The Disposal of Farm Pj'oditce. 227 



Its name is derived from, " feria," tlie ecclesiastical term for a 

 saint's day ; its origin is lost amidst the ancient customs of some 

 tribal community, and its date of fixture probably originated 

 from the commemoration of a pagan festival. Its usage was 

 well known throughout Europe, and there were German fairs in 

 the ninth century. On the other hand, the right of establishing 

 a market was ever the prerogative of the State. In the days of 

 the Roman Republic the Senate exercised jurisdictory authority 

 to grant or refuse such rights to landowners. The Frankish 

 kings claimed plenary powers over all transactions connected 

 with trade and traffic ; and the early English sovereigns reserved 

 among the jura regalia fullest authority over all commercial 

 dealings, such as the exercise of police precautions, the right 

 to keep a private beam, yard measure, or bushel, the exaction 

 of tolls upon shipping in harbours and transport by road or 

 river, and the grant of a market. Not a single unit of these 

 various powers was obtained by either individual or corporation 

 without a royal grant. 



The fair was partly a religious festival, partly an opportunity 

 for pleasure-making, but principally an occasion for commerce. 

 The market was wholly a business resort. In the times now 

 the subject of inquiry it was dangerous for a purchaser of 

 goods to transact a private sale, since he would be naturally 

 compelled by law to hand the goods over to any individual who 

 could substantiate a better title to their possession than the 

 vendor. In market overt, the act of purchase in itself consti- 

 tuted a valid title, and the toll was originally established as a 

 testimony to the contract. "We have already alluded, when 

 discussing the Saxon era, to the practice of discountenancing 

 private barter: the statute of King Ina, prohibiting the sale of 

 goods outside a town except in the presence of witnesses, is a 

 case in point. The ^Yitan of Athelstan passed a similar Act; 

 and the Norman Conqueror testified to the wisdom of such 

 legislation by continuing the practice. 



The right of toll, or the liberty of holding markets and trade 

 jurisdiction within the lands belonging to the recipient of such 

 a grant, was by this time limited to spots where custom or 

 charter gave proof of a prescriptive right. During the reigns 



