NOTES
"last"
A last was a weight or measure that varied according to the type of material.
In the case of herring, it comprised possibly 12 barrels.
"ling"
Tingey followed Riley in translating merlyng as whiting; but the
term could be applied to various kinds of sea-fish.
"packs"
Translation of fez as "pack" is a hypothesis, based on possible
Latin sources: fesella (used for certain types of containers)
or fessa.
"dozen"
In relation to some goods (e.g. cloth), "dozen" represented a volume
rather than a quantity.
"cordwain"
A soft, fine-grained leather originally produced in Cordoba, originally
using goat-skin.
"load"
The word here translated "load" was carke, whence our "cargo"
and (less commonly used now) "charge"; while those terms are today used
in a general sense, they had a more specific use in medieval times
possibly 3 or 4 cwt. according to London's Liber Albus.
"alum"
Used in dyeing cloth; it was the most common, easiest to use, and one of
the most effective of several metallic salts that could be used to fix
the colour a cloth was dyed. Its main source was trade with Italy.
"cumin"
A common spice grown and used in medieval Europe; while it might have been
grown in England, supplies were more likely to have come from
the Mediterranean.
"brasil"
A wood originating in the East Indies, or an extract therefrom, used
for dyeing and in red ink.
"buckes tynes"
This term occurs twice in the list, without the meaning being apparent
from context. Buckets and tubs would be a long-shot translation. Since
the first reference is to them being bound (in a bundle?), and the
second measures them by the brace (? braqe assuming the Latin
brachium), which refers to timber, it appears that the tines
a term used today for the prongs of a fork could have been some kind
of stake. The term tines has, however, also been applied to the pointed
part of an antler, which would explain "buck".
"smack" "hulk" "buss" "cog"
A smack was a small, single-masted boat, typically used
for fishing
or coastal transport. A buss was
a broad-beamed, two-masted, 50-70 ton vessel, also used for fishing (particularly
herring). A hulk
was a larger vessel and the type of ship most commonly used for cargo transport
in the Middle Ages. A cog
was another, smaller (single-masted) type of cargo vessel; it had been
the most common type until superseded by the hulk. The cog was a northern
design (derived from the Norse knarr), whereas the nef (a term used in
this list, but translated simply as "ship", since it became a generic term
for ships) was a Mediterranean design for a trading vessel. Blending
design elements from these two types produced the carrack, which was
the predominant trading ship by the close of the Middle Ages.
"bezants"
Coins usually of gold, but sometimes silver, and varying in value from 10s.
to 20s.; tolls involving such large amounts must surely have been
annual licences (as the case of the salt-laden cart suggests). This was
an international coinage used in commerce.
"pack of garlic"
A tentative translation of le feez de aux. Regarding feez,
see the note above. In the absence of a better
alternative, and since garlic is not mentioned elsewhere in the list,
it is here assumed that aux corresponds to the modern ails.
"dicker"
A measure of ten hides.
"backpack"
Le feez d'un homme is here translated as backpack on the assumption
that the feez (see above) would have been transported on a
man's back.
"sux"
Tingey rendered sux as "sugar", but that does not appear likely
in the context; nor does "juice" (Lat. suxus).
"sheaf"
A sheaf of steel comprised 30 pieces.
"hawser"
A heavy rope or cable used to for towing, mooring, or anchoring a ship.
"hauberk" "haubergeon"
A hauberk was a mail shirt that also extended to cover the legs; this was
the principal element of armour before plate was introduced. A haubergeon
was a shorter version.
"fotmal"
Or formel, a measure of lead, one-thirtieth of a fother probably the amount
here referred to as a load. Today (and in the seventeenth century), 70 lbs.,
but perhaps more in the medieval period, depending on the local weight
of a fother.
"parmentery"
Parmentery was clothing made out of leather; Tingey identifies a chef,
or cheef, as 14 ells.
"bundle"
In regard to the sable furs, the word here translated as bundle is
tymbre in the original; this was a measure comprising 40 furs.
In regard to the sheep skins, the original of bundle is bynd,
which comprised 32 skins.
"arnement"
Some kind of colouring used in ink.
"bast"
A tough fibre obtained from plants such as flax or hemp and used to make
rope.
"badges"
The term here translated "badges" is in the original eymes.
Tingey translated this as "weights", but I tentatively associate the term
with the Latin esmallum, on the guess that these may have been
pilgrims' badges.
"floats"
It is hypothesised here that flotes may refer to floats for nets.
Without explanation, Tingey translates the term as "skeins of wool", but
suggests float-wood as an alternative.
"ray"
A striped cloth.
"grey-work"
A type of fur.
"hazel-wood"
Coudres may possibly refer to hazel-nuts rather than the wood
itself.
"brace"
A hypothetical translation of braqe.
"parnez"
Tingey translates parnez as pieces of woodwork, but on what
authority I do not know.
"four terms"
Michaelmas, Hilary, Easter and Trinity.
"farm of the water"
Probably a lease of collection of tolls on ships passing along the river.