more that his female servant, "Anne Jefferies (for that was her maiden name) was born in the parish of St. Teath, in the county of Cornwall, in December, 1626, and is still living, 1696, aged 70. She is married to one William Warren, formerly hind to the late eminent physician, Dr. Richard Lower, deceased, and now to Sir Andrew Slanning of Devon, Bart. A. D. 1645; as she was one day sitting knitting in an arbour in the garden, there came over the hedge, of a sudden, six persons of a small stature, all clothed in green, which frightened her so much as to throw her into a great sickness. They continued their apppearance to her, never less than two at a time nor ever than eight, always in even numbers, two, four, six, eight. She forsook eating our victuals, and was fed by these fairies from the harvest time to the next Christmas; upon which day she came to our table and said, because it was that day she would eat some roast beef with us, which she did, I myself being then at table. One day she gave me a piece of her (fairy) bread, which I did eat, and think it was the most delicious bread that ever I did eat, either before or since." Moses Pitt again says "On another day these fairies gave my sister Mary a silver cup, which held about a quart, bidding her give it my mother, but my mother would not accept it. I presume this was the time my sister owns she saw the fairies. I confess to your Lordship I never did see them. I have seen Anne in the orchard dancing among the trees, and she told me she was then dancing with the fairies." It appears that Anne was afterwards thrown into jail as an impostor; but the friendly narrator of her singular story, Moses Pitt, does not give any plausible account why the fairies, like false earthly friends, forsook her in the time of her distress, To dance on ringlets to the whistling wind. Mids. N. Dream. Act. ii. sec. 2. Dr. Grey observes, in his notes on Shakspeare, that "ringlets of grass are very common in meadows, which are higher, sowrer, and of a deeper green than the grass that grows round them: and by the common people are usually called fairy circles." We have in Shakspeare's Tempest, act v. sc. 1. 1536 Drayton, speaking of the fairies, says, According to Olaus Magnus, this cause of the circles in the grass called fairy rings was a general belief with the northen nations: many of our own poets allude to these fairy rings, and adopt the prevailing persuasion. Browne, in his Britannia's Pastorals, describes a pleasant mead, Where fairies often did their measures tread, Which in the meadows made such circles green As if with garlands it had crowned been. Within one of these rounds was to be seen A hillock rise, where oft the fairy-queen At twilight sat. The author of "Round about our Coal Fire," treating of fairies, says, "they had fine music always among themselves, and danced in a moon-shiny night, around or in a ring, as one may see at this day upon every common in England where mushroomes grow." One of the "Six Pastorals" by George Smith, the painter of Chicester, refers to the popular belief. Some say the schreech-owl, at each midnight hour, Awakes the fairies in yon antient tow'r. They dance to some strange musick in the air. It is still a vulgar notion that if a house be built upon the ground where the fairy rings are, whoever becomes the inhabitant will wonderfully prosper. The most clear and satisfactory remarks on the origin of fairy rings are probably those of Dr. Wollaston, Sec. R. S. printed in the second part of the Philosophical Transactions for 1807; made during a few years residence in the country. The cause of these appearances he ascribes to the growth of a certain species of Agaric, which so entirely absorbs all nutriment from the soil beneath that the herbage is for a while destroyed.* December 27.-Day breaks sets Twilight ends Brand. h. m. 6 0 8 7 The preceding engraving is a sectional view of the usual interior of the booths occupied by dealers attending Stourbridge fair. The front of the booth is under the colonnade, which, here, is represented at the side, for the purpose of showing the arrangement within-side. Passengers walked under this colonnade and entered the booth by the front door, between the windows, where they found a shop about thirty feet by eighteen, with well stored shelves, and counters for serving the customers. A dror in this shop, opposite to the entrance door from the colonnade, communicated with an apartment, serving as a living-room and bed-room for the occupants of the booth. The lesser booth, or sleeping room, and the larger booth, or shop, were roofed with plank, and over that roofing was a stout tarpaulin, or haircloth. The colonnade was merely covered in with hair-cloth to screen passengers from sunshine and rain. No. 49. During the equinoxial gales, about fifty-five years ago, a sudden storm at Stourbridge-fair unroofed most of the booths in Ironmongers, Shoemakers, and Garlick-row, and blew boards and goods across several fields There is a brief account of Stourbridge fair, but very descriptive of its ancient consequence, in the Every-Day Book, i. 1300-1305. An officer of the fair, called the "Lord of the Tap," is men tioned in the same volume, 1487. The interesting letter on the next page completes that account. It was sent by the venerable contributor too late for ir ser tion in the Every-Day Book. 3 D STOURBRIDGE FAIR. [To Mr. Hone.] SIR, I am a septuagenarian, and the following are my personal recollections of more than sixty years ago, concerning the once vast fair at Stourbridge, or Stirbitch, about two miles from Cambridge, from the 16th September until old Michaelmas day. It was held in an open field, bordering on the high road from Cambridge to Newmarket, through which is a cart road leading to Chesterton, a pretty rural village, with a good church and a handsome spire, on the north bank of the river Cam, over which is a ferry. Like all other fairs, your ears inform you before your eyes, that you are on the way to it. After passing Barnwell, the numerous booths and long ranges of standings burst on the sight, and the clamor of trumpets, deep sounding drums, screaming of toy-trumpets, and din of a thousand discordant voices assailed the ear and confused the thoughts. The first Looths (C in the plan) on the north side of the road, were occupied by the customary shows of wild beasts and wild men, conjuriors, tumblers, and ropedancers. Mr. Baker's company of "comedians was respectable; and Lewy Owen, the clown, a young man of good family, who had abandoned himself to this way of life, full of eccentric wit and grimace, continually excited broad grins. The late Mrs. Inchbald was a performer at this fair. There was a large theatrical booth, occupied by a respect able company of comedians from Norwich, under the management of Mr. Bailey, formerly a merchant of London. He was a portly good looking man, of gentlemanly manners and address, the compiler of the Directory bearing his name, a work of much merit, containing, besides the names of residents in the several towns, concise yet correct topographical description of the places: the book is now become very scarce. Other show booths, occupied by giants and dwarfs, savage beasts, and other savages, extended with stunning din along this noisy line. front of these were the fruit and ginger bread stalls; and, walnuts being in full perfection, the venders continually strolled up and down the fair, bawling every moment in your ear-" Twenty a penny walnuts! Walnuts, twenty a penny! Crack 'um awoy-crack 'um awoy here!" In On the south side of the road opposite to these booths was the cheese fair (E). Dealers from various parts took their stands there, and many tons weight were disposed of; such as were fit for the London market were bought by the fac tors from thence, and cheese fromCheshire, Wilts, and Gloster, by the gentry, the farmers, and dealers from Suffolk, Norfolk, and adjoining counties: large quantities of Cottenham and cream cheeses, being brought by farmers from those counties for sale. Opposite to the east end of the cheese fair, on the north side of the road, stands a small ancient chapel, or oratory (A), no doubt erected for the devout dealers and others resorting to the fair, and for such pious travellers as passed or repassed the ferry to Chesterton. At and nigh to this spot were the wool fair (F), and the hop-fair (G). Large stores of stack-cloths, waggon-tilts, and such like were near the skin leather sellers' and glover's row (N), where the finer articles of leather and leather gloves were sold. Little edifices of general convenience (L) were numerous. At the end of the show-booths, and facing this row, began the principal range of booths, called Garow (M, M), extending quite down to the little inn (B), where a Pied-poudre court was held during the fair. This range of shops was well constructed. Each booth consisted of two rooms, the back room, separated from the shop by a boarded partition, served for a bedchamber and other domestic purposes, from which a back door opened to the field. The range of booths No. I was generally appropriated to furniture-sellers, ironmongers, silversmiths, jewellers, japaners, and fine cutlery dealers: the range No. 2 to silk mercers, dealers in muslin, toys, and millinery. No. 3, to dealers in Norwich and Yorkshire manufactures, mercery, lace, hose, fine made shoes, boots, clogs, and pattens.-No. 4, to furs, fans, toys, and to dealers in the various articles of fashionable wares from London.-No. 5 was occupied by oilmen and dealers in paints, pickles, and preserves, one of whom, Mr. Green from Limehouse, kept a most important store here: his returns were from £1500 to £2000 during the fair; and my father, who kept the fair forty years and upwards, usually brought home £1000, or more for goods sold and paid for, besides selling to half that amount on credit to reputable dealers and farmers. At the end of the row, close to the little inn (B), stood the dealers in glass-ware, looking-glasses, and small articles of mahogany furniture. Then the inn itself, the sign of which was, I believe, the King's Arms, was the common resort of the horse dealers. In this house sat the Pied-poudre court, with power to arbitrate disputes in dealing, quell riots, fine and otherwise punish summarily, persons guilty of petty offences, having a pair of stocks and a whipping post in front, and a strong room underneath. Close adjoining northward was the oyster fair. The oysters brought from Lynn were very large, about the size of a horse's hoof, and were opened with pincers; the more delicate, from Colchester and Whitstable, were very small. In the meadow adjoining were the coal fair, pottery fair, and Staffordshire ware dealers (W, W, W). The greater part of these articles were delivered from on board vessels, which drew up close to the bank of the river. Returning and opposite to the oyster fair was a close, where the horse fair was kept (T). The show of beautiful animals in that place was perhaps unrivalled, unless in Yorkshire. The finest racers and hunters from Yorkshire, the most bony and muscular draught horses from Suffolk, and from every other country famous for breeding horses, animated this scene. This horse fair drew together a great concourse of gentry, farmers, and dealers from all parts of the neighbouring counties, and scores of valuable animals changed masters in the short space of a few hours. The horse fair was held on the first Friday after Stirbitch fair was proclaimed. Higher up and about fifty yards from the road was Ironmonger's-row (P), with booths occupied by manufacturers from Sheffield, Birmingham, Wolverhampton, and other parts; and dealers in agricultural tools, nails, hatchets, saws, and such like implements. About twenty yards nearer the road were woollen drapers; and further on, and opposite to Garlick-row westward, were booths (X) for slop-sellers, and dealers in haubergs or waggoners-frocks, jackets, half-boots, and such like habiliments for robust ploughmen and farm laborers. Then followed the Hatter's-row (Y), close to which was a very respectable coffee-house and tavern (Q), fitted up with neat tables covered with green baize, having glazed sash windows and a boarded floor; kept by the proprietor of Dockrell's coffeehouse, in Cambridge, famed for excellent inilk punch. There were likewise a number of suttling booths (I, K), where plain and substantial dinners were served up in a neat comfortable style, well cooked, and moderately charged, except on the horse fair and Michaelmas days, when an extra sixpence generally was tackt to the tail of the goose. The Robin Hood (H), at the back of Garlick-row, near the basket fair, stood pre-eminent. There, after the business of the day was over, aud most commonly on the evening of the horse fair day, novices, who had come to keep the fair, were initiated, or "christened." The formula is as follows:-The fresh man was introduced to the elder members in the "parlor" of the Robin-hood, and two sponsors having been previously chosen for him, he was placed in an armed-chair, his head uncovered, and his shoes off. Two vergers, holding staves and lighted candles, assisted the officiator, who was vested in a Cantab's gown and cap, with a bell in one hand and a book in the other. He commenced the ceremony by asking, "Is this an Infidel?" R. "Yes." Q. "What does he require?" R. "Instruction (or to be instructed)." Q. "Where are the sponsors?-let them stand forward!" A bowl of punch, or a bottle of wine, was placed on the table handy for the officiator, who then chaunted the following doggrel : 1. Over thy head I ring this bell, 2. This child was born in the merry month of May, Clap a pound of butter to his cheek, and it will soon melt away, And if he longs for a sop, let him have it I pray Chorus-From his hoccius, &c. 3. This child's shoes are made of running leather, He'll run from father and mother the deuce knows whither, And here he may run the length of his tether— Chorus-To a hoccius, &c. 4. This child now to Stirbitch fair is come, He may wish to kiss a pretty wench ere he returns home, But let him be advis'd and 'not to Barnwell roam Chorus-For a hoccius, &c |