Country Fairs. 81 



in white trousers and vest. The women also were in 

 their " braws," and those of the fair sex who could 

 afford it appeared in white. They generally wore high- 

 crowned gipsy mutches. Then, as now, in matters of 

 dress, the common folk trode on the heels of the 

 gentry. The latter made a point of attending the fair, 

 and several carriages might always be seen at it. The 

 traffic at Aikey Fair, as at other annual fairs of the 

 period, included cattle, horses, sheep, merchandise, 

 and chap-book literature of no very pretentious cha- 

 racter. There was always a wonderful supply of 

 " carvy " and coriander sweeties wherewith the lads 

 might treat the lasses. The shows and amusements at 

 the fair were of a very simple kind. The pipers from 

 the country around assembled, and often a dance would 

 be improvised on the green-sward. As time wore on 

 there appeared the " slicht o' han' men" to divide the 

 attention of the idle and curious. 



Cattle and horses chiefly were the animals exposed 

 for sale at the fair, very few sheep being reared in the 

 districts around it. Most of the cattle sold in the fair 

 were driven south by Savock of Deer, Tarves, Inverurie, 

 Echt, Banchory, the Cairn o' Month, &c., to be fat- 

 tened on the rich pastures of England. Seventy years 

 ago as many as 6000 beasts are said to have passed 

 through Tarves in a continuous drove, a mile long, on 

 their way south on the day after the fair. In 1836, 

 however, only 2200 cattle were counted on this road 

 on the same day, while at the present day not over 250 

 in all appear in the fair, though in 1876 as many as 

 600 horses were shown. 



The merchandise sold in Aikey Fair about 1800 

 consisted chiefly of webs of sacking, bed-tick, a variety 

 of prints often of gaudy colours, cottons in the shape 

 of moleskins and corduroys, of which the outer gar- 

 ments of working men were then mostly made ; wool 

 and yarn were also sold in large quantities. On the 

 day before the fair there used to be a large wholesale 



