Sweet Coltsfoot. _Tussilago fragrans._
Dedicated to _St. Gertrude_.
~November 16.~
_St. Edmund_, Abp. of Canterbury, A. D. 1242. _St. Eucherius_, Bp. of
Lyons, A. D. 460.
_Stourbridge Fair._
A correspondent in the subjoined note mentions a singular character,
which should be taken into the particulars concerning this fair related
at page 1300.
(_For the Every-Day Book._)
Mr. Editor,
In addition to your account of Stourbridge fair I send you the
following, related to me by an individual of great veracity, who
attended the fairs in 1766 and 1767.
Exclusive of the servants in red coats there was also another person
dressed in similar clothing, with a string over his shoulders, from
whence were suspended quantities of spigots and fossetts, and also round
each arm many more were fastened. He was called “_Lord of the Tap_,” and
his duty consisted in visiting all the booths in which ale was sold, to
determine whether it was fit and proper beverage, for the persons
attending the fairs.
In the account published at Cambridge in 1806, as given in your
excellent miscellany, no notice is taken of this personage, and it may
therefore be presumed the office had been discontinued.