Fairs Of Old England

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 86, 12 April 1941, Page 17 (Supplement)

Fairs Of Old England

pAIRS have always played an important part in the promotion of trade. They do at the present time, though the fairs that were held in England just prior to the war were very different from those festive fairs that used to be held in different parts of the country. The object at the back of them was, however, much the same. That object is to promote trade, to facilitate the exchange of goods. Yet the pill which is thus offered for trade's sake has to have a sugar coating of attractiveness and entertainment. Most people think of fairs as those gav go-as-you-please gatherings at which some people do some 6ort of business during the day, while another set of people do a sort of catcli-penny business at the roundabouts aifd the stalls half the night. But the fairs as they used to exist were the very veins through which the trade, the life blood, of the country circulated. Continued for Weeks

By Roderick Random

These fairs, many of them of great antiquity, continued for several days, sometimes, indeed, for weeks. Northampton fair, for instance, was later (1337) extended to four weeks. Nor was this all, for by the end of the sixteenth century there were no fewer than seven fairs in Northampton, each lasting three days. These were still further increased to some sixteen, including the Wool and Cheese Fairs. A great many of these are still held, though the Wool Fair has been dropped. Many of the fairs were associated with the monasteries. Some of them were so successful that the town merchants raised objections. In one instance, at Bury St. Edmunds, a riot resulted. They plundered the church and abbey and, capturing the abbot with some of the monks, made him seal a grant of the foils and government of the fair to the Guild of Merchants and Aldermen. This instrument, however, was quite properly declared void. This particular abbot, though held to be tyrannicseisin acquiring what was his due, and often enough more than was his due, was generous in its distribution once having got it. He kept open table while the fair lasted. Noble persons were entertained in the presence of the abbot, while those of inferior rank were siccommodated in the refectory with the monke. There were different rows assigned for the manufacturers of Norwich, Ipswich, Colchester, the Londoners and the Dutch. Hospitality on all eides was large hearted. The disputes between the townspeople of Chester and the abbot regarding the fair were just a«* acrimonious and even longer continued. The townspeople claimed the right to set up stalls where they so wished in the town, but the abbot held they could do so only at specified points. Ultimately these rights passed in** the hands of the Corpora-

Oyez! Oyez! Oyez! All persons are desired to keep silence while Proclamation of this Fair is made. His Royal Highness Prince Albert, Chancellor of this University, doth in the name of our Sovereign Lady Queen Victoria strictly charge and command: That all persons who shall repair to this Fair or the precincts thereof do keep Her Majesty's peace, and make no affrays or outcries whereby any gathering together of people be made, nor that they wear any weapons upon pain of punishment and loss of their weapons and further correction as shall be thought fit by the officers of the said University.

tion. Considerable trade was done at this fair in Irish linen, Manchester goods, Yorkshire woollen goods, Welsh flannels and Birmingham and Sheffield goods. This fair was famous for the Chester hand or glove. This is a carved repre-

6entation in wood of a Land, and was hung from the battlements of St. Peter's Church as a token of security under which trade might be carried on without interruption. It was a guarantee of justice and good governance to all who flocked to the fair to buy and selL The display of the Chester hand or glove was in accordance with the ancient custom under which before a market or mint could be established it was necessary to obtain the consent of the local judge or ordinary, this in due course being confirmed by the King sending one of his gloves or gauntlet. The glove figured in several other fairs. The charter of the Lammas Fair at Exeter is perpetuated by a glove of immense size, stuffed and carried through the city on a long pole, decorated with flowers and ribbons and attended with music, parish beadles and nobility. It is afterwards placed on the top of the Guildhall after which the fair can start in real earnest. A similar custom was observed at Honiton, and the town crier announced the opening of the fair iu the following terms: "Oyez! Oyez! Oyez! The Fair's begun, the glove is up. No man c-a-n be arrested till the glove is down."