68o The Penalty for tarring of Cables, Cordage, &c. Imprifonmcnt. See farther con- cerning Cordage, 6 Am. lg.^ The Effeft of the Stat, of 5 &6Ed. 6. c 6. touching the making of Plunkets, &c, in Wiltfhire, Gloucester and Somerfetfiiire. % Ed. 4. c. 1. 1 R, 3. c. %. The Stat of 5&6Ed. 6. c.6 not performed for the Breadth of Cloth, and yet no Default in the Cloth- makers, The Cloth fix Quarters and a Half broad, be- ing wet. The Penalty if any of the faid Clothes be not in Breadrh fix Quarters and a Half. The Penalty for want of Weight 5 &6 Ed. 6. c. 6, Weight Gxty» eight Pounds. I*ea£th twenty, {even. Yards. .Repealed 43 El. c. ID. §. 9, lengths of Pvthe, C. 9. Anno triceilmo quinto Regins Elizabeths. A. D. 1593 and not containing in Compafs feven Inches, and fhall after by way of Retail, fell or put to Sale, of caufe to be fold or put to Sale, the fame being fo tarred ; That every Perfon fo offending fhall forfeit and lofe the treble Value of every Cable, Halfor and other Cordage, being of leffer Aflife, and made of fuch old and over-worn Stuff as is aforefaid, which fhall be fo fold or put to Sale, being tarred as afore- faid : (3) The one Moiety of all which Forfeitures fhall be to the Queen's Majefty, her Heirs and Suc- ceffors, and the other Moiety to fuch Perfon or Perfons as will fue for the fame by Action of Debt, Bill, Plaint or Information, wherein no EiToin, Protection or Wager of Law fhall be allowed. IV. And furthermore, that every Perfon which fhall in any wife offend againft the Tenor and Mean- ing of this Act, fhall be imprifoned for the fame during her Majefty's Pleafure. CAP. IX. An Act touching the Breadth of Plunkets, Azures, and Blues, and other coloured Clothes, made within the County of Somerfet, and ellewhere of like making. H E R E A S in the Parliament holden at Wejiminjler in the fifth and fixth Years of the Reign of our late Sovereign Lord King Edward the Sixth, one Statute was made, intituled, An Aft for the ' true making of Woollen Cloth, whereby (among other Things) it was enacted, That all broad Plunkets, ' Azures, Blues and other coloured Clothj which after the Feaft of St. Michael the Archangel then next ' coming fhould be made within the Shires of Wilts, Gloucejler or Somerfet, or el fe where of like Making, ' fhould contain in Length, being through wet, betwixt twenty-five and twenty-eight Yards, Yard and ' Inch of the Rule, and fhould be feven Quarters within the Lifts at the leaft, and Lifted according to the ' ancient Cuftom, and being well fcoured, thicked, milled and fully dried, fhould weigh fixty-eight Pounds ' the Piece at the leaft, as by the faid Act, among divers Claufes, Articles and Provifions contained in the ' fame, more plainly is expreffed : (2) Sithence the making of which faid Statute, although the Makers ' of the faid coloured Clothes have endeavoured themfelves, according to their beft Skill and Induftry, to ' perform and fulfil the faid recited Statute in every of their Clothes, as much as in them did lie, as touchy ' ing the Breadth of Clothes, and to that End and Purpofe have allowed and do allow fo much Yarn and ' Stuff to every fuch Cloth, as might fufficiently ferve to make all the faid coloured Clothes full out in ' Length, Breadth and Weight, according to the faid Statute made in the fifth and fixth Years of King ' Edward the Sixth ; yet notwithftanding many Times, by Reafon of the divers Natures in the Wools, ' and by the great Diverfities in the Spinning, carding and milling, many of the faid coloured Clothes ' made within the faid County of Somerfet, and elfewhere of like making, do not contain full feven Quar- ' ters in Breadth, according to the faid Statute made in the fifth and fixth Years of King Edward the Sixth, ' and yet no Default touching the faid Breadth can juftly be imputed to the Maker thereof, for that the ' faid Cloth-makers, (as Experience daily fheweth) cannot obferve the faid former Statute in all the faid ' Clothes, as touching the Breadth, although they endeavour themfelves never fo much thereunto : (3)
- Which Clothes not containing their full Affile in Breadth as is aforefaid, are many Times taken and
' feifed by the Searchers of London, when they come to their Market at Blackwell Hall, to the great Lofs ' and Damage of the faid Cloth-makers, and to the great Hindrance of Cloth-making within the faid 4 County:' (4) In Confederation whereof, albeit it is not hereby intended to repeal or make void the faid former recited Statute, otherwife than is hereafter exprelfed ; yet neverthelefs, Be it enacted by the Queen's moil excellent Majefty, with the Affent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and the Commons, of this prefent Parliament affembled, and by the Authority of the fame, That no Perfon or Perfons fhall be hereafter charged for any fuch Default which hereafter fhall be in any of the faid broad Plunkets, Azures, Blues, or other coloured Clothes, for want of Breadth of feven Quarters, fo that the fame Cloth do contain in Breadth, being thoroughly wet, fix Quarters and a Half at the leaft within the Lifts unwrought, and lifted according to the ancient Cuftom ; any Thing in the faid former recited Statute mentioned to the contrary in any wife notwithftanding. II, Provided always, and be it enacted by the Authority aforefaid, That if any of the faid Clothes fhall not contain fix Quarters and an Half at the leaft within the Lifts as is aforefaid, that then every Perfon offending in that Behalf fhall for every fuch Cloth be fubject to fuch Pains, Penalties and Forfeitures, as were by Force of the former recited Statute of the fifth and fixth Years of King Edward the Sixth, to have been forfeited for want of Breadth of feven Quarters within the Lifts. III, And be it neverthelefs enacted by the Authority aforefaid, That if any of the faid broad Plunkets, Azures, Blues or other coloured Clothes, being well fcoured, thicked, milled and fully dried, fhall con- tain in Weight any lefs than fixty-eight Pounds at the leaft, that then every of the faid Clothiers therein offending fhall incur double fuch Penalties and Forfeitures for every Pound fo wanting of the faid Weight, and not weighing after fuch Rate as is before exprelfed in and by the faid Statute made in the fifth and fixth years of King Edward the Sixth is limited and appointed. IV, And be it neverthelefs enacted by the Authority aforefaid, That if any of the Clothes to be made within the County of Somerfet, or e'fewhere of like making, called Plunkets, Azures and Blues, being well fcoured, thicked, milled and fully dried, fhall contain in Weight any lefs than fixty-eight Pounds at the leaft ; or if any of the faid Clothes fhall contain in Length any more than twenty-feven Yards at the moft ; that then every of the fame Clothiers therein offending fhall incur double fuch Penalties and Forfeitures for every Pound fo wanting, as by the faid Statute of the fifth and fixth Years of the Reign of King Edward the Sixth arc to fuch Defaults limited and appointed; (z) And for every Yard that any. 3 ■ fuel}
