BARTHOLOMEW FAIR,

ST. BARTHOLOMEW THE GREAT, RAHERE, KING HENRY I AND MEDIEVAL TIMES IN LONDON.

Bartholomew Fair, was one of London's most important Charter Fairs. It was a great annual event during Medieval Times in London, taking place on 24th August, the Feast Day of St.Bartholomew the Apostle, from whom it took it's name.

It started in the year 1133 when King Henry I granted a charter to Rahere, the founder of the Priory of St.Bartholomew the Great and the nearby Hospital for the Restoration of Poor Men (St.Barts) at West Smithfield London, to hold the annual fayre as a means of funding their construction

Smithfield itself, at the time of the foundation of the priory and hospital in 1123, was part of the king's market and had begun as a simple trading area, dealing in cattle in one area and cloth in another.

The condition of the place at the time of the foundation of the church and the hospital, was at the time described as marshy, full of filth and muddy water, much of which could have been as a result of holding these cattle markets there. Its history had always been associated with violence and disorder.

It was a place of public executions, the gallows possibly standing where the Church of St. Bartholomew the Great now stands. Public shows and displays, such as jousts and tournaments were held there. Arguments were settled one way or another (trials by combat), by duels or even battles by two or more opposing groups.

Primitive forms of trial by ordeal, to determine the guilt or innocence of a person, were a regular occurence at Smithfield, whereby the accused person was subjected to all kinds of ordeal, such as fire, poison or any other serious danger, the outcome being looked upon and accepted as a Divine judgement.

Not many of the accused were aquitted, for pretty obvious reasons in our enlightened times. However to medieval people it was a sure sign, that if a person survived, in some instances undergoing an ordeal by which their only chance of survival would most certainly have required a miracle, then the accused was innocent. If the person on the other hand died, it was a sure sign of their guilt.

Bartholomew Fair took place within the precincts of the Priory of St.Bartholomew the Great at West Smithfield, just outside the City of Londons' defensive wall at Aldersgate. It lasted for three days from 24th August during which time the space to the north of the church, was always packed with traders and their customers.

Lines of clothiers stalls would stretch the full length of the priory grounds, with all the noise and the hustle and bustle it brought with it. As it developed later, it attracted more and more merchants, bringing with them a variety of goods including leather and pewter..

It was not just a trade fair though, for it attracted all kinds of entertainers, making it a mixture of both trade fair and fun fair. It carried on in much the same way over the next few centuries, before it changed it's identity altogether, by becoming a Fair driven completely and exclusively towards pleasure only.

By the time The Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485 brought to an end, the Wars of the Roses and along with it, the line of succession from the House of Plantagenet to the English throne, the whole character of the English people and their way of life had changed.

The establishment of the House of Tudor, with King Henry VII as king, ushered in a time of relative peace to a country which had for so long been ripped apart with the seemingly endless series of wars between the rival factions of the House of Plantagenet.

It is generally accepted as being the end of the Middle Ages in England. Medieval times in London had effectively come to a close.

Trade began to thrive in the ensuing peace and once again resumed its important place within society. Bartholomew Fair, which had carried on throughout the troubled times benefitted immensely, it's boundaries overflowed the church precincts onto the surrounding areas of Smithfield.

However, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1, the cloth trade was no longer fashionable and as a consequence, Bartholomew Fair had ceased to be a ' Cloth-Fair ' of any importance, but kept the name.

The clothiers stalls which had once lined the whole length of the priory grounds were now gone, hardly a trace of its old business character remained.

There had always been puppet shows and street performers, human freaks and games of dice and thimble, canvas tents for dancing or for drinking, eating-houses which specialised in roast pork.

Now though, with the disappearance of the old businesses, the void was filled purely with pleasureable activities. It had developed into a fair comprised soley for eating, drinking and amusement.

Bartholomew Fair was always officially opened by the Lord Mayor from beneath the arch in Cloth Fair,( long since gone) while the evening before, a company of drapers and tailors would show its original connection with the cloth trade by means of a burlesque proclamation.

They would all meet at the 'Hand and Shears' in Cloth Fair, a popular meeting place for members of their profession. From there they marched, with their shears in hand to the same archway, and after announcing the opening of the Fair, they would issue forth a loud cry and all of them would snap their shears.

While visiting England in 1598, the German traveller and writer Keutzner recorded: 'that every year, upon St. Bartholomew's Day, when the Bartholomew Fair is held, it is usual for the mayor, attended by the twelve principal aldermen, to walk in a neighbouring field, dressed in his scarlet gown, and about his neck a golden chain.' A tent was pitched for their accommodation, and wrestling provided for their amusement. 'After this is over, a parcel of live rabbits are turned loose among the crowd, which are pursued by a number of boys, who endeavoured to catch them with all the noise they can make.'

It's name is still preserved to this day in the lane which runs along the north side of St. Bartholomew the Great, which is known by the name, 'Cloth-Fair.

Ben Jonson used the fair as the setting for his play Bartholomew Fair, in which he wonderfully characterized in words the vivid life of the fair, using it and the characters he created as a commentary on the London Society he knew during the early years of the seventeenth century, in Jacobean England.

(The Jacobean period refers to the period in English and Scottish history which coincides with the reign of King James I of England who was also James VI of Scotland, ruling both countries from 1603-1625). Jacobean is derived from the Hebrew name Jacob, from which the English name James is derived.

Christ church cloisters are now hung full of pictures. It is remarkable, and worth your observation to behold, and hear the strange sights, and confused noise in the fair. here, a knave, in a fool's coat, with a trumpet sounding, or on it drum heating, invites you to see his puppets; there, a rogue like a wild woodman, or in an antic shape like an incubus, desires your company to view his motion; on the other side, Hocuspocus, with three yards of tape or ribbon in his hand, thews his art of legerdemain to the admiration and astonishment of a company of cockloaches. Amongst these, you shall. see a gray goose-cap (as wise as the rest), with a "what do ye lacks.) "in his month, stand in his booth, slinking it rattle or scraping a fiddle, with which children are so taken, that they presently cry out for these fopperies; and all these together make such a distracted noise, that you would think Babel not comparable to it.'

In 1720, John Strype, the ecclesiastical historian and biographer (1643-1737) published a hugely expanded version of the Elizabethan chronicler and antiquary John Stowe's Survey of London, in which he recorded that 'Cloth Fair was generally inhabited by drapers and mercers and is of some note.

Strangely enough Bartholomew Fair appears to have emerged largely unscathed from the civil wars and Oliver Cromwell's Puritan Commonwealth.

After the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660, when Charles II was invited to return to England, Bartholomew Fair had grown out of all proportions.

Its licence was extended from three to fourteen days, during which time all the London theatres were closed and the actors brought to Smithfield.

In the year 1665, the year that the Great Plague made its reappearance in London, there was no Bartholomew Fair. It was suppressed that year and again the following year on account of the plague, not on account of the Great Fire of London which started on 2nd September.

The fire would not have consumed the Fair and all its booths though, as the flames were eventually contained at Pye Corner before they could reach Smithfield.

In the year following the Great Fire however, to the great joy of the famous diarist, Samuel Pepys, Bartholomew Fair was held once more. He and his fellow diarist, John Evelyn were both moved to record their visits to the Fair.

Pepys who was a frequent visitor, noted on August 28, 1667, that he 'went twice round Bartholomew Fair, which I was glad to see again:

Two days afterwards, he writes: 'I went to Bartholomew Fair, to walk up and down; and there, among other things, find my Lady Castlemaine at a puppet-play (Patient Chisel), and a street full of people expecting her coming out.'

This Lady shared her affections between the king, Charles II ('The Merrie Monarch'), John Churchill (Duke of Marlborough) and Jacob Hall, the rope-dancer, who was a great favourite at the fair, and salaried by her ladyship.

In 1668, Pepys again notes two visits he paid to Bartholomew Fair, in company with Lord Brouncker and others, to see 'The mare that tells money, and many things to admiration—and then the dancing of the ropes, and also the little stage-play, which is very ridiculous.'

One of the most famous of these great theartrical booths at Bartholomews Fair was that owned by Lee and Harper, tell from a carious general view of the fair, designed to form a fan-mount, and probably published about 1728.

Here one of the old favourite sacred dramas is being performed on the history of Judith and Holophernes, and both these characters parade the stage in front; the hero in the stage-dress of a Roman general; the heroine in that of a Versailles court-masque, with a feathered head-dress, a laced stomacher, and a hooped petticoat of crimson silk, with white rosettes in large triangles over its ample surface. A few of these Bartholomew Fair dramas found their way into print, the most remarkable of the series being the Siege of Troy, by Elkanah Settle, once the favourite court-poet of Charles II, and the rival of Dryden; ultimately a poor writer for Mrs. Mynn's booth, compelled in old age to roar in a dragon of his own invention, in a play founded on the tale of St. George.

These dramas are curously indicative of popular tastes, filled with bombast interspersed with buffoonery, and gorgeous in dress and decoration. There is an anecdote on re-cord of the proprietress of this show refusing to pay 0ram, the scene-painter, for a splendid set of scenes he was en-gaged to paint, becasue he had used Dutch metal instead of leaf gold in their decoration. Settle's Siege of Troy is a good specimen of these productions, and we are told in the preface, is no ways inferior to any one opera yet seen in either of the royal theatres.' One of the gorgeous displays offered to the sightseers is thus described: The scene opens and discovers Paris and Helen, fronting the audience, riding in a triumphant chariot, drawn by two white elephants, mounted by two pages in embroidered livery. The side-wings are ten elephants more, bearing on their backs open castles, umbrayed with canopies of gold; the ten castles filled with ten persons risibly drest, the retinue of Paris; and on the elephants' necks ride ten Inure pages in the like rich dress. Beyond and over the chariot is seen a Vistoeik of the city of Troy, in the walls of which stand several trumpeters, seen behind and over the head of Paris, who sound at the opening of the scene.' Of course such magnificent people talk 'brave words,' like Ancient Pistol. Paris declares:

'Now when the tired world's long discords cease, We'll time our Trumps of War to Songs of Peace. Where Hector dragg'd in blood, I'll drive around The walls of Troy; with love and laurels crown'd.'

All this magniloquence is relieved by comic scenes between a cobbler (with the appropriate name of Bristles) and his wife, one 'Captain Tom,' and ' a numerous train of Trojan mob.'

The regular actors, as we have before observed, were transplanted to Bartholomew Fair during its continuance, and some of them were protent proprietors and managers of the great theatrical booths. Penkethman, Mills, Booth, and Doggett were of the number. The great novelist, Henry Fielding, commenced career as part-proprietor of one of these booths, continuing for nine years in company with Hippisley, the favourite comedian, and others. It was at his booth, in 1733, that the famous actress, Mrs. Pritchard, made her great success, in an adaptation by Fielding, of Moliere's Cheats of Scapin.

The fan-mount, already described, furnishes us with another representation of a booth in the fair; and it will be perceived that they were solid erections of timber, walled and roofed with planks, and perfectly weather-proof. In this booth 'Faux's dexterity of hand' is displayed, as well as a famous posture-master,' whose evolutions are exhibited iii a picture outside the show. Faux was the Robert Hondin of his day, and is recorded to have died worth £10,000, which he had accumulated during his career. The Gentleman's Magazine for February 1731, tells us that the Algerine ambassadors visited him, and at their request he skewed them a view of Algiers, ' and raised up all apple-tree which bore ripe apples in less than a minute's time, which several of the company tasted of.'

There was abundance of other shows at the Bartholomew Fair to gratify the great British public; wild beasts, monsters, learned pigs, dwarfs, giants, et hoc genius Quite abounded. 'A prodigious monster' is advertised, 'with one head and two distinct bodies;' and 'An admirable work of nature, a woman having three breasts.' Then there was to be seen, 'A child alive, about a year and a half old, that has three legs.' It appears that nobility and even royalty patronised these sights, thus ' The tall Essex woman,' in the reign of George I, 'had the honour to show herself before their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Wales, and the rest of the royal family, last Bartholomew Fair.' A distinguished visitor is seen in our last engraving decorated with the ribbon and star of the Garter. The figure is by some supposed to represent the premier, Sir Robert Walpole, who was a frequent visitor to the fair; his attention is directed to Faux's booth by an attendant; but these figures may be intended to depict the Prince of Wales, who visited the fair in company with Rich, the manager and actor, who did duty as cicerone on the occasion.

The licence and riot which characterised the proceedings in Smithfield, at last aroused the civic authorities, and after much rioting and many ineffectual attempts, Bartholomew Fair was again limited to three days' duration, by a resolution of the court of common council in 1708. The theatrical booths were still important features of Bartholomew Fair, and in 1715, we hear of ' one great playhouse erected for the king's players—the booth is the largest that ever was built.' During the run of the Beggar's Opera, it was reproduced by Rayner and Pullen's company at the fair. In 1728, Lee and Harper produced a ballad-opera on the adventures of Jack Sheppard, and in 1730, another devoted to the popular hero—Robin Hood. Dramatic entertainments ultimately declined, but monstrosities never failed, and gratified the Londoners to the last day of the existence of Bartholomew Fair. Pig faced ladies were advertised, if not seen; but learned pigs were never wanting, who could do sums in arithmetic, tell fortunes by cards, &c. Wild-beast shows ended in being the principal attraction, though they were the most expensive exhibitions in the fair; a shilling being charged for admission.

The mayor endeavoured to stem the irregularities of Bartholomew Fair in 1769, by appointing seventy-two officers to keep the peace and prevent gambling, as well as to hinder the performance of plays and puppet-shows. In 1776, the mayor refused per-mission to erect booths at all, which occasioned great rioting. Some years before this, the deputy-marshal lost his life in endeavouring to enforce order in the fair. The most dangerous rioters were a body of blackguards, who termed themselves ' Lady Holland's Mob,' and assembled to proclaim the fair after their own fashion, the night before the mayor did so. Hone says, 'the year 1822 was the last year wherein they appeared in any alarming force, and then the inmates of the houses they assailed, or before which they paraded, were aroused and kept in terror by their violence. In Skinner Street especially, they rioted undisturbed until between three and four in the morning: at one period that morning, their number was not less than five thousand, but it varied as parties went off or came in to and from the assault of other places. Their force was so overwhelming, that the patrol and watchmen feared to interfere, and the riot continued till they had exhausted their fury.'

The last royal visit to Bartholomew Fair took place in 1778, when the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester rode through it. Flockton's puppets were at this time a great attraction. Mr. Lane, 'his majesty's conjuror,' and Mr. Robinson, 'conjuror to the queen,' divided the attention of amateurs of their art. Mite's 'Grand collection of wild beasts' were brought from Exeter Change; 'The famous ram with six legs," The unicorn ram,' 'The performing serpents,' and other wonders in natural history, also invited visitors; as well as ' A surprising large fish,' affirmed to have 'had in her belly, when found, one thousand seven hundred mackerel.'

When Hone visited Bartholomew Fair in 1825, he saw, in a penny-show, the mermaid which had been exhibited about a year before in Piccadilly, at the charge of half-a-crown each person. This imposture was a hideous combination of a dried monkey's head and body, and the tail of a fish, believed to have been manufactured on the coast of China, and exhibited as the product of the seas there. George Cruikshank has preserved its features, and we are tempted to reproduce his spirited etching.

'A mare with seven feet' was a lusus naturae also then exhibited, giants and dwarfs of course abounded, as they ever do at fairs!

Atkin's and Wombwell's menageries were the great shows of Bartholomew Fair in its expiring glory. They still charged the high price of one shilling admission. Richardson's theatre was the only successful rival in price and popularity—here was a charge of boxes 2s., pit ls., gallery 6d.; but the deluded exclusives who paid for box or pit seats, found on entering only a steep row of planks elevated above each other in front of the stage, without any distinction of parties, or anything to prevent those on the top row from falling between the supports to the bottom!

He was a child of amiable manners, much attached to Richardson, who behaved with great kindness toward him; consequently both of them were in high favour with the public. He was the last of the great natural curiosities exhibited there, for the Bartholomew Fair gradually dwindled to death, opposed by the civic authorities and all decent people. It was at one time resolved to refuse all permission to remove stones from pavement or roadway, for the erection of booths;

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