2«<i S. VII. June 18. '59.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



499 



Precinct of Great St. Bartholomew, West Smiihfield, Lon- 

 don, during the time of the Fair and Market called Bar- 

 tholomew Fair, holden within the said Liberty and Pre- 

 cinct, and in West Smithfield aforesaid." 



One is to this effect : — 



« It is Ordered that 

 be allowed to have a ■ 



« By the Court. 



in the Fair and Market aforesaid. 



« To the Officers of) 



the said Court. J 



" Steward of the said Court." 



The other, with the same subscription, is to this 

 effect : — 



" It is Ordered that 



show cause to this Court immediately why 



in the Fair and Market aforesaid, without taking out a 

 Licence from this Court for that purpose. In default of 

 his Attendance, the Officers of this Court ai"e commanded 

 to remove the 



from and out of the said Fair." 



The form of proclamation to which the original 

 long form used by the City had been abbreviated, 

 corresponds with that used by Lady Holland's 

 Mob at midnight before the day of the Lord 

 Mayor's proclamation. I find a difference only 

 in two words, which are obviously the inaccura- 

 cies of a copyist : "strictly" for "straitly;" "the 

 disturbance" for "disturbance." 



The tolls of the fair were : fourpence for every 

 cart or waggon, dray with shod-wheels, or coach 

 with goods ; fourpence for every ram or bull, or 

 score of sheep ; twopence for every unshod dray ; 

 twopence a head for cattle ; one penny for hogs 

 or calves; twopence for every horse-burthen or 

 bundle ; one penny for every foot-burthen or 

 bundle. 



These were the fees of the fair : — 



" For every shew under the Master of the Revels, 3s. Ad., 

 whereof the "Judges have 2s. and the Clerk of the Papers 

 Is. 4d. If under the Great Seal, 6s. M., whereof the 

 Judges have 4s., and the Clerk of the Papers the rest. If 

 a foreigner, he is to pay double for his licence." 



There were a good many fees connected with 

 the legal action of the Court, which varied in 

 amount between four shillings and fourpence. 

 Thus it is, " for finding a Prisoner guilty. Ad. due 

 to the Gaoler ; but for turning the key on him, 

 3s. 4(?." But the person who received most pro- 

 fit from fees was the Clerk of the Papers. 



The weather at Bartholomew Fair time. is to be 

 found chronicled among the records of its Pie- 

 powder Court, from the year 1790 to the year 

 1813, both inclusive, with accidental omission of a 

 note of it for the three days of the year 1806, and 

 for one day in each of the years 1792 and 1794. 

 From this chronicle we may infer that no fairs 

 could have been held, under the English climate, 

 at a more propitious season than this in West 



Smithfield. In four-and-twenty years there is a 

 record of but one wet day for the fairgoers, and 

 even on that day there were gleams of sunshine 

 in the morning. Of the other sixty-six days 

 noted for us, only five were showery throughout ; 

 nine were showery only in the morning or the 

 afternoon, and otherwise entirely fine ; three days 

 were dry, but lowering ; the other forty-nine were 

 days of bright warm autumn weather, with an 

 eclipse of the sun (Sept. 5, 1793,) as a gratuitous 

 show on one of them. 



It is to be regretted that the chronicle was not 

 continued after the year 1814 until 1833 ; be- 

 tween which year and 1839, there are again a 

 dozen entries of the weather upon fair-days. Of 

 the twelve days one is wet, and all the rest are fine. 



When the book opens, at the date of 1790, the 

 records are kept with elaborate care : there are 

 six sergeants-at-mace ; two for the Lord Mayor, 

 and two for the Giltspur Street and Poultry 

 Compters, with a constable, who is a distinct in- 

 dividual. In 1839, and the following years, after 

 the final disappearance of the Giltspur Street 

 Compter from the record, there is only one ser- 

 geant-at-mace from the Mayor's Court; and of the 

 two from the Poultry, one serves also as constable, 

 and one as toll collector. After the year 1846, 

 there attended only one sergeant- at-mace from 

 the Poultry Compter, and he also was both con- 

 stable and toll collector. 



Lord Kensington's steward was, till the City 

 bought his lordship's interest in the tolls, the sit- 

 ting magistrate. The associate entitled to preside 

 on behalf of the City never made his appearance, 

 although, in 1790, — 



" Newman Knowlys, Esq., attended at this Court, alledg- 

 ing to be Senior Counsel of the City of London, and in 

 that Capacity claimed a Right of presiding at this Court; 

 but he not producing any Authority whatever from the 

 Lord Maj'or of the City of London for that Purpose, 

 Therefore such Claim was disallowed ; and no other person 

 attended as Associate at this Court. The fees to the Pie- 

 powder Court, from showmen and stall keepers, were in 

 that year 25/. As. They did not reach 30/. till the j-ear 

 1800.' They rather exceeded thirty pounds in the years 

 1802 and 1803. In 1805 the fees to the Court were only 

 eighteen pounds twelve shillings; ninety-seven persons 

 refused payment, or quitted before demand by the Col- 

 lector. 



" KB. Many left the Fair on the Proclamation for 

 shutting up the Shews, Exhibitions," &c. 



For the seven years following 1807, there is a 

 tendency to steady increase in the receipts of the 

 Court for licences, which rise from thirty-one to 

 thirty-seven pounds. By 1817, they have again 

 fallen to about thirty pounds. In 1818, they are 

 23Z. 1 6s. 8(?. In 1 8 1 9, they are 1 3Z. 1 6s. In 1 820, 

 the first Bartholomew Fair held under George IV., 

 the receipts of the Piepowder Court were only a 

 few shillings above ten pounds, and they stood at 

 nearly the same level, never reaching thirteen 

 pounds, and sometimes falling below ten, until, iu 



