extracted from the Appletree Press title Hiring Fairs and Market Places by May Blair. COUNTY ANTRIM For centuries Carrickfergus enjoyed prestige both as a stronghold and as a flourishing seaport. It was the Assizes Town for the county until the nineteenth century, when that position was usurped by the up and coming town of Belfast. It was also an important market town. Fairs and markets were established there by the Normans as far back as the thirteenth century, when John de Courcy received a charter from Henry II. The charter included a patent to hold fairs and markets. Other charters were granted over the years, one being that granted by James I in 1613. This stated that two annual fairs were to be held and two weekly markets, one on Saturday but no day was specified for the other; also a Piepowder Court. The number of fairs increased to four in the nineteenth century.       Horse racing was held at various venues in the town over the years – at the Commons, for instance and at two other places, named by the Ordnance Surveyor as Kirkshall (or Kirk’s Fall) and the Reagh Hill; and at a time by the seashore on the Gallows Green. ‘Human’ racing also took place. For this the tail of a medium-sized pig was shaved and soaped, after which its head and neck were decorated with ribbons. It was then turned loose in a large area where it was pursued by hundreds of people all intent on securing the prize (the pig), which could only be won by catching it and holding on to its soaped tail.       The town grew around its market place which lay within the triangle formed by the castle, the friary and St Nicholas’ Church. In its centre in medieval times was a fine market cross. In 1881 a monument in the form of a large gas lamp with a drinking fountain was erected near the site where the old cross had been. This was known as the Big Lamp and was a prominent feature of the town until it was removed in the late1950s.       But the big changes took place in the eighteenth century. These included repairs to the castle and harbour and the erection of a number of new buildings, including a customs house, a courthouse and gaol, a horse barracks and, most importantly, a fine new market house. The next century was to bring even greater changes, particularly to the economy of the town, in the form of growth in the textile industry, the opening of a shipyard and the establishment of salt mining as a major enterprise.       In 1835 a market yard was built in North Street beside the newly built Presbyterian Church which had replaced an earlier thatched one on the same site. The markets then moved to that area. The most prominent feature in the street was the North Gate, the only one to survive out of four built when the town was walled in the seventeenth century. Farmers agitated to have it removed around 1880 so that they could more easily transport their hay to market. They did not succeed and it was restored in 1911 to mark the coronation of George V. The general market day was Saturday. Pork and butter were sold on Monday. No tolls were collected but a charge was levied for a stall or other accommodation in the new market. The main commodities sold were farm produce and fish. Oysters, turbot, haddock, plaice, sole, cod and herring were all sold when in season. Large quantities of fish also went to Belfast Market or were peddled from door to door in the town. An assortment of potato baskets, brooms, riddles, delph, crocks, tinware, whips, canes, turf and a hundred and one other commodities were also sold. Fairs were by then held on the first days of May and November and the first Saturday in February and August. Pigs and cattle were the main animals bought and sold.       A rather unusual trial took place at Carrickfergus Courthouse in 1808. It concerned a sorceress and a cow. The people of the county were superstitious in the old days. The existence of fairies was confidently and generally believed in; omens, charms and witches too. Witches, it was said, could take away the luck or spoil the milk of a cow. An example of this came to light at the trial of fortune-teller Mary Butters. The story began in 1807 at the home of an Alexander Montgomery who lived close by Carnmoney Meeting House. Alexander’s cow, the sole provider of milk and butter for the family, was still doing her duty as regards the milk but the milk simply would not churn into butter. A number of cures were tried including a blessing of the cow by twelve witches but to no avail. Alexander’s wife was convinced that the cow had been ‘blinked’ – had the ‘evil eye’ of a witch cast toward it – and that they would have no butter until the cow was charmed back to full health. To this end Alexander consulted the aforementioned Mary Butters as to what, if anything, could be done.       Mary arrived at the Montgomery home at ten o’clock one August night and took charge. Alexander and a young man called Carnaghan, she said, should stay in the byre. They were to turn their waistcoats inside out, position themselves at the ailing cow’s head and stay there until she sent them a message to come into the house. This they did until night began to change into day, by which time they were becoming alarmed at the delay in being summoned. They decided to investigate and to their horror found four people lying on the floor of the house as if dead. Two (Alexander’s wife and son) were indeed dead and an old lodger, Margaret Lee, died shortly afterwards. The pair dragged the fortune-teller outside and threw her on the nearby manure heap, where a few kicks brought her speedily back to life. The cottage was filled with the smell of sulphur, which came from a brew of the contents of the charm, which also included milk, needles, pins and crooked nails. At the inquest in Carnmoney, the jury found Mary Butters guilty of causing the deaths of the three victims through the use of noxious ingredients in an attempt to cure a sick cow. However she was discharged by proclamation when tried at the Spring Assizes in Carrickfergus in 1808. Alexander is said to have married again within a few weeks.       Very few towns south of the Six Mile Water corridor had successful fairs and markets, no doubt because of their proximity to the excellent markets in Belfast. Exceptions were Lisburn and Crumlin, both of which had good fairs. Attempts were made to establish markets in several other places. Nicholas Grimshaw tried to start one in Whitehouse for the convenience of the workers in his cotton mill. It did not last long but the town did have a busy wharf, with lighters landing large quantities of coal. On the far side of the county Largy’s Lane Ends had a patent for holding fairs but party feuds prevented them from rising to any importance. Four fairs once held in Ballinderry also petered out. Upper Ballinderry had, however, an excellent corn mill (Walkington’s) built in 1822, improved in 1837 and manufacturing 5,400 x 4 cwt sacks of meal annually.       Glenavy did not fare much better. Under a patent granted by Charles I, markets and fairs were once held there on the first Wednesday of every month, but these were discontinued around 1805 on account of the number of outrages which took place at them. Attempts were made to revive them by offering incentives such as premiums of up to one pound for both the buyer and seller of the highest priced horse, beef animal, sheep or pig; also to the seller of the largest quantity of yarn spun at the residence of the seller. Still they did not succeed. It was, however, a good farming area and there were numerous associated mills round about. One was a bleach mill (situated in the townland of Ballyvorally) which exported all its linen to New York. Its green extended to twenty-six acres.       Extracted from the Appletree Press title Hiring Fairs and Market Places by May Blair. Previous extracts regarding County Antrim: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Forthcoming extracts regarding County Antrim: Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13

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