SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY 



day's work in harvest varied from \d. to zd. At Wyddial in 1284," and at 

 Shenley in 1291,*° the amount was i ^d. At Langley from i 307 it was id. (and 

 id. for a smaller work)." A penny was evidently considered the customary 

 amount by the men of Standon in 1324.'''' 



The hay harvest brought with it the works of reaping, tossing, binding 

 and stacking. Reaping was highly paid, and the custumaries' day's work 

 was usually valued at 2d. This was the valuation at Langley from 1297 ^'^ 

 1317.^^ In I 324 the villeins did most of the work ; but the 2^ acres reaped 

 by hired labour cost 6d. an acre.^* At Meesden in 1 3 1 6 the hired reapers 

 were paid e,d. an acre**^ ; if, as is sometimes estimated, half an acre was a day's 

 work,'^ this would be a good wage. In 1325—6 the reaping at Symondshyde 

 in Bishop's Hatfield was done by hired labourers at 6d. an acre and the 

 lifting and other helping by the villeins." About twenty years later the 

 reapers at Standon took 5^. an acre, while the mowing of the custumaries 

 was only valued at 2d. a work. 



At Hormead the wage paid in 1262 was a loaf and ^d. an acre for corn, 

 a loaf and ^d. for wheat, a loaf and T^d. for oats.^' The 4^., ^d., and 6d. 

 rates seem to have been usual. Thus the discrepancy between the rates of 

 hired labour at different times and places is not as great as that between 

 hired and customary labour. The numerous and early cases in which reaping 

 was given out ad tascham suggest the economy of the dearer form of labour. 



Threshing was the other important harvest work. It was usually paid 

 by the quarter and sometimes by the nine bushels. Wheat and peas were 

 charged 2d. a quarter at Langley in i 307-8,"' at Stevenage in the next year 

 2^. for the nine bushels.'" z^d. a quarter was the rate at Dinsley in 1312'^; 

 a few years later it had risen. At Langley it was ^d. for wheat and 3^. 

 for peas in 1316—17,°" and at Meesden wheat cost 3^.°° Possibly this was a 

 temporary effect of the bad year 1315 ; for in 1326 wheat, peas and beans 

 had fallen to the old rate of zd. at Symondshyde,'* and twenty years later, at 

 Ashwell, the nine bushels were threshed for z^d.,^^ and the quarters of wheat 

 and peas for zd. at Standon and Prd.'° The rise in the wheat price was 

 naturally accompanied by a rise in barley. The usual rate was ii</.,'^ which 

 increased in 13 16— 17 to z^d.^^ The i^d. rate must have set in again about 

 the same time as the reduction in corn.'' 



Drage was threshed at i^d. a quarter and oats at ^d. at Langley in i 307—8.*° 

 At Stevenage the prices were i^d. and id. the nine bushels." About 

 I 312— 13 the prices seem to have risen. 



At Dinsley oats were at id.*^ and drage rose at Langley to i^d. and oats to 

 i</.*' In 1 3 16 oats were i^d. at Meesden,** 



" Chan. Inq. p.m. Edw. I, file 38, no. 4. *" Rentals and Surv. R. 279. 



^1 Mins. Accts. bdle. 866, no. 17, 19, 21, 29. ^^ Ct. R. (Gen. Ser.), portf. 178, no. 38. 



2' Mins. Accts. bdles. 40, no. 740 ; 866, no. 17, 21. 2* Ibid. bdle. 866, no. 29. 



25 Ibid. bdle. 867, no. 4. ^6 Ct. R. (Gen. Ser.), portf. 177, no. 33. 



«^ Add. Chart. 28737. ^^ Mins. Accts. bdle. 866, no. i. ^9 ib;(j_ „o j^^ 



30 Ibid. bdle. 870, no. 20. ^l ibid. bdle. 865, no. 13. 32 ibid. bdle. 866, no. 21. 



33 Ibid. bdle. 867, no. 4. 34 ^dd. Chart. 28737. 



35 Mins. Accts. bdle. 862, no. 6. 36 ibid, bdles. 869, no. 8 ; 867, no. 22. 



37 Ibid. bdle. 866, no. 17. 38 ibid. no. 21. 



33 Ibid, bdles. 866, no. 5 ; 862, no. 6 ; 869, no. 8. *" Ibid. bdle. 866, no. 17. 



" Ibid. bdle. 870, no. 20. ^ Ibid. bdle. 865, no. 13. ^ Ibid. bdle. 866, no. 19. 



« Ibid. bdle. 867, no. 4. 



189 



