The chief commodities disposed of were wines and brandies, and it was no unusual sight to see several hundreds of vessels beyond the usual average number in the port, some of these being of unusually large tonnage. The fairs had the same privileges with those of Champagne, Lyons, Paris, and Poictou. The consular judges performed the office of conservators, with the same jurisdiction as those of Lyons. CAEN (Normandy).—This free fair was once very famous. It begins the day after Low Sunday, and lasts fifteen days, of which the first eight were designated the “great week,” the other portion the lesser, because formerly the franchises lasted only the first eight; and because the concourse of strangers was much greater during the early week of the fair. The merchants dealt in merchandise of all kind, but woollen manufactures were the great speciality. The shops in which the dealers expose their goods here are designated “Lodges.” A considerable number of horses and of cattle were brought to it from the provinces of Normandy. This fair was regarded as next in importance to that of Guibray. It seems that in 1433 there was an attempt to despoil this fair, by an attack of 700 horsemen, of which I find the following brief record:—“Whereupon they sent the Lord Ambrose de Lore, with vii. c. horsemen, to robbe and spoyle the poore people, commynge to the faier, on the daye of Sainct Michaell the Archangell, kepte in the Suberbes of the toune of Caen.”—_Hall_, Hen. VI. ann. ii. During the year several smaller and ordinary fairs are held for the sale of horses, cattle, butter, and poultry. DIEPPE.—This is a free fair of comparatively modern date, said to be the last authorized in France, having been founded by letters patent in 1696. It was first opened on 1st December that year. It continues for fifteen days. All foreigners are at liberty freely to trade here, and goods declared to be for the fair are not liable to seizure while the fair lasts; nor were they liable to inspection by the wardens—a relaxation of practice apparently not quite in the interest of the buyers. Its franchises and privileges are, that all goods brought into the port of Dieppe during the fair, and there sold or bartered, are exempt from one moiety of duties inwards and outwards. And merchandise imported and not sold during the fair may be carried out free of customs.