A. D. 1570. 15 I 



(befide the wards and duchy of Lancafter), was £188,197 -4' "'"^ the 

 yearly payments and aflignments amounted to Li 10,612 : 13, of which 

 the houfehold was £40,000, the privy purfe L2000, the admiralty 

 £50,000, which by an eftimate in May 1604, was £40,000, and is now 

 (1609) fwoln to near £50,000 yearly, by the error and abufe of offi- 

 cers ! What a prodigious increafe two centuries have produced in the 

 national revenue and expenditure ! 



The firft of thofe fowls, called by the Englifh turkeys, and by the 

 French poules d'Indes, were faid to have been brought from Mexico, 

 and were this year ferved up as a great rarity at the nuptial feafl of 

 King Charles TX of France. Pofllbly our firft traders to Turkey feeing 

 thofe fowls at Aleppo, &c. might occafion our calling them turkey fowls. 



1 571 An ad of parliament for the increafe of tillage, and the 



maintenance and increafe of the navy and mariners of the realm, di- 

 redl:s that corn of all kinds may be exported, when the prices at home 

 are fo low as that no proclamation to the contrary fliall be iffued ; yet, 

 even in this cafe the queen referves the cuftoms due thereon. [13 Eliz. 

 c. 13.] This is the third law made purpofely for the benefit of the 

 farmers by exportation of corn. 



The a61s pafTed in the reign of Henry VI for the improvement of the 

 river £ea had hitherto been of little effed : wherefor an ad: was pafled [i 3 

 Eliz. c. 18], diredling a new cut or trench to be made within ten years, 

 at the charge of the lord mayor, commonalty, and citizens of £ondon, 

 whereby that river was to be made to convey all viduals, corn, and 

 other neceflaries between Ware in Hertfordfhire and £ondon ; where- 

 by a very confiderable expenfe of land-carriage has been faved, and 

 Ware has become a confiderable town. 



The cappers, or knir-cap-makers of England, obferving the great in- 

 creafe of hats made of felt, had before this time obtained an ad of par- 

 liament for preventing foreign materials from being worked up into hats; 

 but that not anfwering fully, they now obtained a fecond law [13 EU%. 

 c. 19] purporting, that every perfon above feven years of age ftiould 

 wear on Sundays and holidays a cap of wool, knit, made, thicked, and 

 drefl!ed in England, and drefled only and finiflied by fome of the trade 

 of cappers, on the forfeiture of 3y4 for every day fo negleded to be 

 worn : Excepting, however (out of this ad), maids, ladies, and gentle- 

 women, and every lord, knight, and gentleman of twenty marks land, 

 and their heirs ; and alfo iuch as have born office of worfhip in any 

 city, town, or fliire, and alfo the wardens of the £ondon companies. 

 Neverthelefs, the fafhion of felt hats prevailed fo much, as the very ad 

 feemed to portend it would, for their fuperior ftrength, lightnefs, and 

 beauty ; and being a better defence from fun and rain, the knit caps 

 are long ago driven out, and are now only to be feen in fome of the 

 poorefl and remoteft parts of the kingdom. 



