Page:VCH Rutland 1.djvu/286

A HISTORY OF RUTLAND labourers upon his estate in Rutland, who kept from one to four cows each. The Earl informed the Board of Agriculture that those who managed well cleared about 2od. per week, or ;^4 6j. %d. the year, by each cow.^^^ By 1 808 winter wages at Empingham had risen to s. 9^. per day, summer wages to 2J., and harvest wages were zs. per day with board,"' but the price of labour varied considerably throughout the county. Thus at Ashwell, Bridge Casterton, Clipsham, Edith Weston, Essendine, Glaston, and Rid- lington wages were zs. per week in winter and 15^-. in summer. At Gun- thorpe they were is. and au. according to the season ; at Hambleton ioj., I2J., and i8j.; while at Normanton they were loj-. and iSj. with beer. In none of the uninclosed parishes was the higher remuneration given, but on the other hand wages were as low in several of the inclosed parishes as in the uninclosed. The average weekly wage for the whole county, without board or beer, was about ioj. bd. in winter, 13^. in summer, and i 6j-. during harvest."* But although the nominal wages had risen, it is doubtful if the condition of the labourers was better than in 1795, for prices of provisions had also risen. The best beef and mutton could not now be bought under Si'/., while the coarser kinds were d. and z^d. The price of butter was from %d. to I J. i^d. the pound, cheese from td. to u., bacon u. ; eggs brought from bd. to I J. the dozen, carrots were 2^., and potatoes d. and bd. the peck, while cabbages were from bd. to s. the dozen. Thus the prices of butter, cheese, bacon, and vegetables were not very different from those of the present day, and bread still remained very dear, flour being sold at from 3J. /[d. to 3J. bd. the stone."^ Mention has already been made of the rapid rise of the poor rates which took place in 1785. A table of these given in the agricultural survey for 1794"' shows that they actually decreased after 1785 (the year of the foundation of the 'Rutland Society of Industry'), except in the years 1789 and 1 79 1, the high rates at that time being caused by a general rise in prices throughout the kingdom. In 1808 the average rate was 2s. yd. in the pound, a low rate which Mr. Parkinson attributed to the fact that small portions of land were often let to the labourers along with their cottages."' According to Mr. Crutchley the rates in 1794 were highest in the uninclosed parishes, but in 1808 this was not invariably the case, for Whitwell, which at that date had very little inclosed land, paid only s. in the pound. Generally speaking however, the higher rates were in the uninclosed places, as at Oakham, North LufFenham, and Seaton, where they amounted to ^s. in the pound,"* showing that inclosures eventually made for the prosperity of the county. In 1808 seven parishes remained uninclosed, and of these Barrowden and North LufFenham were not inclosed until 1881, and South LufFenham not until 1882. We are told in the report of the Select Committees for 1878 that the inter-commonage and inter-mixed state of holdings then in vogue in these parishes led to constant disputes among the people, who were apt to trench upon each other's rights. The assistant commissioners considered that inclosure would bring about harmony and ' a better tone and character.' At this time Barrowden was evidently in a very bad economic '" 'Communications to the Board of Agriculture,' iv, 358, quoted by Slater, op. cit. 134. "' Parkinson, Gen. View of Agiie. of Rut. 148. '" Ibid. 147-51. '" Ibid. 152-3. "« Crutchley, Gen. View of Agric. of Rut. 25. "' Parkinson, op. cit. 33. '" Ibid. 226