The 'Mop: 93 



vants in farmhouses always bargain for a holiday on 

 fair day. These two main fairs are the Bank Holi- 

 days of rural life. It is curious to observe that the 

 developments of the age, railroads and manufacto- 

 ries, have not touched the traditional prestige of 

 these gatherings. 



For instance, you may find a town which, by the 

 incidence of the railroad and the springing-up of 

 great industries, has shot far ahead of the other 

 sleepy little places ; its population may treble itself, 

 its trade be ten times as large, its attractions one 

 would imagine incalculably greater. Nothing of the 

 kind : its annual fair is not nearly so important an 

 event to the village mind as that of an old-world 

 slumberous place removed from the current of civili- 

 zation. This place, which is perhaps eight or nine 

 miles by road, with no facilities of communication, 

 has from time immemorial had a reputation for its 

 fair. There, accordingly, the scattered rural popu- 

 lation wends, making no account of distance" and 

 very little of weather : it is a country maxim that it 

 always rains on fair day, and mostly thunders. There 

 they assemble and enjoy themselves in the old-fash- 

 ioned way, which consists in standing in the streets, 

 buying 'fairings' for the girls, shooting for nuts, 

 visiting all the shows, and so on. 



To push one's way through such a crowd is no 

 simple matter ; the countryman does not mean to 

 be rude, but he has not the faintest conception that 

 politeness demands a little yielding. He has to be 

 shoved, and makes no objection. A city crowd is 

 to a certain extent mobile each recognizes that he 

 must give way. A country crowd stand stock still. 



