Mounthill Fair
John Clifford's poem ‘Mounthill Fair’ (as referenced in the Appletree Press title Hiring Fairs and Market Places, by May Blair.
Once you have read the poem, you can return to the Irelandseye extract from 'Hiring Fairs and Market Places', which quotes this poem:
Them was the days lang lang ago,
When Mounthill Fair was like a show;
And folk frae a’ the district pairts
Come trottin’ in the low-wheeled cairts.
Frae early morn, afore ’twas clear,
There meres and foals they wud appear;
And kye and heifers tae as weel,
And cairts o’ pigs wi’ mony a squeal.
The hale Fair Hill frae end tae end,
Was covered thick wi’ beasts and men;
Frae Tammy’s corner richt alang
Tae Rabert Howie’s was a thrang.
And jist inside the oul’ Fair Hill,
Ach, boys a dear, I see her still;
Was Jean, her stall sae spic and span,
Wi’ apples, nuts and ‘yellow man’.
And then the lasses – man o dear,
They’d mak’ ye smile frae ear tae ear;
And mony’s a match for guid or ill
Was made inside the oul’ Fair Hill.
The gipsies wi’ their piebald steeds,
Their weemin wi’ their scarves and beads;
Like folk frae some far foreign shore,
You’d see them there, full mony’s a score.
The foals, them days, was something great,
They bred them roun’ and strong and straight;
The Mullaghsandal boys for years,
Held pride o’ place for sheltie meres.
Ructions wud start in Rabert’s bar,
There’s arguments, there’s threats, there’s war;
The lads come runnin’ frae the hill,
Like warriors flockin’ tae the kill.
There’s scattered teeth, there’s bla’kened e’en,
The wildest mess you’ve ever seen;
Ivery man’s your friend or foe,
Speak oot o’ turn and doon ye go.
Return to the County Antrim extract from the Appletree Press title Hiring Fairs and Market Places, by May Blair.
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