Fairs, past and present : $b A chapter in the history of commerceWalford, Cornelius
History
Fairs, past and present : $b A chapter in the history of commerce
Walford, Cornelius
Fairs
1658. In “Worthington’s Diary” there is an entry made at the
Vice-chancellor’s court at the fair. In Brathwaite’s “Honest Ghost,”
published this year (p. 189), there occurs the following:—
“When th’ fair is done, I to the colledg come,
Or else I drink with them at Trompington,
Craving their more acquaintance with my heart,
Till our next _Sturbridg faire_; and so we part.”
Local events were associated with the fair, as the most prominent
recurring incident in the district, and dated by reference to it.
1660. Worthington speaks of this fair as “the Carpenter’s harvest.”
1665. The fair was again prohibited this year on account of the
prevalence of the plague.
1666. The like by an order in Council “to prevent the spread of the
infection.”
1668. Pepys received so earnest an invitation from his kinsman, Roger
Pepys, that he resolved to let his wife go to this fair. His entry, under
date 15th Sept., is:—“Up by times ... took wife and Mercer and Deb. and
W. Horner (who are all to set out this day for Cambridge, to cosen Roger
Pepys to see Sturbridge Fayre) ... saw them gone, there being only one
man in the coach beside them.” He probably followed some days after,
or about the 29th; but unfortunately the diary is a blank up to 11th
October. It would have been matter of some interest to know his views of
this great gathering.
Edward Kemp preached a sermon at St. Mary’s Church, Cambridge, on the
Sunday before the fair, which was published.
1673. In the Vice-chancellor’s “Little Black Book” is given a copy of the
following letter from Charles II. restoring to the University the right
of weighing hops, which had been assumed by the Town during the Civil
War troubles:—
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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