46 AN AGRICULTURAL FAGGOT. 



primarily have been intended for the sale of food, while 

 the periodical fair would naturally be devoted rather to 

 the provision of commodities in less frequent use. 



The English market system grew up by means of 

 Royal grants ; and, generally speaking, the ordinary 

 means, up to a recent period, by which a market was 

 established was by soliciting and obtaining a concession 

 from the Crown of the franchise or privilege to hold a 

 market. This prerogative of the sovereign dates in this 

 country from the earliest times, and is stated by Messrs. 

 Elton and Costelloe to be of Prankish origin. At any 

 rate, in the early English kingdoms the right of holding 

 markets was among the jura regalia, which might be made 

 matter of grant and transferred . as a franchise into the 

 possession of a subject. It is noteworthy that the market 

 right was always granted in England to individuals ; 

 even when the franchise was enjoyed by a corporation, its 

 origin was, in theory, independent of the ordinary muni- 

 cipal privileges. In Scotland, on the other hand, the 

 right of market appears as one of the ordinary privileges 

 of a trading town. 



The extent to which, when the country commenced 

 to become developed, this prerogative of the Crown 

 was invoked may be gathered from the fact that from 

 1199 to 1483 over 2,800 grants of markets and fairs 

 were made, and more than half of these were made 

 during the first seventy-four years of that period. It 

 may be of interest to add, for comparison with a much 

 later time, that during the period 1700 to 1846 the 

 number of grants was ninety-three. Since the abolition 

 of the system of Royal grants, many markets have been 

 established under Act of Parliament, and subject to the 

 supervision of the Local Government Board, which, 

 however, only deals with markets in the hands of local 

 authorities. The following table shows concisely the 

 various authorities under which market rights are now 

 exercised in England and Wales, and the different owners 



