ENGLISH MARKETS AND FAIRS. 43 



proper ecclesiastical term for a saint's day. These feasts 

 were no doubt frequently a continuation of still older 

 pagan festivals, which, in addition to their character as 

 religious functions, were from the earliest times utilised 

 for purposes of trade and commerce as well as for pleasure. 

 It appears to be impossible to dissociate the fair from the 

 festival in early English history, and there is no doubt 

 that, in their original form, the gatherings were held on 

 those great occasions when the national sacrifices were 

 offered and the public assemblies held. 



There is very little reference to fairs either in the collection 

 of laws or other authorities relating to the period of English 

 history preceding the Norman Conquest, although there is no 

 doubt that such annual gatherings took place in many parts 

 of England throughout the whole period between the establish- 

 ment of the Teutonic kingdoms in England and the imposition 

 of the Norman constitution. 1 



Domesday Book only mentions two fairs, and gives no 

 complete list of existing markets. After the Norman 

 Conquest the native British fair seems to have been 

 reconstituted on the continental model, and it was 

 recognised as a valuable source of revenue to the Crown. 

 As foreign trade developed in the time of the Plantagenets, 

 the institution of the annual fair rose in importance, and 

 during several centuries it filled a not inconsiderable 

 position in the commercial life of the country. The fairs 

 were only shorn of their serious importance except for 

 special purposes by the progress of the world, and by 

 the discovery of swift means of intercommunication. 

 When the growth of trade progressed faster than the 

 improvement of the means of communication, the value 

 of fixed centres of periodical exchange was great ; but, 

 as the means of communication improved, the great marts 

 of Plantagenet, Tudor, and Stuart times have, as Professor 

 Rogers observes, " degenerated into scenes of coarse 



1 Ibid., p. 3. 



