Editing Costermonger (section)

==Irish costermongers==
Irish immigrants and their descendants made up a considerable number of the trade all across the major cities and towns of Britain, as can be noted from 19th-century commentaries such as [[Henry Mayhew]]'s ''[[London Labour and the London Poor]]'':<ref>H.Mayhew, London Labour and the London Poor, vol. 1. (1861-62), Cosimo, NY., (facsimile edition) 2009 Note that on the subject of the number of Irish costermongers, Mayhew is somewhat ambiguous and at times contradictory, noting that "One-half of the entire class are costermongers proper, that is to say, the calling with them is hereditary, and perhaps has been so for many generations; while the other half is composed of three-eighths Irish, and one-eighth mechanics, tradesmen, and Jews" (p.7). That is, Mayhew estimates the number of Irish costermongers at less than 2 per cent. While elsewhere in the same work, he estimates the number of Irish street sellers at 7 in every 20. This discrepancy may arise from definitional problems – whereas costermongers sold fresh produce; street sellers, according to Mayhew, sold a wider range o goods including matches and household goods.</ref> According to Mayhew,<ref>H.Mayhew, London Labour and the London Poor, vol. 1, (1861-62) Cosimo, NY., (facsimile edition) 2009, p. 104</ref>

{{blockquote| An Irish costermonger, however, is no novelty in the streets of London. "From the mention of the costardmonger," says Mr. Charles Knight, "in the old dramatists, he appears to have been frequently an Irishman." Of the Irish street-sellers, at present, it is computed that there are, including men, women, and children, upwards of 10,000. Assuming the street-sellers attending the London fish and green markets to be, with their families, 30,000 in number, and 7 in every 20 of these to be Irish, we shall have rather more than the total above given. Of this large body three-fourths sell only fruit, and more especially nuts and oranges; indeed, the orange-season is called the "Irishman's harvest."}}