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On Tue, 4 Dec 2007 01:37:23 -0000, Peter Claughton <[log in to unmask]> wrote: >On Tue, December 4, 2007 12:21 am, Geoff Treseder wrote: >> In message <031201c77e5b$d0172550$ae8d2552@moorestn01>, Mike Moore >> <[log in to unmask]> writes >> >>> Cornish Cases: Essays in Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century >> >> I found the work very accessible and an enjoyable read, a good account >> of the way the tribute system operated, >> >> It didn't really offer any explanation as to why the tribute payment >> method was favoured over tutwork for most stoping activity. I think it >> would be a mistake to think that mine management were trying to encourage >> entrepreneurial flair in the working classes. > >Geoff is right about the book. I commented earlier, based on my knowledge >of Rule's work, and having now read most of the book I can confirm that it >is an excellent book. > >Rule does stress that it was the miner's preference to use the tribute >system, considering it of greater status than working on tutwork, although >the overall earnings were only fractionally greater and, in the short >term, far more unpredictable. He emphasises the speculative nature of >tribute and the incentive provided by the chance of hitting much richer >ore than bargained for. > >The emphasise today is on tin mining but the tribute system was brought to >the state it was in the mid to late 19th century by it earlier use in the >copper mining which dominated the mining industry in Cornwall in the 18th >century. I suspect there was greater chance of hitting rich ore in the >shallower copper workings than in deep tin mining. But still the >management must have considered it advantageous to continue the system >despite the logistical problems of identifying and separately dressing the >produce from each of the tribute pares With advances in bulk haulage and >processing that would become more problematic and eventually lead to the >abandonment of the system. > >> >> John Rule says that Tributing had been introduced to other mining areas >> by Cornish Captains, it would be interesting to learn more of the >> circumstances when it was used. > >It was certainly used in lead mining in mid-Wales but was not universal. >As I recall, and I have not got the detail to hand at the moment, the >system used at Llanfyrnach in Pembrokeshire (south-west Wales) was a form >of tutwork for both ore extraction and deadwork. > >Peter >______________________________________________ > >Dr Peter Claughton, >Blaenpant Morfil, nr. Rosebush, Clynderwen, Pembrokeshire, Wales SA66 7RE. >Tel. +44 (0)1437 532578; Fax. +44 (0)1437 532921; Mobile +44 (0)7831 427599 > >Research Fellow - School of Geography, Archaeology and Earth Resources > >Hon. University Fellow - School of Humanities and Social Sciences > >Office address - Archaeology, University of Exeter, Laver Building, North >Park Road, EXETER, EX4 4QE Tel: 01392 263709 > >E-mail: [log in to unmask] > >Co-owner - mining-history e-mail discussion list. >See http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/files/mining-history/ for details. > >Mining History Pages - http://www.exeter.ac.uk/~pfclaugh/mhinf/ > >_____________________________________________ >========================================================================= The statement above regarding separate dressing of a tributers' ore was certainly not the case in tin mining, where payment was based on a sample taken of the tributer's stuff before dressing, removing the necessity to dress the ore seperately. I am not sure to what extent this was the case regarding tin, lead etc. Alasdair Neill.