She moved through the fair

The second Thursday in November sees the whole of Cardigan town transformed into a one big street market. All the main, and some of the minor, streets are lined with stalls and fast food vans, there's a funfair in the main carpark, shops either close for the day or stay open late and pubs do a roaring trade especially as the evening wears on.

The merchandise is generally pretty tacky and you wouldn't expect much else for the rock bottom prices but fairs were ever thus. I don't know when this one dates from but many fairs have their roots centuries back, when they were part of a labour-hiring market and a saint's day festival. I like to think that the same faces could have been seen here across the ages despite the changes wrought by technological advance: mobile phone covers, acrylic bedspreads and plastic meercats would all have had their counterparts in days gone by. Like now, traders would have travelled here from far and wide, some with dusky faces.

The old Irish folk song with the above title has been recorded by just about everyone. Here are two of the best, by Anne Briggs and Odetta.

Some more images of Cardigan Fair can be seen in my Blipfolio.