Among the old family deeds relating to the manor of Wishanger, I find
the following curious and interesting document. It affords evidence that
in 1596 there was a dearth of corn which was general through the
kingdom; that barley was then much used for bread; that there was a
custom, either general, or occasioned by the scarcity, that the poor
should be served in open market, at an accustomed hour; that one of the
means relied upon to supply food to the people was to restrain the
making of malt; and, therefore, that malt liquor must have been very
generally consumed by our forefathers at that time.
The writing is in perfect preservation, and the ink jet black.
I give it in the original orthography, according to the literature of
those easy times when every man spelled that that was right in his own
eyes and the world was little troubled with dictionaries or critics.