Note 318 — Chapter II · MESSENGERS, ITINERANT MERCHANTS AND PEDLARS

The English coaling trade had greatly increased in the fourteenth century; large quantities of coal were brought by water from Newcastle and other places to London and partly consumed on the spot, partly exported. The importance of coal mines did not escape the notice of the Commons, who stated in the year 1376–7 that, “en diverses parties deinz le Roialme d’Engleterre sont diverses miners de carbons, dont les communes du dit partie ont lour sustenantz en grande partie.” 51 Ed. III, “Rolls of Parliament,” ii. 370. Cf Salzmann, “English Industries of the Middle Ages,” 1913, ch. I, and H. Hall, “A select Bibliography for the study, sources and literature of English Political Economy,” London, 1914.