Prices, Food and Wages in Scotland, 1550-1780

by A. J. S. Gibson, T. C. Smout

Overview

This is the first study of Scottish price history to be published, and a major contribution to the economic and social history of early modern and pre-industrial Britain. Using the remarkable series of "fiars" prices for grains and other contemporary sources, Gibson and Smout focus, in particular, on the prices of grain, meal and animal products, and assess how Scots laborers could survive in an economy that could pay only very low money wages. Their conclusions make a powerful contribution to the perennial debate on the standard of living of ordinary people prior to industrialization.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521037808
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	07/19/2007
Pages:	416
Product dimensions:	6.65(w) x 9.57(h) x 0.79(d)

Table of Contents

List of figures; List of tables; Acknowledgements; List of abbreviations; A note on Scottish and English money; Map of Scottish counties and principal burghs; 1. Introduction; 2. The system of burgh price regulation; 3. The system of county fiars; 4. Press reports of monthly market prices; 5. Trends and fluctuations in grain price movements; 6. The price of animals and animal products; 7. Food; 8. Wages in money and kind; 9. Real wages; Appendix I: Scottish weights and measures, 1580–1780; Appendix II: accessing the data; Bibliography; Person index; Place index; Subject index.

Editorial Reviews

"It is a joy and a delight to review a book that is so masterful in the treatment of its subject as to engage the reader directly and immediately by its arguments. This is the best book in price history I have ever opened....a model of its kind." Journal of Interdisciplinary History

"A.J.S. Gibson and T.C. Smout's excellent, scholarly, well-written work....constitutes an important contribution to the history of business cycles....One of the best attributes of this book is that nearly every doubt or query that could conceivably occur to a reader is dispelled or answered." American Historical Review

"This book is undoubtedly a valuable addition to British economic and social history." Albion

"This volume provides an example of informative and well-informed data-gathering that should be a benefit and model to researchers. In this thorough work, Gibson and Smout have provided data components of the standard of living, discussed difficulties of interpretation, and created a model of extensive primary-source scholarship. This volume is a good starting point for exploring the regional variations about which they caution the reader; it is also a good source for those interested in examining the economic consequences of the Act of Union of 1707. It also lays an invaluable groundwork for examination of subsequent standard-of-living changes in Scotland during industrialization." Journal of Economic History

"A masterly scholarly study, this work will be a valuable source for the specialist scholar of Scottish society and early modern economic history....Excellent maps and diagrams." Choice

From the Publisher