The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 12, No. 333, September 27, 1828

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Various. The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 12, No. 333, September 27, 1828

FIRE TOWER

SOME ACCOUNT OF STIRBITCH FAIR

BY A SEPTUAGENARIAN

NOTES ON NORTHERN LITERATURE

PLEASURES OF SNUFF-TAKING

ODE ON A COLLEGE FEAST DAY

THE TOPOGRAPHER

VISIT TO MATLOCK BATHS

STEAKS

FINE ARTS

THE CAT RAPHAEL

THE COLISEUM, REGENT'S PARK,

MR. HAYDON

NOTES OF A READER

THE JEWS

FRENCH MUSIC

MATHEMATICS

THE SOUTH SEAS

THE OPERA

PICTURESQUE DRESSES IN SPANISH MARKETS

HYMN

MECHANICAL TRIUMPHS

LEARNING FRENCH

POOR-MAN-OF-MUTTON

THE GREEN ROOM

THE SELECTOR; AND. LITERARY NOTICES OF. NEW WORKS

A RUSSIAN WEDDING

THE ANECDOTE GALLERY

DOCTOR PARR

THE GATHERER

OBSTINATE PUN

PARISIAN MARRIAGE MART

GERMAN MODE OF PREVENTING TIPPLING

LIMBIRD'S EDITION OF THE

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(Stirbitch Fair, as our correspondent observes, was once the Leipsic or Frankfurt of England. He has appended to his "Account" a ground plan of the fair, which we regret we have not room to insert; the gaps or spaces in which, serve to show how much this commercial carnival (for such it might be termed) has deteriorated; for the remaining booths were built on the same site as during the former splendour of the fair. Our correspondent accounts for this "decay, by the facilities of roads and navigable canals for the conveyance of goods;" the shopkeepers, &c, "being able to get from London and the manufacturing districts, every article direct, at a small expense, the fair-keepers find no market for their goods, as heretofore." His paper is, however, a curious matter-of-fact description of Stirbitch, "sixty years since." We have been compelled to reject all but one verse of the "Chaunt," on account of some local allusions, the justice of which we do not deny, but which are scarcely delicate enough for our pages.

Stirbitch is still a festival of considerable extent, although it has lost so much of its commercial importance. There are but few fortnight fairs left: Portsmouth, we recollect, lasts 14 days, and there is a fair held on some fine downs in Dorsetshire, which extends to that period.)

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Should the harvest be backward, and the corn not off the ground, the booths, nevertheless, are erected, the farmers being, as they admit, more than indemnified for their losses in that case, by the immense quantity of litter, offal, and soil left on the ground after the standings and booths are cleared away; besides which, they seize on every thing left upon the land after a fixed day. This has sometimes occurred, and the forfeiture of the goods and chattels so seized has been recognised judicially as a fine for the trespass. This local custom, sanctioned by usage from time immemorial, is without appeal.

The booths were from 15 to 20 feet wide by 25 to 30 feet deep; they were set out in two apartments, the one behind, about 10 feet wide, serving for bed-room, dining-room, parlour, and dressing-room, The bedstead was of four posts and a lath bottom, on which was laid a truss of clean, dry straw, serving as a palliasse, with bed and bedding. The front was fitted up with counters and shelves. The stubble was well trodden into the ground; over which were laid sawdust and boards behind and before the counters, to secure the feet from damp. The shutters, of the space allowed for the windows, were fixed with hinges, and when let down, rested upon brackets, serving as showboards for goods. The booths were constructed of new boards, with gutters for carrying the rain off, and covered with stout hair cloth, with which also a covering was made to an arcade in front, about 10 feet wide. Under this the company walked, protected from rain or the heat of the sun.

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