Westropp— ^flr/j/ Italian 3Iaps of Ireland from lSOO-1600. 377 



especially Lucca and Florence, steadily increasing through the century. 

 When the Magna Charta was granted to Ireland for Henry Til in the first 

 year of his reign, possibly in 1216, the clause protecting the foreign merchants 

 was retained — "All merchants, except publicly prohibited," had safe and 

 secure conduct to come to, tarry in, or depart from Ireland ; to buy and 

 sell without evil extortion by old and righteous customs. In time of war they 

 were to be attached without harm to bodies or goods until the Chief Justice 

 should know how the merchants of our land were treated by the enemy 

 if they were safe, the others shall be safe here.^ Henry borrowed money 

 from a vintner in Ardglas in 1260." 



The imports and exports of Ireland in 1172 include wine, spices, wax, and 

 almonds; red, scarlet, and green cloth ; coverlids and clothing ; axes, nails, and 

 spades ; canvas, ropes, and timber. As we shall see, a most important class 

 of records, the dues granted for murage, i.e., to enable the towns to build or 

 repair their fortifications, remain from 1233 down. Abstracting those before 

 1295 we find that they include rates on wine, spices, pepper, almonds, raisins, 

 and figs ; wheat, oats, pease,, onions, garlic, flour, tallow, cheese, honey, butter, fish 

 (herrings, salmon, lampreys, and conger) ; furs, wool, and hides (including 

 skins of the squirrel,^ marten, badger, mountain cat, sheep, lamb, cattle, horses, 

 deer, goats, hares, rabbits, wolves, and foxes) ; salt, alum, copperas, woad, pitch, 

 soap, coal, millstones, lead, iron, nails, horse-shoes, caldrons, and other kitchen 

 utensils ; cloth, linen, silk, gold embroidery, canvas, and cordwain leather. 

 Comfort and even luxury must have been very possible in our towns in the 

 thirteenth century. Kilkenny (a place given on no portolan map known to 

 me) had a rich spice trade in 1282-3 ; wine, pepper, saffron, ginger, almonds, 

 cummin, figs, and raisins were rated for murage. The Pipe Eolls give many 

 cases ol prise of wines, from which we can ascertain the cost per hogshead, 

 usually £2 to 50s. ; Dublin (Castle, 1235), at £2 10s. per tun, from 1267 to 

 1283 ; Waterford at £2, as also at Drogheda, Dungarvan, Limerick, and 

 Dublin; in all the p'-isc amounted to £1798; 1301-1302, £1 was paid the 

 merchant on each tun: the Crown sold each for £3 ; Cork, 1301, £2 a tun; 

 Dublin, 1303, £2, sold for £3 ; Drogheda, £2 7.s. In the reign of 

 Edward II-Drogheda, 1310, £2 Ss. M. ; Waterford, 1319-1322, 



'"Early Statutes of Ireland" (ed. Dr. H. F. Berry), p. 77; "Facsimiles of National 

 Manuscripts of Ireland " (ed. J. T. Gilbert), vol. ii. No. Ixiii, 



2 This and the subsequent entries from "Calendar of Documents relating to Ireland" 

 (Sweetman) under dates. 



2 For the oft-controverted Irish " squirrel," see .Journal Eoy. Soc. Antt., Ir., xl, p. 245 ; besides 

 the murage rates (Waterford, 1244, 1291 ; Dublin, 1250 ; Drogheda, 1278 ; Cork, 1284 ; Fethard, 

 1292 ; Trayli and Moyal, 1286). Nicholas Arthur, 1428 ; Hakluyt's copy of Lilel of English Policy, 

 1416 to 1436; and E. O'Flaherty, 1684, name the animal and distinguish it from the marten. 

 R.I.A. PROC, VOL. XXX,, SECT. C. [54] 



