs. is not further described ; in 1535 it 

 is glass ; in 1539, wax ; in 1540 again wax. In 1542 it is a large quantity, 55 cwts. 

 In 1535 it is wax. In 1560 and 1562 it is salt eels; in 1570, salt ling; in 1577, a 

 Jarge copper. 



