226 ON THE PRICE OF GRAIN. 



being at 26s. *j\d. Winchester also buys a small quantity of barley at 

 24*. Oats are dear, 13^. \d. at Biggin, 13^. at Cambridge, but 20^. Sd. 

 at Eton, and i8j. 2d. at Winchester. The price of oatmeal is also 

 very high, being surpassed by four averages only in the whole period. 

 Beans are very dear everywhere, though cheapest at Cambridge, but 

 peas are rather cheap. 



1682-3. All kinds of grain fall slightly in price. At Cambridge 

 the wheat rents give an average of 31-$*. n\d., the bakehouse purchase 

 in April being made at 2*1 s. 4</., and the price being very uniform. 

 At Eton the rents are at 46^., the purchases at 40^. The Oxford 

 average is at 43^. Sd. An assise at Portsmouth supplies a price of 

 22s. Sd., and Johnson's Lands (property in the Eastern Counties pur- 

 chased by a wealthy timber merchant at Deptford, two of whose 

 daughters had married into noble families) are of 28^. The Win- 

 chester grants are at 40^., the purchases at 37^. Sd., and the rents at 

 38^. io|</. Johnson's estate buys barley at 19^. The malt prices at 

 Cambridge are at an average of 2is. 6%d., the rates being very even, 

 but falling a little as the summer comes on. The Eton average is 

 28^. iof</., the purchases being effected by the College at 2$s. 6d. 

 The Oxford average is 26s. Sd. The Winchester grants are at 24$., 

 its purchases at 24^. 2d., and the average of its rents at 245-. nd. 

 Oats are fairly cheap in Cambridgeshire, dear at Eton and Winchester, 

 the latter giving an average of i6s. ^d. Oatmeal also is dear, the 

 prices indeed of these two years being exceptionally high. Peas and 

 beans are cheap in some of the Eastern Counties and Cambridge, but 

 dear on the two Essex estates. On the whole, however, the year is 

 one of comparative plenty. 



1683-4. Prices are very little changed from those of the previous 

 year. The wheat rents at Cambridge give an average of 32^. 2%d., 

 the price rising considerably after Lady Day. The bakehouse is 

 consequently caught, for the purchases made in the summer raise the 

 average to 35^. The Eton average is 38^., this corporation having 

 now dropped most of its extraordinary rent days, as these affected only 

 a few small estates. It buys at 32.?. $\d. The Oxford average is 

 %6s. Sd., but an account of Lord Lovelace, one of Johnson's sons-in- 

 law, gives 325. also as an Oxford price. The Winchester grants are 

 at 46^. 4d., the purchases at 35*. lod. The rents are at 38^. 9^., the 

 rise towards the later summer being here very marked. There is also 

 a purchase in Johnson's accounts at 48^., which must have been late in 

 the year. The price of malt is more steady. The Cambridge malt 

 rents are at an average of iSs. 9%d., those of Eton at 245. nd., the 



