supra, 96_ (One Fletcher
loaned 30s. in 1586, he depositing with the wardens "a gilt salt with
a cover"). For numerous gratuitous loans of parish money, see the Mere
Acc'ts, _Wilts Arch. and Nat. Hist. Mag_., xxxv (1907), _passim_. Cf.
also the document of 1586 relating to the parish of Heavitree, in
_Devon Notes and Quer_., i (1901), 61, where it is stipulated (_inter
alia_) that if any parishioner of good character upon reasonable cause
shall desire to borrow from any surplus funds of the church for a
season, "such a one shall not be denyed."
[245] See _Wilts Arch. Mag_., xxxv. Cf. J.E. Foster, _St. Mary the
Great_ (Cambridge) _Acc'ts_ (1905), 208.
[246] In 1564 the parishioners of Chagford, Devon, bought from the
lord of the manor for L10 the local markets and fairs, subject to a
yearly rent of 16s., which they had always paid as tenants. They then
repaired and enlarged the market house. Presumably their venture was a
profitable one, for in 1595 the revenue from these markets and fairs
was L3 10s. G.W. Ormerod in _Devon Assoc. for Adv. of Science_, etc.,
viii (1876), 72. Same, _Local Information reprinted from the Chagford
Parish Mag_. (1867) in _Topographical Tracts_ in Brit. Mus. As it was
sometimes hard for the authorities to prevent the churchwardens from
utilizing the church for plays, so it was hard for them to keep the
wardens from giving up the churchyard or outlying portions of the
church structure for fairs and stall-holders. In Herts Co. Rec.
Quarter Sess. Rolls (ed. W.J. Hardy, 1905), p. 13, we read, _s. a_.
1591-2, that a presentment was made that some part of the "fayer of
Starford has usually been kept within the compase of the churchyard."
See also _St. Edmund and St. Thomas, Sarum, Acc'ts_ (ed. H.J.F.
Swayne, _Wilts Rec. Soc_. 1896), introd., p. xxiii (St. Edmund's fair
held within and without the churchyard. Wardens receipts from
cheesesellers, butchers, etc., for stalls and standings).
[247] As late as 1633 the bishop of Bath and Wells could write to
Archbishop Laud: "I finde that by Church-ales hertofore many poore
Parishes have cast their Bells, repaired their Towers, beautified
their Churches, and raised stocks for the poore." Wm. Prynne,
_Canterburies' Doome_, etc. (1646), 151. Cf. Philip Stubbes, _Anatomie
of Abuses_ (4th ed., 1595), 110-11. _Spudeus:_ "But, I pray you, how
do they bestow that money which is got thereby?" [_i.e._, by
church-ales]. _Philopomus:_ "Oh well, I warrant you,
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