Market, Bazaar or Souk? Going back to ancient times, every civilisation had its market place. The Latin word mercatus translates as trading, buying and selling and humans have come together for thousands of years to do business in one form of market or another. The word Bazaar, is a term of Persian origin and the evidence suggests that bazaars or Souks extend back to at least 3,000 BC. It is thought that people would set up their stalls or crafts outside the city walls of some settlements to do trade and service passing caravans as they travelled from East to West along routes like the Silk Road until gradually the traders moved inside the walls and took up permanent sites so that they did not have to pack up their wares each night.
Camels and goats were herded outside, and there may even be a slave market, the thought of which makes me shudder. Records of this heinous activity go back to ancient times when people would be taken, usually as a result of a raid or war, and sold on to Slave Masters. It was quite common for the fair-haired, blue-eyed races of the northern territories to be sold into slavery in the Middle East and likewise for people from Arab countries and North Africa to be sold as slaves in Northern Europe. Once enslaved there was little or no chance of freedom and they would often be branded or have their tongues cut out. It also should be noted that slavery is not, nor ever has been the prerogative of white Europeans as Alex Scott discovered recently in her 'Who Do You Think You Are?' programme. Sadly slavery still exists and it is estimated that there are probably 20 to 30 million slaves in the world today.
Modern day Bazaars are usually under cover, out of the heat of the sun, and as tourists, we love to wander around the alleyways soaking up the atmosphere, admiring the architecture, having a go at haggling with the vendors and trying hard not to buy that Persian rug. But for the locals, these were, and still are places for trade and exchange of information and where all life happens.
I find it interesting that certain traders line up alongside each other for business, so that in Istanbul’s Egyptian Spice market say, you know from the smell when you are approaching the Spice traders. And there they are, stall after stall, each with great colourful mountains of cinnamon, cumin, saffron, mint, thyme, and every other conceivable herb and spice whose scents fill the air. There is also lokum, baklava, nuts, teas, Turkish coffee, and dried fruits and, as it is the world over, every customer has their favourite stall.
This need for trade is part of life. Imagine a family with a cow or a goat that gives them fresh milk, and a few hens producing eggs. The cow has a calf, the goat has kids, the eggs hatch and the numbers grow and suddenly the family has an excess to exchange for something that they don’t have but need, maybe grain a pig or a donkey. Within their community would be a meeting place where people would exchange and barter their goods and the evidence of this in the UK are the Butter Crosses often seen in the centre of villages or small towns which have actually come to be known as Market Towns. Places like Market Weighton, Downham Market and Market Harborough truly show their origins. Farmers wives would prepare butter and cheese for sale with any excess. Wool or woven cloth might be sold too by a weaver who would have first wandered the fields collecting bits of wool shed by the sheep, then spun on a spindle or wheel before being woven into a piece of cloth on a loom. Sometimes it would be a whole fleece and you can still see the steps going down to Borough Beck in Helmsley where people went to wash the wool. The town also boasts a magnificent Butter Cross. This helped families to live and prosper; it is how trades developed and grew, and families established a reputation for their produce.
The peddler, hawker, tinker, call him what you will, travelled from town to village and hamlet peddling their wares and would often have something different, bought in one place where the goods were made and taken to another to sell. Lace and ribbons were always a favourite. They were welcomed and distrusted in equal measure, but they were a source of news at a time when commoners did not read and the media did not exist. The onion sellers came from France, the Knife Grinder brought his sharpening wheel, the Peddler or Tinker mended pots and pans and they all ended up at the market.
Staying local however, was not the best way forward for everyone. If you had livestock to sell, a herd of cows or flock of sheep, even geese, these all had to be taken further afield and the only way to do that was to drive them. Not in the modern sense, but on foot and over many miles. Welsh sheep were driven through Somerset, Wiltshire and Berkshire to London to feed the growing populace. The men accompanying the livestock were known as Drovers, and the routes they took were Drove Roads. If you look round at street and road names up and down the country you will see the evidence of what went before with names such as Sheep Street, Ox Drove and Swinegate. Or even pubs, with the Drovers Arms being a popular sign. Cattle would be shod, especially coming down from Scotland, and geese were walked through a tar mixture to help preserve their feet on the long walk. Smithfields in London dates back to the 12th century. Drovers would get a penny for an Ox, a Cow or a dozen Sheep and the animals were kept in fields close to the market until they were ready to be slaughtered on site, something that ceased with the arrival of cold stores in Victorian times. They also traded in poultry and the Christmas Meat and Poultry auction is still a very popular event today.
Billingsgate market was situated near the docks and is not quite as old as Smithfields. It originally traded in corn, coal, iron, wine, salt, pottery, and miscellaneous goods and although fish was sold there it was the sixteenth century before it became an exclusive commodity. Three moves later and it now has an established home in Docklands.
The historic background to Smithfields and Billingsgate is typical of most markets of which London has its fair share. London Bridge is the oldest with trading being recorded as far back as 1018. It has moved a few times but has been established on its present site since 1870 and is now more famously known and loved as the Borough market. It is often packed with tourists and has seen many a film crew filming for such programmes as New Tricks, within its halls.
I was fascinated to come across a London market that I had never heard of before which is Stocks Market. Initially I thought it was to do with the Bank of England and the Royal Exchange because of its close proximity to Threadneedle Street, but actually it was a market for meat and fish. The name came from the stocks which had previously been on the site and the market was established in 1282 in an effort to rationalise the spread of stalls in the adjacent area. It burnt down in the Great Fire of London, was rebuilt and survived until 1737 when the site was cleared to build the Mansion House, and Stocks Market was relocated to Fleet ditch, and renamed Fleet Market.
I find it hard to imagine livestock being sold in upmarket Greenwich, but that’s what people wanted in the 1300s. Now there is a mouth-watering selection of stalls selling street food from all around the world in the new market hall which was erected in 1833. It must have been a wonderful innovation as it gave the traders shelter from the weather.
I should think most people know the name of Petticoat Lane, but did you know that this market has been trading in clothing since the early 17th century? It is thought that the area got the name from the silk petticoats sold there, which were produced by the Huguenots, French silk workers who fled the country after religious persecution.
There are too many markets to list them all but a few of the better known ones are Portobello Road for all manner of things, Spitalfields for fruit and veg and Covent garden for flowers; and many more besides often originating in what were probably small towns or villages before being swallowed up by the vast urbanisation of our capital city.
Nottingham has probably the most well known Goose fair which dates back to the thirteenth century. Hundreds of Geese would be driven from Lincolnshire in the autumn to provide a tasty meal for Michaelmas, but in reality it was a Farmers market and, apart from geese, cheese was one of the most popular shopping items. One thing noticeable about most markets is that they also attract the entertainers and there would be Tumblers, Fire Eaters, Story Tellers as well as pickpockets. As time evolved so did the entertainment until there were roundabouts, swings and helter-skelters and many other sideshows. As transport improved, there was no longer a need to drive the geese to market until gradually the tables turned and the Goose Fair is now about enjoyment rather than a trade in produce.
What is the difference between a Market and a Fair? It’s quite simple really. A market is held on the same day once or twice a week, in a designated place. Whilst a fair is usually an annual event, and in medieval times would be linked to a Saint’s Feast day. This historic detail is used in Ellis Peter’s series of Brother Cadfael books with an annual fair that celebrates St Peter.
York was a very important trading place being located en-route to the docks in Hull and Henry III granted the city a Market charter in 1251. I’m not sure where the original market place was, but by the 16th century it was in St Sampson’s Square, and we know it was held on a Thursday because it says so on the street sign. Of course over time it grew larger until finally in 1836 demand was satisfied when a Saturday market was established along the road in Parliament. Fast forward another 116 years and in 1952 work began on creating a dedicated market site just beyond Parliament. Buildings were knocked down to create an entrance into what was initially Newgate Market, but more recently has been rebranded as the Shambles Market, being adjacent to the historic street. The revamp includes an open air food court, which seems to be the modern trend. The market has always been in the open whereas many towns and cities have closed market halls as in Scarborough, Doncaster. and Leeds. Often built in the Victorian era, their architecture is magnificent with wrought ironworks, and built to last. They are cold and draughty, but ideal for keeping produce fresh.
I have to admit that I miss York's old market ways, there was so much colour and a vibrant atmosphere. Fridays and Saturdays were the main markets. The farmer’s wives were there with their beautiful home-baked cakes, jams, eggs and herbs. There was a huge stall selling china where I bought my first dinner service. They were factory seconds, but you really couldn’t tell and each month, after I was paid I would go along and buy another place setting until I had the set. My windows all had velvet curtains supplied by Alice whose stall sold offcuts of fabric from the mills in Bradford. You sometimes had to wait a few weeks before you got the right sized pieces, but Alice never forgot a face or a request. Then there was Mike and his dad from Leeds, the archetypal market traders. Each week they would bring something new to sell. Towels, kitchenware, soft furnishings. Pots, pans and tableware that they would arrange in their hands and throw in the air before expertly catching everything, and they had all of the street trader’s patter. ‘I don’t want to sell it to you for £30, no love, put your money away, not £20, not even a tenner, no, today you can buy this for a fiver. Yes, just £5 buys you this set of prestige kitchen knives.’ Then for the next five minutes there would be hands waving £5 notes in the air for whatever was being sold.
Historically, livestock was sold in York at several small sites but the activity was brought together in 1827 in a purpose built Cattle Market in Paragon Street. There is little if any evidence of it now, but the city walls on Foss Islands Road and Paragon Street were once lined with holding pens, and the market was situated on what later became the Barbican swimming baths site, sadly also long gone.
My brother-in-law John recalls cattle being brought to Osbaldwick by train and then being driven down Osbaldwick Lane, and Millfield Lane, on to Hull Road and the cattle pens on Paragon Street prior to the sale. On the way to Derwent Junior School, he and his friend Trevor would distract the Cow Wollapers and chase the cattle which then ran into people’s gardens, trampling down gates and flowers in their panic. I bet the air was blue, the residents must have been furious. Talk about boys will be boys!
The term ‘market place’ is quite a wide one encompassing more than produce and livestock. We all know the phrase ‘money makes the world go round’ and despite the fact that nobody really agrees which country produced the first organised Stock Exchange, financial markets have always been present. London’s Stock Exchange began in the Coffee houses of the late 17th and 18th centuries when John Castaing began issuing listings of stocks and commodity prices. He probably gave prices for the South Sea investments set up to raise capital to pay the Governments debts. It was a poorly regulated scheme with much insider trading which eventually produced the great crash known as the South Sea Bubble impoverishing hundreds of people overnight.
I’ve often wondered where the term Flea Market came from and there are a few versions, but the following, taken from Wikipedia seems to be the most commonly accepted. "What Is a Flea Market?" by Albert LaFarge in the 1998 winter edition of Today's Flea Market magazine: "There is a general agreement that the term 'Flea Market' is a literal translation of the French marché aux puces, an outdoor bazaar in Paris, France, named after those pesky little parasites of the order Siphonaptera (or "wingless bloodsucker") that infested the upholstery of old furniture brought out for sale." This is really recycling old style, and shows how long people have been doing it, in fact it is only in the last fifty years that our throwaway society has changed things. There are some wonderful markets around both in the UK and Europe. I must admit that I have never been to a French Flea Market which is something I should like to redress, but I really enjoyed poking around Waterlooplein Market which is the oldest in The Netherlands and the crowded, bustling Saturday market in Maastricht. It is so difficult to stop and remember that you can’t buy that rocking chair because it won’t fit in the car even if you could take it home on the ferry.
Piggly Wiggly was the first supermarket to open in America in 1916 and instead of being served each item individually, the concept of taking your own groceries off the shelf and handing your basket to an assistant to pay soon caught on. It meant that fewer staff were employed which kept the prices down; but it was in 1930 that things took an even further step and King Kullen opened under the banner ‘pile it high and sell it cheap’. As usual, what happens in America eventually travels across the Atlantic and in 1948, the London Co-operative Society opened a store in Manor Park. Now 73 years later it is a way of life. However, in a recent survey it was noted that supermarkets are not quite the money saving emporiums they set out to be, and the Covid pandemic has made some members of the public more aware of what their local shops have to offer.
One example is the Farmers markets that come and go but basically are a constant. In recent years people have started to turn to locally produced food, and with several food scares beginning to realise that not everything from a supermarket is wholesome and they want to know where their food is coming from. I know that if I want my Christmas cake ingredients I prefer to go to my favourite weigh shop and get exactly what I need. Or my vegetables from Loves the greengrocer in Heworth where they know my name. The service is friendly, and the shop is part of the local community. Are we turning the clock back? Only time will tell, but it would be good if it did happen. What’s wrong with growing your own, eating what’s in season and not transporting food half way round the world?
The next development to hit our shores from America was the Shopping Mall. These huge shopping centres were designed to make life easier for the shopper. There is plenty of room to park and once inside the buildings are air conditioned for comfort. The shops are laid out and signposted better than they would be in the high street and there are plenty of seating areas and toilets. You can socialise in the food courts where there is often quite a choice of fast food outlets or even a restaurant in some of the bigger malls. The Bull Ring in Birmingham was the largest indoor shopping centre in Europe when it opened in 1964. It had tropical plants and ornamental fountains with background muzak and a temperate climate. Shopping was made to be a very pleasant experience. Fast forward to the present day and it is predicted that these malls will soon be redundant. On-line shopping is now the order of the day, exacerbated by the Covid pandemic, many shopping malls are closing. The Galleria at Pittsburgh Mills in Pennsylvania was one of the biggest and the site recently sold for just $100. The UK is usually a few years behind America, but I wonder how long it will be before we experience the same closures over here.
Our markets are shaped by the way we live, which brings us to the phenomenon that is On-Line shopping. Mail order has had quite a long and simple history, but the advent of the internet revealed its true potential. Now you can order almost anything your heart desires from the comfort of wherever it is you feel comfortable, at any time of the day or night. It is a market place with no walls, just pictures and prices and dreams. Even Farmers are on-line selling their produce in Veg boxes or Meat Packs. Markets were already getting smaller and then the Covid pandemic changed us, and our shopping habits. But we still have not learned that we want far more than we need; and we are no wiser, or safer than in the days of the ancient civilisations. We have gone from the danger of the trickster and pick-pocket in the open market place to scams on our Laptops and Phones. So whichever market you spend your money in, do it wisely and please take care.
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