A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE 



8d., both just over the statutory rate ; labourers had $d. and 4^., and in one 

 case only ^d. On the other hand instances appear of a tiler receiving is. a 

 day and a carpenter 1 id., showing that in some cases the rate was exceeded 

 by a considerable amount. In the latter part of the century this became the 

 regular custom, and the wages actually paid to workmen were often double 

 the amount fixed in 1562 by the justices of the peace. The scale had risen 

 in all trades by zd. or id., and the allowance for food had also been increased 

 to 3</. At Eton IM the tendency was to pay the more skilled men wages above 

 the scale, and at Wing U2a in 1573 a tiler got is. %d. a day or more than 

 double the rate fixed eleven years before. 163 Similar instances continually appear; 

 hence the fixed scale of wages in 1562 may be assumed to represent not the 

 maximum but the minimum rate paid in the county to artisans and the usual 

 rate of wages paid to common labourers. It was drawn up in great detail, 

 showing many gradations, especially in agricultural labour, as well as 

 variations according to the time of year. 



The rate of day's wages during time of harvest : 



Mower Sd. Mowers by the acre : Oats j.d. 



Man-reaper "jd. gross 8d. 



Woman-reaper .... 6d. barley $d. 



Common labourer . . . jd. wheat | , , 



Women rakers and cockers,&c. $d. rye J 



From harvest to All Hallowstide : Labourers T,d. 

 From All Hallowstide to Easter : Labourers $d. 

 From Easter to harvest : Labourers 6d. 



ARTIFICERS 



From Easter to From Michaelmas 



Michaelmas to Easter 



Master carpenters and sawyers . gd. "jd. 



Other men jd. 6d. 



Bricklayers, tilers, thatchers . . 8d. 6d. 



Other men 6d. $d. 



Rates of wages for servants at husbandry, &c. : 



1. No bailiff of husbandry shall take above 401. by the year and for his livery 6s. Sd. 



2. No chief or head servant of husbandry shall take above 335. 6d. by the year and for 



his livery 6s. 8d. 



3. No common man servant at husbandry above 265. 8d. by the year and for his 



livery 5*. 



4. No man servant under sixteen, to take any wages but only sufficient clothes, meat, 



drink, and other necessaries. 



5. No unmarried woman servant above 2Os. by the year and for her livery 5*. 



6. If under eighteen, unmarried, no wages but only meat, drink, clothes, and other 



necessaries as shall be agreed or thought good by her master or mistress. 



The condition of the labourer and artisan with the wages he received at 

 this time must have been considerably worse than in the fourteenth or 

 fifteenth centuries, owing to the rise in prices having been far greater than 

 the rise in the rate of wages. A carpenter during the latter part of the 

 fourteenth century received ^d. a day and in the fifteenth century from 6d. 

 upwards, but the average price of wheat at the two periods was 51. 6f</. m a 



151 Eton Accts. Bks. 158a Wing, Churchwardens' Accts. 1M S.P. Dom. Eliz. vol. 19, No. 43. 



1M Average taken from entries in Mins. Accts. for reigns of Edward III and Richard II. 



68 





