IMPORTS AND EXPORTS 327 



VI, c. 4, enacted that the chancellor might grant licence to 

 export butter and cheese to other places than to the staple. 



The regulation of the export of wool frequently occupied 

 the attention of Parliament. It has been noticed ^ that the 

 laws of Edgar fixed its price for export, and Henry of Hunting- 

 don mentions its export in the twelth century, while during 

 the reign of Edward I it was for some time forbidden except 

 by licence, which led to its being smuggled out in wine casks/^ 

 The Hundred Rolls give the names of several Italian merchants 

 who were engaged in buying wool for export, the ecclesiastical 

 houses, especially the Cistercians, furnishing a great quantity, 

 and the chief port then for the wool trade was Boston. The ex- 

 port was again prohibited in 1337, the great object being to 

 make the foreigner pay dearly for our staple product : an object 

 which was certainly effected, for when Queen Philippa redeemed 

 her crown from pawn at Cologne in 1343 by a quantity of 

 English wool, is. o,\d, a lb. was the price, and it was even said 

 to sell in Flanders at 3^. a lb., a price which, expressed in 

 modern money, seems fabulous.^ However, in the next reign 

 English wool began to decline in price, owing probably to 

 changes in fashion, but the long wools maintained their supe- 

 riority and their export was forbidden by Henry VI and 

 Elizabeth.^ 



In the reign of James I it was confessed ' that the cloth 

 of this kingdom hath wanted both estimation and vent in 

 foreign parts, and that the wools are fallen from their stated 

 values ', so that export was prohibited entirely ; and 13 and 14 

 Car. II, c. 18, declared the export of wool a felony, though 

 7 and 8 Will. Ill, c. 28, says this did not deter people from 

 exporting it, so that the law was made more stringent on the 

 subject, and export continued to be forbidden until 1825.'* In 



^ Supra, p. 38, 



"^ Cunningham, Industry and Commerce, i. 176, 192; Hundred Rolls , 



i. 405, 414- 

 ' Burnley, History of Wool, p. 65. 

 * Ibid. p. 70. * Cf. supra, p. 1 72. 



