SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY 



for Cheddington, at different dates throughout the century, which show to 

 some extent how far the manors were affected by the Black Death, but as 

 a rule the practice of writing the accounts with full details stops rather abruptly 

 towards the close of the century. 



Everywhere the result of the Black Death must have been a scarcity of 

 labour. From other sources, outside the records of the county, we know 

 that the labourers demanded higher wages, as they realized that they were in 

 a position to impose terms on their lords. They were answered by the Statute 

 of Labourers, fixing the maximum rate of wages that might be given or 

 received. The records in Buckinghamshire, giving ratio of wages, as a whole 

 do not show that a great rise was effected immediately after the Black Death, 

 but specially in the case of agricultural labourers it is difficult to get enough 

 instances to show what took place all over the county. In the hundreds of 

 Buckingham, Newport, Desborough, and Burnham there are no records of 

 such wages at all. Probably the conditions in Desborough Hundred differed 

 but little from those in the neighbouring districts, but the two northern 

 hundreds may have presented rather a different state of affairs. 



It has already been shown that commutation of services had taken place 

 to a considerable degree before the Black Death, and that wage-paid labourers 

 were doing a large share of the work on the demesne lands in the thirteenth 

 century. At Brill 107 in 12501 there were two ploughmen, one driver, and 

 one shepherd, but of these only the two drivers received money wages. A 

 few years later, 108 however, one of the ploughmen and the shepherd were paid 

 in money instead of their rents being remitted ; and in autumn various extra 

 men were hired, such as a reaper and carter. In most manors a carter was 

 hired throughout the year, who, with a cowherd, swineherd, and dairyman, 

 completed the ordinary list of farm-servants. The general rule was to pay 

 the servants partly in money and partly in corn, and presents were often 

 added at Christmas and Easter. At some places men were employed only 

 for half the year, 109 and frequently they received a very small sum of money 

 in winter. 110 



The carters and ploughmen were the most highly paid labourers, 

 the drivers receiving a little less. The shepherd was the most important of 

 the herds, and it is interesting to note that he was far more frequently 

 employed than either the cowherd or the swineherd. 



A careful examination of their wages points to a very slight change in 

 the second part of the fourteenth century, very far from the assertion that 

 wages were at least doubled. In Edward I's reign at Beaumond m some of 

 the wages were higher than those to be found until an account for Cudding- 

 ton in Henry V's reign, but the driver at the earlier date received less than 

 the usual wages, which varied from 3^. 6</. to 4*. 6</. ni in the reign of 

 Edward III. The ploughmen usually received 6s., the dairyman jj. to 4_r., 

 and the swineherd 3*. to 4J. 6</. except at Cuddington, where the rate of 

 wages was higher. These variations did not occur to so great an extent in 

 different years as on different manors. 



l " P.R.O. Mini. Accts. bdle. 759, No. 28. " Ibid. No. 29. 



'" Ibid. No. 21, the swineherd at 'Bourton' ; ibid. bdle. 761, No. 9, the shepherd at Kingey. 



"* Ibid. bdle. 759, No. 21. At ' Bourton ' the wages in winter were only half what was paid in summer. 



"' Ibid. No. 15. 



111 Farm servants who were paid by the year also received board and lodging. 



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