subs. phr. (old).—The simoniacal mart: in quot. 1599 = St. Paul’s. [Formerly church doors were plastered with all kinds of miscellaneous advertisements: see SIQUIS.]
1599. JOSEPH HALL, Satires, III. v. 7.
| Thou servile foole, why coulds’t thou not repaire | |
| To buy a benefice at STEEPLE-FAIRE? |
1606. The Return from Parnassus, iv. 2 [DODSLEY, Old Plays, 1874, ix. 191]. Are not you the young drover of livings Academico told me of that haunts STEEPLE FAIRS?
