Fairs, past and present

by Cornelius Walford

I believe the fair now only lasts one week, namely from 22nd to 28th July inclusive. It is a rule that all bills must be presented on the 27th, and protested if necessary on 28th—last day of the fair. The trade in linen and cloth is very large.

Besançon.—This ancient city, a great centre of warfare and of trade from the days of the Cæsars, had once a fair of great celebrity. At a later period it was chiefly notable for carrying on the business of exchange. This business had been perfected at the fairs of Lyons, from whence it passed here. On the first day of the fair the merchants of a certain standing announced the terms on which they were willing to exchange with different countries, and on the second day an authoritative declaration was made of the fair terms of exchange with any foreign country. For this purpose, with the constant fluctuations in all actual coinage, it was necessary to have a unit which should be common to all lands, and free from the possibility of depreciation. Hence everything was reckoned by means of an imaginary unit—scutus marcharum, or money of account: so that the form which the business took was not that of buying bills, but of exchanging these fictitious coins, made realizable in one town, for quantities of actual coinage of another country, according to the authoritatively declared rate, which took account of the difficulty of transport, and of various risks. A scutus marcharum was worth in Genoa 67⅓ soldi of the actual coinage of the place. The question to be settled was what, at this time, shall be paid in Piacenza for a scutus marcharum in Genoa? This was the fair rate of exchange, and the announcement of it was intended to exclude the operations of private speculators (in which it was not entirely successful), and to secure a division of the advantage among each of the parties transacting business. Vide Cunningham’s “English Industry and Commerce,” 1882, p. 278.

Bordeaux.—This city has or had two fairs annually—one commencing on the 1st March, the other on the 15th October; they each continued fifteen days. The October fair was generally the more considerable.

The chief commodities disposed of were wines and brandies, and it was no unusual sight to see several hundreds of vessels beyond the usual average number in the port, some of these being of unusually large tonnage.

The fairs had the same privileges with those of Champagne, Lyons, Paris, and Poictou. The consular judges performed the office of conservators, with the same jurisdiction as those of Lyons.

Caen (Normandy).—This free fair was once very famous. It begins the day after Low Sunday, and lasts fifteen days, of which the first eight were designated the “great week,” the other portion the lesser, because formerly the franchises lasted only the first eight; and because the concourse of strangers was much greater during the early week of the fair.

The merchants dealt in merchandise of all kind, but woollen manufactures were the great speciality. The shops in which the dealers expose their goods here are designated “Lodges.” A considerable number of horses and of cattle were brought to it from the provinces of Normandy. This fair was regarded as next in importance to that of Guibray.

It seems that in 1433 there was an attempt to despoil this fair, by an attack of 700 horsemen, of which I find the following brief record:—“Whereupon they sent the Lord Ambrose de Lore, with vii. c. horsemen, to robbe and spoyle the poore people, commynge to the faier, on the daye of Sainct Michaell the Archangell, kepte in the Suberbes of the toune of Caen.”—Hall, Hen. VI. ann. ii.

During the year several smaller and ordinary fairs are held for the sale of horses, cattle, butter, and poultry.

Dieppe.—This is a free fair of comparatively modern date, said to be the last authorized in France, having been founded by letters patent in 1696. It was first opened on 1st December that year. It continues for fifteen days. All foreigners are at liberty freely to trade here, and goods declared to be for the fair are not liable to seizure while the fair lasts; nor were they liable to inspection by the wardens—a relaxation of practice apparently not quite in the interest of the buyers.