BAD SEASONS 157 



The winter of 1683-4 was marked by one of the severest 

 frosts that have ever visited England. Ice on the Thames 



IB said to have been eleven inches thick ; by Jan. 9 there 

 irere streets of booths on it ; and by the a4th, the frost 

 »ntinuing more and more severe, all sorts of shops and 

 rades flourished on the river, ' even to a printing press, where 

 he people and ladies took a fancy to have their names 

 rinted and the day and year set down when printed on 

 e Thames.* Coaches plied, there was bull-baiting, horse 

 ,nd coach races, puppet plays and interludes, tippling ' and 

 ther lewd places' — a regular carnival on the water.^ Altogether 

 e frost which began at Christmas lasted ninety-one days 

 tnd did much damage on land, many of the trees were split 

 if struck by lightning, and men and cattle perished in 

 some parts. Poultry and other birds and many plants and 

 vegetables also perished. Wheat, however, was little affected, 

 as the average price was under 40J. a quarter. In 1693 

 a series of very bad seasons commenced, lasting, with a break 

 in 1694, until 1698, always known as the 'ill' or 'barren' 

 seasons, and the cause was the usual one in England, 

 excessive cold and wet. In 1693 wheat was over 60s. a 

 quarter, and in Kent turnips were made into bread for the 

 poor.2 The difference in the price of farm produce in various 

 localities was striking, and an eloquent testimony to the 

 wretched means of communication. At Newark, for instance, 

 in 1692-3 wheat was from 36.^. to 40s. a quarter, while at 

 Brentford it touched y6s. ; next year in the same two places 

 it was 33i'. and 86s. respectively. In 1695-6 hay at Newark 

 was 1 3 J. 4d. a ton, at Northampton it was from 35^. to 40s. 



In 1662 was passed the famous statute of parochial 

 settlement, 14 Car. II, c. 12, which forged cruel fetters for 

 the poor, and is said to have caused the iron of slavery to 

 enter into the soul of the English labourer.^ The Act states, 



^ Evelyn's Diary. * Tooke, History of Prices^ i. 23. 



• Fowle, Poor Law, p. 63. 



