392 



NOTE ON PKIOES OP PEOVISIONS, &C. 



Peice op Cattle, &c. — This is given as follows, in many 

 places. 



£ s. d. £ s. d. 



to 2 10 each. 



2 4 6 



3 5 



4 3 

 7 6 



These prices sound very low, but the cost of " keep " was also 

 low. Thus, 20 acres of common were let for 6s. 8d. per annum 

 or 4d. per acre, the grass for a cow was only charged 14d. per 

 week, and the keep of a horse for 2f years was charged £6 17s. 6d. 

 or something less than Is. per week. Hay was worth about 

 2s. per cwt., and oats from 3s. 6d. to 4s. per bushel or 12s. per 

 hogshead. Straw for making " clob," cost Is. per bundle. 



Provisions. — There are some few entries of the cost of 

 provisions, thus: butter was 5d. per lb., and "tallow," by which 

 term I suppose fresh mutton fat was then as now understood 

 in Cornwall, was 3Jd. per lb. 



The prices of bread and milk are not exactly stated, but the 

 milk of a cow was charged 2s. per week, and sixpenny loaves 

 are mentioned 



Cider, no doubt, varied much in price from year to year as it 

 does now, but IJ hogsheads we charged £1 15s. in 1721. Brandy 

 cost 4s. 6d. per gallon, and must, I should think, have been 

 smuggled. 



We have a clue to the general cost of living in the fact that 

 ''Mr. Benjamin Hingeston's diet" for one year is charged £12 

 or rather less than 8d. per day. 



Among general household requisites, soap is charged '4d. 

 per lb., coals, which were probably not much used. Is. per 

 bushel (94 lbs.), and faggots 4s. per 100. 



Wages. — With such charges for provisions, &c., it is to be 

 expected that wages were very low. Accordingly, we find the 

 labour of two women in " loading clung," is charged 4d. per day 



