extracted from the Appletree Press title Hiring Fairs and Market Places by May Blair. COUNTY LONDONDERRY The city walls were assailed several times during that century, the most notable being in 1641, again in 1649 and during the historic siege of 1689. It was during this century also that cannons were presented by the various London Companies, the best known being Roaring Meg which was presented by the Fishmongers in 1642.       From the Diamond, four main streets at right angles to each other lead to the four original gates. Three more were added later. This was (and still is) the heart of the city. Fairs and markets were established and held there from the seventeenth century. The number of fairs rose to fourteen in the nineteenth century, and increased to sixteen by the twentieth century. Most included the sale of horses. The Derry horse was said to be a very good animal, never more than fourteen hands high and indefatigable. He was called a clib or clibbock in reference to his long unkempt coat. Highland ponies were also highly esteemed, especially in the Magilligan district where they did not need a heavy horse which might do damage to the soil. In the best areas the farms were good enough and prosperous enough to afford good horses and this was evidenced at the fairs in the city. A market house was built in 1622, destroyed in 1689 and rebuilt in 1692. It served also as a Town Hall, guard room, weigh-house and meal market and held the Mayor’s Office. Law Courts were held on the floor above until the nineteenth century when the building was demolished. Markets were held twice weekly. The main one was held on Wednesday, with a smaller one for provisions on Saturday.       On Market day carts rumbled towards the city along the Letterkenny, Buncrana, Springtown, Culmore, Prehen and Dungiven Roads, for the economy of Donegal as well as that of Londonderry was intimately linked with the port and markets of the city. The carts were loaded with coarse linen, linen yarn, drugget, grain, flax, knitted stockings, cheap crockery, brushes, tinware, butter, buttermilk and eggs. The city was famous for its pre-Christmas goose fair, to which farmers sometimes walked their geese from places as far away as Dunfanaghy, Co. Donegal. Generally geese fed on grass and the value of the grazing of twenty geese was reckoned to be equal to one ‘summ’ (or ‘sum’); in other words the amount of grass that a cow would graze over a season. Eggs and feathers were also sold. Londonderry had by far the best linen market in the area, though its sales never reached those of places like Lisburn, Lurgan or Dungannon. The great linen areas were proud of their success. The name ‘Coleraine’ for instance, stamped on a piece of linen was a mark of very high quality as were Gilford, Dungannon and Dromore (County Down). In some linen markets only gold and silver coins were accepted in payment by the sellers. This caused difficulties for the buyers, who were sometimes forced to exchange bank-notes at unfavourable rates. Apparently this was particularly true in Londonderry and Monaghan.       When the linen trade failed in the 1820s, shirt making started to take the place of weaving. It began as a cottage industry but changed when William Tillie introduced the sewing machine to the city in 1856. Factories were built, and shirt making became the main industry in the city for well over a century, employing thousands of women. Men, especially in the Bogside, Rosemount and Lecky Road areas, reared pigs and sold them to the ham- and bacon-curing factories in Foyle Street and Bishop Street. These in turn supplied the shops with such delicacies as spare ribs and pigs’ feet. Dealers came from far and near to sell their wares, including Johnny McIlroy, the same Johnny who appeared in Omagh, Strabane and other places. Johnny was short and stout with a robust voice and matching sense of humour. On one occasion the crowd remained silent while he expounded to them the merits of a batch of press-button umbrellas. At the end of his demonstration pointing out their usefulness and the necessity for everyone present to own one, the crowd remained silent, hands in pockets. He asked for an opening bid of £2 without response, progressively dropping the price till he reached 12s 6d. Not one in the assembled crowd made a move. At this stage he flung the umbrella down in simulated anger and roared, ‘I hope the bladder of the heavens busts and drownds the lot o’ yiz before yiz gets home.’ The response to that was a roar of laughter and the umbrellas were sold in minutes.       In Donegal going to hire was referred to as going to the ‘Laggan’. This was understood to be that part of the country along the Foyle, the Finn and the Mourne which specialised in agriculture. Most Donegal hirelings hired in either Strabane or Londonderry, where the hiring fair was held a few days after that of Strabane and was known as the ‘Rabble’. The scene is described vividly by an unknown author in the poem ‘Derry Hiring Fair’: Extracted from the Appletree Press title Hiring Fairs and Market Places by May Blair. Previous extracts regarding County Derry/Londonderry: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 Forthcoming extracts regarding County Londonderry: Part 13

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