| From the inside front
cover: "This intimate
biography gives a fascinating peep behind the scenes in the long
history of one of the oldest travelling showpeople families - the
Corrigans, whose ancestors, the Welshes, were travelling showpeople
even before the days of the side stalls. It was they who, realising
the people needed some other attraction while waiting to have a ride
on the ponies (the forerunner of the roundabouts), made toffee and
sold it on a stall, then introduced coconuts and pegs. If the
customer, throwing a small shallalee knocked a nut off he won a
coconut, a cigar, or a mug of hazelnuts. From these two grew the
host of varied side stalls we see on the fairgrounds today. Through
the years up to the present day we have a peep into the ups and
downs, the good times and bad times (when they gave rides for jam
jars); the way they and all other travelling showpeople were eyed
with suspicion, especially by the police, but how with their honest
to goodness integrity they came out tops in almost every encounter,
and now, although not travelling but still showpeople, the name of
Corrigan is just as highly esteemed and respected as when Joseph
Michael Corrigan was travelling the fairs."
Condition:
Inside near fine, cover protected but worn at the edges. |
