On the Berkshire
downs is the little village of West Ilsley; there from time immemorial
great sheep fairs are held, and flocks are brought thither from
districts far and wide. Every year herds of Welsh ponies congregate at
Blackwater, in Hampshire, driven thither by inveterate custom. Every
year in an open field near Cambridge the once great Stourbridge fair
is held, first granted by King John to the Hospital for Lepers, and
formerly proclaimed with great state by the Vice-Chancellor of the
University and the Mayor of Cambridge. This was one of the largest
fairs in Europe. Merchants of all nations attended it. The booths were
planted in a cornfield, and the circuit of the fair, which was like a
well-governed city, was about three miles. All offences committed
therein were tried, as at other fairs, before a special court of
_pie-poudre_, the derivation of which word has been much disputed, and
I shall not attempt to conjecture or to decide. The shops were built
in rows, having each a name, such as Garlick Row, Booksellers' Row, or
Cooks' Row; there were the cheese fair, hop fair, wood fair; every
trade was represented, and there were taverns, eating-houses, and in
later years playhouses of various descriptions. As late as the
eighteenth century it is said that one hundred thousand pounds' worth
of woollen goods were sold in a week in one row alone.
Pages:
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411