The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1884-03-18 00:00:00

DORCHZSTER SLAYS 61-11'0i" PAIL

The irrepressible George 'One from gag
Plough," gives the following highly-coloured version
of the tonal " hlrbtg fair ":
liir,—H•ving Just returaed from • few dam' agimeme
essoneet the farm lab wirers of Dirket. I seed you • very
smell deecripti on of what I witnessed at,, attending •
few other meet ems. I a r red at D ceMeter oa the
morning of the Writs( fair, which la held on the outakhts
of the town. X en, women, end childrea were coming
from all parte to tire thermelvos for twelve mouths but
goxt men seldom attend the fair, for the MAiii•r knows
his bog too well. WO*. the men get old and nearly
worts out, they are obliged tog. to the fair. The fanners
have bed *good opportunity the Met twelve yea-. to eel
rid of their old wryest& with ths plea that they bolos/ to
the nation, sad so they are drives off to the fair, and
their places filled by younger men. They stead about on
the kerb in rowe—fatteer. mother, and ehildree Tse
fanners go round, look them tip and down, take of their
histe, feel their astucles, tell theca to rand upright, walk
out, •.k them whether their Wiese eejor good Iteetit, how
newsy children they have, what they went each for them,
what they ma do, and whet wages do they want. " you
have a Am lad of 17, but I don's went him L"the father
and mother entreat the former to take the lad,
bet the higher power ear. no the lad le not
wasted. He becomes bewildered, hears in the
distanee • file and drum bead with reernitheg serpents.
an 1 the poor prism fellow le &Ives In this way to
Tab is the and breaking tip of • family. The
lu▪
men 1111, very pertlealm in avoiding any who hero
been to • board school, for the lees they are educated
the more they are Uked. I should think there were from
1.900 to 1.1100 of them poor people dr,ven in from the
farming district.. I saw • due young man with • heelthy
wife and five oltildrea engage Isif for 10.. per week.
They were @Mediae In • row on the kerh. the mass one
foot on the kerb and the other In the Bonse Um.
after the hug tin sem suede the farmer and the men met
cry "it the Antelope, aril the fernier found by the man's
walk that °se leg was %tn. shorter than the other. The
farmer began Magee the pow fellow for not toting him
this. The fanner etock to hie bergsde, but declared he
wool( roulade no note tutoro running them out. This
(armor,' as • rule, me vary shrewd in their selections.
The beet men are sooa picked op. After twelve o'clock
you ma tell by the look of the people who sr• mugged
and who ere not. If they at. not sawed by this Dose,
you... • cad look and downceet, oareworn coantemees,
and as evening approaches UM look Mamma At night
these people are so unhappy that they do not can what
Mennen of themselves. 'Then you bear the fife and drum
bent approsetelec and thom young men whom the
(maws dmed not itoltite enlist fur soldiers. This Le a
very common way 01 rot:ratting our army. The young
women ts "how they we.. engaged beeome frantic with
sae lir So arlek
of the fair. We bad • bead to play aroma; the fa, is
opposition to the midterm I know the soldiers were them.
selves misused to b 3 gompeitoi to resort to such mesas
to protium restraitt I cot into e mestriation with • very
latelliceat sergeant, who told me that them par young
mei were being driven into D roiliest er from the rural
districts as emu aa twenty and thy, per week, merely
walking skeletoca to Mariam the ranks of the emu,
gad the poor y ...sag women are driven into our Wire
towns, or stop at hems aid are htlfctereed. Surd',
sir, • farm labonmee life is not to he envied I When the
men stick out for more Timm the fanners oft n get
Mgetber tied decide not to give more than 9.- or 10e. 1
saw one tem where two farmers were walking together,
and law a One fellow standing with his wife and obi' Iran
on the herb; one of the idirMars went up and asked him
whet he wanted the man mil lilt sod a shilling • ey
for his wife when workleg. The farmer thee Heed his
friend, who caked him what the man wanted. The
farmer told him, and the other min's reply •as. "Stop
they drink two oot of half.pint cup, ' meanie( MD
when the man was hard op he will be obliged to take
what the (*maser' like to girt. Oft when the men aro
.Diployed at them low wages, thrones being half-starved
they fall sick, and the termer takes up hie time, although
the agreement le for belt r for worse—or sicknem
The remedy left for the man is to take his muter
&fore the ustaistrater, who, as • rule. favour the
farmer, although they kit ew that the poor mac le entitled
to hie wage& • ewe of this sort happened at iirdl4g as
abort time ago, where the anstieirates decided agalad-the
man. I saw the ems in the Paper, and put osecillf Is
eallenealeation with the men, aiso with the farmer and
mairktrelea, and I told them that the oteesion wee boned
'to be revised. A Lawlor WIN engaged, and • fresh
summons was tair•s oat at the Coon',' pond. As 9000 44
it war served it color 'tightened them that they paid the
moneysad • *teens'. I.ow oil and iserm leaving
tielU e
at nlskt. to go borne sad tld that their please
wen Oiled with bib*, moo end that their homes were
wanted, wad they must go. I saw one 1.t.l issat old man
and his wit., TO. to whom I was • stranger. leaving for the
district of Heiden Newton. Ttter were Veld to keys their
house. He said that they wolid rather 1.. killed outright
than go home ant be termed oat of tits le taw in whilst'
they had brought up their children. There wee nothing
but toe workhouse for thew. BMilisr eeees might he
counted by worea--.Yours faithfully, G. NITCII4I.I "One
from the Plough.")