Every 9 July, the eve of Wolverhampton’s great fair, men in antique armour used to parade the town, led by musicians playing the fair tune and followed by the steward of the deanery manor, the peace officers and many of the chief inhabitants. Tradition put its origin in the days when Wolverhampton was a great market for wool, visited by merchants of the staple from all over England, when an armed guard was needed to keep order through the fair. The custom, known as walking the fair, was first left off about 1789.
Walking the Fair
9 July · Wolverhampton, Staffordshire
No longer kept
Every year on the ninth of July, the eve of the great fair of Wolverhampton, there was formerly a procession of men in antique armour, preceded by musicians playing the fair tune
From Hone's Every-Day Book, vol. 2, cols. 940-942. Read the original
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