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 slangy style; and I do not find anything throwing much light upon the fair, except in the matter of book auctions, of which his account is very amusing.

1701. The mayor and corporation having given a company of actors leave to perform at the fair without the sanction of the Vice-chancellor, and in defiance of his authority, the senate, on the 4th Sept. passed a grace enacting that the privileges of the University should be defended and vindicated at the public charge; and in the meantime, to prevent a breach of discipline the authority of proctors during the time of the fair was conferred on sixty-two Masters of Arts, and it was decreed that whoever disobeyed them should ipso facto incur the penalty of expulsion.

It seems that the Vice-chancellor (Dr. Bentley) committed Dogget the actor to gaol, and ordered the booth built for the theatre to be demolished.

1705. The London newspapers of this year announced “That the fair would be proclaimed on the 7th Sept. with great solemnity by the Vice-chancellor of the University, the Mayor of the Town, accompanied by Lord Duplin and Mr. Cadogan, the representatives in Parliament, the Recorder, Aldermen, &c., preceded by red-coats and other officers on horseback, with music playing before them; that it was expected there would be greater concourse of people and a more flourishing trade than had been known for several years past, owing to the conduct of a set of gentlemen who were endeavouring to revive the reputation of a fair not many years ago the most considerable in Europe.” This announcement, which in great part contained nothing out of the common, it turned out was inserted at the instance of a Londoner who was going to see the fair for the first time; and it had the effect of drawing together more people than had been seen there for ten years. The visitor in question records in the “Gentleman’s Magazine” that he regularly took coach every afternoon at the Market-hill (Cambridge) with other gownsmen, drinking tea at the Coffee-booth, “where now and then we had the company of some very agreeable ladies of Cambridge town and education, and a fortnight was thus spent.”

1709. There was published in London: “Nundinæ Sturbrigienses,” a poem in Latin hexameters, of some five hundred lines, by Th. Hill, Coll. Trin. Cant. Soc. It is included in vol. ii. “Musæ Anglicanæ,” editio quinta. Londini, ex officina J. S. R. Tonson and J. Watts, 1741. An * indicates that the poem in question was added to this edition, and not found in former ones. The poem gives a description of the fair as it existed in the reign of Queen Anne.

1710. The question of the preachership of the fair referred to under date 1650, came up this year in strong force. The corporation had usually appointed the minister of Barnwell, but this year they appointed another, a fellow of King’s College. Their right to the nomination was now disputed by the improprietor and minister of Barnwell. The corporation resolved to maintain their nominee, and the opposing parties advertised their intention of standing on what they regarded as their rights. Proceedings were accordingly commenced in the Bishop of Ely’s court. The following year (Sept. 1711) the Vicar of Barnwell published the following:—

Mr. Piers appears to have carried his point, as no mention of a Sturbridge fair preacher subsequently to 1711 occurs in the Corporation books. Dr. Hurd, Bishop of Worcester, was, whilst fellow of Emmanuel, preacher at Sturbridge fair.

Preaching in the Fair.—The services were performed during the two Sundays occurring in the principal period of the fair, both morning and afternoon. The sermon was preached from a pulpit placed in the open air, in the centre of the large square, some 300 by 240 feet, called the Duddery, where the woollen-drapers, wholesale tailors, and sellers of second-hand clothes took up their residence, in spacious booths. In the centre of this square was formerly a tall maypole, with a vane at the top. It was the most orderly part of the fair.

Ned Ward, in his book already referred to (1700), mentions this part of the fair, and says there stands “an old weather-beaten pulpit, where on Sunday a sermon is delivered for the edification of the strolling sinners, who give open attention, as in a field-conventicle” (p. 242).

1718. On the 21st Sept. died, aged 89, Samuel Newton, one of the Aldermen of Cambridge. By his will he gave to the town four booths in the fair, and a sermon in his commemoration was for many years preached at St. Edward’s before the mayor and corporation on the Sunday next preceding the 22nd Sept.

1727. I do not know if there was any speciality in the procession to proclaim the fair this year. The following details are given in Cooper’s “Annals of Cambridge,” under this date. The order was thus: The Crier in scarlet on horseback; twenty-eight petty Constables on foot; three drums; banners and streamers; the Grand Marshal; two trumpeters; the Town music (twelve in number), two French horns; the Bellman in state with a stand, on horseback; four Serjeants at Mace on horseback; the Town Clerk on horseback. The Mayor in his robes mounted on a horse richly caprisoned, led by two footmen called red coats with white wands. The two representatives in Parliament on horseback. Twelve Aldermen according to seniority on horseback (three and three) in their proper robes, the six seniors having their horses attended by as many henchmen or red coats with wands. The twenty-four Common Councilmen, three and three according to seniority. Eight Dispensers in their gowns, two and two; four Bailiffs in their habits (two and two). The Treasurers in their gowns. The Gentlemen and Tradesmen of the town.

The procession was followed by a great number of the boys of the town on horseback, who as soon as the ceremony of proclaiming was over, rode races about the place; and on returning to Cambridge each boy had a cake and some ale at the Town-hall.

This procession was maintained until about 1758, when it began “to be abridged,” owing as it is said to the trouble and charge of keeping it in suitable condition.

De Foe’s Description of the Fair.—1723. This year the fair was visited by Daniel De Foe, and he gives an account of it which I regard as of great value. He understood how to grapple with what he saw, and how to record the results of his inquiry. I give his description with very small curtailment. The account was not published until 1724:

I now draw near to Cambridge, to which I fansy I look as if I was afraid to come, having made so many Circumlocutions beforehand; but I must yet make another Digression before I enter the Town; (for in my way, and as I came in from Newmarket, about the beginning of September;) I cannot omit, that I came necessarily through Sturbridge Fair, which was then in its height.

If it is a Diversion worthy of a Book to treat of Trifles, such as the Gayety of Bury Fair, it cannot be very unpleasant, especially to the Trading part of the World, to say something of this Fair, which is not only the greatest in the whole Nation, but in the World; nor, if I may believe those who have seen them all, is the Fair at Leipsick in Saxony, the Mart at Frankfort on the Main, or the Fairs at Nuremberg or Ausburg, any way to compare to this Fair at Sturbridge.

It is kept in a large Corn-field, near Casterton, extending from the side of the River Cam, towards the Road, for about half a Mile square.

If the Husbandmen who rent the Land, do not get their Corn off before a certain Day in August, the Fair-Keepers may trample it under foot, and spoil it, to build their Booths: On the other Hand, to ballance that Severity, if the Fair-Keepers have not done their Business of the Fair, and remov’d and clear’d the field by another certain Day in September, the Plowmen may come in again, with Plow and Cart, and overthrow all and trample it into the Dirt; and as for the Filth, Dung, Straw, &c., necessarily left by the Fair-Keepers, the Quantity of which is very great, it is the Farmers Fees, and makes them full amends for the trampling, riding, and carting upon, and hardening the Ground.

It is impossible to describe all the Parts and Circumstances of this Fair exactly; the Shops are placed in Rows like Streets, whereof one is call’d Cheapside; and here, as in several other Streets, are all sorts of Trades, who sell by Retale, and who come principally from London with their Goods; scarce any trades are omitted, Goldsmiths, Toy-shops, Braziers, Turners, Milleners, Haberdashers, Hatters, Mercers, Drapers, Pewterers, China-Warehouses, Taverns, Brandy-Shops, and Eating-Houses, innumerable, and all in Tents, and Booths, as above.

This great Street reaches from the Road, which as I said goes from Cambridge to Newmarket, turning short out of it to the Right towards the River, and holds in a Line near half a Mile quite down to the River-side: In another Street parallel with the Road are like Rows of Booths, but larger, and more intermingled with Wholesale Dealers, and on one side, passing out of this last Street to the Left Hand, is a formal great Square, form’d by the largest Booths, built in that Form, and which they called the Duddery; whence the name is deriv’d, and what its Signification is, I could never yet learn, tho’ I made all possible search into it. [Duddery is evidently derived from the old word Dudde, signifying cloth (“Promptorium Parvulorum,” ed. Way, i. 134). Duds for clothes is still used as a cant word, and by the Scotch (Bailey’s “Dictionary;” Glossaries to Burns and Walter Scott).] The area of this Square is about 80 to 100 yards, where the Dealers have room before every Booth to take down, and open their Packs, and to bring in Waggons to load and unload.

This place is separated, and Peculiar to the Wholesale Dealers in the Woollen Manufacture. Here the Booths, or Tents are of a vast Extent, have different apartments, and the Quantities of Goods they bring are so Great, that the Insides of them look like another Blackwell Hall, being as vast Ware-Houses pil’d up with Goods to the Top. In this Duddery, as I have been inform’d, there have been sold £100,000 worth of Woollen Manufactures in less than a Week’s time, besides the prodigious Trade carry’d on here, by Wholesale Men, from London, and all Parts of England, who transact their Business wholly in their Pocket-Books, and meeting their Chapmen from all Parts, make up their Accounts, receive money chiefly in Bills, and take Orders: These they say exceed by far the Sales of Goods actually brought to the Fair, and deliver’d in Kind; it being frequent for the London Wholesale Men to carry back orders from their Dealers for £10,000 worth of Goods a Man, and some much more. This especially respects those People, who deal in heavy Goods, as Wholesale Grocers, Salters, Brasiers, Iron-Merchants, Wine-Merchants, and the like; but does not exclude the Dealers in Woollen Manufactures, and especially in Mercery Goods of all sorts, the Dealers in which generally manage their Business in this manner.

Here are Clothiers from Hallifax, Leeds, Wakefield and Huthersfield in Yorkshire, and from Rochdale, Bury, &c., in Lancashire, with vast Quantities of Yorkshire Cloths, Kerseyes, Pennistons, Cottons, &c., with all sorts of Manchester Ware, Fustians, and things made of Cotton Wool; of which the Quantity is so great, that they told me there were near a thousand Horse-Packs of such Goods from that side of the Country, and these took up a side and a half of the Duddery at least; also a part of a street of Booths were taken up with Upholsterer’s Ware, such as Tickings, Sackings, Kidderminster Stuffs, Blankets, Rugs, Quilts, &c.

In the Duddery I saw one Ware-house or Booth with six Apartments in it, all belonging to a Dealer in Norwich Stuffs only, and who they said had there above £20,000 value in those Goods, and no other.

Western Goods had their Share here also, and several Booths were fill’d as full with Serges, Du-Roys, Druggets, Shalloons, Cantaloons, Devonshire Kersies, &c., from Exeter, Taunton, Bristol, and other Parts West, and some from London also.

But all this is still out done, at least in show, by two Articles, which are the peculiars of this Fair, and do not begin till the other part of the Fair, that is to say for the Woolen Manufacture begins to draw to a Close; these are Wooll, and the Hops, as for the Hops there is scarce any Price fix’d for Hops in England, till they know how they sell at Sturbridge Fair; the Quantity that appears in the Fair is indeed prodigious, and they, as it were, possess a large Part of the Field on which the Fair is kept, to themselves; they are brought directly from Chelmsford in Essex, from Canterbury and Maidstone in Kent, and from Farnham in Surrey, besides what are brought from London, the growth of those, and other places.

Enquiring why this Fair should be thus, of all other Places in England, the Center of that Trade; and so great a Quantity of so Bulky a Commodity be carry’d thither so far: I was answer’d by one thoroughly acquainted with that matter, thus: The Hops, said he, for this part of England, grow principally in the two counties of Surrey and Kent, with an exception only of the town of Chelmsford in Essex, and there are very few planted anywhere else.

... I must not omit here also to mention, that the River Grant, or Cam, which runs close by the N.W. side of the Fair in its way from Cambridge to Ely, is Navigable, and that by this means, all heavy Goods are brought even to the Fair-Field, by Water Carriage from London, and other Parts, first to the Port of Lynn, and then in Barges up the Ouse, from the Ouse into the Cam, and so, as I say to the very Edge of the Fair.

In like manner great Quantities of heavy Goods, and the Hops among the rest, are sent from the Fair to Lynn by Water, and shipped there for the Humber, to Hull, York, &c., and for New Castle upon Tyne, and by New Castle, even to Scotland itself. Now as there is still no planting of Hops in the North, tho’ a great Consumption, and the Consumption increasing Daily, this, says my Friend, is one reason why at Sturbridge Fair there is so great a Demand for the Hops: He added, that besides this, there were very few Hops, if any worth naming, growing in all the Counties even on this side Trent, which were above forty miles from London; these Counties depending on Sturbridge Fair for their supply, so the Counties of Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridge, Huntingdon, Northampton, Lincoln, Leicester, Rutland, and even to Stafford, Warwick, and Worcestershire, bought most if not all their Hops at Sturbridge Fair.

These are the Reasons why so great a Quantity of Hops are seen at this Fair, as that it is incredible, considering too, how remote from this Fair the Growth of them is, as above.

This is likewise a testimony of the prodigious Resort of the Trading people of all Parts of England to this Fair; the Quantity of Hops that have been sold at one of these Fairs is diversley reported, and some affirm it to be so great, that I dare not copy after them; but without doubt it is a surprising Account, especially in a cheap Year.

The next Article brought hither, is Wool, and this of several sorts, but principally Fleece Wool, out of Lincolnshire, where the longest Staple is found; the sheep of those Countries being of the largest Breed.

The Buyers of this Wool, are chiefly indeed the Manufacturers of Norfolk and Suffolk and Essex, and it is a prodigious Quantity they buy.

Here I saw what I have not observ’d in any other county of England, namely, a Pocket of Wool.

This seems to be first call’d so in Mockery, this Pocket being so big, that it loads a whole Waggon, and reaches beyond the most extream Parts of it, hanging over both before and behind, and these ordinarily weigh a Ton or 25 Hundred weight of Wool, all in one Bag.

The Quantity of Wool only, which has been sold at this Place at one Fair, has been said to amount to £50,000 or £60,000 in value, some say a great deal more.

By these Articles a Stranger may make some guess at the immense Trade carry’d on at this Place; what prodigious Quantities of Goods are bought and sold here, and what a confluence of People are seen here from all Parts of England.

I might go on here to speak of several other sorts of English Manufactures, which are brought hither to be sold; as all sorts of wrought Iron, and Brass-Ware from Birmingham; Edg’d Tools, Knives, &c., from Sheffield; Glass-Wares and Stockings from Nottingham, and Leicester; and an infinite Throng of other things of smaller value, every Morning.

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.

1729. This year was passed “An Order for the Registering and Regulating the Prices of Hackney Coaches at Sturbridge Fair,” which was quite a formidable document. I give one paragraph only: ... And whereas in pursuance and by virtue of such immemorial prescription usage and Charters the said mayor bailiffs and burgesses have from time to time taken on themselves the regulation of Hackney Coaches coming to the said fair; and did heretofore take a toll of 5s. from each coach coming to the said fair, which of late years they have omitted to receive in consideration of the great expenses of such hackney coachmen coming to the said fair; and did order appoint and establish the prices to be taken by all coachmen coming to the said fair and there tendering themselves to carry passengers and persons from the town of Cambridge to the said fair, and from the said fair to the town of Cambridge, at the price or sum of 3d. ...

The price (after many more recitals) was fixed at 6d.

1733. There was a dispute between the University and the Corporation as to the right to weigh hops in the fair, as indeed there had been for several previous years. The matter was referred to the Commissary of the University and the Recorder of the Town, who decided in favour of the University. A paper on the subject was drawn up and published by Thomas Johnson of Magdalen College, one of the taxors.

1738. The University published a severe edict against schismatical congregations at Stourbridge fair, and appointed Pro-proctors to see it executed. These measures were occasioned by the fear that the famous John Henley would erect an oratory in the fair. He had applied to the Vice-chancellor for leave to hold an oratory there and had been refused.

1741. A great gale this year blew down many of the booths at the fair, and caused great inconvenience and some damage.

1747. On 29th June the Court of Common Pleas gave judgment in an action of trespass brought by James Austin against King Whittred for seizing his cheese, &c., at this fair in 1745; which trespass the defendant justified by way of distress damage feasant made by him as servant to the Corporation, the owners of the fair. The court held the plea bad in substance, as every person had of common right a liberty of carrying his goods to a public fair for sale.—“Willes Reports,” 623.

1748. A company of players from the theatres in London performed a pantomime called “Harlequin’s Frolics or Jack Spaniard caught in a Trap,” in Hussey’s Great Theatrical Booth. There were also some entertainments of singing and dancing. It was believed these were permitted in honour of the approaching peace. But in the following year there were also companies of players present.—“Annals,” iv. p. 262, note.

1749. The Land Tax assessed on the fair this year amounted to £112 7s. 10d.

Carter the Historian of Cambridge published an account of the fair this year. I shall only quote from it such points as have not been mentioned by De Foe and others. He refers to the name of the fair being obviously derived from the rivulet called the Stour, which has a bridge over it near the site of the fair.

“During the fair Colchester oysters (natives) and white herrings, just coming into season are in great request, at least by such as live in the inland part of the kingdom.” ... “The fair is like a well governed city.... If any dispute arise between buyer and seller &c., on calling out ‘Red-coat’ you have instantly one or more come running to you; and if the dispute is not quickly decided, the offender is carried to the said Court [of the fair] where the case is determined in a summary way....”

1757. Postlethwayt in his “Dictionary of Trade and Commerce,” 2nd edition, speaks of the fair as “beyond all comparison the greatest in Britain, and perhaps in the world”—as it certainly was at this time.

1759. The Corporation ordered the collector of the tolls to provide weights and scales for weighing hops and other goods at the fair, and agreed to indemnify him against any suit in relation to the weighing of such goods.

Peculiar custom of the Fair.—1762. At this fair about this date, there was in practice the custom of “Initiation” or “Christening.” It took place usually on the evening of the horse-fair day—perhaps because there was a species of horse-play about the performance, at the “Robin Hood” inn, famous in the annals of the fair. The formula was as follows:—The freshman was introduced to the elder members in the parlour of the inn, and two sponsors being previously chosen for him, he was placed in an armchair, his head uncovered, and his shoes off. Two vergers, holding staves and lighted candles, assisted the officiator, who was robed in a Cantab’s gown and cap, with a bell in one hand and a book in the other. He commenced the ceremony by asking “Is this an Infidel?” Answer, “Yes.” “What does he require?” Answer, “Instruction (or to be instructed).” “Where are the sponsors? let them stand forward!” A bowl of punch or a bottle of wine was placed on the table handy for the officiator, who then chaunted the following doggrel:—

With several verses more of the same sort.

Then the officiator turned round and inquired “Who names this child?” The sponsors replied “We do,” and then they called the novitiate by some slang name, as “Nimble-heels,” “Stupid Stephen,” “Tommy Simper,” or other ludicrous designation. The officiator then drank and gave the novice a full bumper, continuing the chaunt:—

And then the chorus as before. Then,—

Chorus and conviviality ending up by a formal supper. If several novices were offered together, one ceremony sufficed, with a few necessary verbal alterations.

1771. In a letter of the Rev. Michael Tyson, dated Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, Sept. 12th, this year, occurs the following passage:—“There is an old and curious plan of Sturbridge Fair in the mayor’s booth, taken when it was in its splendour, when its street and square extended all over those fields by Barmwell. I mean to make a copy of this, and to draw up an Historiola of the Fair; but this is too local to be of any entertainment but to those connected with Cambridge. Thank Heaven my Deanship ends on Michaelmas day....”—Nichols’ “Literary Anecdotes,” viii. 569.

1778. Violent storm during the fair; Bailey’s large music booth blown down and many others injured.

1783. At the Quarter Sessions of Cambridge held July this year the following order was made:

“Whereas some disputes have arisen, touching the Intercommon of Stirbridge Fair Green, between the Commoners of Cambridge, and those of Barnwell within the said Town, and a suit hath been instituted in order to try the right of the said Common: It is this day agreed and ordered, that the Costs of such suit on the part of the said town of Cambridge, touching the said intercommon, be paid and borne by the said town; and that the Town Clerk be desired to prosecute the said suit, to assert the right of the inhabitants of the said town to the said Common.”

It is recorded that some of the scenes at the fair about this date were of a reprehensible character, and tradition especially points to a booth raised by Charles Day, the character of one of whose patrons is sketched with a free hand in “Nichols’ Literary Anecdotes,” viii. p. 540.

1786. There was published “The History and Antiquities of Barnwell Abbey, and of Sturbridge Fair” (being a reprint of “Bibliotheca Topographica Britannica,” No. xxxviii.), from which I have drawn some of the preceding details.

1789. An interesting and amusing account of the fair as it appeared in 1789—reign of George III.—is given in “Reminiscences of Cambridge,” by Henry Gunning, formerly an Esquire Bedell, vol. i., pp. 149-158, second edition, London, 1855.