A HISTORY OF HERTFORDSHIRE 



Peas and drage were threshed together at i^. a quarter in Bishop's 

 Hatfield in 1326," and the higher rate seems to have held for a long time, 

 for in 1338-9 drage was still i\J. and oats i^. at Little Hormead,** and at 

 Ash well.*' A little later at Standon drage cost i V.,** and at Pr^ drage and 

 oats were charged ij^.*' Thus a slight increase on the wage at the beginning 

 of the century prevailed by about 1340. 



Hoeing was often done by the villeins in person, and its value was low. 

 At Gaddesden in 1284 the customary day's work was only worth fd'." ; at 

 Langley Church it was let out in 1277 at about id. an acre," which is 

 comparable with the villein's hoeing valued at ^J. at Standon in 1347 " and 

 at Ash well in 1340." 



The labourers must usually have been inhabitants of the villages where 

 they worked or of the immediate neighbourhood. The local supply of 

 labour was probably about equal to the demand. In 1324 the men of 

 Standon made a by-law that ' no one who can reap or work to the value of 

 I J. -s. day shall give lodging to any stranger or suspect, to harvest the lord's 

 grain in the fields,'" which implies that labour was beginning to circulate 

 sluggishly, and that the circulation was resented by those who stayed at 

 home. 



The history of agricultural prices differs a little from that of wages, and 

 this difference is one of the greatest importance. 



As Hertford was and is a tillage county, in virtue of its soil, grain was 

 its most important product. We have seen that as early as 1 247 its corn 

 was exported to London." In the period from 1297 to 13 14, after allowance 

 for the difference of price at the different seasons, the average seems to be 

 about 8 J. or js. /\J., 6s. Sd. or 6s. at the dear times of the year, and 4J., or 

 once in 131 3, 3-r. 4^. a quarter after harvest." 



But in I 315 there was a disastrous change. ' In the summer,' probably 

 just before the harvest, when grain stood highest, corn was selling at Meesden 

 for 20J-." the quarter, and at Langley for i6s., \js. \d. and 20/.''* These 

 prices must have been prohibitive to the small farmer and labourer. 

 The population must have lived upon barley or mixtil or oats. At these 

 prices even the lord must have been hard put to it for seed corn. 



By 1324—5 prices at Langley had come down to the average variation 

 between 8j. 'id. and 4J-. 8^." At Hormead in 1323 the summer corn was 

 cheap, 5J. \d. the quarter,"" and this is paralleled at Symondshyde in 1326, 

 when wheat was 41. 6d. in July, falling later to 3J. 4^'." From this time 

 the 8j. to 4J. cycle of prices seems about the average, with a tendency to the 

 lower level."^ Oats were less affected than wheat by the bad years. Their 

 prices had ranged between 3J. \d. and %s. %d. a quarter,'^ and in 1 3 1 6 their 

 highest recorded price was 5J. 6d.^\ after this the amounts sink down 



^ Add. Chart. 28737. ^ Mins. Accts. bdle. 866, no. 5. 



*' Ibid. bdle. S62, no. 6. ^ Ibid. bdle. 869, no. 8. ^^ Ibid. bdle. 867, no. 22. 



*" Chan. Inq. p.m. Edw. I, file 38, no. 8. " Mins. Accts. bdle. 866, no. 7. 



" Ibid. bdle. 869, no. 8. " Ibid. bdle. 862, no. 6. " Ct. R. (Gen. Ser.), portf. 178, no. 38. 



'^ See above. 



^* Mins. Accts. bdles. 40, no. 740 ; 870, no. 20 ; 865, no. 13 ; 866, no. 19. 



" Ibid. bdle. 867, no. 4. ^^ Ibid. bdle. 866, no. 21. " Ibid. no. 29. 



«» Ibid. no. 3. «l Add. Chart. 28737. 



^ Mins. Accts. bdles. 866, no. 5 ; 869, no. 8 ; 867, no. 22. 



^ Ibid, bdles. 40, no. 470 ; 866, no. I, 17 ; 870, no. 20. ^ Ibid. bdle. 867, no. 4. 



igo 



