Far From The Madding Crowd - hiring fair dance

The self-effacing hero of Far From the Madding Crowd, Gabriel Oak, is enduring hard times and fails to get a summer’s work at an agricultural hiring fair in Casterbridge (Dorchester).

"It grew dusk. Some merry men were whistling and singing by the corn-exchange. Gabriel’s hand, which had lain for some time idle in his smock-frock pocket, touched his flute, which he carried there. Here was an opportunity for putting his dearly bought wisdom into practice.

He drew out his flute and began to play “Jockey to the Fair” in the style of a man who had never known a moment’s sorrow. Oak could pipe with Arcadian sweetness, and the sound of the well-known notes cheered his own heart as well as those of the loungers. He played on with spirit, and in half an hour had earned in pence what was a small fortune to a destitute man."

As he plays, we see the end of a busy day, families helping each other, farmers bidding their farewells, and a few men dance in response to Gabriel's tune; a gentle air of subdued cheer takes over the mood of the film. The dancers are stallholders and unhired hands, stoic in the face of their difficulties, taking a little joy from life where they can. Watching on and quietly enjoying the spectacle is ‘Old Samways’, once a valued agricultural worker, now, as he ages, grateful to have been hired at a reduced rate.

This was filmed in the Market Square in Devizes, outside the Bear Hotel. The tune is not 'Jockey to the Fair', I am not sure what it is. The dancers were extras used for the hiring fair scene, who happened to be members of a local folk-dancing club; my understanding is that their presence inspired the film crew to make a late decision to include dance in this scene.

From the 1967 film: www.imdb.com/title/tt0061648/