150 THE EXETER ROAD 



before the eyes of likely purchasers, and can safely 

 smile at the wily dealer's exclamations of ' There's 

 blood ! ' ' Get up. my beauty ! ' and ' Here's the 

 quality ! ' 



The very j^ick of the horsetiesh, however, does not 

 reach Weyhill. The dealers bring their stock with 

 them by road from Milford, Holyhead, Scotland, at the 

 rate often miles a day, and as they thus have to come a 

 hundred or a hundred and fifty miles, the journey takes 

 from ten days to a fortnight. This would be a serious 

 expense and loss of time were it not for the fact that 

 dealers alwavs look to make sales alono- the road. 



The second day of the Fair is known as Mop Fair, 

 or Molls' and Johns' Day. Its otticial title is the 

 Hirino- or Statute Fair. At twelve o'clock, mid-dav, 

 farm-servants, men or women, ' Molls ' or ' Johns,' 

 leave their employ, and, drawing their wages, offer 

 themselves to be hired for the comino- twelvemonth. 

 They stand in long lines, the carters with a length of 

 plaited whipcord in their hats, the shepherds with a 

 lock of wool, and wait while the farmers come and 

 bargain with them. When they have struck uj) an 

 agreement, the men proceed to fix coloured ribbons in 

 their hats, and do their best to have a merrv time 

 with the wages they have just received. 



There is certainly every opportunity of spending 

 money on the spot. Steam merry-go-rounds keep up 

 a continual screechino- and bellowino- • stalls with all 

 manner of toys and nicknacks of the most grotesque 

 shapes and hideous colouring ; cake and sweetmeat 

 stalls, loaded, as Weyhill stalls have been from time 

 immemorial, with Salisburv oino-erl)read ; Aunt 



