Goosey Fair

Tavistock Goose Fair, known locally as Goosey, or Goosie, Fair, is the annual fair in the stannary town of Tavistock on the western edge of Dartmoor. It has been held on the second Wednesday of October since 1823 and it is one of only two historically established traditional fairs in the UK to carry the name, the other being the larger Nottingham Goose Fair.

History

Tavistock Goose Fair is one of the best known fairs in the West Country and has its ancient origins in the Michelmas fair that first came into being in the early 12th century. Adoption of the Gregorian calendar by Britain in 1752 necessitated a correction to the established dates of charter fairs, in this case moving Tavistock's fair from Michelmas day (29 September) to October 10. Whilst there appears to be little published evidence of the name ‘Goosey Fair’ prior to the first decade of the 20th Century, it seems likely that the name was in use locally in the eighteenth century.

The goose name itself probably arose out of the old tradition of buying geese at the Michelmas market to be fattened ready for Christmas Day as goose was the fowl of choice for the dinner table long before the arrival of the turkey from North America. An alternative theory is that the name is a corruption of St Eustachius (Saint Eustace), the Patron Saint of the Parish church whose day fell on 20 September, close to Michelmas. The livestock market on Whitchurch Road continues the tradition with live geese and poultry being available for sale at public auction on the day itself, whilst some of the town’s cafés and restaurants usually offer special goose themed menus.

Goosey

Coordinates: 51°37′19″N 1°29′13″W / 51.622°N 1.487°W / 51.622; -1.487

Goosey is a village and civil parish about 4.5 miles (7 km) northwest of Wantage in the Vale of White Horse. Goosey was part of Berkshire until 1974, when the Vale of White Horse was transferred to Oxfordshire.

Toponym

Goosey's toponym has evolved from the forms Gosie, Gosi and Goseig used in the 11th century, through Goseya in the 12th century and Gossehay in the 16th century before reaching its current form.

Manor

King Offa of Mercia is recorded as having given the Manor of Goosey to Abingdon Abbey in the 8th century AD in exchange for Andresey, an island adjacent to the abbey. In the 11th century the manor was assessed during reign of King Edward the Confessor (1042–66) as being 17 hides and worth £9; and then in the Domesday Book of 1086 as being 11 hides and worth £10. The abbey continued to hold the manor until 1538, when in the Dissolution of the Monasteries it was forced to surrender all its estates to the Crown.