School: Coill an tSrotha (roll number 5352)

On this page

1. Local Fairs

   

   Share Share Post

   On the 12th of every month a fair is held in Manorhamilton at which cattle, sheep, pigs and horses are bought and sold.
   At the end of the town there is a fairgreen to Auhirch all the cattle are driven on the morning of the fair.
   The buyer approaches the seller with a stick in his hand and asks him what he wants for the beast.
   They then make a bargain if the buyer is not satisfied to give what the seller asks. If they do not settle it a neighbour comes on the scene and splits in the difference equally between the two men. When the beast is bought the buyer marks it with dirt or [?] so that another man comes along he may know that the animal is not for sale.
   When the buyer has paid for the beast the seller gives back a few shillings as luck and the buyer spits on it.
   The people at a fair are not allowed to have the beasts on on the main streets to stop traffic or they would be summoned.
   When a beast is sold the buyer pays three pence or four pence as toll for the cattle to be put into a yard.
   Long ago the people used to sell them at crossroads or at home. In one part of the fair there are cattle and horses and in another part there are sheep and pigs.
   Some of the sellers have a rope round the neck which is called a halter. In olden times the old people had to get up early on the morning of the fair as they had no road to travel but through fields. When the seller got the money from the buyer he has to give the luck money back to the buyer.

   

   Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.

   History Edit

   Topics

   1. activities
      1. economic activities
         1. trade
            1. buying and selling (~3,622)

   Language

   English

   Informant

   John Kelly

   Gender

   Male

   Age

   80

   Address

   Sranagross, Co. Leitrim