The Assembly Books of Southampton. Vol. II., 1609.1610. Edited by
J. W. Horrooka. (Southampton : Cox and Sharland. 28s. net.)—The Southampton Record Society continues its admirable work of printing the rich archives of the ancient borough. The minutes of the Assembly or Corporation, which met weekly and dealt with local business, are well worth reading. Mr. Horrooks in a valuable introduction discusses poor relief, the regulation of trades and prices, and the commercial questions which agitated Southampton, especially the conflict with the monopolist Levant Company. The Assembly had a drastic way of dealing with profiteers. In 1609 candles were thought to be too dear. The butchers were therefore ordered to sell all their tallow to the chandlers at a fixed price. When they refused, they were required, under an old agreement, to bring all their tallow to market" and to sell it to none but to the townsmen at their peril." Brewers and " tipplers " or ale-house keepers were carefully watched ; a typical entry is : " Christopher Sturges ordered to pay 3s. 4d. for selling a pint of beer for a penny." Tho Assembly deemed it necessary, " for that Sir Laurence Tanfield, Knight, Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer, hath stood our honourable good lord in this suit " about a duty on wines, to send him " a hogshead of very excellent sack," valued at £8. Mr. Horrooks adds some notes about Southampton's cormexiou with early voyages to tho New World. It is probable, he thinks, that John Alden was a native of Southampton, where the Pilgrim Fathers hired him as a cooper. He has found several local references to a ship or ships called Mayflower,' between 1603 and 1610, but the name was common at that period.
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