Edw. Conf. sect. 12.]
[******** LL. AElf. sect. 40.]
[********* Fleetwood's Chron. Pretiosum, p. 27 28, etc.]
As to the value of money in those times, compared to commodities, there
are some though not very certain, means of computation. A sheep, of the
laws of Athelstan, was estimated at a shilling; that is, fifteen pence
of our money. The fleece was two fifths of the value of the whole
sheep,[*] much above its present estimation; and the reason probably
was, that the Saxons, like the ancients, were little acquainted with any
clothing but what was made of wool. Silk and cotton were quite unknown:
linen was not much used. An ox was computed at six times the value of
a sheep; a cow at four.[**] If we suppose that the cattle in that age,
from the defects in husbandry, were not so large as they are at present
in England, we may compute that money was then near ten times of greater
value. A horse was valued at about thirty-six shillings of our money,
or thirty Saxon shillings;[***] a mare a third less. A man at three
pounds.[****] The board-wages of a child the first year was eight
shillings, together with a cow's pasture in summer, and an ox's in
winter.
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