Early Trading Conditions 17 



there were more craftsmen in the villages, and there was 

 greater skill possessed by individuals in the production of 

 domestic requirements than would to-day be found among 

 agricultural populations accustomed to depend on the urban 

 manufacturer or the village stores for the commodities their 

 forefathers had to make, to raise or to supply for themselves. 



Each family baked its own bread, with flour ground at the 

 village mill from the wheat or the rye grown on the family's 

 own land or allotment ; each brewed its own ale then the 

 common beverage at all meals, since tea and coffee had still 

 to come into vogue ; and each grew its own wool or flax, 

 made its own cloth and clothing, and tanned its own leather. 

 What the household could not do for itself might still be done 

 by the village blacksmith or the village carpenter. Alike 

 for ribbons, for foreign spices, for luxuries in general, and for 

 news of the outer world the household was mainly dependent 

 on the pedlar, with his stock on his back, or the chapman, 

 bringing his collection of wares with him on horseback ; 

 though even these welcome visitors might find it impossible 

 to travel along roads and footpaths reduced by autumn rains 

 or winter snows to the condition of quagmires. 



In these conditions many a village or hamlet became 

 isolated until the roads were again available for traffic, and 

 rural households prepared for the winter as they would have 

 taken precautions against an impending siege. Most of the 

 meat likely to be required would be killed off in the late 

 autumn and salted down salt being one of the few absolute 

 necessities for which the mediaeval household was dependent 

 on the outside world ; while families which could not afford 

 to kill for themselves would purchase an animal in common 

 and share the meat. Stores of wheat, barley and malt were 

 laid in ; honey was put on the shelves to take the place of 

 the sugar then almost unknown outside the large towns ; 

 logs were collected for fuel and rushes for the floors ; and 

 wool and flax were brought in to provide occupation for the 

 women of the household. In the way of necessaries the 

 provision made by each self-dependent family, or, at least, 

 by each self-contained community, was thus practically 

 complete save in the one important item of fresh vegetables, 

 the lack of which, coupled with the consumption of so much 

 salt meat, was a frequent source of scurvy. Millstones for 



