III. 5: Middelburg beer porters were the only ones allowed to move beer from the
dock of the brewery to consumers. Their sledges and carts loaded with barrels were a
common sight in the town. ZA, KZGW, Zelandia llustrata 11-463.
with Delft at all. The Lange Dulve or Lange Kreek as it was also called was a
small waterway and by the thirteenth century the name had already been cor
rupted to Lange Delft*1.
In virtually every town in the Low Countries beer had to be delivered by
sworn agents, the beer porters, who worked for the brewers and customers
but, above all, for the tax collectors. There was almost invariably a bylaw
which stated that only sworn beer porters could carry beer away from the
quayside where ships brought it in or away from breweries. Only profes
sional beer porters could move beer and they had to swear an oath that they
would aid the tax collectors in being certain that all beer paid all duties to
which it was subject. At Middelburg the rules for beer porters were so strict
that even if someone else moved the beer, such as a brewer, the porters still
had to get paid at the fixed rate, though that rule was not always honoured.
At Arnemuiden the porters were forced into a guild very early, in 1456. They
were subject to regulation of their wages as early in 1501 but it was not until
54. F. Nagtglas, Gids voor Middelburg en omstreken (Second expanded edition) (Middelburg 1S7S) 4.
99
