206 ON THE PRICE OF GRAIN. 



purchases, made in the spring and summer, being at 47^. 6\d. The 

 Eton average is 67.?. 4</., while it buys for its own consumption at the 

 rate of 62 s. gd. The New College purchases are at 6is. 2d., which is 

 also the rate of the Oxford corn rents. The Winchester purchases 

 and grants are at 55^. 6d. The general average would have been 

 higher but for a purchase at Lavenham, probably about Michaelmas, 

 of some wheat at 32^. The Cambridge malt rents are at 25^. 2%d. ; 

 those of Eton at 31^., while some purchases are made in October at 

 26s. ; those of Oxford being at 30^. ^d. The Winchester grants are 

 at 32^., its purchases at 26s. $d. These purchases of wheat and malt, 

 henceforth continuous, are made for the bakehouse and brewhouses 

 of this corporation, where an incredible quantity of beer was con- 

 sumed. The same locality also generally gives an annual price of 

 oatmeal, which was used for the boys' pottage. Oats, of which con- 

 siderable information is given, are also dear, especially as the year 

 goes on. The average is iSs. *]d. at Cambridge, where they are 

 bought for the stable all the year through. They are dear at Oxford, 

 where at Corpus Christi College, by error, ordinary oats are described 

 as meal. At Wormleighton, where there are entries in October, May, 

 and June, the same exaltation of price is exhibited, the price being 

 nearly doubled in the second of these months as compared with the 

 first, the average being 18.?. io\d. At Votes Court, Kent, they are 

 not so dear, but still high-priced. At Winchester the entries are for 

 the whole year, and the average is i8s. %^d. Beans, given at Cam- 

 bridge and Oxford, are dear. Peas are not so dear. The harvest was 

 bad in itself, and the price was heightened by the anticipation of a 

 worse harvest to come. 



1647-8. The price of wheat is still higher. The general average, 

 62s. 6d., is supplied from five localities, at one of which the rate is 

 more moderate. The Cambridge corn rents are at 62s. $\d., nearly 

 the general average. The bakehouse buys at an average of 58^. yd., 

 the amount being over 160 quarters. The Eton corn rents are at 

 8os. 4d. The Oxford rents are at 67^. 6f </. But two purchases are 

 made at Castor, the rate being 44^. The Winchester average for both 

 grants and purchases is at 6os., the latter being the average of the 

 year. There was a slight fall in price during the winter, a great rise 

 in the summer, i6s. between Easter (April 18) and August 24, 

 13*. 4d. between June 24 and August i. Barley is found at Castor 

 at an average of 39^. id. in May and June. Malt rents are at 

 %is. 4\d. in Cambridge, 41$. in Eton. The ordinary days on which 

 malt rents at Oxford are fixed give an unchanging price of 36.$-., but 



