THE BREWHOUSE. 707 



been employed for grinding malt only. But Magdalen 

 College supplies me also with the entry of a malt quern, 

 under the year 1594, at a cost of 26s. 8d. 



The beer was stowed in different-sized vessels. There is 

 the generic cask, found in twenty-one years, between 1596 and 

 1686. The price of this article is from 4s. to 8s. Up to 

 1629 4s. and 4s. 6d. are common prices, though more than 

 this is paid, even in early years. From 1634 onwards it 

 is never below 7^., and is at last 8s. Barrels are only found 

 in the latter half of the seventeenth century. At first, in 

 1646 and 1647, they are $s. $d.\ then, in 1650, they are $s. 

 each; in 1662,6.?.; in 1666, Js.\ in 1675, 'js. 6d.\ in 1683, 

 1690, and 1692 they are 85.; in 1697 and 1699, ics. All 

 these prices are from Winchester College. In 1688 the price 

 may be obtained from the analysis of a composite purchase, ten 

 barrels and five numbers costing 4 12s. 6d. Now humbers 

 and humbcrkins are found at Winchester College in 1660 and 

 1665 at 5^. $d. and 5^. 6d. each. In 1688, the barrel should be 

 6s. yd., if the humber is $s. Once only are barrels found 

 elsewhere. At All Souls College, in 1690, they are at 4s. 



One might have expected that the price of hogsheads, the 

 word generally implying a fixed quantity, would have been 

 fairly steady. But in 1587, hogsheads, bought by Lord North 

 for military purposes, are at 4s. 6d. In 1596, one costs 3^. id.\ 

 in 1600, Shuttleworth buys them at is. 9\d., and Lord 

 Spencer at 4s. In 1622, Eton College gives 2s. yd. From 

 this time forth the price is steadier, from 4^. to $s. lod. 

 Possibly they were empty wine-casks. 



Butts are at singularly capricious prices. In 1595, Eton 

 College buys them at 4s. In 1632, the same place gives 16^.; 

 in 1646, 8s. ; in 1685, if there be no error in the original 

 account, 305. In 1665, Winchester pays 3^. 6d. for a butt 

 It is difficult to account for these prices, except on the ground 

 that some were ordered from the coopers, some bought 

 second-hand, perhaps again as empty wine-casks. Thus in 1616 

 King's College bought twenty-eight wine-casks at 4s., in 1690 



Z 2 2 



