INDUSTRIES 



found in the St. Austell tin grounds ; l state- 

 ments are extant that the Saxons carried tin to 

 France in the seventh century, and sold it at 

 fairs established by Dagobert ; 2 while in the 

 -Life of St. John of Alexandria, who died in 616, 

 is the story of an Alexandrian galley which 

 journeyed to Britain and bore away a load of 

 tin. 3 



For the most part, however, the mines during 

 the early Middle Ages are as a sealed book. 

 Nowhere are they mentioned in Domesday, 

 which, considering that this contains references 

 to the iron 4 and lead 5 mines of the kingdom, 

 Mr. Hunt has explained by the fact that tin 

 was considered royal property, and so not likely 

 to be noted in a survey projected to ascertain 

 the value of the country for purposes of taxation. 6 

 This explanation should be taken with caution ; 

 for a century later, as we know, the tin mines 

 were not royal property in the sense of being 

 exempt from taxation, 7 but paid a round tax as 

 the price of their existence. A more probable 

 reason for their not figuring in the Domesday 

 Book would be the possible fact that at that time, 

 as later, the prerogatives over the mines were 

 exercised by some baron, possibly the earl of 

 Mortain, or, what seems most unlikely, that 

 from 1086 to 1156 the stannaries were extinct. 7 

 Whatever the true hypothesis, it is not until the 

 latter date that the history of Cornish mining 

 may be said to have begun. 



Here it may be well to offer a few words of 

 premonition, in view of the account which is 

 to follow. The usual conception of a history of 

 mining, that of a history of picks and shovels, 

 drainage engines and smelting furnaces, is at 

 fault when one goes back for an account of it to 

 the Middle Ages. Few subjects are so little 

 known or appreciated as the story of the rise 

 and progress of the mediaeval free miner, the 

 liberties which guaranteed him his position, and 

 the relation in which he stood to the rest of the 

 community. This type of workman (and here 

 what we say applies not only to the English 

 miner but to the German, French, Austrian, 



1 'Saxon Ornaments and Coins found at Tre- 

 whiddle,' by J. J. Rogers, Journ. Roy. last. Cornw. 

 ii, 292. 



* Macpherson, Annals of Commerce, i, 288 ; 

 ' The Men who made the Cornish Mines,' by 

 J. B. Cornish, 'Journ. Roy. Inst. Cornw. xiii, pt. 4, 



434- 



3 ' The Tin Trade of Britain and Alexandria in 



the Seventh Century,' by E. Smirke, Journ. Roy. Inst. 

 Cornto. ii, 283-291. 



4 H. Ellis, Dom. Bk. i, 136-138. 



5 Ibid, i, 138. 



6 ' Notes on the Remains of Early British Tin 

 Works,' by Robt. Hunt, Gentleman's Magazine, xiii, 

 701. 



' < The Men who Made the Cornish Mines,' by 

 J. B. Cornish, Journ. Roy. Inst. Cornw. xiii, pt. 4, 

 431-432. 



Scandinavian, and Flemish 8 as well) formed 

 with his fellows of the district a state within a state. 

 He paid taxes, not as an Englishman, but as a 

 miner. His law was not the law of the realm, 

 but that of his mine. He obeyed the king only 

 when his orders were communicated through the 

 warden of the mines, and even then so long 

 only as he respected the mining law. His 

 courts were the mine courts, his parliament the 

 mine parliament. He owned no lord, lived on 

 no manor, paid no dues, was subject to no feudal 

 levy, and might be called out by the king only 

 under important restrictions. 



The origin of these privileges is obscure. 

 Excluding England, two theories prevailed in 

 the Middle Ages with regard to property in 

 mines. 9 By the first, the sovereign was looked 

 upon as absolute proprietor, and the landowner 

 had no rights, save to indemnity for property 

 damaged. By the second, ownership of the 

 surface carried with it a right to the mines 

 beneath, but a third person was given power to 

 acquire an interest when the owner was unable 

 or unwilling to exploit them. In both cases 

 the enjoyment of mines was subject to regula- 

 tions from the crown, which also commonly 

 established a claim to one-tenth or other propor- 

 tion of the produce, so that in practice the two 

 theories might coincide. 



In Germany 10 the idea of a royalty in mines 

 is supposed to have made its first appearance, and 

 to have obtained firmest footing ; but even there 

 no claims appear until the close of the eleventh 

 century, 11 when the revival of Roman law co- 

 operated with the assumed succession of the 

 German crown to the rights of the Caesars, 

 to give currency to the claims of sovereignty 

 over mines. According to the Justinian Code, 12 

 one might work a gold mine upon condition of 

 conforming to certain regulations, and of giving 

 preference in sales to the imperial fisc. By a 

 constitution of Gratian, 13 also, a general permis- 

 sion had been given to take marble from the 

 land of private persons upon payment of a tenth 

 to the owner. The interpretation of these rules 



8 The Belgian miners presented certain exceptions 

 to the general rule, which, however, it is not worth 

 while to discuss in this paper. On this subject see 

 Smirke, Vice v. Thomas, App. 86, 1 12 ; Delebecque, 

 Legislation des Mines, \, 141 ; Jars, Voyages Metallur- 

 gijues, i, 371-381, 382-402 ; De Louvrex, Recuell des 

 Halts, pp. 228 et seq. 



' ' A Sketch of the Origin of Mining Laws in 

 Europe,' by J. Hawkins, Trans. Roy. Geol. Sue. Cornw. 

 vi, 84-90. 



10 ' Observations on the Mining Law of Germany,' 

 by C. Lemon, Trans. Roy. Geol. Soc. Cornw. vi, 150- 

 172. 



11 Hullman, Geschichte des RegaRen, 62 ; Eichorn, 

 Deutsche Staats und Rechtsgeschichte (ed. 1834), ii, 424. 



18 Lib. xi, tit. -jb. 



13 Lib. xi, tit. 7, 1. 3; Theodosian Code, >; b, x, 

 tit. 19, 11. i, 8, 10, n, 14. 



523 



i 



