The Banner-Democrat. [volume] (Lake Providence, East Carroll Parish, La.) 1892-current, 1900-01-07
FAIRS


The parish fair which took place last
week calls TO mind the antiquity of the
origin of these assemblages of people,
at certain intervals, for the display of
and the trafficking in all the different
kinds of goods that human Ingenuity
GOULD invent. The far" mad its orig
in in the necessity of the interchange
of commodities between people of the
different sections of tho country, ard
even between people of differ ent coun-
tries. Thus the great fairs of antiqui-
~ called together merchants and trad
ers from all parts of the civilized
world, who would meet at the great
commercial centers and offer their
goods for sale or exchange for the
goods from other countries. The means
of communication in the early ages
being very limited. before the building
of great highways or the later inven-
tons in the matter of transit, inhabit-
ants of the different countries bad no
other means of commercial intercourse
except through these international
assemblages.
The most commonly accepted deri-
walton of the word fair is from "feri@,"
name which the church borrowed
from Roman custom and applied to
her own festivals. A fair WAS gen
orally held during the period of a
saints feast and in the precincts Of his
church or abbey the time aud place
of the chief popular mblsges.
Most of the famous fairs of medieval
England and Europe, with their tolls
and other revenues. aud their monopo-
~ of trade, were grants from the
sovereign TO abbots. bishops and other
ecclesiastical dignitaries. And SO very
intimate is the connection between the
fair and the feast of the Saint that the
former has besn considered an off -shoot
or development of the latter. H. is
contended. however, that fairs were
already existing national institutions
long before the church turned them to
her own profit.
The first charter of the great fair
near Cambridge. England. was grant
ed by King John. for the maintenance
of leper hospital; but the original of
the fair itself is ascrlhed TO Carausius,
the rebel emperor of Britain. POI A ID.
And 1t seems, from the data given in
Mr.. Herbert Spencor's descriptive So
Geology" that the country had then ar
rived at the stage of development
where fuirs might have been recog-
nlzed as necessity The Romans had
mfr ket law similar to that of Medi-
eval Europe. and it is supposed hat
the great fairs If Lyons were a special
privilege granted by Roman conquer
ors. The fairs of pre-Spanish Mexico.
at the time of its Conquest by Cortez.
reminded the Spaniards of their own
institutions IN Salamanca and Granada.
Notwithstanding the great antiquity
Of fairs, their charters are comparative
ly If modern origin-the Oldest known
being that of st. Denys. Paris, which
Dagohert. King Of the Franks. grant
ed (642 A D. to the monks of the
place ..for the glory of God, and the
honour of ST. Denys at his festival"
The first recorded grant for q fair in
England was that of William the
Conqueror to the Bishop of Winchester.
for leave to hold all annual free fair"
at st. Giles hill. And in 1248 Henry
Ill granted like privilege to the
abbot of Westminster. in honor of the
"translation" of Edward the Con.
fessor. Sometimes fairs were granted
to towns 10 enable them to recover
from the effects of war and other dis
asters. The effect of these great '.free
fairs of England and the Continent on
the Development of society was very
great. This, helped to famiiiarize the
western and northern countries with
the commerci"l systems of the Lom-
| bards and Florentines. who resorted to
| them under the protection of their
sovereigns 1t is said that like the
| church on the religions side. the free
| fairs on the commercial side evoked
and cherished the international spirit;
and that during the long ages when
commercial '.proteetion" was regarded
as indispensable to nations wealth,
! aud the merchant WIS Compelled to
light his way through a wilderness
Of taxes they were the sole and. so
far as they went. the complete suosti-
tute for our modem free trade.
| These privileges. o. grants. for hold
! ing fairs, grew So oppressive IN The
course nf time. that they were grad
naly abolished; aud the towns had be-
] gun to multiply so fast fnat there no
longer existed the necessity for them.
MS intercourse. by mems OF public
roads. was becoming more general.
And so the fairs of England. France,
| Germany and other countries have
given way to markets for special'ies.
The word fair, ms used in the United
States. appears to have completely lost
| its Old World aaeaniDg. and now seems
To be exclnsiseis applied to industrial
exhibitions. and to what IN England
are called fancy 6azaars. In these