^JOHN.VY'S SO ZO.VG AT THE FAIR' 147 



of them will Ije things of the past. Their reason for 

 existing will then be quite gone, even as it is now 

 going. Before railways came into Ijeing the fcinner 

 travelled little, and his men not at all. From one 

 year's end to the other they probably never saw a 

 town beyond their nearest marketing centre, and 

 they certainly never made the acquaintance of London. 

 So, since the farmer and his men, the mistress and 

 her maids, could not get about to buy, it follows that 

 those who had o-oods to sell had need to take all the 

 advantage possible of that great and glorious institu- 

 tion, the Fair. 



Bitterly disappointed in the old days were those 

 who, from some reason or another, were prevented 

 from coming to this Promised Land of gay and 

 glittering stalls and booths. Jolly and convivial, on 

 the other hand, were those who had the luck to be 

 able to come. ' Oh, dear I what can the matter be ? 

 Johnny's so long at the Fair,' commences an old 

 countrv sono-. AVe can o-uess prettv well what the 

 matter was, just as certainly as if we had been there 

 ourselves. Johnnv, of course, had oot too much 

 cider, or strong, home-brewed October ' humming ale ' 

 into him, and, as the rustics would put it, ' couldn't 

 stir a peg, were't ever so.' And so the girl he left 

 behind him at the farmhouse had need of all the 

 patience at her command while she waited for his 

 return. She probably didn't much care — for Johnny's 

 sake ; rather for another reason. As thus : — 



He promised he'd Imv me a failing to please me ; 



A bunch of l)lue ribbons to tie up my bonny 1)rown hair. 



