For two successive Mondays in early October, around the time of the harvest and old Michaelmas Day, the streets of Cirencester are closed to vehicles and a fair called ‘The Mop’ appears, as if by magic.
The term ‘Mop’ or ‘Mops’ is a local name for the Statute hiring fairs held in many English Midland towns. These date from the time of Edward III and the 1351 Statute of Labourers which sought to control wages and conditions of employment for agricultural workers to deal with a serious national shortage of labour after the devastation of the Black Death. A Statute fair could be held at any town that had local Justices who were empowered to set an annual local wage.
Employment contracts for farm workers, labourers, servants and some craftsmen ran from October to October, the full agricultural cycle. When the Mop first started, nearly seven hundred years ago, the event was an opportunity for local labourers and employers to meet in a social setting. Those seeking new employment would wear or hold a symbol of their trade or skill. A shepherd would wear a tuft of wool, a farm labourer might fix an ear of corn to his lapel and carry a scythe to promote the fact that he worked out in the fields. These symbols were believed to have been known as ‘mops’, though this has been debated by historians for years. Once the landowner and prospective employee had met and agreed terms, a small payment of money would be made and the new employee would replace the symbol of their trade with a bright ribbon to indicate they had been hired. Formalities over, the workers could spend their token wage in the town pubs or at the stalls gathered for the fair.
However, the initial contract was for a trial period of seven days. The following week a second Mop (elsewhere known as the ‘Runaway Mop’) allowed either party to back out if they were unhappy with the arrangement. So a week after the first, a second Mop Fair appears in the streets of Cirencester.
During the 19th century the original function of a hiring fair was progressively hijacked by entertainment and food-vending. Like most fairs, The Mop also tended to come into disrepute because of the alcohol available in the many taverns in town. But as the Mop is a statute fair, it would take an act of Parliament to stop it permanently. A unique feature of the Mop is its ability to constantly adapt to circumstances and continue to provide entertain for the whole family. Today it is a fun fair, with high tech, state of the art rides. Except, I’m too scared to go on them...