WAGES ADVANCED. 261 



volume relating to British peasants of to-day the official 

 material obtained in this way has been utilised to enable 

 us to present as simultaneous a picture of present-day 

 conditions as is possible. Meanwhile we shall proceed 

 in this chapter to give local illustrative details that 

 will largely reflect a general state of things, and which 

 may, at the same time, be relied upon as exactly repre- 

 senting the peasants' circumstances in 1880. 



Taking Wiltshire first, we found that around Marl- 

 borough wages were from ten to eleven shillings per 

 week ; or ten shillings and a rent-free cottage. On one 

 farm a carter was getting fifteen shillings a week and 

 a good cottage in addition as part of his wages, the 

 carters generally being two shillings in advance of the 

 ordinary men. A shepherd's daughter was working for 

 ninepence a day, and an additional daily fourpence 

 instead of an allowance of beer ; in Wiltshire generally, 

 beer being given instead of cider as part of the wages. 

 A son of the same shepherd was earning nine shillings a 

 week, and received eightpence a day instead of beer. At 

 another village Rennet not far away, there was no 

 beer allowance except at hay and corn harvests, and 

 cottages at a shilling a week rent were paid for out of 

 ten shillings wages ; but by piecework the men could 

 sometimes earn two shillings a day. One man engaged 

 in " picking," i.e. clearing weeds, was paid ten shillings 

 an acre for clearance, and could do an acre in five days. 

 At Avebury average wages were eleven shillings, and in 

 one family of nine the parents and seven children one 

 of the lads earned four and sixpence ; another, half a 

 crown, and one girl was in domestic service. The 

 mother worked also, and got ninepence a day. But in 

 another family, where the father was earning ten shillings 

 a week working from seven in the morning to six, there 

 were five non-bread-winning children. Here the mother 

 worked, when she could get away from attendance on 

 her children, at ninepence a day ; and this employment 



