A HISTORY OF DORSET 



14;'. for all services in 13 14, the half-virgate holders yj., and the yet smaller 

 tenants 4^.,'°" and the tenants of Wyke occasionally commuted some few of their 

 works as early as the year 1327,^°' yet on the latter manor services were still 

 only in part commuted as late as 1458—9,"* customary tenants still worked at 

 Waterson in 1446-7,"' and at Kingston Lacy as late as 1485 the tenants still 

 performed their winter works according to custom ; and out of a total of 

 seventy-eight villeins of all classes owing daily services from 24 June until 

 Michaelmas, the only commutations recorded are those of three carters, one 

 daywyn, one forehors, eleven akermen, and one smaleman, and these only date 

 from the year 1408-9."* 



In the same way the rise of wages seems to have been a gradual process. 

 In 1360— I a carpenter at Tarrant still received 3^. a day, as also a thatcher, 

 though the wage for threshing (which was piece-work) showed a tendency 

 to rise, in spite of the fact that in one instance it was obviously kept down 

 by competition."^ In 1369—70 on the other hand, a carpenter, a sawyer, 

 and men cleaning gutters, mending roads, and making fords at Cranborne, 

 were all alike paid at the rate of \d. a day,"* a rate which had been attained 

 by carpenters, sawyers, and masons working at the Corfe Castle repairs as early as 

 1356,"' though day labour there was still only paid at the rate of 2\d. or ^d. 

 even in autumn when wages were at their highest. There is unfortunately 

 not very much evidence as to the variations in the wages of the regular farm 

 servants in the county after the Black Death. At Kingston Lacy, however, 

 the swineherd received 3J. a year, the carter, plough-drivers, shepherds, and 

 cowherds, 5J-. each, and the dairyman 4J-. as late as 1 374-5, although the 

 wages of day labour had risen to 3d', and 4^."* By the middle of the fifteenth 

 century, however, the plough-driver {fugator) of Waterson received xis. a 

 year, the carter i6j., and the two shepherds ioj. each."' 



This should imply a real, if slow, improvement in the status of the 

 Dorset labourer, for while wages rose prices remained fairly stationary. 

 Thus in 1374—5 barley was at 6^., oats at 5^'., vetch at 5*3',, and pulse at bd. 

 a bushel, a pig was sold for 3J. bd. and a ewe for I5</., while as late as 1446—7 

 wheat was at 8^., oats at 3^., and barley at bd. or b\d. a bushel, and four 

 sheep were bought for 4J.'" 



Another sign of the growth of the commercial spirit in the county 

 at this period is the rise of a class of small traders setting the rigid rules of 

 the mercantile system at defiance wherever possible, and the consequent 

 development of the towns with their communal life. The first of these 

 points is best illustrated by the history of the wool trade. Dorset was not 



"" Chan. Inq. p.m. Edw. II, file 43, No. 25 ; cf. also Pimperne and Steeple. 



"" Mins. Accts. (Gen. Ser.), bdle. 834, No. 28. 



™ Ibid. No. 31. "» Ibid. bdle. 833, No. 36. 



"" Ibid. (Duchy of Lane), 11192. 



"* Thus at Tarrant in 1 360-1 threshing of corn ■i,d. a quarter, barley 2/ a quarter (and not more 

 because J. D. threshed for iW.), vetches z\d. and cits \\d. a quarter [Mins. Accts. (Gen. Ser.), bdle. 833, 

 No. 18], and at Steeple in 1327 corn at z\d. a quarter, barley and vetches \\d. for nine bushels, and oats 

 at \\d. for nine bushels [Mins. Accts. (Gen. Ser.), bdle. 833, No. 5 ; cf bdle. 832, No. 3]. 



'°* Mins. Accts. (Gen. Ser.), bdle. 832, No. 4. 



'" Exch. Accts. Works, bdle. 460, No. 30. "^ Mins. Accts. (Duchy of Lane), 1 1040. 



"" Ibid. (Gen. Ser.), bdle. 833, No. 24. No. 36 in the same series, which gives ' i ploughman 16/., 

 I carter being a driver {fugator) 20s., 2 shepherds 20/.' looks \ery like a scribal error for the same rate. 



"° Ibid. No. 36, and ibid. (Duchy ot Lane), 1 1040, but contrast bdle. 833, No. 7, where ewes were 

 worth 2s. and cows 10/. in 1377-8. 



240 



