336 ON THE PRICE OF STOCK AND MEAT. 



second is. 6d. the stone, or, turned into the Cambridge 

 reckoning of fourteen Ibs. to the stone, of 2s. 5f^. and 

 as. 7f</., a price which almost exactly corresponds with that 

 of Cambridge in the same period. In one of the Theydon 

 years, 1609, a London price of the same amount is recorded ; 

 in another, 1614, a price from Harting in Sussex is also given, 

 where meat is much cheaper, \\d. a Ib. ; and again at New 

 College, Oxford, where a very large amount is bought in 1617, 

 at is. %\d. the stone of 14 Ibs. 



London gives evidence of the price of beef at the beginning 

 and end of the period. It is found for the three years 

 1593-1595 at an average of is. 4&d. the stone of 8 Ibs., or 

 as. $d. that of 14 Ibs. ; in 1609 at is. 6d., or 2s. 7f^. It is found 

 at $s. lod. the large stone in 1685, and for the three years 

 1697-1699 at an average of 2s. o\d. the small stone, or $s. *jd. 

 the large. 



There are four entries from Mendham, 1583-86, at an 

 average of I s. 4\d., and the stone is probably the small weight. 

 But three others in 1626, 1633 and 1638 are of the larger stone. 

 They are 2s. 4d., 3^. and zs. ii^d. Three years at Mounthall, 

 1652, 1653 and 1655, are of the small stone, at is. 6d., is. lod. 

 and is, 4d. Four at Horstead Keynes in 1657, 1659, 1661 and 

 1663, in which last year the weight is called 'nail,' are at 

 is. icd.y 2s. id., is. 6d. and is. 8d. Another in 1678 at Hick- 

 stead is by the small weight, also is. 8d. 



There are only a few purchases at Oxford. There is 

 a large amount bought in 1617, at an average of 2s. %\d. ; and 

 in two years 1643, 1645, a great amount is bought as store 

 against the siege at $s. lid. and $s. 8\d. the large stone. In 

 1685 it buys at zs.8d., and in 1692 at 2s. lid. In 1677 beef 

 is bought at Woodstock at 2s. 8d. the large stone, and in 

 1693 at Hurley in Berks at the rate of $s. %d. Besides the 

 invaluable series of King's College there are fifty-one other 

 entries, which would indeed have justified me in inferring as 

 to the general price of this kind of food, and serve to confirm 

 and illustrate the Cambridge record. To these may be added 



