Fairs, past and present

The origin of Fairs, like that of many other ancient institutions, is involved in much obscurity. The almost universal belief is that they were associated with religious observa...

In the preceding survey I have intentionally omitted any mention of _England_. Historians of the ordinary type have thought it beneath their dignity to refer to anything so comm...

It has been attributed to Alfred the Great that amongst the many wise and beneficial measures he took for the advancement of this kingdom, was the establishment of fairs and mar...

These Courts, designated in the Latin tongue _curia pedis pulverizati_, in the Old French _pied puldreaux_, alike in each case, it is supposed, in reference to, or as typical of...

Item, it is established That it shall be commanded to all the sheriffs of England & elsewhere, where need shall require to cry and publish within Liberties & without, that all t...

1839-1874. In the 2nd and 3rd Vict. c. 47—_An Act for the Further Improving the Police in and near the Metropolis_—it is provided that Inquiries may be made regarding Fairs with...

owners of any fair held therein (under the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1871) with the consent of two thirds of the members of such governing body, and with the consent of the...

The origin of this Fair—like that of most of the great fairs of the world—is involved in obscurity. The first trace of it is found in a charter granted about 1211 by King John t...

1278. The Commissioners of Edward I. (already referred to) returned upon inquest that King John had granted this Fair for the benefit of the Hospital for Lepers which stood ther...

who should let them to farm to any outcomers or foreigners for certain sum agreed upon between them, should pay to the mayor and bailiffs the third part of the sum for which the...

Paid John Fynne, Clerk to make up the farm of the land called the Chapel ground lying in Sturbridge Fair leasted to the Mayor, bailiffs and burgesses, beyond the money received...

1550. For the better preservation of peace during the fair the Lieutenants and Commissioners of the University ordered a “night watch” to be kept by the scholars and townsmen. T...

1600. On 16th Aug. the Corporation of Cambridge made ordinances that no bailiff should “by any wayes, meanes, or culler whatsoever demise or lett to ferme his bayliwich within t...

1700. There was published “A Step to Stirbitch-fair, with remarks upon the University of Cambridge,” by Edward Ward. Like all “Ned Ward’s” books, it is written in a coarse slang...

1802. During the performance at the theatre in the fair, 27th Sept., a cry of “fire” arose in different parts of the house, which was greatly crowded. Although the manager and p...

While the presentation of the preceding details has been essential to the plan of this work, I desire, by way of appropriate conclusion, to estimate the influence of the fair up...

This is I believe the only fair, or certainly the only one of any note, ever held within the walls of the City of London. Southwark Fair became vested in the Corporation in the...

_First Charter_, 1133. The Prior obtained from the King a Charter, wherein, after providing for an independent election of a new prior by the monks in the event of Rahere’s deat...

1603. The plague was again threatening the City, and James I. issued a proclamation, dated from Hampton Court, 8th August, ordaining that for the “desire of preventing an univer...

1700. _Stage Plays and Interludes._—The Lord Mayor and Court of Aldermen resolved that no booths should be permitted to be erected in Smithfield this year; but on the 6th August...

It is to France that we must look if we would fully comprehend alike the splendour and importance of the fairs of Europe. Even here, as elsewhere, they are now to be regarded as...

I have now to notice some of the other great fairs of France. And here it has to be remarked that while the later sovereigns—certainly down to Louis XV.—adopted the regulations...

_St. Denis_ or _Lendit Fair_.—One of the earliest, perhaps the first, was the mercantile fair of St. Denis, chartered early in the seventh century by Dagobert “in honour of the...

The modern growth of Russia is greater than that of any other European country. Its fairs have done much to facilitate that growth. It seems as if its people were passing throug...

This may now be pronounced the great mercantile fair of the world. It probably bears a greater resemblance (but on a larger scale) to that of Sturbridge in its best days, than a...

Irbit, in the government of Perm, in Asiatic Russia.—The town is small, with a population of little more than 1,000. It is enclosed with palisades, and contains two churches and...