PROCEEDINGS BEFORE THE JUSTICES 



89 



the receipt of sums beyond the legal wages and prices, 

 the manner in which the offence is entered on the roll 

 often makes it impossible to ascertain the rate of increase 

 over previous sums. Sometimes when the illegal rate 

 per day is specified, there is not a sufficiently accurate 

 description of the occupation of the offender to enable 

 identification of the statutory rate ; ' sometimes there is 

 only the vague phrase, "he received excessive wages,*" 

 cepit excessitie;^ frequently it is said that "he received so 

 much, (a lump sum), in excess ;"3 this formula of course 

 tells the net amount of the delinquent's gain and is un- 

 doubtedly employed so frequently because it represents 

 that all-important fact, the amount to be forfeited as 

 penalty, but it gives no clue to the rate of the gain. 

 Even, however, within the narrow limits of information 

 based for the most part on the extracts of sessional 

 records printed in the appendix there are a few entries 

 so explicit that it seems advisable to call attention to 

 them. 



Household servants. A maid servant is given 5s. for 

 half a year instead of 3s. 6d.;'' another has had 30s. a 

 year; 5 two men servants are paid 8s. for the winter sea- 

 son, with livery and daily food ; ^ another man servant 

 receives 6s. for half a year et vnam tunicam. cum. cap-u- 

 chioJ 



Agricultural labourers — Covimon labou7'ers. The stat- 

 utory rate for various agricultural work probably applies 

 to this class ; the following rates are all described as 



^ E.g., app., 148. Unless otherwise specified the remaining references 

 in this section are to pages of the appendix. 



^205, 208; see also printed Wiltshire roll, passim. 

 ^234; printed Wiltshire roll, passim. 



*202. ^224. *227. '193. 



