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I got to find out something cool this weekend. I'm holidaying/househunting in Stratford(if it's good enough for ye Bard, it'll do for me) and found that these weeks were the Mop and the Runaway Mop. I was just as puzzled as y'all were,so I did a little investigating. Farm labourers etc. would traditionally work from October to October(being harvest times) and there was a fair to combine both the end of harvest and for the new labourers to be hired. Workers would carry a sign symbolizing what trade they were proficient in-a general worker would carry a mop head. After they had been hired, they would give their symbol to the new employer who would give them a small amount of money and some bright ribbons to show they had found work.
But what of the runaway mop? Well,these fairs are very old(the charter for this one was granted in 1553 by Edward VI,interestingly probably one of the last acts he signed as he expired unhappily a week later). In 1582, the Catholic countries changed the calendar so they were now some 12 days or so out from the original dates of the mop. This could be confusing if you were a foreigner coming over to seek work-some folk wanted to keep the original date,others wanted the new one. So the solution they came up with was this: two fairs. The original mop was where you were hired-the new mop became a sort of second chance if you or your employer had decided after two weeks that you really couldn't stand each other, you could return and quit with no penalties-or 'run away' if you like.
Now we have lots of fairground stalls(it's weirdly the one time of year in Stratford that you'll see modern attractions as opposed to ye many many Tudor events) but there really is not the room in a mediaeval town to put up a big wheel or a waltzer. And somehow they do it without swiping off half a building....
But what of the runaway mop? Well,these fairs are very old(the charter for this one was granted in 1553 by Edward VI,interestingly probably one of the last acts he signed as he expired unhappily a week later). In 1582, the Catholic countries changed the calendar so they were now some 12 days or so out from the original dates of the mop. This could be confusing if you were a foreigner coming over to seek work-some folk wanted to keep the original date,others wanted the new one. So the solution they came up with was this: two fairs. The original mop was where you were hired-the new mop became a sort of second chance if you or your employer had decided after two weeks that you really couldn't stand each other, you could return and quit with no penalties-or 'run away' if you like.
Now we have lots of fairground stalls(it's weirdly the one time of year in Stratford that you'll see modern attractions as opposed to ye many many Tudor events) but there really is not the room in a mediaeval town to put up a big wheel or a waltzer. And somehow they do it without swiping off half a building....
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