

ON THE PRICE OF GRAIN. 183 



suffers no change during the whole of the two dates of the Oxford 

 Market. But it is less than the Oxford Market price at All Souls in 

 the first quotation, much more in the second. The same rise is seen 

 at Worksop. Oats are cheap, as is also oatmeal, or groats. Rye is 

 dear, the only price being probably, for the most part, purchases of 

 seed. Beans and peas are both at natural prices, the entries of the 

 latter for this year being considerable. 



1600-1. The King's College accounts give the quarterly rents, 

 prices declining throughout, though not till the last quarter materially. 

 The S. John's record presents a similar register, the variations in this 

 account being inconsiderable. At Eton the average is 40^. &/., while 

 that of the two Cambridge colleges together is 295. 2\d. At Oxford 

 the average of seven entries, New College adding a Midsummer price 

 to its rents, is 331". g\d. Here the price declines. At Worksop ten 

 returns give an average of 351-. $\d. There are two returns of barley, 

 one described as seed, the other probably of the same quality, which 

 give a relatively high price. The malt prices are 20^. nj</. at Cam- 

 bridge, 24-r. at Eton and Michinhampton, 2is. 6\d. at Oxford, 

 2gs. id. at Worksop. The price of oats is very various, as low as 

 Ss., as high as 24^. ; while at the same place in which seed-oats are 

 purchased at 14^., oatmeal is purchased at 24.?. Rye is nearly as dear 

 as wheat at Worksop, but the entries are probably seed. The price of 

 beans is lower than that of peas ; of the latter there are several entries. 

 At Cambridge the average is 19^. g\d.\ at Worksop, where the dearest 

 is seed, 2$s. 6f</. At Wormleighton there are several entries in the 

 summer which do not materially vary. But there are two of ' white 

 peas,' the price of which is so high that I have not included them. 

 They are plainly for human consumption. 



1 601-2. The wheat prices from the King's College rents are very 

 low, representing an average of only 1 7 s. 4^., while those of S. John's 

 are at an average of 2 if. 6\d. The highest prices of the year are at 

 Michaelmas and Lammas, the lowest at Midsummer, the next lowest 

 at Lady Day. At Eton too the highest is the Michaelmas, the lowest 

 the Lady Day price. The same variation is visible at Oxford, though 

 the second All Souls price is high. The general Oxford average is 

 251. nd. At They don Gernon, a place we shall see for some years, 

 the average is 2is. 6d. In Worksop it is much higher. At Worm- 

 leighton, in a scries extending from October to September, the average 

 is 22s. The price of wheat never falls so low again, as it is this year, 

 till 1654, and then only in that year. Seed-barley is found in Lan- 

 ire and Nottinghamshire. Malt at first is dear at Cambridge, but 



