Gwonny Jokesane’s day at Ovingham

The day after Ovingham’s October fair was called gwonny Jokesane’s day, and nobody could say why. The villagers chose a mock mayor, carried him on a platform borne by four men with a fiddler in front and bailiffs with white wands behind, and stopped first at the minister’s house, where the mayor cried a comic proclamation for the prosperity of the fair and the minister shook his hand and brought out his own ale. They then went round every respectable house dancing, and the day ended with foot races for hats, handkerchiefs and shirts and a last evening of dancing.