The importation of cattle was forbidden by 15 Car.  II, c. 7, which stated that the ’comeing in of late of vast numbers of cattle already fatted’ had caused ’a very great part of the land of this kingdom to be much fallen and like dayly to fall more in their rents and values’; therefore every head of great cattle imported was to pay 20s. to the king, 10s. to the informer, and 10s. to the poor after July 1, 1664.  By 18 Car.  II, c. 2, the importation of cattle was declared a common nuisance, and if any cattle, sheep, or swine were imported they were to be seized and forfeited.  By 32 Car.  II, c. 2, this was made perpetual and continued in force till 1842, though it was repealed as to Ireland, as we have seen.[716]

It appears from the laws dealing with the matter that in the time of the Plantagenets England exported butter and cheese.  In the reign of Edward III they were merchandise of the staple, and therefore when exported had to go to Calais when the staple was fixed there.  This caused great damage, it is said, to divers persons in England, for the butter and cheese would not keep until buyers came; therefore 3 Hen.  VI, c 4, enacted that the chancellor might grant licence to export butter and cheese to other places than to the staple.

The regulation of the export of wool frequently occupied the attention of Parliament It has been noticed[717] that the laws of Edgar fixed its price for export, and Henry of Huntingdon mentions its export in the twelfth century, while during the reign of Edward I it was for some time forbidden except by licence, which led to its being smuggled out in wine casks.[718] The Hundred Rolls give the names of several Italian merchants who were engaged in buying wool for export, the ecclesiastical houses, especially the Cistercians, furnishing a great quantity, and the chief port then for the wool trade was Boston, The export was again prohibited in 1337, the great object being to make the foreigner pay dearly for our staple product:  an object which was certainly effected, for when Queen Philippa redeemed her crown from pawn at Cologne in 1342 by a quantity of English wool, 1s. 3-1/2d. a lb. was the price, and it was even said to sell in Flanders at 3s. a lb., a price which, expressed in modern money, seems fabulous.[719] However, in the next reign English wool began to decline in price, owing probably to changes in fashion, but the long wools maintained their superiority and their export was forbidden by Henry VI and Elizabeth.[720]

In the reign of James I it was confessed ’that the cloth of this kingdom hath wanted both estimation and vent in foreign parts, and that the wools are fallen from their stated values’, so that export was prohibited entirely; and 13 and 14 Car.  II, c. 18, declared the export of wool a felony, though 7 and 8 Will.  III, c. 28, says this did not deter people from exporting it, so that the law was made more stringent on the subject, and export continued