DAIRY PRODUCE, EGGS AND POULTRY. 367 



dered incessantly. Beyond question most of the purchasers 

 of pigeons had dovecots themselves. Thus I have frequently 

 found purchases of salt stones for pigeon-houses, and sales of 

 pigeons' dung as a very valuable manure, in the King's 

 College accounts. But many of these pigeons are bought by 

 this College for its feasts. Wild pigeons are sometimes 

 mentioned. The average price by the dozen is is. i\d., 

 and the price rises to nearly this average after the first 

 decade. 



Larks, bought in great numbers by the dozen, appear 

 in thirty-three years. They were, no doubt, caught in clap- 

 nets by the country folk on the commons. They are occasion- 

 ally much above the average. In 1594 the purveyors for the 

 Star Chamber feast give is. 6d. a dozen for them. In the next 

 year 14^ dozen are bought in the North at i\d. Again, in 

 1698 nine dozen are bought at prices varying from lod. to 

 is. 6d. the dozen. The average of the whole entries is 8d. 



Turkeys are found in twenty-five years, and, occasionally, 

 in some number, for the year in which they are quoted. 

 From the comparative rarity of this kind of poultry, I con- 

 clude that they were not commonly bred or reared. The 

 highest price which they reach is, as in other cases, at the 

 Star Chamber dinner, when they cost (nine of them) from 5^. 

 to 6s. each. They occur for the first time at Kirkby Stephen 

 in Westmorland, where the highest price is 2s. &/., the lowest 

 2s. In 1672 I find one bought at 5^., and in 1698 from 4J-. 6d. 

 (hens) to $s. 6d. (cocks). The average however is 2s. ii\d. 



There are seven entries of the price of swans and cygnets, 

 at prices varying from 6s. 6d. to 12s. 6d. t the average being 

 JS. $d. The fatted cygnet was a favourite dish, and when- 

 ever the owners of mansions or corporations had water on or 

 near their property, they kept these birds for the table as 

 well as for ornament, nicking them in order that they might 

 identify their property. The right of keeping swans was 

 regulated by the sumptuary laws. 



GAME AND RABBITS. Game was protected, and a quali- 



