Statutes and Mops

Farm servants in Warwickshire looked for new places at the statute fairs, called mops, held from early September until Old Michaelmas Day, when servants moved to their new masters. Men wore a token of their work in their hats: whipcord for a waggoner or ploughboy, cow-hair for a cowman, wool for a shepherd, flowers for a gardener, while the girls stood together apart. A bargain was sealed with earnest money, usually a shilling, and once hired the men swapped their tokens for ribbons and spent the night dancing and drinking. The writer saw mops at Studley, Shipston-on-Stour and Aston Cantlow; the hiring has long gone, but mop fairs are still held in Warwickshire towns such as Stratford-upon-Avon and Warwick.