DEGRADATION OF THE BRITISH LABORER. 39 



and lastly the slaves or villains who tilled the soil. These aris 

 tocratic distinctions were engrafted upon Great Britain, with 

 other Teutonic customs, during the Saxon ascendency. 



Agriculture was introduced into Britain by the Gauls, one 

 hundred years before the Roman invasion. The division of 

 land followed the Roman custom, i. e., it was divided into 

 &quot;hides,&quot; a hide being about as much as could be cultivated 

 with a single plow, or from sixty to one hundred and twenty 

 acres. No man was allowed to guide a plow who could not 

 construct one. To reclaim land gave the use of it for five 

 years. Just at this period the Saxon distinction between &quot;folks 

 land,&quot; or the property belonging to the State and the people at 

 large, and bocland, or private property, begins distinctly to 

 appear, as also the system of rentals. According to the law of 

 Tna, king of the West Saxons in the eighth century, a hide of 

 plow land paid the following rent, viz: Ten casks of honey; three 

 hundred loaves of bread; twelve casks of strong ale; thirty 

 casks of small ale; two oxen; ten wedders; ten geese; twenty 

 hens; ten cheeses; one cask of butter; five salmon; twenty 

 loads of forage, and one hundred eels. 



In the time of Alfred the Great, we hear complaints that 

 arable lands were exhausted of their natural fertility, and 

 three fourths of that which was susceptible of cultivation was 

 devoted to pasturage. 



The English farmer earned his black and bitter bread during 

 the Middle Ages, known as a &quot;churl&quot; or hind, with little motive 

 for self-improvement or that of his lands. The plowman, 

 shepherd and swineherd belonged to the soil, and fishermen 

 were rented and sold with the fisheries where they were em 

 ployed. The cottager s house was a thatch-covered hut, chinked 

 with mud or clay, without chimney, window or floor. A 

 hide, dressed with the hair on, swung like a hammock, served 

 him for a bed; there were no mills except those operated by 

 hand. He was his own tailor, tanner and clothier. The kit of 

 a blacksmith consisted of four pieces; a carpenter s of six. 

 There was no division of labor. The plow, a pick, a clod- 

 breaker, spades, sickles and baskets for winnowing grain-com 

 prised the list of agricultural implements. 



The allowance of the laborer was two herrings a day, a loaf of 

 wheat or barley bread, and milk from the manor house, with 

 which to make his cheese. 



