Note g — Chapter IX · [a] (continued 2)

In the Archæologia, vol. xviii. p. 281, we have a bailiffs account of expenses in 1387, where it appears that a ploughman had sixpence a week, and five shillings a year, with an allowance of diet; which seems to have been only pottage. These wages are certainly not more than fifteen shillings a week in present value [1816]; which, though materially above the average rate of agricultural labour, is less so than some of the statutes would lead us to expect. Other facts may be found of a similar nature.