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 INDUSTRIES munthes of June July and Auguste in any yeare. ' Fowerthly that noe person that conuerteth any sorte of Graine into maulte to sell shall buy any maulte to sell againe. ' Fiftly for the better regulateinge of the Traide of mauletinge his majesty pleased that a competente number of meete persons to bee approued in euery county shalbee incor- porated in to a body whoe may take care for the reformeinge of the abuses nowe practised in the said traide of Maulting and none to make maulte to sell againe but such as are under a gouerment and euery maulster admitted of the said society shall use the traide in the Towne or place assigned him by his majesty or by the corporacon and not elsewhere. ' Sixtly that such persons as shall desire to bee admitted into the corporacon of maules- ters for any county shall first bringe a certificate of the juste length bredth and depth of theire cesternes or steepinge fatts which they use or intend to use in mauletinge. ' And for the better effecting this his Majestys servis you are to give warraunte to the high cunstables and cunstables in euery hundred to warne to come before you all the maulesters therein to receive from you his majestys pleasure in this buissines.' The records of Wallingford, being the oldest in the county, give the earliest inform- ation with regard to the industry of brewing and malting. In the Burghmote Roll for 17 Henry III. several women were ' amerced for ale,' i.e. for breaking the assize as to selling ale. 1 This is a very early example of the enforcement of the assize of ale, earlier than the Act mentioned above. A description of the castle of Wallingford is given in I3oo, 2 which states that there were two malting mills within the precincts of the castle. 3 Ale-tasters discharged their office in Walling- ford at an early period. In 1369 these officers did not perform their duty to the satisfaction of the court of frankpledge and were therefore amerced. At the same time more than twenty persons were presented for selling ale by false assize and for refusing to sell it out of their houses. Two aldermen of the borough, William de Harwell and Henry Redynge, were amongst the offenders, and were fined 3^.* Selling ale by false measures was a common offence. In the seventh year of Richard II. over twenty persons were fined i Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. vi. 573. 3 Inq. p.m. 28 Edw. I. No. 44. 3 Hist, of Wallingford, i. 352. 4 Hist. A/SS. Com. Rep. vi. 581. various sums for brewing contrary to the assize and for selling ale by the cup. One Elias Prestone, a brewer, was fined for refusing to put up a sign without his house, and for refusing to sell ale out of his house. The setting forth of signs and ale-poles before the doors was duly enforced by subsequent enact- ments 5 ; and in the time of Henry VIII. all brewers were ordered to sell thirteen gallons to the dozen of ale for Z2d., so long as a quart of malt was not more than 8^., and all tipsters to sell out of doors a quart of ale for a half -penny while malt was at that price. Brewers were to sell in and serve the town at the same price of one half-penny. 6 The voluminous records of Reading con- tain a vast number of references to the trade. In a list of the burgesses in 1510 appear the names of Henry White,' bruere,' and Nicholas Nicolas, ' bere-bruer.' The distinction be- tween the ale-brewer and the beer-brewer is noticeable about this time in most of the towns. Beer is made from farinaceous grain, generally from malted barley, flavoured with hops. Old English ale lacked this last in- gredient, as hops were not introduced into this country before the time of Henry IV., and did not come into general use until the reign of Elizabeth. A curious edict of Henry VII. forbade the mixture of either hops or sulphur with beer. Little attention seems to have been paid to this regulation, for in 1552 hop plantations were formed. 7 As late as 1649 the city of London petitioned Parlia- ment against ' hoppers ' being used, urging that ' this wicked weed would spoil the drink and endanger the lives of the people.' 8 In Berkshire neither drinkers nor makers of drink seem to have feared the effects of the ' wicked weed,' and beer-brewers flourished in all parts of the county. In Reading two men in 1596 are recorded as having taken their oaths for the assessing of prices of beer and ale according to the form of the statute. 9 The province of the brewers was sometimes trespassed upon by the inn-holders and alehouse-keepers, who brewed beer and ale on their own premises. This was not permitted by the authorities, and in 1622 the latter were warned not to brew or sell any ale ' but such as is sold a quart a penny of the best and ij quarts of the 5 Hist, of Wallingford, ii. 77. Ibid. ii. 78. 7 Hops were cultivated until quite recently at East Hagbourne, and at Little Wittenham at an earlier period, where a plot of ground on the north- west side of the Round Hill still bears the name of the ' Hop Garden field,' and another tract near the park is called the ' Upper Hop Garden.' 8 Encycl. Brit, iv 272. 8 Reading Records, i. 438. 405