Southam. Mop
Ox roasting, Southam Mop 1909; shows a crowd gathered around the spit, amongst the tents and rides on Market Hill. 1909
IMAGE LOCATION: (Warwickshire County Record Office)
Reference: PH, 350/2041, img: 88
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Comments
On mop days people wishing to be employed as labourers or servants would go there. Men would be on one side of the street and women on the other. They would display some token to display what their speciality was. The employers would walk down the lines and select their new employees, giving them a shilling to clinch the year. The contract was for a year. Although employees dissatisfied with their lot could go and seek new employment at the run away fair.
Source: “Rural Romance: Quaint Tales of Old Warwickshire (Shakespeare’s Country)” by T B D Horniblow
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