 The races were accompanied by a fair and other celebrations, the sands being covered with tents, booths and sideshows, including ""roley-poleys, hobby-horses, wheels-of-fortune and many ... strange characters"" Crowds could get drunken and rowdy and often brawls broke out, sometimes ""along the whole length of Leith Walk"".The large crowds that attended included landowners from around the country.This made Leith an exception among race meetings in Scotland at the time, since during the eighteenth century most leading landlords looked to London for their social activity.