410 HORSE-SHOES AND HORSE-SHOEING. 



Stow, for 1273, informs us that coal was not allowed to 

 be burned in or near London, being ' prejudicial to human 

 health,' and that smiths were even prohibited from its use, 

 and obliged to burn wood. This may have materially 

 influenced the cost of iron-work at this period. Chaucer, 

 in the ' Canon Yeoman's ' tale, frequently speaks of coals 

 being used by the alchemist. 



A great degree of interest attaches to the next two 

 drawings of shoes belonging to this period, from the fact 

 that the actual specimens are closely related to an incident 

 which somewhat prominently marks the otherwise event- 

 ful reign of Edward II., and are melancholy souvenirs of 

 the downfall of a brave English nobleman. 



We have already noticed the grants of land bestowed 

 on Henry de Ferrarius by William the Conqueror, and 

 mentioned that among these was Tutbury, an estate situated 

 on the Staffordshire side of the river Dove, which there 

 forms the boundary between that county and Derby- 

 shire. 



Standing on a commanding eminence of gypsum 

 rock, which may have been selected as a stronghold by 

 the ancient Britons and Romans, and on which there cer- 

 tainly stood a fortification during the Anglo-Saxon Hept- 

 archy, but which was afterwards destroyed by the Danes, 

 the castle of Tutbury was rebuilt on a much larger scale 

 than before, by the Norman — farrier we had almost called 

 him, and was a place of some importance in those days of 

 family fortresses. 



In 1269, this place, with his other possessions, was 

 forfeited by Robert de Ferrers, Earl of Derby, and given 

 by Edward I. to his brother Edmund, Earl of Lancaster, 



