Their discontent was expressed in this poem:
"They hang the man and flog the woman
That steals a goose from off the common
But leave the greater criminal loose
That steals the common from the goose."
Eventually there was some relief given to the poor workers. By
statute of 1773, wastes, commons, and fields having several owners
with different interests may by three-quarters vote in number and
in value of the occupiers cultivate such for up to six years.
However, cottagers and those with certain sheep walks, or cattle
pasture, may not be excluded from their rights of common. By
statute of 1776, the Elizabethan statute restricting locations
where cottages could be erected and their inhabitants was repealed
because the industrious poor were under great difficulties to
procure habitations.
Land could be rented out at ten times the original value. Land was
typically rented out for 7, 14, or 21 years. Great fortunes were
made by large landowners who built grand country estates. The
manufacturers and merchants made much money, but agriculture was
still the basis of the national wealth. As the population grew,
the number of people in the manufacturing classes was almost that
of the agriculturalists, but they had at least twice the income of
the agriculturalists.
The greatest industry after agriculture was cloth. Most of this
activity took places in the homes, but families could earn more if
each family member was willing to exchange the informality of
domestic work for the long hours and harsh discipline of the
factory or workshop.
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