A. D. 1585. Anno x.wii Regina Elizabi 1 h b. C. 18, kj. c a p. XVIII. An Act concerning the Making of Woollen Clothes in the Counties of D<r.o>: ?//, called plain white Straight, and pinned white Straight. WHER E in ih'.- Parliament upon Prorogation holden :it Weflminjttr ! ; < the tit'tli Year of the Reign of the late King "t famous Memory, /•. hva t! made for true Making of Woollen Clothes ; by whi li f fl other Thii from and after the vcai! of Sr. Michael the Axi haingel n the Making o of Perfons fhould put any Hair, Flocks, or any Yarn of Lambs-Wool into any Cloth, fCerfic, I Cotton made and ibid, or offered to be fold, .1 I, upon Pain to fori foch Cloth, Kcilic, Prize and Cotton, wherein any fuch Yarn, Hair or Flocks fhould be put, or die Value of fuch Cloth, Kerfie, Frize or Cotton, as by the faid Act it doth and may appear: ' II. And whereas by another Act made in the Parliament I10M1.11 at Weft linfter in the feventh Yi.tr 0! the Reign of the faid late Kin;;, intituled, the Making of plain white Straights, and pi) in Devon and Cormval, the faid former Act was altered, and Liberty given to the Mi • faid Clothes, called plain white Straights, and pinned white Straights, to ufe in Making of the faid (. Flocks, Hair or Yarn made of Lambs-Wool ; and by the faid .Statute divers Rules and Orders ■.-. pointed for making of the faid Clothes, called plain white Straights, and pinne : ^ghts, as by the laid Statute doth appear : (7. 1 Now for that the ( >rders and Rules both by the laid Statute made in the faid fifth Year, as alio in the laid ("even h Year of the faid late King Ed. card the Sixth, tend to the utter Undoing and i ^ecay ofgreat Numbers and Multitudes of People which live by the Trade of Clothing, and arc not profitable any longer to be kept in thefe Counties and Places, where the faid Clothes, called plain white Straights and pinned white Straights, are ulually made, the fame Clothes being but a bafe and coarfe Kind of Clothes, ufually made for the Ufe of poor People beyond the Seas, and molt commonly fhipped into Britain, and there uttered for a Merihandil'c, to ferve the Ufe of the poorer Sort there: (3) And especially for that fithence the Making of the faid Statutes, the Yarn wherewith the laid Clothe , called plain white Straights and pinned white Straights, are ufually made, to the great Benefit of the poor People where the fame are made, is grown fmaller and liner, whereby many more poor People are ft on Work with Spinning of the fame, than either at or before the Making of any the faid feveral Statute were, fo that the Weight, Length and Breadth cannot agree as before it did in Making of the laid Clothes :' III. Be it therefore enacted by the Queen's Majefty our Sovereign Lady, the Lords Spiritual and Tern* poral, and the Commons, in this prefent Parliament aflembled, and by the Authority of the fame, 'I bat the Branch made in the faid fifth Year, which prohibiteth putting of Hair, Flocks or Yarn made of La- Wool into any Cloth or Frize, having Regard unto the faid Clothes, called plain white Straights and pinned white Straights, be utterly repealed and made void. IV. And that the faid Statute alio made in the faid feventh Year of the Reign of the faid late King, " ' and every Branch, Article and Claufe therein, be from henceforth utterly repealed and void for ever. V. And that it be further enacted, That from henceforth it fhall be lawful to all and every the Queen's N Majcfty's Subjects inhabiting, or which fhall hereafter inhabit, within the laid Counties of Devon and £' l|'" "*? Cornwal, as well in Towns Corporate, Market-Towns or ellewhere, to weave and make the faid Cloth called plain white Straights and pinned white Straights, and to ufe and occupy in making of ihc faia Clothes, called plain while Straights, and pinned white Straights, Flocks, Hair and Yarn made of Lamb's H "Wool, (2) and to have, keep and ufe in his or their Houfes three Looms, and not above, for making of the '• Clothes aforefaid, (3) and to make the fame Clothes of fuch Length, Weight and Breadth, as the Merch fhall like or accept, to buy the fame for Merchandifes, or appoint the lame to be made for the Ufe molt acceptable Allowance of the Country People where the fame fhall be tranfported for Merchand for that in Truth none of the fame are worn or occupied within this Realm ; the faid Statute made in the faid fifth Year of the Reign of the faid late King Edward the Sixth, or any other Law or Statute here- tofore made to the contrary ftotwithftanding. VI. Provided always, That in defrauding of her Majcfty's Cuftom, no Piece of the faid Clothes fha he made above twelve Pounds in Weight, or above fourteen Yards in Length, or one Yard in Breadth, '• (2) upon Pain of Forfeiture of all fuch Clothes made over and above the faid Length, Breadth or Weight, ••r the Value thereof: The one Moiety to the Qpeeri's Majefty, her Heirs and Succeflbrs, and the other Moiety thereof to him that will fue for the fame by Writ, Bill, Plaint or Information in any Court of Record, wherein no Eflbjri, Protection or Wager ol Law fhall be allowed. 4.3 Eliz. c. 10. ■'•... CAP. XIX. An Act for the Prefervation of Timber in the Weilds of the Counties of SuJJc::, Surrey and Kent, and for the Amendment of Highways decayed by Carriages to and from Iron-Mills there. % TY7HEREAS by the over great Negligence or Number of Iron-Works which have been and « W are in the Weilds of the Counties of Suffix, Surrey and Kent, it is thought that the gr.at Plenty M °
- of Timber which hath grown in thole Parts hath been greatly decayed and fpoilcd, and will in fbort Time
' Vol. II. 4 O l be
