English Markets and Fairs. 
103 
As a matter of fact there is, and always has been, generally 
speaking, more direct agricultural interest in markets than in 
fairs. Obviously, the regular weekly or bi-weekly market must 
primarily have been intended for the sale of food, while the 
periodical fair would naturally be devoted rather to the provision 
of commodities of 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. It is scarcely necessary 
to examine how or when this prerogative of the sovereign arose, 
but it certainly dates in this country from the earliest times, 
and is stated by Messrs. Elton and Costelloe to be of Frankish 
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 municipal privileges. In Scotland, 
on the other hand, the right of market appears as one of the 
ordinaiy privileges of a trading town. 
The extent to which, when the country commenced to be- 
come developed, this prerogative of the Crown was invoked may 
be gathered from the fact that during the 285 years from 1199 
to 1483 over 2,800 gi*ants 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 com- 
parison 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 
Table on page 104 shows concisely the various authorities under 
which market rights are now exercised in England and Wales, 
and the different owners to whom these rights belong. 
This table, which is taken from the Final Report of the 
Market Eights and Tolls Commission, does not account for 
the title and ownership in the case of 174 of the present 
markets, while in ten cases it shows that the right to hold a 
market is not exercised. As regards the thirty-three instances 
where no rights are claimed and no markets are held, it may 
be explained that they appear in this Table because, in a return 
