Rural Sports of Old England. 
BY FRANK S. FINN. 
Number X. 
The poets have always sung the praises 
of this autumnal month, have called it 
“Golden Ripe October” and sounded the 
charms of Nature: “When October dons 
her gown, and the leaves are turning 
brown;” while one, who was wont to ex¬ 
press poetical sentiments, in more com¬ 
mon prose, has said: “After the joyousness 
of summer, comes the season of foreboding, 
for the year has come to its grand climac¬ 
teric, and is fast falling into the sere and 
yellow leaf. Every day a flower drops 
from out the wreath that binds its brow 
not to be renewed every hour the sun 
looks more and more askance upon it, and 
the winds, those summer flatterers, come 
to it less fawningly. Every breath shakes 
down showers of its leafy attire, leaving it 
gradually barer and barer for the blasts of 
winter to blow through it. Every morn¬ 
ing and evening takes away from it a por¬ 
tion of that torpor, which, at length, con¬ 
stitutes its temporary death. And yet, 
October is beautiful still, no less ‘for what 
it gives than what it takes away;’ and 
even for what it gives during the very act 
of taking away. The whole year cannot 
produce a sight more fraught with richer 
and more harmonious beauty than that 
which the woods and graves present dur¬ 
ing this month.” 
It is the month of Fairs and just the 
season in which to enjoy them. One of 
these, which occured in the olden time, 
bore the somewhat odd and puzzling title 
of Tack Monday Fair,” and occured on 
the first Monday after the tenth day of the 
tenth month, and appears to have been a 
mart for the sale of horses, cows, fat and 
lean oxen, lambs and pigs, while such arti¬ 
cles as cloth, earthenware, onions, walnuts 
hazelnuts, apples, and fruit trees were not 
omitted; to which was added quite a good 
stock of tqys, caps, bonnets, drapery, and 
many other articles to please the eye, 
tempt the pocket, and deplete the purse. 
This fair was held in the church-yard; but 
the solemnity of the place did not seem to 
have any depressing effect upon the visitors, 
for they laughed and joked, chatted and 
played, sang and danced, and conducted 
themselves as they usually were accustom¬ 
ed to do at the fairs. Although very little 
ceremony was observed at these rural gath¬ 
erings. there were various ceremonies con¬ 
nected with the opening of them, and pre¬ 
liminary to the same. We are informed 
that the fair was usually announced three 
or four weeks previous, by all the little 
youngsters who were able to become mem¬ 
bers of a niusical band, and could procure 
for themselves the appropriate instruments. 
But what a band, and what instruments. 
Cow’s horns to be blown—and these are 
ten times more hideous than the tin horns, 
with which our urchins usher in our In¬ 
dependence Day, and celebrate the same- 
accompanied by the beating of an old 
saucepan, in place of a drum, and a whistle, 
pipe or fife. And the little fellows went 
about the streets every evening, giving 
these concerts. Upon the last stroke of 
twelve, on the Sunday night previous, came 
the summons for ushering in the fair and, 
what with the tooting of horns, blazing of 
bonfires, noise, bustle and confusion, sleep 
was banished from many a couch and peo¬ 
ple believed “it was time to get up.” 
“Horn Fair” was another odd name for 
another odd gathering. Some of these old 
diggers and delvers, whom we style antiqua¬ 
rians—and to whom we are greatly indebt¬ 
ed for much valuable information are al¬ 
ways endeavoring to trace back the mean¬ 
ings of certain titles to various things, and 
they thought that as this fair always began 
on the festival of St. Luke, the two must 
have been, in some way, connected, and 
they were rewarded for their pains by 
remembering that the old painters always- 
drew St. Luke’s picture with an ox or cow 
by his side, whose horns are conspicuous. 
A procession of horns was one of the 
features of K this fair, and horns of all kinds 
were sold—perhaps the most noticeable 
were horns of liquor. The people wore 
masks, were disguised in quaint and fan¬ 
tastic costumes and assumed whimsical 
characters, and some of the best person¬ 
ages attended, riding in their own carriages. 
But, after awhile, these gatherings lost a 
good deal ofj their respectability, their 
