A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



Blcasdale, Pendle, Rossendale, &c., a great impetus to agriculture, mostly stock raising, was brought 



gra 



the , „ . 



became copyhold tenants of the honour of Clitheroe. In the latter districts there are a few instances 

 of estates still held by the descendants of the original takers.' 



We obtain a glimpse of sixteenth-century agriculture in Lancashire from the quarter sessions 

 assessments for the county made in 1595. This was carried out in pursuance of the famous Act 

 of Elizabeth, passed in 1562, by which the magistrates in quarter sessions were empowered to fix the 

 rate of wages for husbandmen and artificers, and enforce their assessment by fine and imprisonment. 



The assessors defined the hours of work, and \d. per hour was deducted for absence, those who 

 had the temerity to strike work being liable to a month's imprisonment and a fine of j^5. If an 

 employer gave higher wages than those fixed, he was imprisoned for ten days and fined j^5, while 

 the receiver got twenty-one days in prison, but no fine. For harvest work migration was per- 

 mitted the labourer, from one county to another. Women, if between twelve and forty years of 

 age and single, were compellable to work by the year, week or day. The north of England being 

 then very much behind the rest of the country in general civilization, wages were fixed at lower 

 rates than in the south. 



It must be remembered, however, that in spite of the numerous inclosures of the sixteenth 

 century, working for money wages was then largely a bye-industry, most peasants had their plots of 

 ground and considerable rights of common pasture, and were chiefly occupied about their own little 

 holdings. An Act was passed in 1589 by which no new cottage was to be built unless 4 acres of 

 land were annexed to it ; an excellent statute from the labourers' point of view, and surprising at that 

 date, but the cultivation of 4 acres could not have left him much time to work for the farmer. By 

 the Lancashire assessment the year was divided into two portions, a higher wages period of five 

 months from i May to i October, and a lower wages period for the other seven months. The 

 highest rate allowed the agricultural labourer during the five best months was bd, a day, and during 

 the seven worst months <^d.^ both without meat or drink ; if they were supplied with meat and drink 

 it was considered equivalent to 3^^. a day, or ^d. a day in harvest time. In harvest time mowers 

 of hay or corn received id. a day and their ' attendants' ^d. These harvest wages were the same 

 as those paid to superior artisans, masons, and carpenters. 



On Saturdays and the eves of holy days the labourer had half a day ofF, which no doubt largely 

 helped to make him content with his lot. 



The price of wheat in Lancashire in 1595 was very high owing to bad harvests,^ being 40J. a 

 quarter, malt was 2ix. \d. and oatmeal 38;. 815^. Yet corn was, especially in dear years, a little 

 lower in price in the north of England than in the south, and the necessaries of life cheaper, probably 

 owing to the simpler habits of a more primitive people. In spite of this, at the above rate of wages 

 (which are the lowest registered) and prices, it would have taken in the year 1595 two days' work 

 to buy one day's food, so that it is difficult to see how the agricultural labourer lived without a great 

 deal of charitable help.' 



In 1600 Camden, journeying through the northern counties, found in Lancashire" 'the cham- 

 pain part of the county ' producing ' considerable quantities of wheat and barley, at the bottom of 

 the hills plenty of oats.' ' The soil,' he said, 



is in general good except in certain swampy unhealthy places called mosses, which, however, make 

 ample amends for these disadvantages by greater advantages. For upon taking off the surface they find 

 a fat turf fit for firing, and sometimes subterraneous trees. Lower down they yield plenty of marl ' 

 for manure, which according to the received opinion makes the worst land so good that one would 

 think the indolence of mankind was antiently more in fault than the badness of the earth. 



You may determine the goodness of the country by the temperament of the inhabitants who arc 

 extremely comely, and also from the cattle, the beasts here with long horns and tight-moulded carcases 

 having all the requisites insisted on by Mago the Carthaginian. 



The part of the country near Preston between the Rivers Ribell and Cocar yields plenty of oats, 

 but will not bear barley. It has rich pastures especially on the sea side, which is partly champain, 

 whence great part of it seems to be called the File q.d. the Field. 



' From information of Mr. W. Farrer. 



' In the compositions in lieu of purveyance of 1593 quoted by Eden in his ^tate of the Poor, Lancashire 

 was assessed at 40 lean oxen at us. \d. each, or ;^lo6 13/. \d., Northampton at ;f458, Yorkshire at 

 ^^348 6/. %d., Cheshire at ^^56 13/. \d. The price for lean oxen was below the market price, as in 1595 they 

 were ^\ 6s. Sd. 



' Thorold Rogers, Hisi. oj Agric. and Prices, v, 617-21 ; vi, 690. 



* Brit. (ed. 1806), iii, 375. 



' Fitzherbert, writing about 1 520, says the process of marling had doubled the value of land in Lancashire. 



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