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
To attend this Fair, and the prodigious conflux of People which come to
it, there are sometimes not less than fifty Hackney Coaches, which come
from London, and ply Night and Morning to carry the People to and from
Cambridge; for there the gross of the People lodge; nay, which is still
more strange, there are Wherries brought from London on Waggons to plye
upon the little River Cam, and to row People up and down from the Town,
and from the Fair as Occasion presents.
It is not to be wondered at, if the Town of Cambridge cannot Receive or
Entertain the Numbers of People that come to this Fair; not Cambridge
only, but all the Towns round are full; nay, the very Barns, and Stables
are turn’d into Inns, and made as fit as they can to Lodge the meaner
Sort of People.
As for the People in the Fair, they all universally Eat Drink and Sleep
in their Booths and Tents; and the said Booths are so intermingled with
Taverns, Coffee-Houses, Drinking-Houses, Eating-Houses, Cook-Shops,
&c., and all in Tents too; and so many Butchers, and Hagglers from all
the Neighboring Counties come into the Fair every Morning with Beef,
Mutton, Fowls, Butter, Bread, Cheese, Eggs, and such things; and go with
them from Tent to Tent, from Door to Door, that there’s no want of any
Provisions of any kind, either dres’d or undres’d.
In a Word, the Fair is like a well Fortify’d City, and there is the least
Disorder and Confusion (I believe) that can be seen anywhere, with so
great a Concourse of People.
Towards the latter End of the Fair, and when the great Hurry of Wholesale
Business begins to be over, the Gentry come in, from all parts of the
County round; and tho’ they come for their diversion; yet ’tis not a
little Money, they lay out; which generally falls to the share of the
Retailers, such as Toy-shops, Goldsmiths, Brasiers, Ironmongers, Turners,
Milleners, Mercers, &c., and some loose Coins, they reserve for the
Puppet Shows, Drolls, Rope-Dancers, and such-like, of which there is no
want, though not considerable like the rest: The last Day of the Fair is
the Horse-Fair, where the whole is closed with both Horse and Foot-Races,
to divert the meaner Sort of People only, for nothing considerable is
offered of that Kind: Thus Ends the whole Fair, and in less than a week
more, there is scarce any sign left that there has been such a thing
there....
I should have mention’d, that here is a Court of Justice always open,
and held every Day in a Shed built on purpose in the Fair; this is for
keeping the Peace, and deciding Controversies in matters Deriving from
the Business of the Fair: The Magistrates of the Town of Cambridge are
Judges in this Court, as being in their Jurisdiction, or they are holding
it by special Priviledge: Here they determine Matters in a Summary way,
as is practis’d in those we call Pye-Powder Courts in other Places, or as
a Court of Conscience; and they have a final Authority without Appeal.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account