people. But bad harvests affected rye and
oats as much as wheat.

The famine prices of wheat may be explained by the following facts. In
the reign of Henry I., at ordinary prices, bread enough for one meal for
100 men could be bought for a shilling and a whole sheep cost fourpence.
In the next century, when wheat was at 6_s._ a quarter, a farthing loaf
was to weigh 24 oz. whole meal and 16 oz. white. When it was at 1_s._
6_d._ a quarter the farthing loaf was to weigh 96 oz. whole grain and 64
oz. white. The quartern loaf of 4 lb. or 64 oz. now costs 5_d._, wheat
being very cheap. So that prices in time of plenty being supposed the
same, money was worth twenty times in that century as much as it is
worth now. In the reign of Edward I. wheat went down to 1_s._ a quarter.

The food of the craftsmen in London was, in ordinary times, plentiful
and cheap. The City, as we have seen, was always remarkable for the
great abundance of provision which was brought there. And there is every
reason to believe that while the rustic fared poorly and was underfed,
the craftsman of the towns always enjoyed good food and enough of it.
This made a time of scarcity hard to bear for one who habitually lived
well.

Once or twice an attempt was made to provide the City with granaries in
case of famine. Thus the origin of Leadenhall, the great City market,
was the erecting of a public granary here by Sir Simon Eyre in 1419.
Attached to the Hall, after the manner of the time, was a chapel
dedicated to the Holy Trinity, which the founder endowed for 60 priests
who were to prepare service every day for those who frequented the
market.

Another public granary was established in 1610 at Bridewell Palace. This
was built to contain 6,000 quarters of wheat.

Nothing more is heard about these public granaries. Probably the public
mind grew more assured on the subject of famine as it became better
understood that the loss of one country might be made up from the
superfluous harvests of another. The lesson taught by the Hanseatic
merchants in sending to Prussia for corn was not likely to be lost.

At the present moment, with means of transport always in readiness and
the electric wire joining the most distant countries, it might seem that
famine was a thing no longer to be feared. There cannot be bad harvests
all over the world. Not only can we every year import so much wheat that
we need grow little in this country, but we import frozen meat in vas