 |
Search the site:
 |
|
|
extracted from the Appletree Press title Hiring Fairs and Market Places by May Blair.
COUNTY ANTRIMOne of the long-established and more notable fairs took place at Crebilly, where twelve townlands had been granted to the O’Hara family by Henry II in the twelfth century. Held in July and August, these were said to be very large, with hundreds of cattle, horses, sheep and pigs being sold at them. Again, tents selling whiskey were much in evidence, resulting in the usual party riots towards evening. These started with stone throwing and ended with beatings with weapons called colts. Made with plaited osiers of woodbine and loaded at each end with a lump of lead, these were pliable and not easily fended off with a stick. Tolls at these fairs were collected by the O’Haras, on whose land they were held. Two fairs were listed at Crebilly in Old Moore’s Almanac in 1938, one on 27 June and the other on 22 August.The hale toon seemed tae be awareOf the cluster of villages that lay between Ballymena and Ballymoney in the distant past, the most noteworthy were those at Cloughmills, Clogh, and away to the north of these, at Loughguile. Each of these had two fairs in the early days, increasing to four in Clogh and Loughguile in the nineteenth century. The patent for fairs in Cloughmills stated that they were to be held in the townland of Drumadoon about half a mile outside the town. They took place in June and November for the sale of black cattle, pigs, sheep and horses – mainly Highland ponies. The cattle and pigs were bought by dealers and exported. Around 1870 Cloughmills started a weekly market for pork, butter, eggs, flax and linen webs, and the fairs moved into the village. Twopence was charged in tolls for a horse or cow and a penny for a sheep or pig. The recipient was Sampson Moore Esq. The same rate of tolls applied in Loughguile. The Ordnance Surveyor of 1833 described the people from the mountain areas around Loughguile as a ‘wild lawless uncivilised race’ which frequently created disturbances at neighbouring fairs. One particular family called Murray were renowned cattle thieves. A member of that family who had been transported, returned to be gaoled almost immediately for the same offence. Clogh also had an influx of Highland ponies on Fair Day and in addition a good market for milk cows in May and bullocks in November. Martinstown, Dunloy, Cargan, Braid, Newtowncrommelin and Rasharkin had fairs too. The last had just one, held annually in November. Again the proprietor of the area was Sampson Moore Esq., who received the money collected annually in tolls. But whether the proprietor collected tolls or offered premiums as an incentive (as in Dunloy) most of these fairs succumbed eventually to the success of those in Ballymena and Ballymoney. Newtowncrommelin was unique among all these villages. In 1824 Nicholas Delacherois Crommelin Esq. of Carrowdore Castle in County Down obtained a grant with which he purchased a townland and rented a second in addition to one he already had. These he grouped into a parish and proceeded to build a village, to which he gave his name. The village included a Presbyterian meeting house, a church, three schoolhouses and a ‘very large double-gear mill and kiln’. Fairs were established – no less than twelve in the year. Unfortunately the project attracted the wrong people, namely ‘a class without any capital whatsoever’ and ‘of whose habits as to industry and honesty nothing whatever was known to the proprietor’ and so all of it, so full of promise, came to naught. By the end of the 1830s Nicholas Delacherois Crommelin’s dreams were in ruins. The people in these villages were mostly descended from Scottish Presbyterians who arrived in great numbers in County Antrim in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and had principally engaged in agriculture and hand-loom weaving. During the recession of the early nineteenth century many went to Scotland to help with the harvest, and returned home at the end of the season. Others emigrated, never to return. The flow of emigrants was stemmed for a few years after 1833, when the Lady of the Lake passenger ship foundered on a voyage from Belfast to Quebec with the loss of many lives including a number from the Ballymoney and Ballymena area. Of the remainder of County Antrim’s fairs, the most important were held at Ballymoney, Ballycastle and Bushmills. Ballymoney started off with three in the year: the others had four. In the case of Ballymoney and Ballycastle they were so successful that eventually there were around a score in the year in each town. The number held in Bushmills increased to twelve. Ballymoney had three old fairs held on 5 May, 10 July and 6 October and successful markets held at least twice a month. These were said to be well supplied with yarn, grain, pork, butter and all the necessaries of life, together with linen webs of every description. One of the markets is remembered in a poem entitled ‘The Load of Kale Plants’. As well as selling cabbage plants the writer (who remains unknown), was in search of a wife: 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 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Forthcoming extracts regarding County Antrim: Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 |
All Material © 1999-2005 Irelandseye.com and contributors
