ii8 ENGLISH RURAL LIFE 



rural life. In the XVIIIth century there were in Eng- 

 land over 800 market towns, so there would have been 

 such a town within reach of most villages, with, as a 

 rule, its modest shops, its weekly market and its annual 

 fair. The markets seem to have confined themselves in 

 the main to the trade in corn and other produce of the 

 farms, with perhaps, in addition, such implements, tools, 

 and household articles as farmers needed. But market 

 day was, in the country, something more than a busi- 

 ness affair : it was and still is a social function, at which 

 people collect not only to buy and sell but to see their 

 friends. It was on market day the villagers heard the 

 news of the world, for it is unlikely that such news- 

 papers and newsletters as there were in those days 

 circulated much in the villages ; indeed, outside the 

 houses of the squire and the parson, there were few 

 villagers able to read. 



The fairs, which in the XVIIIth century were held at 

 about 1,500 centres, were still very considerable events, 

 and at the more important, business on a large scale 

 was done by dealers who collected from all over 

 England. The chief articles dealt in were cattle, 

 horses, pigs and other stock, but there were fairs for 

 materials, such as cloth, yarn, linen, etc. Hiring fairs 

 continued to be held in some parts of the country, 

 whilst other fairs were devoted to a special article 

 such as cheese, cherries, onions, stockings, shoes or 

 'shepherds' curs.' The whole country-side must have 

 collected at these fairs for business and pleasure. 



It was not only trade that grew. Sport became more 

 and more a great interest. English landowners had, by 

 the passing of the law of 1670, secured a practical 

 monopoly of game ; and they now showed a growing 

 fondness for the sport of shooting partridges, pheasants, 



