Thirteenth Century Farm Economies in North Wales

8/7/2019 Thirteenth Century Farm Economies in North Wales

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T h i r t e e n t h . c e n t u r y F a r m E c o n o m i e s i nN o r t h W a le sB y C O L I N T H O M A S

E C E N T resea rch has tended to re fine the t r ad i t iona l v iew of themedieva l economy of No r th Wales a s being one which was dom ina tedby pastora l ism in an overwhelm ingly f ree socia l context . 1 In somelocalities it has bee n possible to clarify broad regional contrasts a nd elucidatevar ia tions occu rr ing w ithin them, chief ly as a resul t of the discovery of evi-dence in place names and f ield pat terns o f share- land cul t ivation and thecalcula t ion o f the re la tive importance of the pro duce of pastora l ism and t i l l-age in the var ious administra t ive units for which there are ear ly taxat ionrecords. For example , i t is c lear tha t the fer t i le and shel tered lowlands ofAnglesey and the Lleyn coast ac ted as a granary for the incipient Welshsta te , ~ while th e vaccaries and uplan d grazings of the rugge d in ter ior ofCaernarvon and M erion eth sup por ted considerable num bers o f l ivestock,some of which found the i r way to the borde r marke ts such as W hi tchurch , 3thus e s tab l i sh ing in a rud imenta ry fo rm the drovers ' rou tes which becamewell travelled in later centuries.

Nev ertheless, detailed analysis of local economic stru ctu re sim ilar to thes tud ies m ade by Professor Pos tan ~for pa r ts o f lowland En gland has n o t b eenpossible for No rth W ales in the c losing years of i ts independ ence because o fthe l imi ted conten t and va ry ing qua l ity of the docum enta ry sources , andindeed we should be forced to r e ly a lmost en ti r e ly upon the som ewha t un -sa t isfac tory ideal ized pic ture given in the Welsh Law Codes, with a l l the irla ter modif ica t ions, w ere i t not for the existence of a handfu l of remarkab lelay subs id ies for sca t te red pa r t s o f Gwynedd. Fol lowing the conques t by

t G . R . J . J o n e s , ' T h e T r i b a l S y s t e m i n W a l e s : a re - a s se s s m e n t in t h e l i g h t o f s e t t l e m e n ts tud ie s ' , W elsh History Review, I , 1961, a n d ' T h e D i s t r i b u t io n o f B o n d S e t t l e m e n t s in N o r t h -W e s t W a l es ', W elsh His tory R ev iew, I I, 1964 . S e e al so T . Jone s P i e r c e , ' P a s to r a l a nd A gr i c u l -tu r a l S e t t l e m e n t s i n Ea r ly Wa le s ' , Geografiska An naler, XLIII , 1961.2 G . R . J . J o n e s, ' T h e M i l i t a ry G e o g r a p h y o f G w y n e d d i n t h e T h i r t e e n t h C e n t u r y ' , u n -pub l i she d M . A. d i s se r t a t ion , U n ive r s i t y o f Wa le s, 1948 .3 C . T . M a r t in ( e d . ) , 'R e g i s t r um e p i s to i a r u m F r a t r i s Joha nn i s P e c kha m , Ar c h ie p i se op iC a n tua r i e ns i s ' , Lo nd on , 1884 , vo l . I I, pp . 455 - 8 . S e e a lso C . Th om a s , 'T he E vo lu t ion o fR u r a l S e t t l e m e n t a n d L a n d T e n u r e ' , u n p u b l i s h e d P h . D . d i s se r ta t io n , U n i v e r s i t y o f W a l e s ,1965, ch . 2 , pp . 56-1 o8.M . M . P o s t a n , ' V i ll ag e L i v e s to c k in t h e T h i r t e e n t h C e n t u r y ' , Econ. Hist. Rev. , xv , 1962-3.


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2 T H E A G R I C U L T U R A L H I S T O R Y R E V I E WEd wa rd I ' s a rmies o f the l as t s t rongho lds in the ear ly I28O'S and the com-plet ion in 1284 of a general extent or survey of prop erty , r ights , renders , anddues escheated to the Crow n, 1 a series of more precise f iscal assessments w asmade . On ly f ive o f these subs id ies a re ex tan t : tha t fo r Cre udd yn commote 2has not escaped the agencies of decay and muti la t ion , whi le that for M erion-e th , 3 apar t f rom be ing incomple te in A rdudw y, g ives on ly a sum ma ry o f thenum bers o f househo lds and the i r t axab le va lue . Th e remain ing th ree , fo r theroya l v i ii o f A berf raw and i ts hamle t s in A ng lesey , 4 the rnaeno r o f Ne fy n i nthe comm ote o f Din l laen , ~and the wh ole com mo te of Gafflogion in Lleyn , ~enable a fai r ly clearly defined image o f economic l i fe in these areas to be re-cons tructed and i t m ay be poss ib le to project i t, af ter careful re-m oulding tosui t d i fferent environm ental condi t ions , on to those regions wh ere th e docu-mentary record is weakest or fai ls us completely .T he f i rs t s tep is to out l ine the poss ib le method s o f analys is :

( i) D is t r ibu t ion o f actual grain outpu t , l ives tock, and p opulat ion to tals bytownsh ips .( ii ) Elucida t ion of regional contras ts in weal th , an d differences in the rangeof w eakh among ind iv idua l homes teads , f rom one a rea to ano ther, i .e .the d i s t r ibu t ion o f taxab le p roper ty in re la tion to the env i ronment .( ii i) Calculat ion of the relat ive impo rtance and value o f various facets of theeconomy on bo th a townsh ip and homes tead bas i s - -pas to ra l , t il lage,ma ri t ime, commercial.( iv) W ithin the pas tora l sector, evaluat ion of the relat ive s tatus of oxen,cattle, sheep, and horses, though here i t is difficult to draw valid dis-t inc t ions be tween bond and f ree e lemen ts because the commote wi ththe best evidence, Gafflogion, was overwhelmingly free.(v) Variat ions in the s ize of herds and f locks owne d by individuals .(v i) Rec onstruct ion in general terms o f typical hom esteads , th eir l ivestock,and land use, weal th , and s tatus in the community .(v ii ) T he in teract ion of tow n and countrys ide, for example, th e relat ionshipbetween Pwllhel i and Nefyn and Gaffiogion.Some p re l iminary rem arks on the va lue o f ind iv idua l it ems m ay be o f use inset t ing the scene. As mig ht be e xpected in an area which was iso lated and re-mote because o f i ts few harbours and rug ged land com munica t ions even in

1 Exte nt o f Merioneth , 1284, pr in ted in Arch. Camb., 3rd ser. , XlII, 1867, pp. I83-9 z.P .R.O. La y Subs idy 24z/5x. 8 P .R.O. 242/53.4 P .R.O. 242/49, pr in ted as App. Af . to F . Seebo hm's Tribal System in W ales, Lon don, I895.5 p .R.O. 24z/5oB, pr in ted in Bulletin of the Board of Celtic Studies [hencefo rward B.B.C.S .] ,v, 1929-3I, pp. 142-8.6 P.R .O. z4z/5oA, prin ted in B .B.C.S. , v, 1929-31, pp. 54-7 I .


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M E D I E V A L F A R M E C O N O M I E S I N W A L E S 3

t h e s i x t e en t h c e n t u r y , 1 d r a u g h t a n i m a l s w e r e m o r e h i g h l y p r i z e d t h a n a n yo the r t ype o f l ives tock , and in each o f t he sub s id i e s bo th ox en and horses a reva lued a t 5s . each, w hi le ca t tle were assesse d a t 3s . 4 d . an d s heep a t 6d. , as c al e w h i c h w i l l b e e m p h a s i z e d b e lo w . I t w i l l b e s e e n t h a t t h i s i n n o w a y i m -p l i e s r e l a t ive numbers o f s tock in the sense tha t t he l ea s t common beas tm i g h t b e e x p e c t ed t o c o m m a n d a h i g h e r p r ic e , b u t s i m p l y r e fl ec t s t h e u se f u l -n e s s a n d i m p o r t a n c e o f d i ff e r en t a n i m a l s w i t h i n t h e l o c a l e c o n o m y . Pe r -haps the s ame c anno t be sa id o f t he g ra ins cu l t i va ted , because the so i ls o f i n -he ren t ly med ioc re f e r t il i ty , com bined w i th the r igorous coas ta l c lima te , i n -vo lv ing h ig h inc iden ce o f c loud cover , f r eq uen t p rec ip i t a t ion , a nd s t rongwinds , de t e r red ex tens ive cu l t iva t ion o f co rn g ene ra l ly , w i th the r e su l t t ha ti t was wor th 2s. 6d . pe r c rannog , ~ a measu re app rox im a t ing to four bushe l s .Oa t s , t he mo s t wid e ly g rown f i e ld c rop, a nd m ore c losely in t egra t ed w i th apas to ra l econom y (no t fo rge t ti ng tha t a s tap le e l em ent o f t he hu m an d ie t wasoat-cake) , we re w orth 2s . per c rann og, 3 w hi le peas w ere va lu ed a t d. pe rbushe l .

O f the m isce l l aneous cha t te l s and m ovab le goods , t he f i sh ing ne t s r eco rdeda t Pwl lhe l i and N efyn , t oge the r w i th the boa t s , were c l ea r ly the m os t h ig h lypr i zed possess ions a t 2s . and i3s . 4 d . each re spec t ive ly , and ind ica t e tha t t h en o n - a g r i c u l tu r a l so u rc e o f i n c o m e w a s b y n o m e a n s i n c o n s i d e r ab l e .Ca lcu la t ions based on da ta g iven in these do cum ent s he lp to c l a r i fy ideason the con t rove rs i a l t op ic o f t he impor t ance o f sheep vis-a-v is catt le inm e d i e v a l W a l e s . F r o m T a b l e I i t w i ll b e s e e n t h a t t h e e x t e n t to w h i c h sh e e pou tn um bered ca t tl e i n these loca li ti e s wo uld be neg l ig ib l e were i t no t fo r t he

T A B L E INUMBERS OF LIVESTOCK

GafflogionN e f y nAberffrawTot a l

Oxen

2788713650 1

Cattle

76 117526 5

Sheep

710205747

Horses

17 94869

Total value ofCattle Sheep s . d . s . d .95 3 4 17 15 021 16 8 5 2 633 3 4 18 13 6

150 3 4 41 11 0i,201 1,662 2961 E. G . Jones , 'Th e Caernarvonshi re Squi res , i55 8- i 62 5 ' , unp ubl i sh ed M .A. d i sser ta tion,Univ . of Wales, i936 , ch . I .2 i .e . 7d. pe r bu she l , q ui te a h igh pr ice when one cons iders tha t in the I84o ' s w hea t inNo r t h W a l es c os t on l y 7s . pe r bushe L - -T i t he S c he du le s .3 6d. pe r bushe l , co mp ared wi th o nly 2s . 9 d . in the m id-nine teenth century .


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4 T H E A G R I C U L T U R A L H I S T O R Y R E V I E Wext raord ina ry num bers o f the former a t Aber f f raw where the ra tio i s o f theorder of 3 : I , whereas tota ls are fa ir ly s imilar a t Nef yn an d Gaff logion, b ut a tthis p oint i t is as well to recal l tha t th e value o f a cow was ten t imes that of asheep , and the t rue s ta tus o f sheep m ay be gauged f rom the la s t co lumn ofTable I . Oxen were the th i rd mos t num erous an imals and when the i r to ta lvalue is added to that of the 296 horses , i t is almost exact ly equal to the tota lvalue of the 1,2oI ca t tle . Th us, a l thoug h sheep w ere num erical ly s trongestthe ir f iscal status w as lowest.

Th e impor tance of va r ious l ivestock in the econom y of the ind iv idua lhom estead can be i l lustra ted in another way, namely by calcula t ing the per-centage of households which held interests in dif ferent types of animal(Table I I ) . TABLE IIH O U S E H O L D S O W N I N G L I V E ST O C K

G a f f l o g i o nN e f y nAbe r f f ra w

N o .o f Ifamilies2009368

Percentage oftotalnum beroffamiliesown ingOxen Ca t t~ [ S h eep Ho rses

57 90 51 6434 80 28 4274 97 68 46

Because of the o verw helm ingly free social structu re of Gafflogion, who sef if teen townsh ips wo uld have perm it ted the m ost val id break-do wn of data ,i t has not been possible to draw any dis t inct ion between th e re la t ive impor-tance of the four types of s tock to bond and f ree communi t ie s , tho ugh i t maybe assum ed tha t the ra t io of draugh t animals to ca t tle and sheep would nor-mal ly be h igher in ma e r d r e f i and t i r c y f r i f bondvil ls than in f ree tow nsh ips?Never the less the broad p ic ture can be deduced f rom Table I I , f rom w hichit is ab un da ntl y clear tha t possession of som e cattle was a necessity to at leastfour-f if ths of the famil ies in boroug h, ma e r d r e f , and rura l com mo te a like , ~though their importance was less in Nefyn because of i ts commercia l andm ari t ime act ivi t ies? In contrast , only about half the pop ula t ion had a ny in-

1 In P enm aen, the only township in Gafltogion wh ich i s recorded in 1352 as be ing und er ti rcyfrif tenure, the three v i lleins ow ned be tw een them three oxen, e ight ca tt le , b ut no o ther draugh tanimals (Table IV). See H. Ell is (ed.), Record o f Caernarvon , pp. 27-31, for social structure.Qu i te apar t f rom the maintenance of a ba lanced die t , i t has been pointed o ut tha t " of tenaccum ula t ion in fa rming societ ies i s rea li sed in the form of l ives toe k."--R . E. F . Smi th , T heOrig ins o f F arming in R ussia , Paris, 1959, p. 35.3 Cf . P wl l he l i i n Ta b l e s IV a nd V; T . Jo ne s P i e rce , ' Th e Ol d Borough o f Ne fyn , 1355-I882 ' , Trans. Caerns. Hist . Soc., 1957, pp . 36-55, and the same author ' s 'Th e M edieva l M anorof PwUheli ', unp ub lished M .A. dissertat ion, U niv. of Liver poo l , 1927.

1 .1i, Ii:!~J


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MEDIEVAL FARM ECONOMIES IN WALES 5teres t in sheep, and here again the low values in N efyn are m arkedly d ifferentf rom those o f the wel l -s tocked pas tu res o f Aberf fraw where an imal hus -ba nd ry p layed a ma jor r61e in the overall econom y. S imilarly , the h igher p er-centage ' of ow ners o f drau ght animals in Gafftogion and Aberffraw than atN efy n reflects the c orrespondingly greater em phasis upon cul t ivat ion , andsugges ts tha t even a t th i s ear ly da te the u r ban economy o f the bo rough wasbecoming divorced from i ts rural orig ins , though not , of course, from i ts

LIVESTOCK IN GAFFLOGIONTOWNSHIPS, 1293

o I 2miles

FIC. Ihinte rland . Again, relative balance of arable intere sts in the maerdrefand them uch la rger and economica l ly b roader-based commote i s ind ica ted in thefact that nea rly three -qu arters of Aberffraw families ow ned a t leas t one oxwhile in Gaffiogion th is pro port ion w as considerably less tha n tw o-th irds .Desp i te co r respond ing ly l a rge numbers o f ho rse-owners in the commotecompared wi th the maerdref, i t cannot be s tated w ith any degree of certain tytha t these animals were used in co-arat ion .Th e general impress ion derived f rom T ab les I to I I I , then , i s one o f a l a rgenumber of mixed farmers on a smal l scale , the usual hold ing support ing


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MEDIEVAL FARM ECONOMIES I N WALES 7

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THE AGRICULTURAL HISTORY REVIEWabou t f ive cat tle , up to three oxen, pe rhaps ten or f i f teen sheep, and one o rtwo horses. To be m ore precise , w hen a ll the data for each type o f s tock arep lo t t ed on a d i spe rs ion graph the median va lues show tha t the ' t yp ica l 'tyddynwyr in these par ts of Caernarvon and Anglesey in 1293 would haveow ned th ree catt le, two oxen, a horse, an d five or six sheep (eleven if he l ivedin Aberffraw). Th is use of the med ian is a far more rea l i s tic index th an pla inaverages since a dispersion grap h ob viously gives results based solely on thosefamilies wh o ow ned beasts, w hile the average of anim als for every fam ily inthe survey takes into accou nt the theore t ica l share of a l l those who did no t infact have animals . F or example , th e average num ber of oxen per tyddyn inAb erffraw is two ( the median shows one), an d this dis tor ted view is caused bythe existence of two very large herds, one con sisting of 2o beasts an dt he otherof I6 , w hereas in rea l ity , of the f i f ty households (out o f a tota l of 68 in themaerdrefand i t s hamlets) which ac tual ly held oxen, no less than 40 per cent.owned on ly one animal . A nothe r example of the average being dis tor ted byextrem e values enter ing the ca lcula tions occurs a t Nefy n where the averagenum ber o f sheep owned b y the 93 heads o f fami li es is 2 .2 , bu t the t ru th i stha t only 28 per cent of the p opula t ion own an y sheep a t a ll , so that them edia n a m on g this m ino rity is a flock of five animals.As m ight b e expected, the im pression o f an ideal , even spread of weal ththroughout the popula t ion i s not a complete ly accura te one: for example ,An gharad ve rch Ada and he r son in Bodve l owned no l e ss than 42 oxen inaddi t ion to a herd of 48 ca tt le and 6 horses, and arable pro per ty pro duc ing82 bushe ls o f oa ts and 24 bushe l s o f corn . David Fyc han of Marchros had4 oxen, 6 cows, 2 horses, and zo sheep (besides 4 dra ug ht animals), to geth erw i th oats and corn to the value of twe nty shil lings. Som e of the i r ne ighb ourson the other hand l ived in a more modest fashion, of ten wi thout arable re-sources b ut never w i thout some stake in l ivestock, 1par t icular ly ca t tle , and inPw llheli an d Ne fyn f inding a prof i table s ideline in f i shing. ~ T hr ou gh ou tGaff logion as a whole pastora l ac t ivi ties provide two -thi rds of the weal th ,bu t Ta ble V reveals tha t in addi t ion to the unequal dis t r ibut ion of personalproperty sketched above, there existed, too, subtle local or regional shifts ofemp hasis in the econom ic pat tern of the comm ote which ref lec t var ia t ionsin land qua li ty or a degree o f special ization, and ar e in tur n ex press ed ult i-mate ly in popula t ion densi ty .

1 In Nefyn the poorest tenants had no arable stakes, and usually neither sheep nor oxen, butalmost without exception they possessed at least one cow.--P.R.O. 242/5oB.2 At N dyn, 4I out of 93 householders had nets, and in the case o David ap Thomas andBleddyn Fychan, who also owned a boat each, fishing was clearly a major source of income.At Pwllheli, 9 of the 2I burgesses owned nets.

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Thirteenth Century Farm Economies in North Wales