Notes by Burghley on Trade, Fishing, and Shipping
| Artifact Summary | |
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| Artifact type | |
| Creator/author | Burghley |
| Date | 1581 |
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| Abstract | |
Entry
1581 (?) [S.P.D. Eliz., Vol. XLI., No. 58.]
Inconveniencees of enlargyng any power to bryng any more wyne into the realme.
It is manifest that nothyng robbeth the realm of England, but whan moore marchandisees is brought In to the realme than is carryed forth ; as for example, if viij thowsand poundes worth of forrayn Commoditees be brought In, and but vj thousand poundes worth of the Commoditees of england carryed furth, the realme must spend uppon the stock yerly ij thousand poundes which must be payd with monny, and it is manifestly seene allredy by the Custommers accomptes in the exchequer that yerly the forrayn commoditees doo surmount the Commoditees of the land.
The remedy hereof is by all pollycyes to abridg the vse of such forrayn commoditees as be not necessary for vs ; wherof the excess of silkes is one, of wyne and spyce is an other ; and therfor wyttyngly to make a law to increass any of theis is to consent to the robbery of the realm.
Of all theis iij excessees none is more hurtfull to the realm than wyne :
1. first, it enrycheth fraunce, whose power england ought not increass.
2. secondly, for the more part the wynes of france, both those SHIPPING that come from burdeaux and from Roone, ar bought with sendyng redy monny thyther. For in burdeaux they have an ordonnance forbyddyng barteryng with englishmen for wynes, so as what so ever excess groweth in bryngyng home of wynes, therby the gold which is or shuld be by merchantes brought out of spayne or the low Contreis for the Commodities of england is conveyed into france. Thyrdly, the multiplyeng of Taverns, which must nedes insew by repealyng the statute of King Edward the vj, is an evident course of disorder of the vulgar people, who by hastyng therto wast ther small substance which they wekly gett by ther hand labor, and committ all evills that accompany dronkenes.
Fourthly, the excessyve drynkyng of wyne deminisheth the use of ale and beare, and consequently decayeth tillage for grayn, which of all labors in the realme wold be favored and cherished, and preferred before such an vnnecessary forrayn commoditee as wyne is ; addyng therto, that in tyme of peace wisdom wold thynk what maye chance in warrs, and not to laye downe the vse of our natural foode for the entysement of a forrayn that by occasion of warrs may be kept from us, and than the tyme may prove to late to recover our owne so soone as our nede shall be ;
and whan so ever france shall fynd this oportvnite to pynch vs, as it is no dovt but ther pollycy seeth farr in all practisees, we may percase smart whan no remedy will be fovnd to ease our payne.
Answer of the obiections.
That sence the statute made, manny port townes ar decayed 1 ob. first, Ther may be assigned manny decayes of the navy, so as 1 Answer.
in ther navy, which wer wont to be occupyed in the vyntage.
this shall appere to be noone. The navy of england was hertofore occupyed by merchantes into Levant, to spayn, to portyngall, and now the commoditees which english shippes wer accustomed to bryng thence is for the most part found in Antwerp, from which place on hoye will bryng as much in one yere as x merchantes shippes war wont to bryng from the other placees in ij yers. The port townes also wer hertofore accustomed to occupy ther people in fishyng, as in Iseland, Norwaye, Shetland for lyng, stockfish, muddfish, codd, and all a long the costes of england, as first the north sea fishyng for salmon, mylwyn and codd, the costes of Norfolk for herryng and Suffolk for mackerell, the streates for mackrell and whytyng, the cost of sussex and hampshyre for Congar, the south west seas for pilchard, whytyng and hake, and so forth rovnd about the rest of the costes of wales and england, and vppon the costes of Irland was heretofore a great haunt of takyng of hake, myllwyn, codd, conger, salmon, all which trades ar at this tyme almost wholy possessed, even sometyme within a kennyng of our shores, by straungers that seeke pollytykly to maynteane ther marryners by such trades as be directly proffitable to them selves, and only hurtfull to there neighbors ; wher contrarely the trade of bryngyng excess of wynes is only hurtfull to vs that occupy it, and beneficiall to our neighbors with perill of our selves. And to express this more par- ticularly yarmouth fishyng is yerly occupyed by 600 flemmynges and frenchmen. The northwest fishyng is also vsurped by 400 flemmynges and some french. The fishyng in the narrow seas by french; the western fishyng for hakes and pilchardes by a great navy of the french ; the fishyng about wales by french. The north partes of Irland, which within these x yeres was in the occupation, and specially the banne was in firme of merchantes of Chester, and now both the herryng and salmon fishyng ther is in the handes of Scottes ; and the south part of Irland is yerly fished by the spanyardes. So as, to conclude this article, England is besegeed and deprived round about by straungers of the substance of the sea fishyng, being as it appereth by Godes ordonnance peculiarly gyven to the same, and more regard had how to entyce merchantes and marrynors to a furder trade to employe them selves to carry our treasor into france, and for them to overburden the realme with wyne, than to recover our auncient naturall and proffittable possession of the rychess of our owne seas and at our doores. In which kynd of trade men ar made metar to abyde stormes and become comen marynors, than by saylyng in shippes to Roone or burdeax. Secondly, it is manifest that by makyng of the statut in King Edward the 6 tyme the navy is not decayed : for, first, the port towns of the realm war decayed almost xx yers before, and if SHIPPING lack of bryngyng in of wynes at this tyme doo decaye shippes, what is to be sayd of lx yeres or 1º past whan the portes wer better furnished of shippes and marryners and yet not one half of the wyne vttred or dronk in this realm that now is ? And though it nedeth no prooffe to shew that more wynes is dr[u]nk now than in former tymes, yet lett all men that kepe housholdes remembre whyther comonly they spend not more wynes than ther grandfathers, yea, percase than them selves within xij yeres. Lett all noble men compare ther howshold bookes with ther auncestors, and it will be as manifest as can be that england spendeth more wynes in one yere whylest this statute hath remayned than it did in auncient tyme in foore yers. So as, to conclude, it is not mete to seke the increass of the navy by increass of wyne, wher allredy the excess is to mutch. Wherfor all other wayes wold be sought to norrish marryners and to increass shippes, and as it is trew that manny westarn touns ar decayed, as bristoll and such lyke, so [it] is not to be forgotten whyther London hath not engrossed all ther trades, not so much for wynes but even for the welsh frezees that com over the severn not farr from bristow.
[Endorsed] Inconveniences by bringing in of quantity of wynes.
