Agricultural Wages 91 



the serfs than of destroying the oxen. No 

 doubt at that time the bulk of the 

 ordinary people were in a state of unfree- 

 dom, though they were unfree in various 

 degrees. Some were absolute slaves liable 

 to be sold and exported to foreign countries, 

 and there was, for example, a large export 

 of slaves from Bristol to Ireland. Some 

 were not slaves in this sense, but were 

 serfs attached to the land, the real bond 

 of attachment being the force of custom 

 which varied to some extent from manor 

 to manor ; they occupied holdings of 

 different kinds, and in return they were 

 obliged to render very heavy labour 'rents, 

 to work with their ploughs and oxen, and 

 to give up also certain parts of the pro- 

 duce of their common land. If we look 

 at it from the point of view of wages, we 

 may say that under this system the real 

 wages of labour was a bare subsistence 



