This   dance   is   dedicated   to   Chris,   Julie   and   Nick   Dewhurst.      Chris   composed   the   tune   and   it   is   featured   on   their Crossing   Borders   CD .     After   I’d   visited Appleby   Horse   Fair,      I   asked   him   whether   there   was   a   dance   to   go   with   it. The answer was no but how about it?! So here it is. Lyn Wilson (South Wales) March 2012 The   Appleby   Horse   Fair   calls   itself   "an   annual   gathering   of   Gypsies   and   Travellers   in   the   town   of   Appleby-in- Westmorland   in   Cumbria.   The   horse   fair,   also   known   as Appleby   New   Fair,   is   held   each   year   in   early   June   outside the   town   where   the   Roman   Road   crosses   Long   Marton   Road,   not   far   from   Gallows   Hill,   named   after   the   public hangings   that   were   once   carried   out   there,   and   attracts   about   10,000   Gypsies   and   Travellers,   about   1000 caravans, several hundred horse-drawn vehicles, and about 30,000 visitors. The   'New   Fair'   began   in   1775,   on   Gallows   Hill,   which   was   then   unenclosed   land   outside   the   borough   boundary,   for sheep   and   cattle   drovers   and   horse   dealers   to   sell   their   stock;   by   the   1900s   it   had   evolved   into   a   major Gypsy/Traveller   occasion.   No-one   bestowed   the   New   Fair,   no-one   ever   owned   it,   no-one   was   ever   charged   to attend   it:   it   was   and   remains,   a   true   people's   fair.   The   legal   status   of   the   Fair   does   not   depend   on   a   charter, therefore,   but   on   the   legal   concept   of   'prescriptive   right,'   that   is   to   say   easement   by   prescription   or   custom.   The fair   is   therefore   a   regular   but   spontaneous   gathering,   and   is   not   organised   by   any   individual   or   group,   although the   Gypsies   and   Travellers   have   a   Shera   Rom   (Head   Romani)   who   arranges   toilets,   rubbish   skips,   water   supplies, horse   grazing   etc.,   and   acts   as   liaison   with   the   local   authority   co-ordinating   committee   which   manages   the   public authorities' response to the Fair. Rather   than   an   organised   event   with   a   set   programme,   it   is   billed   as   the   biggest   traditional   Gypsy   Fair   in   Europe. The   horses   are   washed   and   trotted   up   and   down   the   flashing   lane   most   main   days.   There   is   a   market   on   Jimmy Winter's   Field   selling   a   variety   of   goods   -   some   traditional   to   the   Gypsy   travelling   community   -   and   a   range   other horse-related   products.   The   Gypsy   and   Traveller   attendees   include   British   Romanichal,   Irish   Travellers,   Scottish Gypsy and Traveller groups, Kale (Welsh Romanies), and more. The   main   activities   take   place   on   Fair   Hill   and   more   recently on   the   Market   Field,   which   is   now   the   main   stall   trading   and catering   area.   There   are   half   a   dozen   licensed   campsites   and car    parks    nearby.    Most    horse    trading    takes    place    at    the crossroads   (known   to   the   local   authority   as   'Salt   Tip   Corner') and   on   Long   Marton   Road   (known   to   the   Gyspies   and Travellers as    the    ‘flashing    lane’),    where    horses    are    shown    off    (or ‘flashed’ ) by trotting up and down at speed. Many   of   the   horses   are   taken   down   to   ‘the   Sands’,   near   the Appleby   town   centre   beside   the   River   Eden,   where   horses   are ridden   into   the   river   to   be   washed,   and   it   is   not   unusual   to see   scores   of   horses   tied   up   opposite   The   Grapes   pub.   The road is closed to traffic for the main days of the fair. Besides   the   horses,   there   are   fortune   tellers,   palm   readers,   buskers   and   music   stalls,   clothing   stalls,   tools   and hardware, china, stainless steel, and horse-related merchandise including harness and carriages.

APPLEBY HORSE FAIR  (S8x32)  Lyn Wilson (2012)   1- 2 1s cross RH to face out while 2s set  3- 8 1s+2s   dance   ¾   double   fig.   of   8   (1s   cast   as   2s   cross   up   to   start), finishing 2s at top facing out, 1s in 2 nd  place facing in  9-12 2s+1s+3s dance ½ reflection reels of 3 on sides 13-16 3s+1s+2s   dance   ½   LSh   reels   of   3   across,   1L   up,   1M   down,   finishing (3)(1)(2) 17-24 1s   set,   ¾   turn   2H   to   centre   line,   set,   petronella   turn   to   2 nd    place own sides 25-32 3s+1s+2s dance ½ diagonal R&Ls twice