The Dish Fair or Whip-Dog Day

[My Good Babushka]

The Dish Fair was held at York on St. Luke's Day, October 18. It was a time for purchasing small wares. This was accompanied by the custom of whippings dogs seen in the street so that it was also known as Whip-Dog Day. At some point in the misty past, a dog supposedly swooped in and at the Holy Eucharist when the priest unfortunately dropped it after consecration.

At the Dish Fair, a wooden ladle was carried in a sling by four sturdy laborers, and each laborer supported by another sturdy laborer, in ridicule of the smallness and cheapness of the goods brought to the fair, and the small benefit derived for the laboring class.