I had a penny, A bright new penny
Friday is Market Day in Bicester, it’s one of those traditions which has been present in the town for generations and shows no sign of letting up. Although the market moved from the Market Square to Sheep Street in the 1990s, the traders who are there each and every Friday have been, in many cases, regulars for years and years – their resilience and commitment, particularly in recent times, has been a welcome constant in an inconsistent and ever-changing landscape.
The earliest records of a market in the town go back to 1239, with livestock sales held in Kings End, the Market Square and Sheep Street, and then more recently in what is now the long stay car park on Victoria Road. This coming together of folk for the purpose of trade is one of the most elemental connections we have as a society, it is part of the glue which keeps us together and it is why town centres and markets should be cherished as one of the principal foundation stones of community.
Market Square by A.A. Milne
I had a penny,
A bright new penny,
I took my penny
To the market square.
I wanted a rabbit,
A little brown rabbit,
And I looked for a rabbit
‘Most everywhere.
For I went to the stall where they sold sweet lavender
(“Only a penny for a bunch of lavender!”).
“Have you got a rabbit, ‘cos I don’t want lavender?”
But they hadn’t got a rabbit, not anywhere there.
I had a penny,
And I had another penny,
I took my pennies
To the market square.
I did want a rabbit,
A little baby rabbit,
And I looked for rabbits
‘Most everywhere.
And I went to the stall where they sold fresh mackerel
(“Now then! Tuppence for a fresh-caught mackerel!”).
“Have you got a rabbit, ‘cos I don’t like mackerel?”
But they hadn’t got a rabbit, not anywhere there.
I found a sixpence,
A little white sixpence.
I took it in my hand
To the market square.
I was buying my rabbit
I do like rabbits),
And I looked for my rabbit
‘Most everywhere.
So I went to the stall where they sold fine saucepans
(“Walk up, walk up, sixpence for a saucepan!”).
“Could I have a rabbit, ‘cos we’ve got two saucepans?”
But they hadn’t got a rabbit, not anywhere there.
I had nuffin’,
No, I hadn’t got nuffin’,
So I didn’t go down
To the market square;
But I walked on the common,
The old-gold common…
And I saw little rabbits
‘Most everywhere!
So I’m sorry for the people who sell fine saucepans,
I’m sorry for the people who sell fresh mackerel,
I’m sorry for the people who sell sweet lavender,
‘Cos they haven’t got a rabbit, not anywhere there!
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