Of The Importance And
Value Of The Trade Of This Place We May Form Some Idea, From The
Circumstance, That
The custom duties amounted to upwards of 2,000_l_.
sterling; and of 1,500 marks a year settled on
The widow of Alexander
prince of Scotland, 1,300 were paid by Berwick.
In the year 1428. foreign commerce attracted considerable attention in
Scotland; and in order to encourage the native merchants to carry it on
themselves, and by their own vessels, the parliament of Scotland seem, some
time previous to this date, to have passed a navigation act; for in an act
passed this year, the Scotch merchants were permitted for a year ensuing,
to ship their goods in foreign vessels, where Scotch ones were not to be
found, notwithstanding the statute to the contrary. Indeed, during the
civil wars in England, between the houses of York and Lancaster, when the
manufactures and commerce of that country necessarily declined, the
commerce of Scotland began to flourish, and was protected and encouraged by
its monarchs. The herring fishery was encouraged; duties were laid on the
exportation of wool, and a staple for Scotch commerce was fixed in the
Netherlands, In the year 1420 Glasgow began to acquire wealth by the
fisheries; but until the discovery of America and the West Indies, it had
little or no foreign trade. Towards the middle of the fifteenth century,
several acts of parliament were passed to encourage agriculture, the
fisheries, and commerce; the Scotch merchants had now acquired so much
wealth and general respectability, that they were frequently employed,
along with the clergy and nobles, in embassies.
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