A HISTORY OF SUSSEX 



steward accounted for 1 3 green geese at 6d. each, 8 chickens at 3^., a pig 

 which cost 2s. 4</., and 5 small rabbits 8</. 2 * 6 Living was not costly, 

 chickens were bought for 3</., 4*/., or occasionally ^\d. each, fresh butter 

 was 4J</._or $d. a lb., according to the time of year, 'pott' butter was 3^. or 

 3J. 4*/. a nail, beef cost from is. 6d. to 2s. the stone, a side of veal and the 

 head cost from 8s. zd. to <)s. iod., or upon another computation z\d. the lb., 

 a calf's head and foot were about is. zd. or is. 4^., 3 bottles of white wine 

 cost 3.;. id., and 19 quarts of sack with one bottle i i8j. 6d. In July a 

 pair of soles were bought for is. 8*/., and in August a salmon for 5^., apples 

 could be had in September for is. 6d. a bushel, and cherries at the height of 

 the season for id. a lb. S4S Brewing, spinning, and weaving were apparently 

 done as the occasion required, i lb. of flax being spun for is., and i yard of 

 linen cloth woven for zd. ; the store-room was evidently kept stocked with 

 cowslip wine and medicinal herbs, for a woman who gathered ' cowslips and 

 other herbs' for thirteen days in 1641 was paid ys. 3*/., and in the autumn 

 of the same year another woman received 2s. 6d. for gathering z bushels of 

 poppy heads. 8 * 7 



Lime was burnt on the estate and occasionally tiles and bricks were 

 made, the former at 6s. and the latter at 51. the thousand. 248 A large staff of 

 regular servants was kept, the men's wages in 1620 ranging from i 5^. to 

 6s. Sd. the quarter, and the women's being 15^., i$s., IQJ., js. 6d. and 

 js. 6d. respectively for a similar period ; S49 in addition to this a considerable 

 amount of day labour was employed, the usual rate of payment for a man 

 hanging gates, draining stews, palling, hedging, threshing or hoeing being 

 is. a day ; sixteen days' work about the mill, however, was paid at the rate 

 of i 3</. a day ' and dyet,' and a carpenter seems to have received I s. 6d., while 

 ' going with the waggons at haying and harvest time,' which could be done 

 by a boy, was only paid at the rate of 6d. a day, and mowing the garden 

 court and bowling alley at 8d. Women's wages were, of course, much lower, 

 Widow Hoad only received is. ^d. for tending Jane four days when she was 

 sick. Weeding was paid at zd. or 3^. a day, helping the maids to wash at 

 3</., and extra work about the house at zd. In 1633 Goodwife Hovar 

 received zs. 6d. for ' helping here at Christmas,' and the following year 

 Goodwife Puckhurst had js. 6d. for ' being at Halland when my Ladie was 

 at the Bathe this summer.' Boys were paid at a corresponding rate is. 

 for four days' harrowing, or zd. a day to a small boy ' keeping the crowes 



'"In 1657 Anthony Stapley sent two of his sons to Horsham to school, and paid .10 a year each for 

 their board and 4O/. for schooling. In 1731 schooling, which included reading, writing, and casting accounts, 

 cost bd. a week, while at the dame's school, zj. a week was paid for the boys, and ^d. for the girls ; 

 (Suss. Arch. Coll. xxiii, 47). " Add. MS. 33150 passim. 



'" Other prices from the Laughton accounts (1633-41) were as follows : 



^ firkin of soap (32 lb.) .... Ss. 



8 lb. of soap 'at Gouldingshop' . . 3/. bd. 



1 doz. lb. candles \s. bd. to 6s. 



a pair of scissors 4^. 



24 white preserving glasses ... 121. 



9 green and 3 white do 3/. 4^. 



2 brushes for cob webs zs. 8</. 



4 drinking horns is. bd. 



mole-catching per mole . . . 

 for altering 2 pairs of sheets . 

 for making 6 table-cloths . 

 I doz. napkins. 



6 roses to plant 



2 locks and keys for the park gates 

 cleaning armour for eleven days . 

 (Add. MS. 33147 passim?) 



2d. or \d. 

 is. 

 21. 



IS. 



6s. 



I$S. 



i/. is. 6J. 



148 Add. MS. 3 3 147 /<//. 



l4 * Ibid. 33143, fol. 3. At Herstmonceux in 1645 the cook (a man) received 12 yearly, the gardener 

 10, butler, coachman, and grooms 6, other menservants about 4; Nurse Kelley 6, other female 

 servants about z- (Suss. Arch. Coll. xlviii, 114). 



198 



