medieval-atlas/economic-development/253

Transcription

Overseas trade: the Middle Ages to the sixteenth century Until the introduction of hardy sheep breeds in the late eighteenth century, it was cattle rather than sheep that were to be found in the poorer upland regions. The main cowhide exporting burghs were those that provided market centres for the Highlands and the more westerly districts of the southern uplands. The main overseas markets for hides were in the Low Countries, northern France and latterly the Baltic, so there was surprisingly little trade in hides through the west-coast ports. If the battleground amongst the Scottish burghs had been for wool in the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries, it lay in hides and woolfells in the mid-fifteenth century. In the 1420s, 45% of exports in hides was held by a group of middle-ranking-towns including Inverness, Linlithgow and Stir-// ling. Edinburgh, by contrast, held just P 25%, as itdidas late as the 1460s. By that time other medium-sized towns like Ayr and Kirkcudbright had also claimed 15% 0~4"'