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170 HISTORY OF CORN MILLING: vol. iv.
^,^,r^}J-rra ^Hc of HIs mllls— ^>. at Townsend, or the horse-mill,
LIVERPOOL, or nootle mill. 1 wo or three copies or such leases
18. Townsend ^Y Moore remain in the Moore deeds. Taking that
Windmill,
granted to Nicholas Rochdell, November 25, 1671, the
clause
Leased
enforcing compulsion and stipulating the penalty
for its non-fulfilment is found to be as follows :—
Moore Deeds,
435-
Memorials of
Liverpool, 1875
i. 113.
Provided allwayes and upon condicon, and ye said Nicholas
Rochdell for himselfe and his assignes doth covenante p'mise and
grante to and with ye said Edward Moore his heires and assignes
and ev'y of them by theis p'sents, that when and so often as hee ye
said Nicholas Rochdale and his assignes shall have occacon of
grinding anie manner of corne, mault or other graine, during ye
terme and termes aforesaid, y* then and soe often as they or any of
them shall grinde ye same at some of the milne or milnes of ye said
Edward Moore his heires or assignes and not elsewhere : And if hee
or they or anie of them shall make default therein, then to forfeite
and paye, for ev'y Winchester measure or bushell soe grinded awaye,
to ye said Edward Moore his heirs or assigns one shilling of lawfull
money of England toties quoties noie poense. . . . Provided allways
that if it shall happen the above menconed yearly rent, or any p'te
or p'cell of the forseid [multure] of the said millnes bee behind
&c. then it shall be lawful &c. for ye said Edward Moore &c. to
distrain upon the said premises.
The framing of leases in this form had become a very
general affair throughout the kingdom, and obviously
was a commonplace precaution against mills being
deserted by tenants of the lands of the millowners.
Picton, the popular topographer of Liverpool, however,
following the example of Hey wood, the first editor of
the Rental, has fallen foul of it, and chosen to extend
to our day the obsolete prejudice and ill-feeling of two
centuries ago against millowners ; inflicting
on the
memory of the unfortunate Edward Moore a stigma
that only a can palliate.
perfect
One or
misapprehension of the facts
two isolated extracts from the
7?^/^/^/ regarding leases and ''penalties" evoke from
Picton the absurd remark :
'' Machiavelli himself could
hardly have improved on the hard, astute, cunning
selfishness Moore displayed." But let us see. Let us
gather together, not one or two only,
but all Moore's