Dudsday, also Duds' day, or Dud's day was a hiring fair, a holiday, held at Kilmarnock in

East Ayrshire East Ayrshire ( sco, Aest Ayrshire; gd, Siorrachd Àir an Ear) is one of thirty-two council areas of Scotland. It shares borders with Dumfries and Galloway, East Renfrewshire, North Ayrshire, South Ayrshire and South Lanarkshire. The headquar ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. Originally held at

Martinmas Saint Martin's Day or Martinmas, sometimes historically called Old Halloween or Old Hallowmas Eve, is the feast day of Saint Martin of Tours and is celebrated in the liturgical year on 11 November. In the Middle Ages and early modern period, ...

that falls on November 11 it was later also held at

Whitsun Whitsun (also Whitsunday or Whit Sunday) is the name used in Britain, and other countries among Anglicans and Methodists, for the Christian High Holy Day of Pentecost. It is the seventh Sunday after Easter, which commemorates the descent of the ...

. At this fair farm servants etc would be hired. The name comes from the custom of farm Labourers purchasing new clothes or 'Duds' having been paid their wages for the previous half-year.Dictionary of the Scots Language
Accessed : 2015-01-18

History

The term 'Dudsday' will be used for consistency. Later the name was applied to the spring hiring fair at

in KilmarnockKellie, Page 141 also and to other similar fairs held in other parts of Ayrshire for the same purpose.Crofton The Kilmarnock Dudsday ceased to be held after 1939, the name previously becoming also attached to hiring markets set at other dates than the traditional Dudsday. These fairs were eagerly looked forward to by merchants and were especially busy for the shopkeepers and the taverns.Percy, Page 292 Farm labourers hoped to either renew or gain better employment at these Dudsday fairs. The 'Ayr Advertiser' for 21 October 1920 records of a hiring event that ''"There were not a great many single men engaged, a large proportion of them preferring to wait till Dudd's Day."'' Archibald McKay in his 1880 'History of Kilmarnock' makes mention of several fairs such as 'Fastern's E'en' (

Shrove Tuesday Shrove Tuesday is the day before Ash Wednesday (the first day of Lent), observed in many Christian countries through participating in confession and absolution, the ritual burning of the previous year's Holy Week palms, finalizing one's Lenten ...

) but gives no reference to Dudsday or any tradition of hiring fairs.

Hirings

One general report for hiring fairs states that "''Prospective workers would gather in the street or market place, often sporting some sort of badge or tool to denote their speciality: shepherds held a crook or a tuft of wool, cowmen brought wisps of straw, dairymaids carried a milking stool or pail and housemaids held brooms or mops, this is why some hiring fairs were known as mop fairs. Employers would look them over and, if they were thought fit, hire them for the coming year, handing over a shilling to seal the arrangement. Both male and female agricultural servants would gather in order to bargain with prospective employers and, hopefully, secure a position for the coming year. The yearly hiring included board and lodging for single employees for the whole year with wages being paid at the end of the year's service''".

The Murder of James Young

The fact that Dudsday meant that farm labourers were guaranteed to be visiting Kilmarnock in large numbers with money in their pockets attracted pick-pockets and worse. In 1848 a young farm servant from Fortacres Farm near Gatehead was murdered by James McWheelan whilst returning from the Kilmarnock 'Dudd's-day' (sic). James had fifteen shillings in silver and a silver watch, both of which were stolen and the victim being knocked unconscious with a boulder and then stabbed in the neck with a carpenter's chisel. The murderer was caught near Paisley and hung after a trial at

Ayr Ayr (; sco, Ayr; gd, Inbhir Àir, "Mouth of the River Ayr") is a town situated on the southwest coast of Scotland. It is the administrative centre of the South Ayrshire Subdivisions of Scotland, council area and the historic Shires of Scotlan ...

. Such was the notoriety of the murder and sympathy for the victim that passers by took to leaving a stone at the spot to create a cairn (NS 39979 34140) that grew to a fairly considerable size. The cairn is no longer apparent as the site has attracted random dumping of various materials over the years. Adamson's comment in his 'Rambles Round Kilmarnock' was that the ''".. marks the spot where one of the most cold-blooded and heartless murders that ever stained the annals of our country."''Adamson, Page 77

Micro-history

The word 'Dud' meaning clothes derives from the

Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English ...

word 'Dudde', that means a cloak.The Free Dictionary
Accessed : 2015-01-19

References

;Notes ;Sources * Adamson, Archibald R. (1875). ''Rambles Round Kilmarnock.'' Kilmarnock : T. Stevenson. * Crofton, Ian. ''A Dictionary of Scottish Phrase and Fable.'' * Kellie, John (2013). ''Ayrshire Echoes''. Auchinleck : Carn Publishing. . * McKay, Archibald (1880). ''The History of Kilmarnock.'' Kilmarnock : Archibald McKay. * Percy, Reuben & Timbs, John (1834). The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction, Volume 23.

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