subsidies of the lord the king, in the port of the town of Bristol and in all parts and places to the same port adjacent, to wit, of such customs and subsidies of the lord the king there from the feast of St. Michael the Archangel in the 13th year of the lord the King Henry VIIth that now is up to the feast of Easter happening on the 15th day of April then next following, to wit, for the moiety of one year and 17 days as above.

"Sum of the receipts, £554, 18s. 51d., whereof there is answered to the said collectors for their fees 72s. 4d. . . . And to the same-£10 paid by them to John Calbot [sic], a Venetian, late of the said town of Bristol for his annuity of £20 a year, granted to him by the said lord the king, by his letters-patent, to be taken at two terms of the year out of the customs and subsidies forthcoming and growing in the said port of the town of Bristol, to wit, for the term of the annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary happening within the time of this view, by an acquittance of the said John to be shown thereof upon this view, and remaining in the possession of the said collectors.

[NOTE.-A full translation of the account in which the entry as to the payment to Cabot appears will be found in Appendix C. The account for the halfyear immediately preceding this account, in which the payment of the first moiety of the annuity would probably be found, cannot be discovered. Diligent search has been made for the subsequent accounts, but, so far, without success. The next entry of the account of the Bristol customs is for the 19 Hen. VII., that is, A.D. 1504.]

The following account will show who Kemys and

[Showing the Chapel of the Assumption of the B. V. Mary built across the Bridge, and "St. Nicholas's Gate," one of the City Gates, with the Chancel of the Church of St. Nicholas over the Gateway.]

A' Meryk were, and how it was they served "the lord, the king, in the port of the town of Bristol." It was customary in Bristol, at that period, for the collectors of the king's customs and subsidies to take the same, either at the quay on the waters of the Frome, "or in a certain place called the Backe, between Baldwin Street and the bridge" (Bristol Bridge). The king directed his collectors of customs "to overlook the lading of all merchandise and

2

1 A very curious entry in the Rolls, under date 13th July 1489, contains a special pardon for John Rowley and William Rowley, merchants of Bristol, for entering the name of John Rowley only in the books of the collectors of customs at Bristol, the goods being the joint property of John and William, contrary to the provisions of an Act of Parliament. It was from the name of a member of this family that Chatterton borrowed his "monk Rowleie."

2 This arrangement was made in pursuance of an order of King Henry VI., which recites that "very many persons, residents of the town aforesaid, have put divers customable goods and merchandizes in ships and boats, by night and by day, upon the water of Avon, running through the middle of the town, and do carry the same to foreign parts, we being subtilely defrauded of the customs thereof to us belonging." Not only were the places for ships to take goods in defined, but it was ordered that all customable goods, on pain of forfeiture, were to be carried out of the town "in the daytime, between the rising and the setting of the sun,* and not in the nighttime, nor at any time in a secret way, and shall be put into ships paying the customs thereof, due at the said key, or at the said place called the Backe "} It was also ordered to be publicly proclaimed in the town, "That no one shall presume to load their ships with wool, or other customable merchandises, but at the place aforesaid, between the rising and setting of the sun, as is aforesaid, under forfeiture of the same wools and merchandise."

* By letters-patent of Queen Elizabeth, after reciting an enactment as to the time for loading and unloading, it is stated that the queen, having been informed that the port of Bristol (except at spring tides) was very dangerous, and deficient in depth of water, and that no great ship or vessel, being laden with wares and merchandise, was able to approach within four miles; that the sea there quickly ebbed and flowed, and that each flowing did not continue above five or six hours, and not more than six in days of spring tide, authority was granted for loading and unloading "at any time between the hours of four in the morning and eight in the evening."

other goods, laden in the town aforesaid, and to take into your hands, as forfeited to us, all customable goods and merchandises which shall happen to be loaded into ships elsewhere than at the said key, or the said place called the Backe, or at any other time than between the rising and setting of the sun, contrary to the form of the ordinance aforesaid, and to keep in safe custody the same for our use, so that to us, for the forfeitures aforesaid, you may answer at our exchequer" (Rol. Pat. 16 Hen. VII. part i. m. 9).

The kings of England were entitled to certain customs and subsidies in respect of certain towns, of which Bristol was one, which were royal demesnes.1 King Edward I., much against his will, being compelled to bend before the storm, confirmed the celebrated charters, together with the statute, "De Tallagio non concedendo," and from that period it was illegal for the king to make a seizure of wools,

1 The town of Bristol, together with the castle, the walls, cottages, stalls, tofts, mills, rents, landgable tolls, pleas of court, fairs, and markets, were frequently leased by the king, for the time being, to the mayor and commonalty of Bristol. As an example, King Henry VI. "committed to our well-beloved Hugh Wythyford, Mayor of our town of Bristol, and to the commonalty of the same town, and their successors, the same town, with the suburbs of the same, etc. etc., to have and to hold the same, to him and his successors, from the feast of St. Michael the Archangel, next happening, unto the end of twenty years next following. And that the same mayor and commonalty, and their successors, during the term aforesaid, shall have the same privileges, profits, etc., as fully and entirely as we should have had them, if we had retained the said town in our hands." The mayor and commonalty bound themselves to pay the following yearly sums during the continuation of the lease: To the king, £102, 15s. 6d.; to the Abbot of Tewkesbury, in Gloucestershire, £14, 10s., for tithes of the town; to the Prior of St. James's, of Bristol, for the annual rent of the town mill, £3; to the Constable of Bristol and his officers . and to the Forester of Kingswood, £39, 14s. The king also granted certain customs of Bristol for goods coming by land or water, except wool, leather and woolfells.