CHAPTER XXIV.. Fairs of Asiatic Russia.

FAIRS OF ASIATIC RUSSIA.

Irbit, in the government of Perm, in Asiatic Russia.—The town is small, with a population of little more than 1,000. It is enclosed with palisades, and contains two churches and a market-place surrounded with shops. Here in past times a noted fair was held annually, attended by Russian merchants on their way to Kiakhta. In more recent times it has been superseded by the fairs of Yekaterinburg and Nijni.

KIAKHTA (sometimes designated Maimatchin, the depot for commerce).—This town is situated in Asiatic Russia, in the government of Irkutsk, on the Chinese frontier. The fair appears to have been established by treaty between China and Russia towards the latter part of the sixteenth century. The mode of business is after the fashion of those early barter marts, which fairs originally were. The reason for this state of things here is that the Russians are prohibited from exporting their coin, and there is no rate of exchange or other facilities for bills of exchange between the two countries. The Russian commodities are transported by land from St. Petersburg and Moscow to Tobolsk. From thence the merchants and merchandise may embark upon the Irtish down to its junction with the Oby; they can then work up the last-named river as far as Narym, where they enter the Ket, which they ascend to Makoffskoi-Osteog. At that place the merchandise is conveyed about ninety versts on land to the Yenisie. It is then necessary to ascend that river, the Tunguska, and Angara to Irkutsk, cross the Baikal Lake, and go up the river Selenga almost to Kiakhta. On account of the labour of working up so many rapid rivers, and of the incessant transhipments—which can hardly be accomplished in one summer—many prefer to go overland altogether. They make as a general rendezvous the town of Irbit, where a considerable fair was formerly held. From thence the progress is in sledges during the winter to Kiakhta, which is usually reached in February—the season in which the chief commerce is carried on with the Chinese. The Russian merchants purchase on their way all the furs they can find in the small towns, where they are brought from the adjacent countries. When they return in the spring with the Chinese goods, chiefly tea, occupying great bulk, the water route is preferred. Formerly the woollen cloths of Prussia were conveyed to this fair in large quantities—to the value of some £1,500,000—by the Russian merchants. The manufactories of Poland and Russia now furnish the cloth taken to China.

The mode of procedure in the dealings is this: The Chinese merchant comes and examines the goods he requires in the warehouse of the Russian trader. When the price is settled, the goods are sealed in the presence of the Chinese. Both parties then repair to the Mai-ma-tshin, where the Russian chooses his commodities, and leaves behind him a person of confidence, who remains in the warehouse until the Russian goods are delivered. About 8,000,000 lbs. of tea, of which two-thirds are of superior quality, were formerly taken into Russia as the proceeds of this barter. There is a small duty levied on the produce of each country. The trade has fallen off since sea-borne tea became prevalent. Much of this now goes to Odessa through the Suez Canal.

YEKATERINBURG (or Ekaterinburg or Jekaterinburg), in the government of Perm in Asiatic Russia, forming the capital of the mining districts of the Ural. It is a modern place, and a considerable fair has sprung up, superseding that formerly held at Irbit.

FOOTNOTES

We shall find that at a later period the sale of slaves was introduced into the fairs and markets of England and the north of Europe generally.

Suetonius records that Claudius Cæsar made suit unto the Consuls for a licence to hold fairs and markets for his own private manors and lands.—Sueton., ch. xxii.

The protection from “evil tolls” was also a matter of great consequence. It was to be regarded as a security from paying so large a custom or imposition upon any goods that the fair profit is lost therein, and the trade thereby prevented. The original term expressive of this is Mala Tolneta, the word toll or tolt being derived from the Saxon Tholl, Low Latin Tolnetum, or Theolonium, which signifies a payment in markets, towns, and fairs, for goods and cattle bought and sold. It also stands for any manner of custom, subsidy, imposition, or sum of money taken of the buyer for the importing or exporting of any wares; and it may be assumed that the words in Magna Charta were used in their evident sense. The compound word Mala-tolneta, which appears in the original text, signifies bad or evil tolls, or unjust exactions. In the later statutes it is rendered into French by the ancient term Maletout (Vide R. Thomson’s “Notes on the Great Charters,” 1829).

In illustration of the early custom of holding foreigners living or trading in England responsible for the offences and crimes of other foreigners, the following instance may be given. In 1301 a person belonging to the house of the Spini, of Florence, was killed in a squabble with some other people belonging to the same house in England, and the guilty person having absconded, the officers of justice seized the bodies and goods of other persons belonging to the company, and also (luckily for the merchants), a sum of money collected by them in Ireland for the Pope, and some merchandise purchased on his account. He (the Pope) immediately sent a Bull to England requiring the liberation of the people and property arrested (“Fœdera,” v. ii., p. 891).

This practice remained in force in France from the age of Charlemagne down to our own times.

It had before this time been quite customary to hold fairs in churchyards.

In the days of slavery in the United States of America, there was in frequent use the following couplet:

“The Lord him knows the nigger well, He knows the nigger by the smell,” &c.

The Vagrancy and Mendicity Acts were called into aid. Under these, “homeless beggars” were to be sent to their own parish. It is probable that the numbers were too great to be dealt with efficiently.

James VI. of Scotland adopted Troy-weight in 1618; but curiously the Troy-weight (Scots) coincided more nearly with Avoirdupois.

The name signifies Lower New Town, to distinguish it from Novgorod the Great on the Volkhof, North-Western Russia.

This terrace is locally known as Mouravieff’s Folly, in consequence of a tower built by him, upon which he designed to place a facsimile of the famous Strasburg clock, but on so gigantic a scale that the hours and minutes, the moon’s phases, and planets, cycles, &c., should be distinctly visible from every locality of the town and fair!

INDEX.

Accounts, settling of, at fairs, 9.

Actors at Sturbridge fair, 128, 144.

Aix-la-Chapelle, early fair of, 7.

Alarm bells at fairs, 6.

Ale at fairs, price fixed, 81, 82. tested, 82.

Alfred the Great, did he introduce fairs? 19.

Amphyctionic fairs, 3.

Anglo-Saxon fairs, 13.

Antwerp, influence of fairs, 10.

“Ara,” the signal of the money-changers, 9.

Armour from Milan sold at Sturbridge fair, 163.

Asia, early fairs in, 19.

Assize of bread, wine, and beer, 63.

Bacon fair of Paris, 282.

Bailey, Mr., manager of company of comedians, 150.

Bailiffs at Sturbridge fair, 78.

Bakers at fairs, 80, 81, 84, 155.

Barnwell Abbey, history of, 148.

Barnwell (Cambridge) fair, 13, 59, 69, 75.

Bartholomew fair, origin of, 164. charter, 167. new charter, 173, 175. right of holding challenged, 173. review of during four centuries, 181. disputation of scholars in, 182. described by a foreigner, 188. proclaimed by City of London, 190. unauthorized proclamation of, 205. proclamation discontinued, 242. under the Commonwealth, 201, 204. described (1641), 199. visited by a Frenchman, 215. surveyed by Hone, 236. threatened, 210, 213, 217, 229, 232, 240. duration limited, 221, 223, 227, 229, 233. cash taken by shows, &c., 239. suppression of, 223. the end, 240. new, 241.

Beaucaire (France), fair of, 262.

Bells for giving alarm at fairs, 6.

Beer, sale of, at Sturbridge fair, 155.

Berdicheff (Russia), fair of, 285.

Besançon, fair of, 263.

Bible references to fairs, 5.

Bills of exchange at fairs, 267.

Blackstone on fairs and markets, 15.

Book sale at Sturbridge fair, 126.

Book stalls at Bartholomew fair, 239.

Books at the fairs of Lyons, 269.

Booths in Barnwell fair, 60. bequests of, 66, 67, 68, 79.

Booths in Sturbridge fair, 102, 103, 112, 118, 132, 141.

Bordeaux, fair of, 264.

Borough laws of Scotland, 27.

Braisne-le-Comte (France), fair of, 283.

Bread, assize of, 191.

Bridewell boys at Bartholomew fair, 231.

Brie (France), fairs of, 8, 245.

Bristol, fair at, 35, 66.

Bruges (Flanders), fair of, 8.

Butchers to sell good meat, 84.

Caen (Normandy), fair of, 264.

Calendar, alteration of, 47, 230.

Cambridge, fairs of, 35, 55.

Cambridge town, conflict with university, 56, 104.

Cambridge university, rights in Sturbridge fair, 70, 74.

Carter’s account of Sturbridge fair, 144.

Cash receipts of shows, &c., at Bartholomew fair, 239.

Cattle fair at Smithfield, 210, 224.

Champagne, fair of, 8.

Champagne and Brie, fairs of, 245.

Chapel at Sturbridge fair, 77.

Charity dormitory at Nijni fair, 305.

Charters of fairs, 14.

Cheese fair at Sturbridge, 150.

China, productions of, at Russian fairs, 292, 297, 300, 308.

Christening at Sturbridge fair, 145.

Church festivals and fairs, 2, 15.

Churchyard fairs abolished, 25.

Christie, Mr. Chancellor, 269.

Citizens of London attending fairs, 60, 66, 68, 100.

Citizens of London free of fairs, 20.

City of London, grant to, of Smithfield, 198.

Clark, Joseph, the “Posturer,” 215.

Clerk of the fair, 24.

Cloth at fairs, 278, 299.

Cloth trade in Bartholomew fair, 186, 210.

Cloth, right of search, 98.

Clothiers at Sturbridge fair, 136.

Coinage, 46.

College gowns, material bought at fairs, 87.

Cologne, merchants of, might attend English fairs, 23.

Commerce at fairs, 163.

Commonwealth and Bartholomew fair, 201.

Company of merchants from Holstein, 293.

Cotton goods at Russian fairs, 299.

Courtray (France), fair of, 8.

Courts for adjusting differences. See Piepowder, courts of.

Courts of pedlars, 27.

Coventry, fair at, 35.

Crecy, fair of, 283.

Crying the fair, 32.

Dagonizing of Bartholomew fair, 206.

Danish slaves sold, 10.

Day, Charles, his booth at Sturbridge fair, 147.

Defoe’s description of Sturbridge fair, 133.

Dice and hazard tables at Bartholomew fair, 225.

Dieppe, fair of, 265.

Disputation of scholars in Smithfield, 182.

Disputes, adjustment of, 9.

Disputes between City of London and Prior of St. Bartholomew, 169.

Dissolution of monasteries, 180.

Dower, right of, in fair booths, 119.

Draining the Fens, 122.

Drama, the, at Bartholomew fair, 195.

Drapers’ Company, 194.

Duddery in Sturbridge fair, 77, 135, 137.

Duration of fairs, 32.

Elegy on “Bartlemy” fair, 234.

Elizavetgrad (Russia), fair of, 285.

Ely, fair at, 35.

Embroidery, search for, 64.

England, early fairs in, 19.

England, laws relating to fairs, 12.

English merchants attending fairs, 37. at French fairs, 272, 276.

Escheator, duties of, as to fairs, 25.

Europe, early fairs in, 19.

Evelyn visits Bartholomew fair, 201.

Exchanges at fairs, 248.

Executions at Smithfield, 171.

Fair committee, 302.

Fair, signification of the term, 2.

Fairs, origin of, 1. by prescription, 15, 16, 17, 29.

Fair on Mount Calvary, 3.

Fairs, duration of, 33. sources of revenue to religious houses, 2. courts for adjusting differences at, 6, 26. prohibited during plague. See Plague. restricting dealings in, 41. seal of, 248. specific legislation for, 28.

Feast days, fairs on, 34.

Fellowship of Mercers, 37.

Fielding kept a booth at Bartholomew fair, 225.

Fire, alarm of, at Sturbridge fair, 149. at Bartholomew fair, 225, 234.

“Firm peace,” a privilege of fairs, 168.

Fish at fairs to be good, 83. forestalling of, 73, 76, 111.

Flanders, fairs of, 8.

Flemish weavers at Sturbridge fair, 161.

Flood at Sturbridge fair, 1562, 100.

Foreign merchants in England, 21-24, 61.

Foreigners at Bartholomew fair, 168.

Forestalling, 50, 72, 73, 85.

Forsyth (W.), his work quoted, 307.

Four early fairs in England, 19.

France, early fairs in, 8. fairs in, 244, 261, 274.

Franchises of fairs, 18, 246, 269.

Fraternity of St. Thomas Becket, 38.

Free borough, right of fairs in, 18.

Freemen of London attending fairs, 34, 36.

Gaming prohibited at Sturbridge fair, 156.

Garlick-row, Sturbridge fair, 157.

Genoese commerce, 8, 9, 10, 296. merchants at Sturbridge fair, 161.

Germany, early fairs, in, 7.

Goal delivery in Sturbridge fair, 118.

Golden crowns of the sun, 269.

Greece, origin of fairs in, 3.

Greek church, festivals of the, 27.

Guibray (France), fair of, 266.

Gunning, Henry, “Reminiscences of Cambridge,” 148.

Hackney coaches in Sturbridge fair, 117, 126, 140, 142.

“Hand and shears,” tailors at the, 204, 211.

Hangman hanged in Smithfield, 184.

Hanse Towns trading at Sturbridge fair, 161.

Hanseatic League, 23.

Helston (Cornwall), fair at, 13.

Heretics burned in Smithfield, 179.

Hertford, claimed exemption from tolls, 70.

Historical shirt, 203.

Hone’s survey of Bartholomew fair, 236.

Hone, account of Sturbridge fair, 149.

Hops at Sturbridge fair, 137, 139, 143. right of weighing at Sturbridge, 125.

Horners’ Company, right of search, 66.

Horse-bread at fairs, 84.

Horse fairs, 43. fair, Sturbridge, 152, 157. and cattle fairs of France, 282. dealers in French fairs, 247, 250. fairs of Russia, 285, 307.

Hospital for lepers, fair for, 55, 59.

Hostilities suspended during fairs, 4.

Household stores bought at fairs, 63.

Idle games prohibited, 114.

Ill fame, arrest of persons of, 78, 155, 156.

Indulgences sold at fairs, 6.

Initiation at Sturbridge fair, 145.

Inquiries into grants of fairs, 16.

Inquisitions as to fairs, 17, 54.

Inspectors of fairs (France), 248, 273.

International reciprocity, 21.

Intoxicating liquors at fairs, 53.

Ironmonger’s row, Sturbridge fair, 153.

Ironware at fairs, 298.

Ireland, fairs in, 51, 52.

Italy, fairs in, 6.

Jew traders, 7.

Jews at the fair of Paris, 275.

Jitomir (Russia), fair of, 286.

Jonson, Ben, “Bartholomew fair,” 195.

Karkoff (Russia), fair of, 286.

Kasan (Russia), fair of, 286.

Keeper of the fair, 24.

Kensington, Lord, and Bartholomew fair, 205, 240.

Kiakhta (Russia), fair of, 301, 308.

“King’s beam,” 113.

King’s jester, or court fool, 165.

King’s market, Smithfield, 166.

Korennaya (Russia), fair of, 287.

Kremenchuk (Russia), fair of, 287.

Kursk (Russia), fair of, 287.

Land tax in Sturbridge fair, 144.

Lapland, fairs in, 28.

Laws relating to fairs amended, 51, 52.

Leather, sale of, at Bartholomew fair, 167.

Lendit fair (Paris), 275.

Lister’s “Travels” quoted, 279.

Locke, John, at Bartholomew fair, 208.

Lombard exchange at Sturbridge fair, 161.

Lombard merchants, 272.

London, growth of, 185.

London merchants attending fairs, 34.

London merchants attend the fairs of France, 257.

London theatres closed during Bartholomew fair, 219, 224.

Lord of the fair, 166.

“Lord of the taps,” 123.

Lord Mayor, fatal accident to, 212.

Lotteries in Bartholomew fair, 219.

Lynn, port of, and Sturbridge fair, 160.

Lyons, fairs of, 76, 93, 266, 270.

Magna Charta, privileges as to fairs, 20.

Maidstone fair prohibited, 126.

Maimatchin (Russia), fair of, 308.

Makariev, fair of, 287, 292.

Manors, fairs granted to Lords of, 18.

Markets of the Romans, 27.

Mayor’s house at Sturbridge fair, 123.

Measures at Bartholomew fair, 191.

Measures tested at fairs, 83, 85.

Mecklenberg, sale of slaves at, 10.

Menageries, 280.

Menagerie, first travelling, at Bartholomew fair, 222.

Merchant Adventurers, Company of, 36.

Merchants attending fairs in England, 19, 20.

Merchant Taylors’ right of search, 193.

Messen, German designation for fairs, 2.

Metropolitan Police District, fairs in, 49, 51.

Michell’s “Handbook of Russia,” 303.

Miracle plays, 179.

Missa, Latin designation for fair, 2.

Monasteries, dissolution of, 180.

Mont Casel, fair of, 8.

Montely, fair of, 283.

Montrichard (France), fair of, 270.

Mount Calvary, fair on, 3.

Mouravieff’s folly, 293.

Nangis, fair of, 283.

New Bartholomew fair, 241.

Newcastle-upon-Tyne, fair at, 13.

Night-watch at Sturbridge fair, 88.

Nijni Novgorod, fair of, 163, 284, 291, 306. trade at, 303.

Niort (France), fair of, 283.

Nogent-sur-Seine (France), fair of, 283.

Normans, fairs largely introduced by, 14.

North of Europe, fairs in, 10.

Northampton claimed freedom from tolls, 70.

Northumberland, fairs in, 13.

Notaries at fairs, 272.

Nottingham, fair at, 35.

Olearius, travels of, 293.

Olympian games, 3, 27.

Onion fair of Notre Dame, 282.

Orel (Russia), fair of, 288.

Owen Lewy, clown at Sturbridge fair, 150.

Owners of fairs, 53.

Oxford, fair at, 35, 66.

Oysters at Sturbridge fair, 144, 152.

Paris, fairs of, 275.

Passport system at fairs, 305.

Paving the streets, 194.

Payments at fairs, 267.

Parchment sold at fairs, 277.

Pepys on Bartholomew fair, 207, 209.

Pewterers’ Company, right of search, 89.

Philips, W., actor, &c., 214.

Piepowder, courts of, 6, 26, 28, 29, 30, 91, 142.

Piepowder court at Sturbridge fair, 152, 159.

Plague, 44, 46, 101, 114, 118, 119, 121, 124.

Plague in London, 174, 186, 190, 197, 208.

Political allusions at Bartholomew fair, 214.

Political pamphlets, 200.

Poltava (Russia), fair of, 289.

Pope, merchandise of the, 22 (note).

Pork fair of Paris, 282.

Preaching at Sturbridge fair, 123, 130.

Prescription, fairs held by, 15, 16, 17.

Prince of Wales at Bartholomew fair, 227.

Printed matter, sale of, at fairs, 46.

Priory of Bartholomew, 164, 169, 173.

Privilege of fairs, 16.

Procession to proclaim Sturbridge fair, 132.

Proclamation of fairs, 33, 79.

Proctors’ booth in Sturbridge fair, 117.

Proximity of fairs, 16.

Puritans, the, and Bartholomew fair, 202.

Queen Elizabeth, rejoicings on birth of, 73.

Rahere, founder of St. Bartholomew fair, 165. almoners, 166.

Rattlesnakes at Bartholomew fair, 225.

Regulations for markets and fairs, 50.

Religious petticoat, 203.

Restricting dealings in fairs, 41.

Restoration, the, and Bartholomew, 206.

Retail dealings prohibited, 43.

Rheims, fair of, 270.

Rich, Lord, and Bartholomew fair, 184, 188.

Riga, fair of, 289.

Rival fairs, 16.

Robberies in fairs, 40, 184.

Robbery at Caen fair, 265.

Rogers, E. Thorold, on Sturbridge fair, 160.

Rome, fairs of, 5.

Roman fairs in England, 13.

Roman markets, 27.

Rostof (Russia), fair of, 290.

Rouen, fairs of, 270.

Royal grant, fairs originated by, 15, 17.

Russia, fairs of, 284. smaller fairs of, 307. Asiatic fairs in, 308.

St. Denis, fair of, 275.

St. Germain, fair of, 278.

St. Lawrence, fair of, 280.

St. Ovide, fair of, 281.

Salander, Dr. Tobias, in St. Bartholomew fair, 189.

Salisbury, fair at, 35, 66.

Sanitary arrangements at Nijni fair, 306.

Schismatical congregations prohibited, 143.

Seal of fairs, 24, 248.

Search for defective cloth, 193.

Selling after close of fair, penalty, 33.

Setting of willows, 101.

Ships of merchants coming to fairs, 20.

Shoemaker row, Sturbridge fair, 153.

Shops at Sturbridge fair, 151.

Sismondi quoted, 272.

Skinners’ Company, and Sturbridge fair, 117.

Slaves, sale of, in fairs of Europe, 3 (note), 70.

Slaves sold in Smithfield, 179.

Slaves at St. Denis fair, 275.

Smithfield, originally Smoothfield, 165.

Smithfield, stage entertainment on, 220.

Southwark (Our Lady) fair, 197.

Stage plays, 49, 50, 128, 144, 195.

Stage plays, act against, 201.

Stage plays prohibited at Bartholomew fair, 217, 229, 232.

Stars of London theatres acting at Bartholomew fair, 224.

Statute of Gloucester, inquiries under, 17.

Storm at Sturbridge fair (1741), 143, 147.

Strolling player, life of, 226.

Sturbridge chapel, 59.

Sturbridge fair, 21. history of, 54. impeached, 75. new charter, 92, 106. De Foe’s description of, 133. plan of, 147. merchandise at, 149. money taken at, 152. last time called by university, 154. proclamation by university, 154. proclamation by town, 158.

Sunday fairs, 34.

Sunday trading prohibited, 156, 192.

Supplies purchased at fairs, 103.

Suspected people to be arrested, 99.

Tallow, sale of, 72.

Theatrical performances, 49.

Thermopylæ, fairs of, 4.

Tolls of fairs, 15, 21 (note), 65, 69, 94.

Tolls, Bartholomew fair, 169, 176, 180, 205, 209, 230, 240, 241.

Torhout, fair of, 8.

Toulon, fair of, 271.

Trespass at Sturbridge fair, 143.

Tribunals of commerce, 28.

Troy weight, 272.

Troyes, fairs of, 7, 271.

Tunbridge ware at Sturbridge fair, 154.

Tuscan merchants, 272.

Tyre, fairs of, 4.

Tyson, Rev. Michael, 146.

Universities, rights of, reserved, 43.

Venetian merchants at Sturbridge fair, 161.

Victuals, measures for sale of, to be sealed, 156.

Voronej, fair of, 290.

Walden claimed freedom from tolls, 70.

Wales, fairs in, 18, 39.

Wallace executed in Smithfield, 171.

Wallace’s “Russia” quoted, 306.

Warden of the fair, 249.

Wardens of the privileges, 247.

Weights for fairs, 25.

Weighing goods at Sturbridge fair, 145.

Weights in Bartholomew fair, 191.

Westminster, statute of, 23.

Wine at fairs, price fixed, 83, 156.

Wines at Bordeaux fair, 264.

Winter fair, Russia, 307.

Wood at fairs to be good, 86.

Wooden ware, Sturbridge, 157.

Wool at Sturbridge fair, 139, 162.

Woollen goods at fairs, 278.

Women, “unhonest,” excluded from Sturbridge fair, 155, 156.

Wrestling matches in Bartholomew fair, 198.

Yekaterinburg (Russia), fair of, 310.

Zytomiers (Russia), fair of, 286.

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* * * * *

On Antique Paper, and bound in imitation panelled calf. 7s. 6d. On Handmade Paper, bound in Roxburgh, with gilt top. 9s.

CHAPTERS IN THE HISTORY OF OLD ST. PAUL’S.

By the Rev. Dr. W. SPARROW SIMPSON, F.S.A., Minor Canon of St. Paul’s, one of the Hon. Librarians of the Archbishop of Canterbury.

With Two Illustrations, and a Facsimile from a Manuscript of the Twelfth Century written in the Scriptorium of the Cathedral.

LONDON: ELLIOT STOCK, 62, PATERNOSTER ROW, E.C.