From time to time references are made in the English Press to the unpleasant habit of ["]touting["] for custom which prevails in those localities chiefly inhabited by the tailoring fraternity in London. Delving into the records of old Dublin, one comes across evidence that the practice is by no means a new one. In the latter years of the eighteenth century, when Corn Market was mostly occupied by haberdashers and woollen drapers, a walk through the street was a thing to be avoided, on account of the ["]pluckers in,["] as they were called, who were stationed outside the shops to induce customers to enter. Haberdashery was only a later phase of this historical street; in earlier times, as the name indicates, it was a market for grain. Earlier still, it was famous for its Bull Ring, and the ceremonies connected with it, which included the annual appointment of a ["]Major["] to look after the morals of the young bachelors of the city. Here peace or war was formally proclaimed by the Ulster King-at-Arms, banns of marriage published, and public punishments, such as riding the wooden horse, or standing in the pillory with ears nailed thereto, inflicted.
The Irish Times, January 27th, 1930.
