School: Baile Nua an Fhaoitigh (roll number 9040)
- Location:
- Newtownwhite, Co. Mayo
- Teacher: Éilís Ní Mharascáil
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0145, Page 61
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- XML “Local Fairs”
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- (continued from previous page)the fair they show their agreement by striking of hands. The buyer gives a docket with his name and the price of the animal on it. The animals are marked with paint, sometimes with a scissors and sometimes a piece of coloured wool is knotted in the tail. Bonhaims are marked by a sear of a knife on the skin. When pigs are bought it is understood that the buyer gets 1s out of each pig back as well as the luck-penny. But sometimes they sell "clear to pocket" then a special mark usually X or / is put on the docket.
If a man here is going to the fair he will be angry if the first person he meets is a woman. Should the woman had red hair it is worse still and he will turn his cattle and walk back a little way towards home.
If possible he will bring them by another road. If a man sets out for the market to buy bonhams and a red haired woman crosses his path he will have no luck in what he buys that day. If you meet a man coming home with a new cow from the fair you must surely say "Good luck to the cow". When a horse is sold a halter is given with him for luck, there are 12 monthly fairs held in Killala and in Ballina, and 4 "Old Fairs" in Killala, & "Old Fairs" in Ballina.
