By way of further precaution against fire it was also ordered, that occupiers of large houses should keep one or two ladders for the succour of their neighbours on an emergency; and that they should keep, in summer, _i.e._ between the Feasts of Whitsuntide and of Saint Bartholomew, in consequence of the excessive drought, a barrel or large earthen vessel full of water before the house, for the purpose of quenching fire; unless, indeed, the house should happen to have ‘a fountain’ of its own. For the more speedy removal also of burning houses, each Ward was enjoined to provide a strong iron hook, with a wooden handle, two chains, and two strong cords; these to be left in possession of the Bedel of the Ward, who was also to be provided with a good horn, ‘loudly sounding.’ Nothing could more strongly bespeak the frail nature of the London houses, even to the days of Edward the Third, than the above enactments as to the barrel of water and the Bedel’s hook. The mention of conflagrations naturally leads to some enquiry about fuel. Charcoal (_carbones_) is frequently mentioned: it was prepared in the country, and the suburbs, perhaps, as well, for it is spoken of as being brought into the City by cart; by enactment, _temp._ Richard the Second, it is ordered that charcoal shall be sold at the rate, between Michaelmas and Easter, of ten pence, and between Easter and Michaelmas, of eight pence per quarter, the price of it, as also of firewood, being assessed by the Mayor and Aldermen. Seacoal (_carbo marinus_) too was in common use so early as the time of Edward the Second, and perhaps much earlier, being sold in sacks, and measured by the quarter under the inspection of Meters appointed by the Mayor. Seacoal Lane, in the vicinity of the Fleet River, or Ditch, is mentioned under that name, we learn from other authorities, so early as 1253, the reign of Henry the Third; it had its name from the seacoal being brought thither by water, and there stored. The different kinds of wood used for fuel seem to have been distinguished under the names of ‘_talwode_,’ ‘_faget_,’ and ‘_busche_,’ tallwood, faggots, and (probably) brushwood. Carts with wood and charcoal on sale stood at Smithfield and on Cornhill, and seacoal is mentioned as paying custom at Billingsgate. Ferns, too, reeds, and stubble were sometimes used as fuel.