And many a clown the useful notice shows,
To teach ascending strangers—where to pay.
Sleep on, ye imps of merriment—sleep on!
In this short respite to your labouring train;
And when this time of annual mirth is gone,
May ye enjoy, in peace, your hard-earned gain!
1825. Bartholomew Day falling on a Sunday the fair was wholly suspended. Many thousands of persons walking for recreation repaired to Smithfield and viewed its appearance. The City officers most strictly enforced observance of the day: one keeper of a gingerbread stall who plied for custom and refractorily persisted was taken into custody, and held in prison till he could be carried before a magistrate on the following day, when he was fined for the offence.—Hone.
Hone’s survey of the Fair.—It was on the morning following this day that Hone made his memorable visit to the fair, which he has recorded at large in his “Every Day Book” (i. cols. 1168-1251), and from which I take the following condensed description of the extent and nature of the exhibition:—
There were small uncovered stalls from the Skinner Street corner of Giltspur Street beginning with the beginning of the churchyard, along the whole length of the churchyard. On the opposite side there were like stalls from Newgate Street corner. At these stalls were sold oysters, fruit, inferior kinds of cheap toys, common gingerbread, small wicker baskets, and other articles of trifling value. They seemed to be mere casual standings taken up by petty dealers and chapmen in smallware, who lacked means to purchase room and furnish out a tempting display. Their stalls were set out from the channel into the roadway. One man occupied upwards of twenty feet of the road lengthwise with discontinued wood-cut pamphlets, formerly published weekly at two pence, which he spread out on the ground and sold at a halfpenny each in great quantities; he had also large folio bible prints at a halfpenny each, and prints from magazines at four a penny. The fronts of these standings were towards the passengers in the carriage way.
Then with occasional distances of three or four feet for footways from the road to the pavement began lines of covered stalls, with their open fronts opposite the fronts of the houses, and close to the curb-stone, and their enclosed backs to the road. On the St. Sepulchre’s side they extended to Cock Lane, and from thence to Hosier-lane, and along the west side of Smithfield to the Cow-lane corner. In John Street they were resumed and ran thitherward to Smithfield bars, and there on the west side ended. Crossing over to the east side, and returning south, these covered stalls commenced opposite their termination on the west and ran towards Smithfield, turning into which they ran westerly towards the pig-market, and from thence to Long-lane. Again on to the east side to the great gate of Cloth Fair, and so from Duke Street on the south side to the great front gate of Bartholomew hospital; and then resumed to Giltspur Street and so reached the uncovered stalls.