THE CHURCH OF ST. ANDREW, PLYMOUTH. 215 
the words, “This is the hour and power of darkness.” This 
arrangement lasted until the Restoration; but it was not found 
possible to insist on “no other marriage to be valid,” &e. 
Constantly found, from 1679, in registers against a burial entry, 
are the words, “ Affidavit brought.” These words refer to an act 
of parhament passed originally 18 Charles IL, and made more 
stringent by 30 Charles IL, chap. 3; entitled “‘An Act for Burying 
in Woollen,” and intended “ for the lessening of the importation of 
linen from beyond the seas, and the encouragement of the woollen 
and paper manufactures of this kingdom.” The English woollen 
manufactures were of great importance, and much was done to 
promote them. The export not only of wool was illegal, but also of 
sheep and fuller’s-earth ; and these acts were intended to assist the 
trade. No one was to be buried in anything but woollen, and an 
affidavit that the deceased was not buried in linen was to be brought 
to the clergyman within eight days of the funeral. The fact of the 
affidavits having been brought in each case is entered with praise- 
worthy regularity in the registers for some time; but soon the 
information ceases.* The acts continued in force down to 1814, 
and were repealed by 54 George III., c., but not without oppo- 
sition. Shortly before the repeal, a writer argued that in con- 
sequence of the dearness of paper, the prohibition to clothe the 
bodies of the dead in linen saved from untimely corruption in the 
grave, 200,000 lbs. of rags, which in due course then passed to 
the manufacturer of paper.t 
Probably, even up to the middle of the seventeenth century, 
it was usual for the poorer people to be buried without a eoffin. 
There are several entries in the registers much later stating so, and 
from the fact that in the churchwardens’ accounts all the receipts 
for burials, both in the church and yard, are followed by the word 
“‘ Chested,” down to the time that the full lists cease to be given, the 
year ending Easter, 1663, I am inclined to think that the fashion 
had not long set in. In the decree made by the Star Chamber, 
settling the dispute between the vicar and the mayor and common- 
alty, a complaint was made by the vicar, that, contrary to the law 
and custom, the mayor and commonalty took from the vicar the 
fees for burial in the church and churchyard ; namely, 6s. 8d. for 
every coffin interred in the churchyard, and £1 6s. 8d. for every 
coffin interred in the Church. After stating the complaint, the 
* Burn’s “ Parish Registers.” + William Taylor. 
p 2 
